Chapter 6
Artemis began to pace the ditch furiously. Riddick was trying to think of a way to escape.
"I can't believe he would do something like this. I thought he would verbally attack me, or create a revolutionary army, but nothing as dirty as this. I can't believe…" Artemis walked right next to Riddick, who grabbed her arm.
"Maybe we should worry more about getting out of here." He said, looking up at the sky as he felt snow that was beginning to fall. Artemis looked to the sky too, as an alarm began to sound in the distance.
"That means we have one hour to get out of this hole and back to the dome, or we spend the night in this forest." Arty informed him. Riddick looked at Artemis as she connected the blades to her chains, cursing Exavier all the while. She then approached one of the walls, jumped up, and began to climb, using her blades as picks. Five minutes later she disappeared over the rim.
"So your just gonna leave me here?" Riddick called after her. His reply came three minutes later in the form of a blade connected to a chain.
"No way your gonna pull me up outta here, kid." Riddick said. Arty stuck her head over the rim.
"So I can just leave you here, right?" She called. Riddick mumbled something to the effect of "Damn kid" , then began to climb the chain. It stayed pretty well, only slipping once, and when Riddick finally reached the top he realized why. Artemis had wrapped the chain around the trunk of a tree, and then lay down with her heels digging into a root so she wouldn't be pulled by his weight.
"You gotta admit, for a girl I don't do half bad." She said standing and unwrapped her chain from the tree. Riddick looked off into the distance at the entrance to the forest, but Arty shook her head.
"There is no way we will make it. By the time we reach the tree line it will be dark, because it's snowing the lights will be off, and Exavier is probably scouting so he won't let us in. Our best bet is to find a place here that we can hide in until morning." Artemis said. A high screech over Arty's right shoulder brought home the point. They couldn't see any raptors, but they knew some were coming. Riddick lifted his goggles and began examining the tree they were standing under.
"Coming here." Riddick said, approaching the trunk. Artemis looked at him curiously. He found a raised area in the roots, and climbed underneath, Artemis following cautiously. Once inside Riddick began to climb.
"Where the hell are you going?" Artemis called. Riddick looked down at her.
"This tree is hallow. The higher we are the better chance we have of living because the trees make it harder for the raptors to fly. Unless you want to take your chances back in the ditch." They heard more screeching outside, and Artemis raised her goggles to see better as she climbed. When they had gotten about half way up the tree, they found a hollowed out nest for a large animal that had been maimed and died. There didn't seem to be any other exit, so the only thing they had to worry about was the area underneath them.
"We can take shifts to watch, about three hours each. I'll watch first, if you want. "Artemis said. Riddick shook his head.
"You can sleep first. You didn't get to sleep last night." Riddick said. Artemis wondered if Riddick was worried that she was too tired to keep watch. Arty laid on the floor, and after a long while, finally fell asleep. When Artemis woke there was a light coming up from the floor. Riddick was in the corner, his eyes closed, but that didn't always mean that he was asleep.
"There a reason you didn't wake me?" She asked. When she got no response she stood, stretching all her aching muscles and trying to get the circulation back to her sleeping limbs. She approached Riddick, and poked him in the shoulder. He slowly opened his eyes, looking at her with those silver orbs. "I couldn't tell if you were asleep or not. It seems that we both fell asleep. We should get going now. The sunlight won't last long, but we better be careful. This forest has a lot of dark spots." Riddick lowered his goggles, Arty hers and they began the climb down. They raced through the forest, the two of them easily. They were only a few feet away from the garden, when two raptors appeared out of the dark, sticking to a dimly lit section of the path. Both Furians stopped in their tracks, and Artemis drew her blades.
Cliffy again. I will update ASAP. Hope you all are enjoying so far. Don't forget to respond!!