The Secret of The Forest

Prologue

We were running as fast as we could, worried that someone might see us. We were both nervous, we never had thought that we would get this far but, we did. We planned to be back within two weeks, it would give us enough time to find the Golden Lily and get back. The moon shone through the trees, illuminating the leaves and twigs on the forest floor.

The twigs snapped under our feet as we ran. The more distance we put in between the village and us the better. After fifteen minutes of running, we slowed to a brisk walk. We walked for hours keeping a constant pace not wanting to stay in one place for too long. The monsters that roamed the forest would know where we were, if we were slow, we would get killed like Freya and Felix. It would mean two more siblings killed; another family broken.

We knew that it was a risk coming here, we didn't let that stop us. At dawn, we sat down and ate; I poked at my food unable to eat. Ella ate quickly, she looked ravenous. We had a long day ahead of us, we didn't let this discourage us. The sun rose through the trees. It was cold as we started hiking westward, the direction said to hold the magic lily.

We heard a branch snap behind us, there wasn't anything there. We started picking up our pace. We heard another twig snap. Something was following us. I looked back; a large shadow moved quickly. It could be an animal or a person or something much, much worse. I listened for a moment some of the foliage rustled leaves crunched under a heavy foot. I looked Ella in the eyes, she seemed just as scared as I was. One more twig snapped, "Run!" I mouthed.

We started racing down a small trail, we heard footsteps racing after us. I looked behind us to see a person running at us, I started running faster than I thought possible, Ella followed suit. We came upon a fork in the trail, I immediately chose the right, we ran into a dense thicket, someone crashed through, ripping vines from their place. We were smaller and it gave us an advantage. We were faster, the terrain didn't hinder our ability to get away. It did for the person following us.

We ran into a dead-end, the trees closed around us, the only way out was up. I was decent at climbing, but Ella quickly fell behind. The person that was following us was fast at climbing, quickly closing the gap we had made. I reached Ella's hand, trying to pull her up, it was hard, I could barely hold on; I decided on one thing, I grabbed her hand and took a deep breath, and jumped. We were about twenty or so feet in the air, if we landed on our feet, we should be fine.

Ella shrieked in surprise, we landed hard, the shock ran up our bodies, we lost our balance for a second, I looked behind us I saw him jumping out of the tree, he didn't lose his balance as we did, he rushed at us, someone behind me clamped their hand over my mouth, a sweet smelling cloth was pressed against my mouth. I heard Ella scream. I was struggling against them; they were simply too strong. I started feeling dizzy and my eyes wouldn't stay open. I took one last breath struggling for air.

I'm posting this here in hopes that it will help me edit consistently by adding a little pressure. Have a great day! Thanks for reading!

   -C.M.