4 Surprise Meeting

"NOOOO!!!"

Rat throws himself in front of me and blood goes everywhere.

I can't help but look at Rat's head, which has been partially split in half. The goblin keeps yanking his sword, but the blade must be stuck in Rat's skull.

"Kairo, come on! Into the woods!"

Matt runs up to me and pulls on my arm.

"But Rat-"

"Is dead! We can do nothing about it. He sacrificed himself for you so you would have a chance to live. Now take that chance!"

"Dammit!"

I slam my fist into the ground, then scramble to my feet and run into the forest, Matt close behind.

We run with abandon, not paying attention to where we're going.

We keep running until my legs feel like lead.

Unable to stop myself, I puke up everything that was in my stomach. The images of that impaled man, that girl with the slit throat, and Rat flood through my mind, making me heave even more.

After I'm done, I'm left gasping for breath.

"I am going to go look for someplace that is better hidden."

After I give a nod, Matt walks off into the woods.

Still unable to calm down, I focus on each and every needle around me, gradually slowing my hammering heart.

A flower with white petals catches my eye. There's a crimson red on the edge of each petal. It's the most beautiful flower I've ever seen.

(At least, the most beautiful one I think I've seen.)

A few deep breaths later, and I finally find my calm.

"I found something!"

Moments later, we're sitting in a small circle of trees where we can rest, hidden from sight.

"What in the world were those monsters?"

"Goblins. Burch mentioned them before vanishing."

I answer his question quickly. Hopefully he doesn't notice my forced calm or the tension in my voice.

"I see. Very observant of you."

"Thanks." I say sarcastically, "So what's the plan now?"

"I was wondering that too."

Matt and I jump as a girl drops down from the trees.

I recognize her as the girl who immediately ran off after coming out of the cave. She must have gone into the woods and hidden.

"Who are you?!"

She rolls her eyes at the spooked Matt.

"Don't act so surprised. I'm Natalia. And you guys are?"

"Matthew." Will responds very curtly, his voice filled with suspicion.

"But you can call him Matt. I'm Kairo."

I say it with a bit of a smirk and she rolls her eyes again.

Sighing in response, I lay down and stare at the sky.

It takes everything I've got to keep my calm, to not curl into a ball and cry.

It doesn't feel real, but the blood staining my clothes and hands is a constant reminder of what happened.

"So Mr. Kairo-"

"Just Kairo."

"Fine. Kairo. What are we doing now?"

Raising my head off the ground, I meet her intense stare.

"We? You just dropped out of a tree like an apple. Why are you including yourself in Matt and my 'team' or whatever you want to call it?"

She furrows her brow, then seems to make up her mind about something.

"There is strength in numbers! We have a higher chance of survival if we work together."

"You said the first thing that came to mind, didnt you?"

A slightly blush creeps onto her face as she gives me a "Humph".

She's kinda cute, with her arms crossed and cheeks slightly puffed.

"Honestly," I sit up with a grunt, "I don't care if you join us or not. Matt?"

"I would rather not, but she makes a valid point. Additionally, a triangle is the strongest shape."

The confusion is evident on Natalia's face, and I'm pretty sure I have the exact same expression.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"What I meant is that there are three sides of a triangle and there are three of us. So having three people gives us a higher chance of survival."

I sigh in exasperation.

"Why didn't you lead with that? Well, I guess that settles it. Welcome to the 'we' Natalia. Apparently, we now make a shape."

She smiles slightly, then sticks out her hand.

My hand envelops hers, which is soft to the touch.

"So, like I asked, what is the plan?"

"Well, all we're really doing is-"

I immediately stop talking as I hear a branch snap.

Making signs for Matt and Natalia to be quiet, I cup my ears with my hands in an attempt to hear better.

Now that everything is silent, I can hear heavy breathing and uneven foot steps. They're coming from the same direction Matt and I had come from.

(Goblins! Dammit, they must have followed us here!)

I point to the three nearest trees and motion for Matt and Natalia to climb them, putting my finger up to my mouth at the end.

They both nod and walk quickly toward two pine trees. I'm left with a tree that has scale like bark.

It almost looks like a thick version of a palm tree that has branches like a pine.

I'm about midway up the tree when two goblins enter the clearing.

"I heared people here."

The second goblin turns back to his college, who is looking around.

"No one here! Your ears broken!"

The first goblin slapped his companion on the back of his head then pointed at the ground.

"No! See needles messy?"

Scratching his head, the second goblin looks around again.

"Where they be then?"

"Don't know. Look around."

Finally, they leave.

I wait in the tree until I'm certain they're gone before I climb down. Will and Natalia follow suit, meeting me in the middle of the small clearing.

"I did not know they were capable of speech."

"Neither did I. Anyway, we should move. They knew we were here, and they'll probably be back."

"So how're we going to avoid running into them?"

(As if I know Natalia!)

Shaking my head slightly, I look around for any ideas or inspiration. When my eyes finally meet the tree I was just in, something clicks.

"The trees. They seem to be tightly knit enough for us to climb from one to the other. Once we're far enough away, we'll climb back down and go from there."

They look at me like I'm crazy.

"Do you guys have any better ideas?"

They look at each other, then back to me.

"So which tree are we climbing?"

"From what I saw, the tree I was in is pretty good, so we should start there."

They both nod, then follow me to the tree.

"I'll go first. Will, you'll follow me after I'm about ten feet off the ground. Same thing for you Natalia, but after Will."

As I climb up, I try to keep an eye on the ground. Will starts climbing the tree, so I look around for a good place to cross.

The branches are thicker than I am wide, but I'm still making sure that they'll support us.

I happen to glance down right as the two goblins burst into the clearing.

Everyone freezes.

(Oh shit.)

A millisecond later, Natalia and the goblins move at the same time.

I quickly drop past Will, keeping an eye on the ground while dropping from branch to branch.

She starts scrambling up the tree and they lunge for her. One of them manages to grab her ankle and a tug of war ensues.

The only thing keeping her in the tree is her grip on a piece of the scale bark, but it breaks off in a matter of seconds.

They both tumble to the ground.

Natalia is trying to kick her way out of the goblins grip, but they have a solid grip.

The other goblin starts swinging at Natalia.

She's managing to avoid the blade for now.

My feet hit the ground.

I desperately look for something, anything to use, and my eye catches something shiny.

The bark from the tree. It almost looks like a shield. It even has a handle on the inside.

One goblin is holding Natalia down while the other has his sword poised.

(Now or never!)