They walked in silence for some time, no one willing to break the quiet. Gwen almost wanted to start a conversation with Morton, if only to hear his accent, but she could imagine how that would go. So, you're a genocidal killer. How's that working for ya? Not to mention Cyrus, who hadn't stopped glaring at the world in general since their arrival. Gwen kept her thoughts to herself.

The meadow itself was fairly pleasant to walk through. A slight breeze blew fresh into her face, carrying the scent of green grass and rain. Had it not been for the extenuating circumstances, she would have enjoyed the stroll. She'd have to make a note of this planet. Spring vacation was only a few weeks away, and Ben would enjoy the break from all of the publicity.

Looming ever closer, the forest seemed to grow before their eyes, stretching from as far as their eyes could see. There was no path per say, but underneath the trees was relatively clear of undergrowth, making travel easier. As soon as they got under the canopy, the light dimmed noticeably. Unconsciously, they moved closer together. Gwen listened to the soft rustle of the leaves and the birds calling out to each other with none of the usual calm these sounds brought her. She noticed the two men were casually leaving their hands on their weapons of choice. Cyrus surreptitiously checked his sword.

Soon, Gwen could tell the already filtered light was fading. Cyrus must have noticed it too, for when they approached the next clearing he made his announcement. "We'll camp here for the night."

No one argued with him. "I'll go gather some firewood," Gwen offered. In truth, she only wanted to get away from the knights for a while, as silent and unfriendly as they were. Neither Morton nor Cyrus made any move to stop her.

Gwen struck off in a random direction and began to gather twigs to get the fire going, which she found in abundance on the forest floor. She soon had all they would need and began to look for bigger logs to sustain the fire, but there were none. There was no way she was going back to the knights with anything less than enough wood to last them, so she began looking towards the tree tops in search of a few good branches. Noting some, she fired a few energy blasts directly into their bases, effectively cutting them down. She cut them into smaller logs and loaded the whole pile onto a slab of energy she created and began to make her way back to camp.

Along the way, she began to have the horrible sensation that something was watching her. She spun around a few times, searching for the eyes she knew were upon her, but could find no sign of them. The feeling grew and grew until she heard Morton and Cyrus talking in the distance. She silenced her sounds, curious as to what they were talking about. Her fears were soon justified.

"Why don't we just leave her now?" Morton was asking. Accent or no, she hated the words he was saying.

"She'll follow us. If we leave her later, when she's sleeping, we'll have a good lead before she realizes we're gone," Cyrus patiently explained.

Morton grunted. "I guess," he conceded.

Gwen had heard enough of the conversation. She threw down a twig and stomped on it, fooling the knights into thinking she had just approached. She wandered back into the clearing, load following, making sure not to look too closely at the traitorous knights, no matter how hard she wanted to glare at them. Traveling without them would be so much nicer.

She wordlessly dropped the wood in the middle of the clearing and began to build a large enough fire to keep them warm. If Grandpa had taught her anything, it was how to build a good fire, and she soon had one blazing away.

"See anything we could eat?" Morton casually asked. Gwen was disgusted at how easily he lied.

"I wasn't looking, but there must be birds around here somewhere," Gwen calmly responded. She could play this game too. She looked at Cyrus, who had taken a seat on the opposite side of the fire, near Morton. "I suppose you could shoot a couple," she nodded at his gun.

"I suppose," Cyrus coolly responded. "But how do I know you're not just trying to get me to leave?"

"And why would I do that?" Gwen felt the sarcasm lace her words into something hard and harsh, but didn't really care. Cyrus glared at her, his deep brown eyes showing open hostility.

"Because you have a plan," he accused. Gwen nearly jumped over the fire to beat that lying hypocrite's face in. The nerve, accusing her of some backhanded plan when he himself was plotting to abandon her as soon as he was able.

Although her impulse was strong, Gwen shoved it down and merely responded with logic as flat as the look she handed Cyrus. "Yeah, or I'm hungry."

Cyrus looked like he was trying, but could find no fault with her argument. In fact, he was feeling rather hungry himself, but he wasn't about to let on to that witch of a girl. As it turned out, he didn't have to, for his companion did it for him. In the silence after Gwen's remark, Morton's stomach let out a loud growl, to his obvious embarrassment. Both Cyrus and Gwen stared at the heavyset man as his face turned beet red.

Cyrus sighed and grabbed his weapon. "I'll be back," he threw over his shoulder as he walked away. "Don't try anything," he gave one final warning to Gwen. Gwen threw him an evil look that he wisely chose to ignore as he left the camp.

That left Morton and Gwen alone with each other. As time passed, Morton began cleaning his mace while Gwen shut her eyes while keeping her inner self alert to her surroundings. She could sense Cyrus, a few hundred yards away, concentrating as he located some birds and proceeded to shoot them dead. Closer still, she felt Morton's discomfort as he meticulously polished his weapon. Gwen felt a twinge of sorrow as she realized she would be alone from here on out. Company, no matter how unpleasant, was preferred by her over being completely alone, but there was really no choice here. She wasn't about to force them to stay with her, as if she needed them.

Suddenly, she became aware of that dreadful feeling of being watched, or more like hunted. She whipped her head around, covering all angles. Morton looked up from his work at the movement.

"Something wrong?" he asked, squinting at the girl through the fire. He clutched his mace.

"Do you feel that?" Gwen asked him, still searching the ever darkening surroundings. With a jolt, she realized that without stars and the moon to light the night, and with the trees forming a canopy above them, it would be pitch black in the forest at night.

"Feel what?" the knight answered.

"Like we're being watched," Gwen hesitantly told him. Now aware of the situation, Morton looked around to, searching for the telltale glint of eyes.

"I don't see anything," he eventually said, not quite stopping his examination of their surroundings.

"Maybe I'm paranoid then," Gwen shrugged, resolving to keep on her guard. Morton shrugged, but never quite loosened his hold on his weapon.

They both jumped at the sudden sound twigs snapping as Cyrus returned to camp, several cleaned birds in hand. Cyrus noticed the action.

"Something wrong?" he asked his fellow knight. Morton gave a slight shake of his head, but his voice betrayed him.

"Don't think so," he said, uncertainty seeping through. Cyrus gave an unconvinced frown and carefully scrutinized Gwen, who met his glare with a frown of her own. Eventually, he got down to the business of cooking the birds and soon had them roasting on a hastily fashioned spit above the fire. Gwen watched the proceedings out of boredom if nothing else while her stomach became alive with the smell of food. Morton was looking similarly affected, all thoughts of being hunted gone from his mind.

Finally, the birds were done and they all ate their fill. Cyrus hadn't cooked the birds particularly well, or even slightly well, but they had all worked up quite an appetite from the walk and after a few tentative bites, Gwen and Morton stuffed themselves.

When they had finished, night had truly fallen. Gwen had been right. The world had shrunk to what the light of the fire could shine on; pitch black hiding everything outside ten or twenty yards. Gwen almost felt a bit claustrophobic, but quelled the feeling with some deep, steady breathing and meditation.

Morton stood up and stretched. "I'll take first watch," he offered. Gwen nodded and kept her face in neutral. Yeah, I just bet you will, she thought to herself as she got comfortable. She didn't let herself drift off into complete sleep though, keeping her inner self open to her immediate surroundings. The hours drifted by as Cyrus fed the fire occasionally, keeping the darkness at bay.

Eventually, when he judged enough time had passed that the witch-girl was well and truly asleep, he rose quietly and signaled at Morton. Morton nodded and returned to camp from his lookout post a few yards away. Gwen felt the two have some sort of wordless conversation when they met up near the fire to grab a torch to light their way, then they began walking away.

As they left, Gwen heard Morton having second thoughts. "Think she'll be okay?"

Through a slitted eye, she saw Cyrus make a hushing movement, although he answered the question. "Probably," he said offhandedly. Morton looked back, not quite reassured, but didn't stop walking.

Suddenly, all three felt ice run through their veins as a low snarl sounded out from the side of the forest where Morton had been previously standing. Gwen slowly rose to her feet as she felt a feral life force near the camp. In fact, she felt several. During the night, they had been surrounded, it seemed. She cast an accusatory glance at Morton, who didn't respond due to the fact he hadn't seen it. He and Cyrus were back to back, facing off against the unseen beasts. Gwen slowly edged over to the pair.

"We're surrounded," Cyrus said softly to Morton and Gwen. Gwen rolled her eyes.

No, really?

Thanks to inkheartedforever and prankstar for commenting. I do appreciate you taking your time to voice your thoughts.