5

"Ay! Human?..."

I hear someone saying and hitting my cheek lightly. I open my eyes slowly and I find myself face to face with a handsome face.

He looks familiar but my muddled brain can't process anything right now. I rub my eyes wondering what was happening and where I am.

I'm leaning against a tree while sitting on the ground. I don't mind, I think.

"Ay human? Look at me?" the man in front of me says drawing my attention back to him again.

I look up at him and everything comes rushing back.

God! This guy was a wolf and he killed that other skinny guy!

I look around with huge eyes but I can't find any signs of that other man's boney body. I can barely see anything in this darkness anyway.

The man sighes as he stands up. He holds out his hand and I think he wants me to take it but I just stare at it.

"No need to be scared, human. The blood sucker is not going to bother you again."

He thinks I'm scared of the other guy. I want to laugh at this but I'm too scared to even utter a sound.

This guy is so hugely imposing I feel faint just looking at him. But maybe my eyes were over whelmed with fear when I think I saw him turn from a wolf to a man?

It's not even physically possible... But so is me ending up in the middle of a forest after stepping out of a supermarket.

I hate to admit this but I would take bumping into that other dark man I met in the streets over this, any day.

"We have to leave this place before other blood suckers or creatures come after you." He clicks his tongue as he looks me up and down while dragging me to my feet by my arms. "Don't you know that a human in these parts is like a sitting duck? Or do you know some defensive skills you can use to protect yourself?"

I am standing now and even more scared after what he just said. I want the tree to stay in my back and him in front that way I can feel at least a bit safe.

"Don't move," he says suddenly.

I feel my blood freeze as I look up at him and he's looking directly above me. He draws a fancy sword like knife from his waist.

At the sight of it's gleaming metal, I'm dead for sure. I know there's nothing I can do to even put a scratch on this big man if he wishes to kill me. I just pray it will be quick.

I close my eyes and get ready to die. I hear a short loud hiss, searing of flesh and a thud followed by a heavy whoosh of something long and big falling behind the tree.

Surprised that I'm still standing there with no pain, I look at my side where I heard the thud and see a big snake head. The size of it is impossible to even imagine and it sinks in that I almost died, twice in less than five minutes.

My eyes are so wide as I look at this snake head that is bigger than my torso. I stifle a scream, my knees knocking into each other as I look around helplessly trying to see my surroundings in the dark. It's useless I know but I do it anyway.

"They always stay in twos. It's mate will be here soon, we better move before it arrives. The longer we stay here the more dangerous it gets for you." He puts emphasis on the 'you' making sure I understand that I was prey here.

He picks up my grocery bags and phone that I have no idea when I dropped it so far away. He gives it a look then stashed it in my bag on my shoulder.

"It's here," he says looking up into the trees.

My legs finally gave in to the command of moving from my brain and the first thing I do is cling to his huge torso. My hands couldn't meet around his back so I grabbed hold of his clothes. He is my only way of surviving, I am not letting him go.

He froze for a second before he pulled my legs up and around him.

"Hold on tight," he says as he took off in a sprint like he's not carrying me plus my heavy groceries. He runs a few feet then leaps on top of something.

I must be lighter than the last time I checked my weight or this isn't real.

I have my eyes shut the whole time, I don't want to spot another huge snake. I can only imagine how long the dead one was from it's head.

I cling to him for dear life in a not so proper or ladylike way but I don't care right now.

I hear a loud hiss behind us as we gallop away, creating a distance between us and the hissing. All I can do is hold him tighter as we bounce up and down.

We have been going at a breakneck speed for sometime now but I can't even open my eyes or bring myself to loosen my grip on his clothes. If I had nails, I would have bruised his sides by now.

Now I know what true fear of death is. As I think about it now I shake with pure fear.

I almost died. Twice. I shudder at the thought.

I bury my face in his chest seeking comfort and safety.

"It's alright, human. We will soon be out of the dark forest," I hear him say over my head, his hand around me tightening reassuringly.

There's something about the way he says it that makes me feel safe. After that, there's silence as I hear powerful hooves hitting the ground at a very high speed. It adds to the comfort knowing that we are putting great distance between us and the other giant snake.

Maybe there's something wrong with me because I know that seeing that snake chasing us will increase my fear but I'm too curious. I open my eyes and realize I can't see anything because... Well, this man is impossibly huge, I can't even see past his shoulder.

Urgg! Why do I suddenly feel like a tiny child?

We break out of the forest and I see why it's called the Dark forest immediately. There's moonlight out here. Moonlight that I didn't even see a glimpse of in the forest.

It's like there's a darkness enveloping the whole place. Scary, it makes me shudder. As if on cue, I hear a loud hiss behind us.

"Evil resides in darkness. Now we're under the great Goddess's protection. It won't come after us."

He sounds confident and I have no choice but to trust him and his goddess. Whoever that was.

...

"Human? We are here," I hear my savior's deep voice again after a long time of hard ridding through plains as I realize we are slowing down.

I can't see anything that resembles civilization anywhere around us from the little that I can make out, so I look behind me and I catch a glimpse of something in the air. I'm not sure what it is, don't think I have ever seen anything like this before.

"This will take us to the city."

To the city?

He stops and gets down with me still hanging onto him like a kaola bear hugging a eucalyptus tree. My legs are sore from bouncing up and down his steel thighs but I don't let go.

I hear him clear his throat before saying, "You-you can let go now. You are safe."

I realize the position I have been in for what seemed like hours and I feel ashamed. I look from side to side as I jump off of him in panic.

"Thank you, Mister." I finally say to him but I can't bare looking up at him. That was beyond being ladylike. I was...

Ohh God! Strike me down now!

Even if it was a life and death situation, I should not have acted so-so undignified with a man.

Aunty Kathy always said, "No matter what situation we find ourselves in, we should always be dignified. Even if you have to step in poop, do it with dignity."

Ahhhh well, at least she wasn't here to see me loose my mind with fear and throw away my dignity in front of a man.

"No worries."

I turn around to look at the thing in the air again, in an attempt to find something else to focus on besides this man and my humiliation.

Wait! Is that a blimp?! With rocket engines on the sides?

What part of the world is this?