After Death (Editing)

Chapter 15

With the barshka in my hand, I raced back to Gabriel. The wind whipped through my hair and water started to sprinkle from the sky. Once I reached, he was in the same position that I left him in but, his eyes were closed.

I immediately peeled off the spiky, thick, green skin off of the plant and shoved the slimy remanence of it in his mouth. I shook him to wake him up. He slightly opened his eyes and chewed the barshka.

The rain that drizzled started to pour down. My clothes were soaked. The only sounds that could be heard were the thumping of rain hitting the dirt ground and loud, vast calls of various birds.

Gabriel had not fully regained his energy so I dragged his heavy body where we had more shelter. I allowed him to rest his head on my lap while I sat down in quiet.

By the time the rain stopped, Gabriel was feeling a ton better. He was still laying on my lap but he fully opened his eyes and seemed more alert.

"Thank you," He said in a hoarse voice.

I ran my hand through his full head of luscious hair. It was silk against my hands. I gave him a small smile, " You are most welcome."

We remained that way for a little while, in a comfortable, almost peaceful silence. The breeze was gentle and the air smelled of fresh rain and earth. I almost dozed off but Gabriel shook me out my state of sleepiness so we could start moving again.

As we walked to an unknown destination I began to feel restless. "Where are we going?" I asked.

"To go visit an old friend of mine." He replied, keeping his gaze focused on the path ahead of us.

I found it odd that he seemed to know the forest so well. When I wandered off by myself I used rocks so I wouldn't get lost. He looked like an expert and if he wasn't, he sure fooled me.

"What was your life like when you were alive?" I asked, feeling bored. We were doing a lot of walking but not enough talking.

"You see this-" he spread out his arms,"-I dedicated my life to saving rainforests."

"From what?" I questioned him. I looked around and it certainly didn't seem like it was in danger.

"Farmers, illegal loggers and so on."

"Oh, okay." I nodded, "Is that how you have a friend here?"

"Yep, but they are more like family."

"They?" I asked. I was confused, I thought he only meant one person.

"Well, my friends are a native tribe here, the Awa. When coming here I met them and they taught me all I needed to know about the forest. They are the most welcoming and kind people I have ever met."

I broke into a big smile. "Well that's cool, I look forward to meeting them."

He glanced at me and grinned. "I think they will like you and you will like them."

As we went further into the jungle the number of trees decreased. We soon stopped at a little village where there wasn't any greenery or animals in sight. The ground was completely bare. The village had broken animal tents and shattered pottery all over the place. It gave off a feeling that it had been abandoned.

Gabriel bent down to touch the dry ground. He pressed his lips into a thin line. "They're gone" he whispered.

He didn't say anything else but stared at the empty village with a sad expression on his face. He looked so detached, I had no idea what happened. This is probably where his friends lived I thought. If that was the case, why did he look so much in despair? They could have moved.

Out of nowhere arrows of blazing fire zipped in our direction.

"Get up we have to go NOW!" I screamed frantically.

He held out his hand for us to teleport somewhere else, but nothing happened. He had a panicked look on his face as he stared at his hands in shock.  An arrow almost hit him in the back of his head but I pushed out the way before it happened.

With that, he jumped up took my hand and ran. More arrows came our way but miraculously we weren't hit. We both went behind a tree to escape the fire.

His eyes looked into mine as if they were searching for an answer. I heard the crackling sound of fire hitting the trunk of the tree and we ran behind another one. It was like playing Call of Duty except they had arrows and we were defenseless. They were the lion and we were the wounded gazelle. Absolutely and utterly hopeless.

"What are we going to do?" I breathed out.

"We have to get out of here," He said in a hushed voice.

"I think we should make a run for it. Something is up with your powers."

He nodded his head. "On the count of three, we speed off. I don't care where, but away from them."

"Okay," I said under my breath.

"1, 2, 3 GO!" He screamed.

My heart was pumping out of my chest as my legs were moving as fast as they could. My breath was heavy.  The only thing on my mind was making it out safe. The forest passed me as a green blur. I didn't stop running until we were out and away from danger, or so I thought.

A/N: What do you think happened to Gabriel's friends?