Rapunzel, Eh? {To Be Continued Soon!}

~Chapter 5~

 I...I hated him, right? I hated him for taking away everything I could've had, trying to make me believe that what he was doing was okay...right? 

 I fell backwards at Alfred's tug at my arm. I was too lost in thought to stop it. I looked up just as the duel began. 

 Alfred and Matthew were both firing and slashing at him. Martin dodged almost all the hits swiftly, only suffering a few injures, and fired back his magic. It was a few seconds into the fight I realized that they were losing. 

 'Come on Alice,' I thought to myself, standing up. 'get ahold of yourself. They'll never win this fight against Martin. You know he's too strong. Help them get away, before Martin gets the upper hand and kills them both!' 

 I looked around for something that I could to to help, and spied the little ball of fur and my basket. 

'I wonder...' I moved silently, grabbing Ko. I knew my magic wouldn't work against Martin, so this was about the best chance I had. I whispered my plan to her, and somehow, I knew she understood. I mean, it was Martin who gave her to me, he probably made her from magic, and magic is never normal.

 I watched my little bear sneak into a bush near Martin, giving me time to grab a sharp rock and my long hair. 

 Yes, I did what you think I did. 

 I sliced off my hair to about my waist. "This is a lot lighter." I mumbled, looking at the battle before me. I dropped the rock, and watched as Ko did as I asked. 

 The fuzzball jumped onto him suddenly, biting and tearing at the dark fabric of his cloak. He let out a scream as she bit into his neck, and I acted quickly, winding the long hair around him. I could hear his muffled yells, and smiled a bit, Ko climbing back onto the basket. 

 "Let's go guys." I turned to the brothers, who gaped at me in shock. I snapped my fingers quickly, trying to get them to snap out of it. "We have to go while we can!" 

 They both came out of their trance, agreeing. I was somehow disturbed at the way they looked at me... 'W-whatever, probably didn't mean anything...' 

 We all ran, and sped up when we heard Martin's angry yell, meaning he'd ripped through the thick layer of hair I'd wound around him, and that he was probably now chasing us. Too bad for him, we didn't have any light, so he couldn't see where we were.

 "But he can probably still track us," I warned the guys while we ran. "either that or he can smell our flesh. I'm pretty sure he's both a wizard and some kind of canniballistic monster..." I got odd looks, but they didn't question it. 

 Suddenly, I heard Martin's voice yelling through the forest. "DON'T THINK YOU CAN RUN AWAY FROM ME, ALICE! I WILL GET YOU BACK, WETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!"

 I pumped my legs faster, holding onto my basket tightly. I could feel Martin getting closer. I knew he was. 

 "Uh, A-Alice?" Alfred stuttered out, glancing behind us. "We have a bit of a problem!" 

 I looked back for a second or two, and saw him. Martin was hot on our trail, with a bunch of magic-spawned creatures running after us. 

 "Dammit!" I gasped as one of them grabbed me. Al slashed at it, and cut it clean in half. 

 "Let's keep going!" We tried to run, but they were fast. But, when I thought hope was lost...

 "What are you kids doing out here?" The monsters and Martin had both vanished, and a man clad in armor had walked up to us. Matthew and Alfred had pulled their hoods up quickly, almost like they were scared of him. 

 "We were...hunting, and then we ran into a monster, a little ways away from here." Alfred lied, pointing into the direction we'd just came from.

 "A monster? I'll go check the area out. Are any of you hurt?" I was ready to tell him about the gashes from where the monsters had bitten me, but Al gave me a look that made me shut my jaw. 

 "We're all fine, thank you." The man nodded, then went along, going to find the 'monster'. "That was close..." 

 I looked confusedly at the boys, but didn't question it. I figured they had some reason for doing that. "Now," Matt said, slinging his bow back on his shoulder. I looked at him, and he looked away quickly. Why? "l-let's find somewhere safe to s-spend the night."

 It was early morning, almost dawn, when we got to an inn that they deemed safe. They still hid their faces. As I lay down on the bed in my room, I couldn't fall asleep. I had too many questions floating around in my head. Why did Martin need me so much? I mean, he taught me magic...maybe he didn't want me showing other people? Why did Alfred and Matthew cover their faces from people so often? Are they not telling me something? And...

 ...Why Alfred look at me like I was some prize? Why did Matthew stutter every time I looked him in the eyes? It was all so confusing. Eventually, though, as the sky started to melt into a mixture of oranges and blues, sleep took over, and my thoughts rested in the darkness.