Emory

Chapter 6

I hold on with all my strength but the wind has picked up and is whipping around and through our fingers. It is deliberately trying to unhinge us from each other. Right when I open my mouth to say I am slipping a huge gust of wind slams into me like a wall, ripping us apart. Juliet’s scream echoes my own as we are dragged away in separate directions. I hear Ben yell something but it is muffled by the uproar of wind that is following Juliet as he runs after her. I am being dragged away just as fast. Carson begins running after me but the speed of the earth picks up, throwing dirt and dust in between us until I can not see him anymore.

Branches snag and pull my hair as they fly by. I am being dragged backwards so I can not see what is coming. I look over my shoulder just in time to see a bowed up log in my path. I pivot so I am facing it and lay down completely flat. I squeeze my eyes shut and press into the earth. I feel a gust of air and something painful swipes at my check. I open my eyes and look back to see that I cleared it.

I try not to scream so that I can focus and dodge the branches of the trees and roots that seem to be getting bigger the faster I go. A sudden incline and I am thrown into the air. I leaf breaks my fall and I side down it, only to be carried away by the terrain once again. I hear a voice yell at my left and I try to focus past the blur of trees. I catch a glimpse of someone running along with me. Has Carson caught up to me? I try to put my heels into the dirt to slow me down. I look in front of me to see if there is something I can grab ahold of only to see a fallen tree in my path. I hear the voice again, shouting for me to jump.

“I can’t!” I yell back.

The tree is coming up too fast. I put my arms out in front of me to brace myself. Abruptly I feel arms around my waist. I close my eyes and hold onto the arms around me. I am sure we are going to collide with the tree so I try to brace myself. The arms unexpectedly release me, causing me to be thrown it the air. A scream is ripped out of my lungs. Just as quickly, I am caught again. This time I am facing my rescuer. I wrap my arms around tight their neck, afraid I will be torn away in any direction. We both are fighting to breath. It takes a minute for me to realize we are not moving anymore. I can feel both of our rapid heartbeats running in time with each other.

He slowly releases my legs from their hold, allowing me to touch the ground. I let one of my feet touch for a second and immediately feel the charge of earth again. I tighten my grip and wrap my legs around them again, afraid that once I touch the ground I will be carried away all over again. The man sighs and looks around for a second before he starts walking.

“Alright, alright.” I hear him coo in a strong male voice with an accent. “Ah will fin’ a better place.”

He carries me easily, jumping from fallen tree to fallen tree. I open my eyes and look out over his shoulder. It takes me a second to comprehend that those ‘fallen trees’ are not trees at all. They are massive roots. My eyes follow them all the way up to these enormous trees. My brain can not grasp the enormity of their size. Being carried like I am makes me feel even smaller. The wind is cold and it makes me shiver. It's then I realize... I am butt naked. How the heck did that happen!

Before I know it, my carrier is climbing up one of these trees. We are soon so high I press in closer to him and close my eyes. I feel the rumble of a laugh in his chest. He lets go of me, leaving me to hang on to him on my own as he uses both hands to scale to tree. We are at such a great height I am able to look out over my surrounds. I am shocked to see that not just the trees are giant, but everything. If they are at a regular stature, I would only be about a hand tall. My eyes grow wide at the thought.

I look down at his shoulder where my chin had been resting and see a trickle of blood. The sight and smell of blood always makes me faint. I close my eyes quickly. A minute later he stops climbing and sets me down on a branch. He has to grip my wrists to extract my hold on him.