The Forbidden Forest

Chapter 3

I stared in shock at the note in my hand, and the bow sitting next to me. Not for the first time in my life, I couldn't help wondering, who and what am I? I hear the bell signaling that the next class is starting, and I start to panic. I try to shove the bow and the quiver into my backpack, and miraculously it worked. The bow and quiver stick together, and shrink into a single arrow.

I grab my backpack, and limp as fast as I can to my next class. "Nova, you look like you've seen a ghost!" Ms. Perez says as I walk into the classroom. "Oh I'm okay!" I reply with a smile. I calmly walk to my desk in the corner of the room.

I hate my seat in this room, Daniel sits next to me, and I know he's going to gloat about hitting me. As if he was reading my thoughts, he smirked and said, "I think I have a new favorite moment for times Nova the Cripple messed up, daydreaming while trying to actually be good at something!" Anger overtook me. Before I knew what I was doing, I felt a fire blazing inside of me. It was a feeling I've never had before.

I opened my eyes, and everyone was staring at me in horror. I looked up, and Daniel was literally floating! He was screaming and yelling, and I started to panic. "No-Nova, put Daniel down please!" Ms. Perez said with pure terror in her voice. "I-I don't know how! I don't even know how this happened!" I replied.

Suddenly, Selene walked into the classroom. She saw Daniel floating, and shrieked. She muttered a few words, waved her hand, and Daniel floated down. He screamed, and ran out the door. "Selene! I don't know what happened! It was all so sudden!" I said tearfully.

Selene gave me a sympathetic look, and waved her hand again. All of the sudden, everyone in the classroom had a blank look on their face. "What just happened?" Ms. Perez asked while scratching her head. Then she looked at the whiteboard, and recognizing it said, "Oh yeah! Okay everyone, back to your seats, let's continue taking notes..."

I followed Selene outside of the classroom, and she said, "I know you have a lot of questions, but if you want to live to know the answers, you're going to have trust me." Wow Selene, you're quite the cheerful one, thanks for making me feel-

Before I could finish that thought, a blood-curdling screech filled the air. Selene grabbed my hand, and yelled, "We need to go. Now." The two of us bolted outside of the school without looking back.

As we ran, the screeching got louder, and louder. When we passed the gate, a dark shadowy figure with bat wings landed in front of us. In a low, raspy, inhuman voice, it said, "Give me the daughter of magic, and I will let you go." With a defiant look on her face, Selene yelled, "Never!"

Selene pulled out two knives, and attacked. She moved like a gymnast, swinging her knives at the bat-like figure. It tried to pierce her with its talons, but Selene was simply too fast. "That's what you get for attacking my friend!" Selene yelled gleefully while somersaulting.

The bat figure smiled cruelly, and said, "Oh, I'm the first of many. Do you honestly think the wraiths travel alone? Before either of us could react, the sky went dark. The whole sky turned black with all of the wraiths that were coming at us.

I remembered my bow in my backpack, and pulled out the arrow that it became. I pushed a button on the back of the arrow, and it sprung back into a bow and a quiver. I loaded an arrow as quick as lightning, and managed to hit a wraith. I was shocked at the accuracy of my aim, however this did next to nothing to stop the wraiths from coming at me.

More and more started landing and attacking, and Selene was busy hacking away at the wraiths with her knives, and trying to stay alive. I kept on shooting wraiths, but I knew they would eventually overwhelm me.

A wraith scratched me with its talons, and I stumbled. More took this as an opportunity to attack me, and I kept getting hurt more and more. I cried out in pain. So this is the end, I thought to myself. Not knowing what exactly I am, or why this is all happening to me.

A conch horn sounded in the distance, and a battle cry erupted. About 20 teenagers poured out of the forest fully armed, and attacked the wraiths. Somehow I found the strength to push the wraiths off of me. I shot surrounding wraiths, and ran to Selene's aid.

Five teenagers were already helping Selene, but they were easily outnumbered. The wraiths were surrounding them, and I couldn't do anything about it. I hated being helpless.

Sure enough, that feeling triggered some of my worst memories. I remembered a time when I was five, when I wasn't allowed to leave the house, or do much of anything. I also remembered a time when I was ten, when Daniel was teasing me and I couldn't do anything about it because I was surrounded by teachers.

I let loose a terrible battle cry made from built up emotions, and pastel rainbow light streamed off from me. It passed through the teenagers, however it made the wraiths dissolve.

I felt extremely woozy after doing that, and nearly collapsed. I would've fallen if it weren't for the boy who caught me. The last thing I remember before I blacked out is him saying, "It's okay. Everything is going to be okay."