A/N: Here's the next chapter! I'll update again today!

-A

Chapter 4

Beasts

Everyone fell silent. "Well? Has no one seen her?" When there was no response she tried again, "Danica, she was supposed to be with you. Where is she?" Confusion crossed the dark haired girl's features, "Kerrigan was never with me?"

Amara's eyes widened with fright, unable to find words. Finally she spat out, "How has no one seen her? There's so many of us. Someone had to have seen her!"

"Alright, Amara calm down. We'll find her," said Bran comfortingly. "Listen up, split into groups of two's and three's, each with its own torch. Fan out and stay within ear-shot of one another and don't go far enough away to where you cannot see the lights. Understood? Amara, you're with me."

She shook her head, "No, you and I can split up. We'll cover more ground this way. I can take care of myself just as well as you can."

He sighed, "The only reason I'm letting you is because you won't let me win anyways. Be careful. Remember what I said about the lights." She nodded quickly and took off into dark calling Kerrigan's name.

After about ten minutes of searching she began to panic. This was unlike the girl, she would never go off alone, not in a place like this. Suddenly, an overwhelming chill crept along her skin. A breeze picked up and the leaves began to hiss. A breeze? This deep into the forest?

She picked up her pace and stopped when she heard the faintest of whimpers. "Kerrigan? Kerrigan!" she yelled, "Kerrigan, where are you!" Her eyes flitted around the blackened trees until finally she spotted a huddled form in the distance. She sprinted towards the cowering girl who had curled up in a ball next to a tree. "Oh thank goodness, what are you doing out here! Didn't you hear me calling for you! Why didn't you go to Danica? Are you alright?" The questions flooded out of her mouth like a rain-swollen river. The thirteen year old looked up with tear filled eyes, "It's going to eat me."

"What is? There's nothing here, Kerrigan. They're only stories, come on let's go back, the others are still searching."

"No, Amara-"

Amara attempted to pull the girl up, but she pulled herself back down. "Really, Kerrigan we need to leave."

"Amara wait!"

She tried again.

"Amara, I saw them!"

The elder of the two froze. "Saw who?"

"The monsters, and now that I know what they look like they're going to take my youth!" she spat out through her tears.

For a split second she considered dismissing the story, wanting desperately to have the faith she did before, that it was all a myth. But, the pure terror in the child's eyes was all she needed.

Suddenly, screams and shouts erupted in the distance behind them. Without a second wasted, she scooped the small thirteen-year-old up in her arms and sprinted back towards the lights.

The pandemonium made it difficult for Amara to register what exactly was happening, but somewhere deep down she knew. They weren't just stories anymore. There was something there with them.

As she breached the small clearing they had been residing in, she could make out the others running back towards her from the parts of the woods they had been searching. To the right she saw Bran quickly approaching with two others.

"What's going on!" she yelled at him.

"Amara, run!"

With a fear she had never seen before in his eyes he grabbed the girl out of her arms.

"Bran, what's happening!"

"The stories- they're true! Get to the border! They're coming!"

When she hesitated to look behind he screamed once more, "NOW!"

By now, the rest of the group had caught up and were sprinting through the darkness. Then, the most ghastly sound she had ever heard erupted from behind. Spine tingling, high-pitched screeches filled the night. She heard Kerrigan scream from Bran's sturdy arms. Amara screamed at the top of her lungs, "Don't look at them! Whatever you do DON'T LOOK AT THEM! GET TO THE BORDER, THEY CANNOT CROSS!"

Time seemed to crawl by as the terrifying sounds bounced off the trees around them. She could hear them moving from tree to tree, seeming to get closer with every passing minute. Suddenly, a large black thing swept down in front of Amara, causing her to fall to the ground. She rolled as it dove again, this time merely inches from her body. She jumped to her feet and ran as fast as her feet could carry her.

Without warning, a large gust of wind met them head on. Leaves flew off the trees in a giant maelstrom and branches came crashing down on all sides. Terrified cries came from the group as whole trees fell.

Amara dove to the left as a large branch plummeted to the ground. As she quickly got to her feet, another terrible black creature swept down from the side. She threw her arms up in a defensive position and waited for impact, but it never came. Instead, a large mass came hurling from the front and collided with the black creature and was gone quicker than it came. If she had blinked a millisecond sooner, she wasn't sure if she would've caught it. The darkness of the night made it extremely difficult to see anything as it was.

What was that thing? It was huge!

The confused girl took off before another decided to come at her. Now, black creatures were falling dead from the sky left and right. Whatever it was, could it be helping them?

They were close to the edge now, and she could see some of the others in the distance had made it safely across the border. More and more black creatures appeared, heavily outnumbering the thing that had saved her before. It was now on the losing side. She paused for a moment and watched as they threw it into tree trunks like a rag doll.

"Amara! What are you doing!"

Bran's cries broke her foolish gaze and before she knew it she was at the border. She burst through the tree line and fell to her knees, breathes heavy and ragged. "Is… everyone… here? Is… everyone alright?" Muted whimpers and panting filled the small area. Bran held a role call and thankfully everyone had made it out. Everyone fell silent as more horrifying screeches sounded from within the wicked forest. Amara pictured the thing that had saved them and felt an overwhelming guilt flood her heart. It was still in there. It was probably being killed because of them.

"Someone give me a torch!" she shouted. She marched over and snatched Nathaniel's torch and turned to Bran. "There is something else in there, Bran, and it helped us."

A/N: Review!