Ella Oaks

Chapter twelve

My eyes were squeezed shut until the motions stopped. Everything was quiet. I could hear the crickets chirping. My body laid on the ground once I found the courage to open up my eyes. I stood myself up, but to only find myself alone.

The sun was saying goodbye to as it hid half of its face behind the mountains. The air was so still it frightened me, sending chills up my spine. I looked around to search for a sign of Viridans. My mind refuses to focus on my lost friend as my eyes start to wonder. My legs, instinctively, follow. They started to take me down the path where I came from.

Everything was still oddly quiet with feeling of someone watching me leave. I turned around in hope of Viridans but there was only a gust of wind from the high altitude. I turn back around and walk back onto my path. I looked to my right and examine the tall bark tree as I come closer to it. I looked forward as I came to its side.

*thump*

Startled, I turn to my side to find a knife stuck in the tree. The knife looked like it was made of a sting ray's spike and wrapped in a fishy leather. I turned around to my back side but to only be toppled onto the ground by Viridans. She tackled me hard enough for both of us to go rolling down the path.

"What are you doing?" I yelled.

"Focus." She whispers in my head.

Her deep blue eyes searched blood as she launched at me for another attack. I rolled out of the way she stabbed another ray knife to the dirt.

I quickly stood up and ran down the steep path down the mountain while she, effortlessly, retrieved her knife from the ground once more.

I start to loose my breath from the wasted adrenaline and lack of nutrition consumed. I turned around to check my progress. She's no longer behind me. I am relieved yet aware of my surroundings. I looked around and the path is much more wider but is covered by roots and plants. I stumble towards a giant thick tree and rest against it.

"What's happening? I've officially gone mad!" I say out loud to myself.

Look at me! I'm a wingless fairy who talks to herself!"

My attention is then captivated by the spacious opening where I came through. I raised my hand up and closed my eyes. I thought of only happy thoughts, just like with Ezra. As I thought I could hear a quick rumble from the ground. After five seconds of thinking positive I opened my eyes.

The thirty foot gap that separated the trees was now filled in with trees that grew more dominantly blossoms that bundled together created a strong perfumed sent. Side by side they created a pattern of pinks and purples. At their waist they were skirted with green bushes that flowed beautifully to the ground with pink roses that were armed with thorns.

"One wicked dream." Again I talk to myself.

I looked behind me, at the tree I leaned against, and worked my eyes up to its top. The plants that I have created only reached half of all the other's height. I reach my hand up to its trunk to try to climb it. I close my eyes again and focus to create a stump for me to grab onto. The sound was more vigorous than I thought it would. Before I opened my eyes my ankle is caught by a sharp and rough rope. I went to check on my foot to find the source, instead the rope tightens around my ankle with something sharp digging deeper into my flesh and yanks me off of the tree trunk and land face first into the ground.

My body is then pulled across the ground, hitting every root with my ribs and face. A hand forcefully grabs my shoulder and flips me over on my back. My vision fights against me while I plead to my brain that it may find my attacker.

"Focus, Ella." The voice whispers inside my head and informs me that it is in fact Viridans finishing off.

She sits on top of me with her hands above her head holding her ray knife. I looked into her eyes and we locked on each other's focus, buying me time to think of something negative as an axe forms into the palm of my hand.

I swung it at her and got her good in her head. She fumbled off of me, giving me the opportunity to launch myself up to my feet.

"Am I focused now?" I say out loud as she tries to recollect herself from getting hit upside the head with an axe.

She struggled to get up and sweep kicks from my feet. I fell on my butt as she stood up. When I looked at her she swings a sword at me but misses me as I scooted back and spreader my legs with her attack missing me. I pushed my self up as she powered up for another mighty swing. I moved to the side with my axe stopping her sword from swinging at me.

I brought my axe up and around with her sword under my control and kick her at her chest with my bleeding foot. She stumbles back, sword less, as I picked up her own weapon from the ground and point it her her with my axe in the facing her. She stands there looking at me for a moment and pushes her sword away while wrapping her sharp rope around my waist and I swinging my axe around the back of her neck.

We don't continue answer both realize that we are trapped in each others web. Instead, we stare at each other and pant.

"Bravissimo." She whispers.

"Thanks. You too." I reply. I take my axe from about her neck as she, too, releases herself from the tension and unwraps me from her death rope, that I finally see that it is sea weed with shark teeth.

"The humans aren't as hard as I am but you must learn for the best." She whispers.

"What have they done? Why is it important that we kill them?"

She turned around with anger as she looked at me.

"The humans are greedy! They are the enemy! They will kill everything in their path for their own satisfactions! They will kill us all if you keep seeing only the good!" She screamed inside of me that it frightened my insides.

I stood there, shocked, like an idiot still trying to solve the puzzle.

"Like your father! The one who abused you and your 'Mother' because he was a drunk who was scarred from your whore of a 'Mother!'"

"Enough! My mother was not a whore and my father was no better than you! You think that ambushing me was an act of kindness?"

"Yes! You are still too young to understand."

"Understand what?"

My pulse started to race in furry, but my eyes did not burn. Yet.

She didn't answer me. She just turned around and ran.

"Wait!"

I ran right after her but she disappeared. She left me unanswered and the question still hanging in the air. I was alone in this thick dark forest. The light I received was the weak moonlight that passed through the canopy of leaves.