The Girl from the Trees(Completed)

Run

Taylor and Jakub pushed the dresser out of the way, Taylor taking his place beside the door. Jakub reached forward and pulled the door inward, exposing them to the outside world for the first time since they entered the cabin. Everything was dark, the light from their torches dancing across the brambles that encircled their position. Before Taylor could take two steps, one of the creatures cut off his path.

The murkrel snarled, its massive fangs visible and overlapping in its lipless mouth. Twisted whiskers jutted from the sides of its long snout; sleek black fur covered its body. The creature's paws and tail where hairless, its razor-sharp claws were dug deep into the dirt, ready to pounce, its tail whipping back and forth. After what felt like an eternity, the creature lunged for Taylor, who sidestepped just in time, smashing his axe into the murkrels ribs. The creature hit the ground hard with a squeal, but Jakub was on top of it in no time, driving his machete through the side of its chest. Taylor glanced at him, and he pried his eyes of the now still animal, exchanging silent words. This trip was not going to be pleasant.

The five then started running for the pathway they had created in the undergrowth. Taylor and Jakub held their torches to opposite sides, waving them back and forth in hopes of deterring further attacks, once or twice connecting with a creature that had gotten too close, Sarzali being with them seemed to make the creatures more reckless. Shrieking filled the air, causing them to wince while they ran.

Making their way through the path was much harder this time, as they had flaming torches that they had to keep from catching everything on fire, endangering those behind them. Sam however was making sure to light as much of the bramble on fire as he could while trying his best to keep up with the others on his injured leg. As they broke free of the passage, Sam stumbled slightly, but managed to keep his feet, the pain in his leg throbbing. "Slow down a bit," he panted, working hard to maintain the groups pace.

"Sorry Sam, but we need to run as fast as we can," Taylor shouted back. "We have a long way to go.

The sky was still dark, stars dotting the vast space. "Why is it still night," Evan asked breathlessly as he ran. "We were in that cabin for hours."

Sarzali turned and looked at him, her hair and robes flowing unnaturally in the wind. "We were outside of time in the cabin, we are now back where you were meant to belong."

Working hard to keep up, Sam looked back over his shoulder, but the dense cropping of trees, that he had tried desperately to set ablaze, was gone. "The grove is gone!" he shouted, "Why the hell is the grove gone?"

No one answered, but they all kept moving. They could hear claws digging at the dirt and trees around them, bits of wood and small branches raining down on them from above. A large branch from a tree slammed down in front of them, causing them to pause for a moment, before quickly climbing over, watching each other's backs to ensure safe passage. The shrill shrieking continued as they moved, murkrels darting in and out of the darkness, swiping at them whenever they got the chance, the fire clearly doing its job of keeping them at bay.

It was impossible to tell exactly where the next attack would come from, given the amount of sound that was coming from the darkness, causing the group to count on luck and reactions to protect them. One of the creatures lunged out, swiping hard at Taylor, knocking his torch from his hand, which rolled away, highlighting many more murkrels in the trees. An ear splitting, pulse pounding shriek rang through the night, much louder and deeper than the others they were hearing.

Sarzali stopped and stared in the direction of the sound, the fire of the torches glittering in her large eyes. "It is a paramount."

"We need to keep moving!" Taylor shouted, though he could sense that something had changed. The sound of the murkrels had faded, the forest returning to an eerie silence. "The cliffs are still the goal, let's go!" Abandoning the torch he had dropped, the flames having gone out now that he was no longer holding it, Taylor ran into the darkness, the others following closely. Before long, the cliffs came into view, outlined by the sky, which was beginning to lighten. "Almost there guys, keep running!"

Sam looked around, "I think we are safe; they are no longer following us." Finally making it to the cliff face, they put their backs against the rock wall, breathing hard. Looking down, Sam shook his leg, trying to loosen it up, his bandages blood soaked. "I am not sure how much more running I can do."

"We should still be running," Sarzali mentioned flatly, her hair and robes still flowing in the still air, her breathing normal as if she had been standing still the entire time. "We are anything but safe."

"I agree, we need to get back to the other side of the ridge," Jakub stated. "We know the other side; our chances will be higher there."

"Let's go!" Taylor shouted and led the way onto the cliff path, the one they had followed to get down into the area they had found the cabin. "Careful of your footing, we don't want anyone to fall." The torch light was flickering, illuminating certain portions of the path, casting shadows on others.

As they walked, the sky continued to lighten, a loud scratching and grinding sound echoed off the rocks, filling the air around them. "What the fuck was that?" Sam said loudly. "Give us a break already!" The sound of rending stone was growing louder, accompanied by the sound of rocks rolling and crashing down the side of the mountain. "This one sounds bigger."

Taylor gripped his axe tightly, a red tinge clung to the blade. "If it catches us on this path, we will have no chance!" The fear that had faded when the murkrels had retreated now flooded back into them, adrenaline pumping and helping them to push themselves harder.

A roar echoed, vibrating everything as well as everyone standing on the rocks. Sarzali placed her hand on Jakub's shoulder as they stepped off the path and into the trees. "It is too late," she told him, her tone flat. "The paramount is here."