Hope

Chapter Seventeen: A Choice That Wasn't Made

I was running harder than I had ever run in my life. No, strike that. There was one time in which I had run harder, but that particular incident I deliberately chose to not recall. But now there was a renewed purpose in my stride, one that I hoped the human men wouldn't be able to emulate. I needed to catch up with them so I could save Zack. I didn't want the humans to find out what Zack was, in fear of what they might do to him. Grass whipped past my face and bushes reached out with leafy arms to try and grab my pelt. I just blundered though everything that got in my way. My mission was too urgent to allow me to stop just to avoid getting some fur pulled out. I narrowly missed running headlong into a bramble, but I ran on without slowing down. My mind was focused on one thing; Zack.

Finally, I could hear the pounding feet of the humans up ahead. It might have just been the pounding of my heart, but I wasn't going to lose hope yet. I ran even faster, ignoring the burning in my legs and lungs, my eyes streaming from the wind. But then the footsteps ahead of me abruptly stopped and I skidded to a halt. I then found cover underneath a hazel bush and peeped out to find that the humans had trapped Zack.

Zack had gotten himself tangled up in some ivy vines. No matter how hard he struggled, they only gripped him tighter. I frowned. Plants weren't supposed to act like that. This smelled of magic.

"I see you've found one of our specially treated vines!" one of the humans said, grinning broadly. "These were enchanted to wind around any sort of person with nature powers... or a certain type of creature that lives in the forest."

"That is really, really mean," Zack gasped as an ivy tendril started wrapping itself around his neck. He then focused on the ivy vine. "Let me go!" he commanded it.

The ivy shivered, but didn't let him go. However, it did stop its stranglehold around Zack's neck and Zack was able to shake that ivy tendril off. The ivy also stopped winding itself tighter and tighter around Zack's body, but the ivy was still too much for Zack to shake free of. The humans stepped back a pace, having not expected this.

"Who are you?" one of them demanded. "No human that I know of is strong enough in forest magic to stop the ivy!"

Zack straightened as much as he could under the weight of the ivy vines. "I am a powerful plant mage. Let me go." His voice was firm and steady. The ivy then loosened its grip on him and Zack started to untangle himself.

The humans, having noticed that their prey was escaping, rushed forward and launched themselves at Zack. They then knocked him over and pinned him on the ground. The ivy then took this as an opportunity to rewrap itself around Zack. Zack growled, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get up. The weight of the humans and the strength of the vines were too much for him.

One of the humans then took off Zack's hat, allowing Zack's short, spiky hair to spill out. I could feel my anger start to grow. But I didn't dare use my powers, not yet. They were too dangerous and I wasn't sure I could control myself if I did use them. A tendril of ivy then crept up the back of Zack's neck and wrapped itself around one of his ears. Zack winced. The human that pulled off Zack's hat turned Zack's head to the side so he could have a clear view of Zack's other ear. He had to brush aside Zack's hair to do so, but once he saw the pointed tip, he gave a shout of triumph and leaped in the air.

"We caught an elf!" he exclaimed. He then made sure that the vines holding Zack down were thick and tight enough before he got up off of Zack's chest. He then did a little dance next to Zack, all the while making noises of triumph. His partner then took a look at Zack's ears and did the same. Finally, the third human limped into the clearing, cradling his wrist.

"What're you guys all yelling for?" he asked irritably.

"We caught an elf!" the first human exclaimed. "Fell right into our ivy trap!"