The Adventures of Tatyana and Rose

Imps

After a conversation with Filrick about all the creatures that they would encounter, how to deal with them, and what to do, Rose and Tatyana felt more comfortable. Filrick had given them a bag of food for them which included: protein bars, pretzels, goldfish, crackers, three bottles of water, instructions on a path to follow, and information like the fact that Hadriel can find food for himself. Hadriel could also smell and pick out the nonpoisonous berries. With those supplies and information, Rose, Tatyana, and Hadriel were sent off into the forest. 

The cave, shrinking in the distance disappeared over the horizon. As, Rose and Tatyana traveled through the forest, Hadriel walked right beside Tatyana.

The forest was quiet so Tatyana decided to break the silence. "So, you live with Filrick?" Tatyana asked to Hadriel who looked up at her with his shiny green eyes. After a second he dipped his head down until Tatyana realized that she had to put her hand on his head. After she did so she listened. 

"Yeah, we have lived there for a while."

"It's a pretty big cave, only you two live there?" Tatyana asked curiously. 

"The cave belonged to my whole family before they....disappeared. I was out in search of food and when I came back, I saw a black cloud of smoke drifting away from the cave. Instead of following it, I searched inside the cave for my family but, I found nothing but blood smeared onto the walls of the cave and ash. I believe it was Lilith herself but, I had but a mere glance of her before she too was gone. I spend most of my time thinking about what I'd be like if they came back." 

Tatyana's eyes widened and Hadriel's snake tail hissed at the mention of her name. "Wow, I'm sorry." Tatyana said quietly. 

Silence once again took over after Tatyana whispered to Rose what she just found out. Further into the forest, they all walked. After a while, they got hungry and took a rest. 

Tatyana and Rose snacked on the food Filrick had given them and enjoyed the sunlight that shined on them. Hadriel prowled around the area in search for food. 

"Hey, Rose, do you hear that?" Tatyana asked. Rose looked over to a bush that was rustling, swallowed a mouthful of food, and stood up to dust herself off. The rustling got louder until Hadriel flew out of the bush with a rabbit clutched in its lion jaws, a rat being squeezed to death by his snake tail, and the goat's body licking residue off its lips. 

"Oh, its just Hadriel," Rose said smiling and going over to pet him. 

Tatyana could still hear something. She looked at the bush again and then up to the trees. All of a sudden a red blur flew above their heads. It swiftly flew from tree to tree. When it stopped, Tatyana got a good look at it. The creature was red and waged its tail. Across from it was another who did the same, communicating with each other.

"Rose," Tatyana alerted her. Rose turned around. 

"What?" Rose asked and walked over to where Tatyana was. 

One of the red creature gracefully flew down and landed on a branch in front of Tatyana and Rose. 

"Whoa, I think that's an imp," Rose whispered with wide eyes.

It fit the description. It had a musty red body and beautiful blue eyes that glistened like stars. Its wings were small and spanned over its entire body, including the small pointy horns, growing out of its head. The imp clutched the branch in its long claws and shook its tail furiously.

In the blink of an eye, all the branches of the trees around them were filled with Imps. The only sound was the constant and rapid breathing of the two girls. Just when Tatyana and Rose were about to move, the imps bowed.

"Remember what Filrick said, that imps can sense witches, maybe that's what's happening right now," Tatyana whispered to Rose.

"O... okay," Rose cleared her throat. "Hello, I a... am Rose. And I was wondering if you could help us with something? Her name is Lilith. There is news that she is attacking an innocent school tomorrow. We were wondering if maybe you guys could help protect the school?" She asked looking around at the ring of imps surrounding them. The imps seemed to look at each other for answers and started shaking their tails towards each other. The forest was quiet. Finally, the imps shook their tails in unison.

"That means yes," Tatyana told Rose quietly. Both Rose and Tatyana breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Okay, so the school is all the way to the edge of the forest that way." Rose told them and pointed behind us.

"Or maybe we can walk back this way and go together?" Tatyana suggested. Rose nodded and waited for the imps to reply. They did, with a wag of their long tails. 

"Another yes," Tatyana communicated. Rose nodded in excitement.

With that, the imps glanced at Tatyana and Rose once more and flew back into the trees, leaving the girls and the chimera alone once again in the forest. The sun was setting and the trees were loosing their sparkle.

"Well, that went well," Rose said, continuing to walk.

"Yeah, that's one group down, two more to go."

"Hey, Tatyana?"

"Yeah Rose."

"Do you think our parents will be mad at us?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah maybe, but they will understand when we explain to them where we were and why we did everything."

"What if there is no dark, evil force coming?" She asked.

Tatyana took a second to think about the question but she really had no answer.

"Well then this has been a nice hike through the forest and we made some new friends," Tatyana said, walking next to Rose, petting Hadriel. His snake tail alert while the goat part rested on the lion's back.