Chapter VI

I heard the crunching of twigs as the others came racing towards my voice.

"Afni! Where are you?" someone cried. I couldn't tell who, with the fear of dying blocking all sense.

"Help!" I cried.

"Shut up!" my attacker cried. She pushed a little with the sword, and I could feel it against my skin, trying to break in, begging for the final thrust that would either severely injure me, or kill me. I saw the blur before I heard anything, but before anything made sense, David was fighting my attacker, knocking them about. Christopher reached out, took my hand, and helped me stand. I nodded in thanks to him, but said nothing. I felt myself pull my sword from its sheath the moment David got knocked down. He hit the dirt, and his sword flew, off to the side, and stuck. As the fighter began to bring the sword down on David, I felt a surge of energy to save his sorry ass. I ran out, smacking the sword. The other person stumbled back, and we began to fight. After only a few moments, I spun around, knocking their sword to the ground, and pressed them into the tree behind them.

"I should knock you to the ground and feed you to the gods…but I won't." I sheathed my sword, and stepped back. "Who are you?" I asked.

"Janet…" Cossette whispered.

"So…you are the legendary huntress we've heard about." Janet smiled.

"Legendary, hm? Neat." I turned, smacking her with my hair, and walked over to David, who still lay on the ground.

"You alright?" I asked. He nodded, and I pulled him to his feet.

"Get your sword." As he walked over to pick it up, I turned back to Janet.

"Who do you think you are, coming out and attacking me, then my friend, like that?" I asked. Janet straightened herself out, and picked up her sword.

"You invaded my space, drank from my river, and did all this without a word. I think I have the right."

"Who says this is your river? This river belongs to this place, this…Everworld. You just walked out and attack someone? Not very bright here in a place where people can kill you quicker than you can move," Cossette said. Janet smirked.

"Everworld is more known me than to these fools, Cossette. I know much about this place, and I have heard of them. General David. April, Christopher, Jalil. But you," she said, backing me against Christopher. In a response that I don't think either one of us had control over, his hands went to my shoulders, and mine went to his waist. We stood for a second, Janet's accusing eyes staring into mine.

"What about me?" I asked, stepping away, and glancing at Christopher over my shoulder.

"I've don't think I've ever heard of you before…" I cleared my throat.

"Afni. My name is Afni." Janet shook her head.

"So you are the one who helped Olympus?" she asked. I slowly nodded. She smiled. "Very impressive. Very, very impressive. I have not seen such good work since the personal computer." I heard some muffled whispers behind me, but the only person to say anything was David.

"How do you know about the personal computer?" he asked. She smiled.

"I have been in Everworld for twenty years, but at the moment, I have not aged a day. Still sixteen, like I was when I arrived." Christopher snapped his fingers. I didn't look back at him, but did raise an eyebrow.

"What's your problem?" Janet asked.

"That means your thirty six! Damnit, I thought I had a chance, too." I turned around, glaring at him. He became quiet, and looked at the dirt. I turned back towards Janet, and smiled. I realized she wished to go home, and, choosing to be kind to her, I asked,

"Would you like to come with us?" She looked at me.

"Where?"

"We are on our way to see Jeminna…" Janet lifted her head, seemingly frightened.

"Janet? Are you alright?" I asked.

"Jeminna has banned me from the woods and cave in which she lives." I sighed.

"If you are with me, and I have good reason to bring you, than she cannot cast you back," Cossette said. Janet nodded, and turned away.

"Then we shall go."

I walked behind Cossette, next to David, on the way through the forest. We followed the only path within five miles of us. As we walked, I looked over at David, and saw him deep in thought. Carefully, I stepped closer, and touched his hand. He blinked a couple times, then looked at me. I lifted my eyes to his, and faintly smiled. David smiled back, as though he finally realized who I was. Grasping my hand, he returned my friendship, and didn't let go. We walked for a while in silence before I heard someone say anything.

"Oh my…God!" Janet cried. We turned around, our hands dropping, to see what was wrong.

"What is it?" Jalil asked. She pointed at David's sword.

"Is that…Galahad's sword?" she whispered. He nodded. Janet closed her eyes. "No…it can't be true…he's…dead?" she asked.

"You didn't know?" April asked, confused. Janet shook her head.

"No! I hadn't seen him for about a year…oh, no way! And I never got to say goodbye!" she exclaimed. I looked around.

"Let's sit for a few minutes, let you calm down." As we sat, I felt the air rush from my lungs, and I gripped David's shoulder. He looked at me, and touched my hand.

"You alright?" he asked quietly. I looked into his eyes, and saw the worry, but shook my head.

"I'm fine. I just lost my breath, I guess." I closed my eyes, and dropped my forehead to his shoulder. He caressed my cheek, and I felt a power in his touch that I had never noticed before. As the others leaned against the trees, or looked up at the sky, David and I sat together, silent, holding onto each other like we were afraid to let go. Afraid that something would happen, to part us forever. In a way, I was afraid. I still cared for him more than anything, and if we never saw each other again, I'd never be able to live. The others began to talk, just to pass the time until Janet was alright. David looked at me, lifted my face from his shoulder.

"Afni? Are you alright?" he asked. He had his eyebrows scrunched together, showing me he was worried about me. I smiled.

"I'm fine, David. Are you okay?" He nodded, and I sighed.

After a while, I stood up, pulling David with me.

"We should go if we wish to find a good place for tonight…" They nodded, and stood, following us deeper into the forest.

Night had fallen. I sat against a tree on the east side of camp, watching. When I heard a voice behind me, I turned my head. David walked over, and sat beside me.

"What's up?" I asked. He shrugged, and put his hand around my shoulder.

"You sure your alright?" he asked. I smiled.

"I'm positive. Everything is okay. But, can I ask you something?" He smiled.

"Sure. What is it?" I licked my lips.

"Why did you break up with me?" I asked, my voice shaking a little. His face fell, and I knew his answer wasn't exactly something I wanted.

"Well, I was afraid of your dad…" I stopped, confused. That wasn't what I expected him to say.

"My dad?"

"Yea…that last time I saw him, he was mad, and he said that if he ever caught us together again, he'd break my legs, then feed me to the fishes," he said. I sighed.

"My dad was drunk. When he's sober, he is somewhere between so religious he knows the bible better than God, and average human who doesn't give a damn. But he'd never threaten anyone. In fact, he wondered what happened to you after we broke up…" David touched me cheek again.

"I'm sorry…"

Most likely at the same time, we heard the whispers in the trees, and the footsteps in the darkness. We leapt up, swords drawn, in battle mode. I moved slowly towards the others, smacking them in the sides with the toes of my shoes. They were up, and ready for anything, in a matter of seconds. I made them bows and arrows, and gave Christopher a sword, only because he can't fire an arrow for his life. We stood in a circle, watching the darkness, waiting for something to come out. I stepped back, bumping the others. They turned to see what I saw before me.

Creatures, something I've never seen, came crawling from the woods, looking at his, slithering and hissing something awful. They looked like snakes, but they were a dark blue, with ears, and a tail that stuck out about two feet. Their bodies were shaped like an "S" while their heads were just little boxes with eyes, a mouth, and a nose. They sprang on us, howling. Biting and nibbling anything left open. Our skin was quickly bleeding onto them, but we swung our swords, fired our arrows, and fought for our lives. I felt the teeth sink into my neck, and I hit the ground.

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I lifted my eyes, and saw David look down at me.

"Are you okay?" I rubbed my eyes, trying to make the five David's I saw become one.

"What happened?" I asked, groggily. He helped me stand, and brushed off my back.

"You fell off your porch roof, knocked yourself out cold. Are you okay?" he asked again. I touched the back of my head, and nodded.

"I'm fine. Thanks, though." He smiled.

"Of course. You're my girlfriend, I gotta worry about you." I reached out for his hand, pulled him over, and kissed him, my hands sliding around his shoulders. He placed his hands on my waist, and kissed me back.

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My eyes opened, and I could see seven Christopher's sitting in a chair nearby, asleep. I blinked a few times, clearing the images, and saw David in a bed opposite the room. Jalil looked over at me, and smiled.

"Your awake. Good. We were worried about you…"

"We?" He nodded behind him, and I saw Athena standing in the doorway.

"We're at…Olympus?" I asked, dropping my feet to the floor.

"Yes. And you're well, too. This time, we'll send you off with horses. We won't risk you being attacked by the Spinyet again."

"Spinyet?" I asked. She acknowledged this confusion with a nod.

"The creatures in the woods that you fought. You will stay until you are all recovered, but then you can choose when to leave. Your other friends are in another room, being cared for." I nodded, and watched her and Jalil leave, waking Christopher on the way. He was up, and running out for something in a few second, leaving me and David. I walked over.

"Hey, David…how're you doing?"

"Sore. It hurts to move, and this thing is making me itchy," he said. I sighed, and helped him sit up. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Taking this off you…" He smiled. I tenderly lifted the fabric from his arms, and pulled his overshirt down, setting it down on a chair nearby. He reached over, painfully, I knew, and took my hand.

"What?" I asked.

"You are still my friend, Afni, and you'll always going to be." I leaned over, and kissed him quickly.

"And I am always going to care about you." As I exited the room, I felt a wave of guilt pass through me. He knew he hurt me a lot when he broke up with me, but just then, I think I made it worse by telling him how I felt, especially since I'd been acting differently around Christopher, as well. I knew things would change, I just wasn't sure how much. And at that moment, I felt like their being here was my fault, and the only way to fix it was to send them home, once and for all. My only question was: What don't I know about the doorway back?