A/N: I hope everyone is enjoying the story. One more chapter after this.
Chapter 11: In Which They Execute the Plan
Sitting in the cold, dead grass, the young Canadian contemplated his life decisions up to that point. Of course he didn't regret becoming friends with everyone in the group. He just didn't like getting into life or death situations.
He was sure that his friends would pull through and save him but there was a small chance someone could mess up and that would ne the end. The feeling of dread had settled in his stomach. He was nauseated and tired. All he wanted to do was go home and rest.
At that moment, Matthew looked down at his leg. Thankfully, the salve that Lukas had applied had made it completely numb to pain. He could still feel the crawling feeling but Lukas had said that would be there for a few days until it got the major sections put back together.
A short distance away the Canadian heard a rustling in the bushes, which he knew was Gilbert. Across the clearing was a large tree that had many branches closer to the ground. To the north about halfway between the bush and the tree was another tree in which Alfred was hid behind with the crossbow. Gil Jokingly had said that this set up was the Birdie Protection Triangle.
In between each of the Mattie Protection Squad members was a member of the magic trio also in a triangular shape. This was to allow the magical teens the best formation to send the Wendigo back to its home.
Several minutes passed and there was no sound coming from anywhere in the forest other than the small noises caused by the teens. The silence was unnerving.
Suddenly a scream broke out from somewhere just outside of the clearing. The second time the yell was let out Matthew recognized the voice as Alfred's. It sounded as if he was in pain.
"Al?" Matthew yelled weakly.
"HEELLPP." Alfred screamed.
Getting a worse feeling about Alfred's screams, Matthew began to panic. "Al… Alfred… Where are you?"
A guttural scream came from the tree line. Then the voice morphed into another in which Matthew was familiar with.
"BIRDIE." A gurgling voice yelled.
"Gil… No… Gil." Matthew devolved into screaming sobs.
Through teary eyes, Matthew saw a dark large figure coming towards him. For all the Canadian teen knew he was done for. From the sounds of his brother and friend's agony he was sure his only hope was the crazy Dane.
Before he knew it the beast was hovering over him. The rotten body of the monster was right over the poor boy. Matthew froze. He closed his eyes as he felt the creature's warm breath blow across his face.
To his left he heard a metal snap and the beast above him let out a pain filled roar. There was a quick shifting sound and another metallic snap sounded to his right.
As the beast yelled in pain, Matthew heard rustling from all directions. From the tree where Alfred had been positioned, there came a whizzing sound. Apparently the whizzing object mad contact because the Wendigo reared back leaving the space around the teen clear.
Soon after two pairs of footsteps could be heard heading towards the scene. Matthew looked around to see who was coming. From the direction of the low tree, Mathias cam wielding the silver coasted ax. He embedded it into the creatures back, causing it to whirl around. The Dane retreated quickly.
As Mathias began his retreat, a hand latched on to the Canadian's are. Matthew twisted around to see Gilbert hoisting him up.
"Gil," Matthew whimpered.
"Shh. Shh." Gilbert murmured. "Later."
Matthew nodded as they made a quickly retreat toward the tree line. They ended up settling beside Lukas, who was looking a bit nervous.
"You… can… do… it." Mattie said between quiet sobs.
The Norwegian nodded and watched for the signal. Once they heard Arthur shout, Lukas began muttering something in a language Matthew couldn't understand. Before long a glowing purple light shot towards Lukas the deflected in the direction of Arthur.
The earth began to shake and the ground began to crumble around the beast. It stood there roaring in panic with three cross bow arrows and the ax sticking out of it. Below it a large glowing gash opened in the earth and swallowed the creature whole. Once it was completely out of sight, Lukas drop his arms and his breath was heavy. Soon the ground was closed back up and it looked as though nothing had happened.
It took them all a few minutes to realize that the beast was gone and that it was all over.
Alfred let out a cheer and came running towards Matthew, Gilbert, and Lukas. Matthew was sitting under a tree still sniffing and wiping his tears away. When he saw Alfred he burst into sobs again.
"Dude, Mattie, why are you crying. The monster is gone. Everyone is safe." The American looked at his brother sympathetically.
"You… I thought… Gil…" The words weren't making any sense.
Luckily Lukas Knew what the poor teen was trying to get out. "He thought you and Gilbert died. The beast mimicked the two of you and made it sound like you were attacked."
"Oh Birdie," Gil said trying to comfort the sobbing teen. "We're safe. No need to worry."
Nearly half an hour later, the entire group was at the forest's edge where the barrier was located. Arthur, Lukas, and Mathias exchanged uneasy looks. They had mentioned to the others Mathias' thoughts on there possibly being more Wendigos, which had put Matthew into quite a panic.
The Romanian explained that the best way to know for sure was to see if the barrier had disappeared or not. If the barrier had disappeared, they were in the clear. If not, they would need to return to the cabin and regroup.
"So," Vlad said. "Who wants to go first?"
Alfred, of course, took a step forward. "I'll go because I'm the hero." Everyone groaned but they let him have his moment of glory.
They watched as step after slow step Alfred made it to the thresh hold. Holding their breaths, he made the final step onto the sidewalk just outside of the forest. A collective sigh of relief came from the group. They were free.
As they joined Alfred on the sidewalk, the first golden rays of sunlight spread across the sky.