Unknown.

18- Not traveling alone.

When I step outside I enter a wilderness I had not expected to see. Every few feet is a winding stump that leads straight up, tangling with other branches on other plants. No daylight filters through the treetops and instead of pretty green leaves glowing from above, leaves of brown and black cast shadows into the dimness.

Unlike the normal songs from birds and the steady hum from a nearby stream, the sounds are horrifying. The leaves above clash together, sounding like metal rubbing against metal. No birds' lullabies are heard but horrid screeches and caws pierce the air every other second, echoing in my ears.

I glance behind me at Ellie as she shuts the door and points forward. Turning back around I shrug off my confusion and keep walking forward, dodging the towering trees and ducking at the occasional dark branch. The sound of footsteps behind me is repetitive and keeps my mind focused on continuing forward instead of thinking back to my feelings and the whole mess of things.

"There is a clearing up ahead where we have been occasionally practicing our skills." Ellie's sweet voice rings in my ears, my heart thudding loud alongside it. "It's a small space, but it'll do."

I nod and keep pushing forward, our feet clomping across many dead and crumbling leaves. Every few seconds my mind would dare me to say something, anything at all, but the sentences I end up stringing together die in the middle of my throat.

Finally, I gain the courage to ask her about any hobbies she might undertake but before I can even open my mouth, she grabs my arm and stops me dead in my tracks.

   With the last crunch of the leaves, time seems to stand still, my heartbeat advancing in speed. When I face her, her gray/blue eyes are wide with seriousness, her lips ajar with her index finger to her mouth as if to hush me. I try to slow my breathing to create less of a sound as her eyes slowly lower to the ground but my adrenaline yanks my chest back and forth.

   Following her gaze my eyes rest upon a pile of white bones amongst the dark leaves, my feet standing directly on top of them. I yelp almost immediately, and in the same instant a creature screeches louder than an angered lion. I stumble over the bones in an attempt to get away from them and my body is falling on the ground in a matter of seconds.

   I catch myself with my hands and pain stabs into them like knives jutting into my skin but instead of worrying about the pain I look up and find Ellie chucking her knife into the air like a pro, her eyes focused and determined.

   Seconds later, a half-crumbled no-good's body drops in between Ellie and I, her knife sticking out of the thing's skull. Gagging, I watch as the monster screeches and claws at its forehead until it's eyes are dangling from their sockets and rapidly disappearing into the night with the rest of its body.

After all that is left is a pile of black dust, Ellie scurries over and grabs her knife, her hand sliding it into her pocket once again as if nothing had even happened. I stare at her in bewilderment and wait for her to explain herself, but instead, she brushes specks of dirt and blood off her halter outfit and then reaches one of her small hands out to me.

When her eyes meet mine, I am surprised at the amount of strength that shines through them. Taking her hand in mine, I climb to my feet and let off a little steam with a laugh.

"I don't know about this hand-to-hand combat stuff..." I murmur with a goofy grin glued upon my lips. Ellie rolls her eyes at me in response before nodding her head forward, eyes cautious and prepared.

I turn my back to her and trudge on, only taking a couple more steps before no more thin trees lie in our way, a vast clearing rising before us. Although treetops still hang above us, the area seems brighter.