Ice and Fire

Chapter 5

Surrounded by green light seemed blinding, so Sam and I had to shut our eyes. That's when I noticed a slight humming sound growing louder and louder.
"Celeste what's that noise?" Sam shouted over the humming

"I don't know. "

"What?"

"I don't know!" I shouted louder.

The humming grew even louder. I had to let go of Sam's hand to cover my ears. Sam did the same.

Suddenly, the humming stopped. It was quiet. The only noise was the ringing in my ears. I opened my eyes to find Sam curled up in a ball with he eyes shut tight and his hands over his ears. I took my gaze off of him and found ourselves in a forest. "Sam. It's safe to open your eyes. The humming stopped. " I told him; still looking at the forest.

"Where are we?" Sam asked and I shrugged. "Don't know. Let's go find out. Shall we?" I held out my hand and Sam, without hesitating, took it. We walked deeper into the forest until Sam interrupted the silence between us. "Do normal forests have giant squirrels?"

"Depends on how giant. " I chuckled.

"How about as big as a pit bull...?"

I turned to see what Sam was talking about and my jaw dropped. Just as Sam said, it was a giant pit bull sized squirrel, but one other thing he forgot to mention, it had three eyes. "Sam, you didn't tell me about the extra-"

"Eye, yes. I just noticed that myself.."

"Should we run?" I asked him.

"Um.. I say yeah. "

"Okay.. 1... 2... Run!" and we both took off sprinting. A faint roar was in the distance and I turned to see what it was. The giant squirrel was chasing us. "Run faster!" I screamed and we both sprinted. I kept a tight grip on Sam's hand so that I wouldn't outrun him. Sam suddenly tripped over a stump and dragged me down with him. Sam got up but my foot somehow managed to get stuck in between two of a trees roots that had reached the surface. "Sam go!"

"I'm not leaving you!"

"Just go!"

"No!" he tried to pull my foot out. "Your stupid big feet!"

"Hey! I don't have big feet!"

"Do too. "

"Now is not the time, Sam!" My heart race as we heard the footsteps of the creature grow closer. I wiggled my foot the best I could, but the roots seemed to have tightened. "Sam just go!"

"No!" tears filled his eyes. "I won't leave you. "

The giant three-eyed squirrel was now just a few feet away. "Sam go!" I screamed. The big rodent roared lowly when someone jumped out in front of us and pulled a bow and shot the creature in his middle eye. It let out a loud piercing screech before collapsing on the ground. I looked at the stranger as they approached the big tree. "Now now.. Let her go. She had done You no harm. Let her go. " He had a charming accent and his voice was smooth and soothing. Suddenly the roots loosened and my foot could slide through. "Thank you. "

"Don't thank me. That the Noot that set you free. " he pulled off his hood. It was a boy about my age. Perhaps a bit older. Dark chocolate brown eyes and blonde wavy hair. Despite his serious frown, he had laugh lines around the corners of his lips. "The what?"

The boy tilted his head then looked at my outfit then at Sam. "You're not from around hear are ya?"

"No, in fact we don't know where we are. " I replied. 

"You're in Frair. Small country. Mostly forest, but there is a village near by. Can you walk?" he held out his hand and I hesitantly grabbed it. The unknown boy helped me up. "Mind telling me your names?"

"I'm Sam. " He spoke broadly and held out his hand. The boy looked at it confused. "What's the matter? Never had a handshake before?"

"A what?" he asked.

I tried not to laugh and just stay quiet and watched. "A handshake, " Sam explained. "It's a formal way to say hello. "

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you shake hands to say hello?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know but we do it. "

The boy then turned to me. "And you are?"

"I'll tell my name when you tell me yours. "

A smug smile formed on his face. "Fair enough. Name's Phoenix. "

"Phoenix? Like the fire bird?"

"Yeah. " he nodded. "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing I like it. " I smiled. "My name is Celeste. "

"Alright Celeste and Sam let's take you to my village. There's food and shelter. You'll be safe there.  "

"Wait why should we trust you?" Sam crossed his arms.

"Because I just saved your life from a squizzard. "

"A what?"

Phoenix pointed to the giant squirrel creature. "Oh. " Sam nodded. "Alright fair enough. "
I rolled my eyes and chuckled softly. Then we followed Phoenix to his village.