Emerald (The Protector) - undergoing editing

Chapter 13

Sarah woke to the distant sound of thunder. She rolled over, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and sat up. Ominous dark grey clouds were rolling in. A cold, biting wind blew her hair back from her face and she shivered.

"Em, Emerald, are you awake?"

"Mmmmmmm."

"Em, we need to get up. I don't like the look of the clouds rolling in. I think we might be in for a storm."

"What?" Emerald abruptly sat up and looked at where Sarah pointed.

"Oh no, we need to move. Wake up the others, we need to get to shelter, and fast."

Sarah walked over to where the men were asleep and shook Julian's shoulder.

"Time to get up....a storm is coming."

Julian opened his eyes "Huh?"

Sarah gestured to the clouds "Storm."

Julian's eyes widened as he took in his surroundings, "Crap, we can't get caught in this, could be acid rain."

He quickly got out of his sleeping bag as Sarah went over and woke Geoffrey.

"I'm awake child, quickly gather your belongings and head for the forest, we should be safe there."

Sarah did as he asked, helping Emerald pack their belongings before heading into the forest. The men weren't far behind.

Sarah turned to watch lightning streak across the sky, hitting the water with a mighty hiss as another roll of thunder was heard, much closer than the first.

"It's going to be a big storm, will we truly be safe in here?"

"I hope so." Geoffrey replied "We might still get wet though."

"What about the acid rain?"

"I'm hoping that won't come as far as the forest, I think it tends to stay over the beach."

Sarah shook her head, not understanding what he meant but not having time to really think about it, as they turned in to the forest and made there way to a sandy path.

"This looks like it leads somewhere, shall we follow it?" Julian looked at the others.

"Don't think we have much choice." Sarah mumbled, more to herself that anyone else.

"Cheer up Sarah," Geoffrey said with a laugh "it's not the end of the world."

Sarah jumped as a bolt of lightning hit the clearing where they had made camp.

"Far out" she screamed "That could have been us." Smoke rose from the grass where it had been hit.

"Yes, I must admit that was a bit too close for comfort. Come along, we need to get a move on."

The sandy track was really nothing more than an animals trail - it wove around trees, tree roots and patches of grass without any clear sense of direction. Sometimes it was easier to completely bypass the trail, only to end up back on it the further they went in to the forest.

The rain had begun in earnest now and both Sarah and Emerald were soaked. Julian and Geoffrey both had cloaks to keep off the rain, but the girls only had the clothes they had on.

Sarah shivered "I am so looking forward to a hot bath right now and some dry clothes. That magical woodsman's hut wouldn't be around here somewhere, would it?" She looked at her friend.

"That would be nice, but I'm not sure if it will appear here, but you never know."

"Ugh, I really don't like this rain."