Chapter Eight

A crack in the trees made me look up and I sighed as my eyes fell on the kid. His dark blue jumper seemed too big for him and his curly, coal black hair was shining with grease. I frowned. There was something strange about this kid. Why had no one said his name? Even Llewellyn had called him 'child'.

"Hey Monkey, you okay?" I asked, squatting down to his level. As pissed off as I was at the others, it didn't have anything to do with the green eyed kid in front of me. He didn't answer, instead he seemed to look around and then grab my hand, pulling me back the way we'd come.

"Monkey." I called but he didn't stop. With a sigh, I dug my heels in and forced him to stop. "I'm sorry, Monkey, but I can't go with you. I don't belong with you, okay?" The kid paused for a moment, staring up at me. Damn. This kid had killer puppy dog eyes. But before I could react, he grabbed my other hand and started pulling me with all his strength.

"Oi kid, don't go running away like that!" I looked up to find Zak running towards us, his eyebrows pulled into a frown. He blinked when he spotted me and I watched as his poker face slid into place."Sorry, I saw you leave before." I frowned and opened my mouth but Zak held up his hand. "I get it, okay? You don't want to come with us. If you think you can deal with this by yourself then we're not going to force you." Zak sighed and ran his hand through his hair before kneeling so he was eye level with the kid. "You need to stop running away, you know? It's dangerous for you to - uh?" Zak frowned and tilted his head at the kid. "What kind of expression is that?" I leaned over to look at the kids face and instantly had to bite back a laugh. The kids face was scrunched so he resembled a toad, his green eyes shining as he glared up at Zak, his grip on my hands tightening to an almost painful level.

"I think that directly translates into pissed off." Zak blinked in surprise, staring at the kid like he didn't know what to do with that information.

"Kid, why are you mad at me? She's the one who doesn't want to come with us." He kept his voice light, trying to joke with the kid. I sighed, attempting to dislodge my hands from the boys fingers, when his eyes suddenly flitted to the side. I froze. I might have imagined it but I thought I saw pure terror flash through his eyes.

"Is this where he ran off to?" I jumped as Caerun came up to us, he breathed hard as though he'd been running.

"Yeah, I guess he didn't want Tera to leave." My attention shifted, something wasn't sitting right with me. The boys hands, still gripping mine, had begun to shake and a nagging feeling in my chest was telling me something wasn't quite right. Zak and Caerun seemed to fade away as I looked around, we were still in the entrance of Forest Park so it wasn't strange that there were people around us but... was that man staring at us? No, not us. I yanked the kid into me, gathering him onto my hip as my eyes scanned our surroundings.

"Tera?" Zak asked, trying to follow my line of sight. As soon as he turned his head, his eyes widened and suddenly both men were standing guard over the kid and I.

"Get back to the cafe!" Caerun yelled and I turned to do as he said but after I took a few steps back the way we'd come, a lightening bolt of realisation hit me. There were two men standing by the entrance, their hands in their jacket pockets like they weren't really paying attention to us. But I had seen them watching, not me, not Zak or Caerun, but the little boy in my arms. They were waiting for me to go back to the cafe. They were waiting for me and the kid to seperate from the others. It was a trap. I paused, swallowing as Zak and Caerun circled around us.

"What are you doing, Tera? Get out of here!" Zak yelled. I chewed on my lips as adrenaline blasted through me. I couldn't tell the guys what I'd noticed without tipping off the men around us but I knew, if I followed the path, there was no way we'd get away. So, I swallowed, breathed deeply and plunged head first into the forest around us.

The boy clung tightly to me as we crashed through the undergrowth, the twigs and branches snagging at my clothes and tearing at my skin. My legs burned as I ran as fast as I could, the unmistakable sound of large animals destroying the undergrowth behind me. A twig slid under me and I almost crashed to the ground, panic rocketing through me as I held onto the boy. I couldn't stop, I had to keep going, I pushed myself through the pain desperately hoping that Zak and Caerun could deal with the others. Or Llewellyn, although I had no idea where he'd gone. A sound to my side made me spin abruptly, losing my balance, I teetered forward only for a large, black wolf to suddenly jump in and take my weight. I almost panicked until I saw his familiar blue eyes and sighed in relief.

"Zak it's you." I breathed, my legs trembled from the sudden strenuous exercise but when Zak looked up at me with a questioning look, I forced a smile and shook my head.

"I'm okay, don't worry about- Zak, look out." I let the kid fall to the ground as I launched myself over Zak and collided with the black wolf that had been about to attack. My fist crushed it's throat as I took him by surprise, the momentum forcing him backwards a few steps as I used his shock as an opportunity to land a forceful kick to his temple. It was enough to throw him off enough for Zak to jump in and tear the wolf further away from us, the sounds of their fight followed as I grabbed the kid and started to run again.

Pain ripped through me, my legs were on fire, my skin was bleeding and my arms burned from the weight of the child. I sighed as I realised I couldn't run forever and as I came to a smal clearing with a single tree in the middle, I skidded to a stop.

"You've got to get somewhere safe." I told the boy as he slipped from my hip. He stared up at me for a few seconds before looking around the clearing like he was completely lost. I bit my lip, if I was lucky they'd continue following me thinking I had the child but that wasn't guaranteed.

"You've got to run, Monkey. Find Llewellyn or some where safe or- do that I guess?" The kid was expertly scrambling up the tree like his life depended on it... which I guess it kind of did. Watching him, I couldn't help but smile, Monkey had been a surprisingly perfect nickname for him. As he disappeared into the trees canopy, I turned to face our pursuers. This time, I knew what I was facing. I could handle myself. I hoped. As the sounds of my own heartbeat began to die down and my breathing became a little less ragged, the sounds of multiple fights filled the forest. I swallowed, my mouth dry. It didn't sound like there was only two of them. Zak and Caerun might have been fighting a losing battle.

"Damn it!" I cried, looking around desperately. Now that I was here I realised running aimlessly through the woods had not been a very good idea as I had no idea where we were or how far away we were from the cafe or any kind of help. I might have effectively signed our death certificates.

"Princess." I jumped about a mile in the air as Zak suddenly stumbled into the clearing, clutching his side where a bright red stain was spreading through his jacket.

"You're hurt!" I cried, rushing to his side. He grimaced and removed his hand from the wound, it looked like something had pierced him.

"Landed on a tree branch, don't worry, it'll be gone in a few minutes." I opened my mouth to ask what he meant when the wound started to close in front of me. It was like watching his skin stitch itself back together until there was nothing but a red scar left, but even as I watched, it faded to white and then it looked like a wound had never been there in the first place.

"Told you." Zak looked around me, his eyebrows furrowed. "Where's the kid?" He asked. I pointed up at the tree.

"Being a monkey." He frowned a moment then took in his surroundings. I could see the cogs turning as he walked past me.

"They're not after you this time." Zak announced and I nodded.

"That's why I ran. They weren't looking at me." He sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"I should have realised when the kid went after you. He must have recognised them and thought they were after you." As Zak took a position by the tree, I stood on it's other side. If they were after the kid, they were going to have to get through me first.

"Why would the kid know who they are?" Zak never got the chance to answer as four wolves suddenly crashed into the clearing. I only had about two seconds to realise one of them wa Caerun when Zaks large, black frame came slamming into one of the wolves. Caerun stumbled, blood pouring from what looked like a bite on his hind leg but he still swung to face the second wolf, growling deep in his throat. I swallowed as the third wolf circled around me, eyeing me with a mix of caution and glee. I sighed, releasing all the pent up energy as I raised my fists for the coming fight. If he wanted to hurt me, fine, but I wasn't going to make things easy for him. The wolf sat back on his haunches and launched himself at me, I ducked under him, sliding safely under his bulk as he slammed head first into the tree. Dazed, he shook the hit off, only for my foot to collide with his ribcage, sending him flying to the side. I could do this. I could last a little longer until help got here.

Was help even coming?

My foot slammed into the wolves gaping mouth, crumpling his nose under my momentum. The wolf snorted and shook his head as blood began to pour from his face, but just as Zak had before, the wolves wounds began to fix themselves in front of my eyes. I swore. How was I supposed to win if I couldn't injure the damn things? I swallowed and readied myself for another round when a deep howl made us all turn around. A multicoloured wolf and a black wolf similar to Zak came barrelling into the clearing and slammed into the wolf I was facing and the one Caerun had been fighting. I blinked when I realised the wound on Caeruns leg hadn't healed the way the others had healed, A squeal ripped through the clearing and I watched as Zak and Caerun ganged up on the third wolf and tore his legs out from under him. It was all he could do to get away from them. The second wolf wasn't too far behind him but as I turned to look at the wolf that had been facing off against me, a tearing sound filled the suddenly silent clearing. Blood poured all over the ground, staining the snow bright red in the midday sun. The last wolf lay on the ground with a gaping hole where his neck had been. The sight was gruesome as Llewellyn shifted back to human form and wiped the blood from his mouth.