Chapter 7
I awoke with a start. Something was moving around in the forest nearby.
Alva and Hadrian were also awake, staring intently into the forest on my left. Hadrian growled, and the hairs on the back of his neck rose.
I reached for the sword I had stolen from Mr. Smiles. Whatever was out there could not be friendly, otherwise Hadrian wouldn't be so agitated.
I started in the direction that Hadrian was staring, when I noticed that Alva was facing the other direction, also growling. Whatever it was in the forest, it was not alone.
Then I heard a sound like hissing. It was coming from all directions. We were surrounded.
It was too dark for me to see more than 10 feet away from the campfire, but suddenly Hadrian lunged into the darkness. I heard a thud and a shriek. Hadrian returned looking rather pleased with himself. Obviously he had killed one of them.
"Great," I said. "One down, who knows how many more to go."
From the darkness came a voice that sounded like hissing. "You will never kill all of usssss," it said. "It would be sssso much easssier if you jussst sssurendered. We will kill you quickly, I promisssse."
"Not likely." I said.
"Then your death ssshall be mossst painful."
A figure appeared out of the darkness. Alva moved so that she was between me and the monster, and I was able to get a good look at it.
The monster looked like a woman from the waist up, but where her legs were supposed to be were two long snake bodies.
I had seen a lot of monsters in my 12 years of life, but this one had to be the strangest. What worried me most was that, unlike most monsters, this one carried a sword. Monsters weren't supposed to have weapons.
And then more snake ladies started stepping –or should I say slithering – out of the shadows. They formed a loose ring around us, more than a dozen of them. They were all armed with either swords, spears, or weighted nets. My odds of surviving this encounter had just been smashed to bits.
Shall we fight them, Mistress? Hadrian asked eagerly, crouching down to pounce.
No, I thought back. There are too many, we can't fight all of them.
If we can't out fight them, perhaps we can out run them, Alva suggested.
It was a good idea. I was a fast runner, and the snake ladies didn't look like they could move very fast. I relayed this to Hadrian and Alva, and at the same time we all charged the nearest monster.
Hadrian reached her first, and with a quick bite to the throat she dissolved into dust.
Taking advantage of the new opening, Alva and I sprinted out of the circle and into the trees, Hadrian right on our heels.
I soon found out that the snake ladies were, in fact, very fast. I could hear them chasing us, steadily gaining ground.
Desperately I looked for a place where I would be able to fight while keeping my back protected. I could not let them get behind me, because if they did then it would be over.
I couldn't see anything that I could use. All the trees were too thin to provide much cover, and there was nothing else to use.
So I kept running. Alva and Hadrian ran beside me, except when they would dart off to the side to attack a monster that had come too close.
I don't know how long we ran. I was a good distance runner, having run in the forest with Hadrian and Alva at home, but now I was tired. My lungs were burning, and I couldn't breathe fast enough. The monsters were gaining, and I knew that soon I would have to turn and fight.
Finally I saw a large rock to my right. I dove toward it, lifting my stolen sword as I went. Standing there, facing the trees behind which I knew the monsters were hiding, I felt scared for the first time since I had been taken from my home.
I began to feel hopeless as the monsters stepped into view. There were a dozen of them, and, counting Hadrian and Alva, only 3 of us. We couldn't fight them all at once!
Sensing my despair, Alva nuzzled my hand. Don't worry, mistress, she said. We will protect you.
I smiled down at her, grateful to have her and her brother at my side. I knew that no matter what happened, they would not leave me. Knowing this gave me great comfort.
The first monster charged suddenly, and I lifted my sword and cut off her arm. She dissolved into dust, and this seemed to anger the other monsters. They all charged as one.
I raised my sword to meet them, and started slashing at monsters wildly. The sword I was using was too heavy for me, so I found the fighting very difficult. Hadrian and Alva lunged at the monsters throats, but they could not fight off the swarm. We were being pushed apart by the monsters, and I tripped. One of the snake ladies raised her spear to stab me in the heart. I closed my eyes, waiting for the final blow.
Then I heard the howling of wolves.
Hope you guys liked the chapter. Sorry for taking so long to update! I would really like to know what you think of the story so far! Also, I am in need of ideas for things I should do at the wolf camp. (sorry, spoiler!) But, ya, I would really like some ideas.
