Gifts

Chapter Seven: Visitors in the Night

As we walked into the forest, a cold wind blew, causing my skin to erupt in goosebumps. The Dark Forest was filled with tall, thick trees that covered most of the view of the sky. There were also many bushes and underbrush that made it hard to walk, especially at a fast pace. I put Marcus in my backpack, but left it partly unzipped so he could still see and hear us.
"We have to hurry." Eska repeatedly said.
I was so tired and had to constantly encourage myself to keep walking. As I was walking, trying to keep up with Eska's fast pace, my foot got tangled in a bush of thorns and I tripped. My face and hands landed in the thorn bush and I scraped my knee on a jagged rock.
"Are you ok?" Marcus said.
I moaned in reply. "I guess I'll be fine." I tried to stand up, but my foot was still caught in the thorns so I fell again. Meanwhile, Eska was still walking ahead, completely oblivious.
"Eska," I shouted, "Help me."
She came back and helped me up.
"You need to be more careful, you are slowing us down." Eska snapped.
My eyes filled with tears. After the day I had, and the way I just tripped, I was filled with both physical and emotional pain.
"I'm sorry," she said,"we just need to get going."
I got up and brushed off the pain, but it still hurt to straighten my knee all the way.
For a while we walked in silence until we heard Eska start talking. "We aren't going to be able to make it to the Seer by tonight. It's too late. We have to camp out here tonight and we will go in the morning."
My heart skipped a beat as she said this.
1) I hated the dark
2) I hated camping and wasn't too fond of the woods
3) I didn't want to meet any of the "creatures" the Fairy Queen had mentioned.
I sighed as Eska sat down on a rotting log, only to have it break under her weight. In other circumstances it might've been funny, but right now o was terrified.
Eska pulled out a energy bar from her backpack and my stomach growled. I didn't realize how hungry I was. I pulled an energy bar out of my bag and took a huge bite. After I finished, I was about to eat another one but Eska told me I should save them. Instead, I grabbed a handful of my trail mix and a large swig of water from my water bottle. I didn't realize how much my throat burned until I sat down.
"We will have to take turns keeping guard," Eska explained, "it's too dangerous for us all too sleep at once. I'll take first watch."
I nodded and grabbed the dagger out of my bag. If I had to sleep out here, I was at least having a weapon by my side. I shivered as the night for colder and shrunk down in my shirt. After a while, I finally drifted off to sleep.
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What seemed like a few minutes later, Eska shook me awake and told me to keep guard. I could tell she needed sleep, so I somewhat willingly did it. I clutched my knife in my right hand and played with a piece of grass in my other hand. I heard a sew scuttles and frightening noises, which made me tighten my grip on the dagger. I didn't want to see one of those "creatures".
After what seemed like a few hours, I was about to fall asleep when I saw a small light through the trees. It looked like a torch and it was moving towards us. Fast.
I jumped up and started shaking Eska's shoulders to wake her up. She opened her eyes and jumped up. "What is it?" "It looks like a torch and it's moving towards us."When I looked back at where I saw the torch I saw about three dozens torches aiding the once solo flame.
"The Aari," Eska whispered, "We need to go. Now."
I swung my backpack onto my back and told Marcus the Aari were here. We started running as fast as we could deeper into the forest.
Pretty soon, we were out of breath and it was obvious the Aari would catch up to us.
"Jaya, we need to use our gifts. If anything happens, remember I love you more than the world. You are the best thing in my life. You need to save Stonewall and yourself. It will be ok. I love you so much." She kissed my forehead and pulled me into a hug. I saw silent tears falling down her face.
"Nothing will happen it will be ok." I said, not convinced at all. If Eska was worried, there was huge danger.
I saw the first Aari come out from behind a tree and smiled wickedly.
"Lookie what I found," he laughed,"Two princesses whose throne is about to be ours." His laughter was soon joined by many people. Most of the Aari were men, but there were a few women in the group. Everyone looked different and the only thing they seemed to have in common is they wanted us dead.
The man who was talking earlier started running towards Eska, but she levitated him up and then threw him against a group of Aari. Only about two people fell, but that could mean everything.
I couldn't kill anyone so I envisioned their torches in flames so their hands would burn. I had to go one at a time in order to keep focus and not burn down the entire forest. Eska was tossing people right and left, while all I could do is burn their hands. Then I got a better idea, I envisioned their feet in ice and pretty soon about half of the Aari were stuck to the ground. I smiled at my work, not able to help it.
"JAYA! Watch out!" Marcus screamed, still laying in my unzipped backpack.
I whipped my head around to see a woman charging towards me. Before I could do anything, she jumped on top of me, bringing me to the ground. When she jumped, I had let go of my dagger. It was a few feet away but in this position I couldn't reach it.
"Who would've thought it would be me who killed the almighty princess of Stonewall, eh?" The woman smiled wickedly, revealing a mouth of missing teeth.
I wrenched one arm free and punched her in the face, but she only laughed and pinned me down again. I tried to concentrate, so I could perform my power but I was having trouble.
She grabbed my dagger off of the ground.
"Hmm. Where should I start?"
She cut a thin line from my shoulder to my forearm. It wasn't very deep, but it still hurt. Badly. I winced in pain.
"Awww, isn't someone gonna help the little princess?" She said in a sickening voice.
She brought the knife close my face and said, "Oh, that's right, no one is."
"That's were you're wrong," a voice said behind me, "I am."
I saw Eska lift the woman in the air a throw her against a nearby tree. Hard.
I hugged Eska tightly and got back up. Blood dropped down my arm, but I hardly noticed.
"You have to go." Eska said.
"What?! I can't leave you."
"I'll just hold them off for a few minutes you need to find the Seer."
Eska carelessly tossed another man into the air.
I started crying for the billionth time in the last 30 hours.
"I'll see you soon. I promise."
"I love you." I said, sobbing.
"I love you too."
I put my backpack on as I watched Eska fight the Aari. She was doing pretty well and I thought she could hold them off for a good while. I started running forwards and looked back to see Eska collapse.
"ESKA!" I screamed. I was about to run back to her, but Marcus stopped me. "You have to find the Seer. It's our only hope."
"But-but-" I couldn't even make a sentence.
I saw the Aari pick up Eska and one of them threw her over their shoulder. I knew I had no chance against them and couldn't do anything to save her. She was still trying to fight, but was too weak. "Eska." I whispered, scared to lose one of the only people I loved.

A note from me:
Hello! Did that chapter kill any of you? It's kinda depressing..... Anyways hope you LOVE the story! I really enjoy writing it and hope you like it:) Thank you for 70+ reads! (So maybe it's not that great but it still makes me happy) thanks for reading:D
~percy33
Ohh and by the way, I was listening to Safe and Sound when I had the idea for this chapter so I though I would include it.:)