Chapter Four:
Side by side, Kaine and Yonah ran out of the village and down the path towards Emil's mansion. Already, the sun was starting to bleed across the earth as it descended from the sky. "Is it much further?" asked Yonah anxiously.
"No, we're almost there. Just keep running." Kaine instructed.
"But what are we running from? I don't see anything-"
Kaine held out an arm to stop Yonah, standing still. "Wait..." Kaine whispered. "Listen..." The two females looked around quietly, nearly holding their breath to listen. Something was out there. But what?
Yonah turned around, then quickly grabbed at Kaine's arm, a trembling hand pointing, Kaine grabbed at her sword and turned around to face the enemy. What she saw was a small brown rabbit. It crept out into the open, leaving it's hiding place in the bushes.
"Oh, it's... Only a rabbit." Yonah laughed nervously.
"That's not just a rabbit..." Kaine said, looking at it carefully. The rabbit stood up on it's hind legs and sniffed; it was then that Kaine and Yonah noticed the smoke leaking from it's eyes. Without wasting another second, Kaine rushed ahead, swinging out her blades. The rabbit jumped five feet into the air, letting out a terrible cry. Suddenly, the duo found themsleves surrounded by forest critters; rabbits, deer, wild pigs, and foxes. All of them were leaking and foaming at the mouth with inky darkness.
"K-Kaine-"
"Draw your sword, dummy!" Kaine snapped, backing up against Yonah.
Yonah drew out her sword, standing back to back with the woman.
A large buck started walking towards them, several foxes and rabbits flanking either side. Kaine swung her blade out threateningly, yelling, "Come on!"
Yonah took a deep breath in, tightening her grip on her own sword. She tried to be brave, knowing that luck was on their side.
A large boar ran at them from the left, it's tusks long and sharp. Yonah faced it and brought her blade down hard against the wild pig's neck, nearly severing it. The mangled animal stumbled and fell on it's side, squealing nonsense.
Yonah recovered just in time to deflect a blow from a deer's antlers. She pushed against the animal, but it surged forward, knocking Yonah to the ground.
Kaine turned and jabbed both her blades into the deer's throat, then scissored them neck in half. Gurgling, the deer sank to it's knees and died in a whisp of black smoke.
Squeaking, growling, biting, the forest animals drew closer for an attack. Kaine took Yonah's hand and helped her to stand. As the girl got to her feet, a slender fox flung itself at her legs and sank down on her shin. Yonah shrieked in fear more than pain; she kicked the fox away. A wound was left; four deep teeth marks, heavily bleeding. Kaine pulled the girl close to her chest and help her sword out defensively. The animals seemed to grow larger; black smoke swirled around them like a tornado. Against her chest, Yonah was weeping, the hands of a child clenching her waist.
Just then, a beam of fierce, purple light zapped through the herd; the remaining animals fled the scene, creeping back into the shadows of the hills.
Kaine recognized that power. Her heart aching, the woman turned and found Emil hovering just over the grass, his skeletal body concealed by the robes he wore.
"Kaine...?" Emil said softly.
"Emil..." A familiar face. A friend. She felt something warm within her rise, choking her. Kaine walked towards him, guiding Yonah to walk with her.
Trembling, Yonah slowly let go of Kaine and walked close beside her, looking ahead at the one called Emil. Kaine walked over to him and embraced him tightly. "Thank you..." she whispered.
Emil rest his large head against Kaine's shoulder. "Don't worry, everything will be all right now..." He told her. "Come on. We should go inside now before those animals come back."
Kaine nodded, stepping back. She looked at Yonah, who couldn't keep her eyes off Emil.
"What are you?" Yonah asked quietly.
"I'm part human, part machine." replied Emil. "I fused my soul with my mechanical sister a long time ago: This body of mine was the outcome..."
"We need to get inside." Kaine reminded them.
Emil nodded and turned away. "Follow me. It isn't much further."
As they followed Emil up the path to his mansion, Kaine spoke. "I'm glad you came around when you did. We would have been goners."
"No we wouldn't." said Yonah. "We had the four-leaf clover with us; we were protected."
"Right, sure..." Kaine said with effort.
"You found a four-leaf clover? Wow. That's really lucky of you." Emil spoke up cheerfully. "You're Yonah, right?" Emil turned his head towards the girl. "I'm glad you're safe."