War from Under the Bed

Forest Search

The cold wind bit at Sadie's face as they flew through the sky. They had left the church behind them, Sam deeming it unsafe. Sadie was surprised at how much dust had littered the floor from all the monsters. Slime from the battle had been dripping from the walls that still stood, but the fire that Henry had started was gone.

"How did you kill all those monsters again?" Jack asked, looking back at the fading church.

"With a lot of magic..." Sam answered, his voice coming out as a croak, "It drained us all, but...we couldn't stay there...More monsters would have come."

"We have to land soon...." Henry strained, "I can't..." his wings seemed to fail him and Sadie's stomach flipped when they plummeted a bit before he regained his altitude.

Jenny quickly flew beside him, "Just hang on, we'll land soon." Sadie looked at Pang, who looked back and they both shared a fearful moment of worry.

"Into the woods for now." Sam grunted, "Buildings are too...too obvious..." They quickly headed for the woods that grew outside of town, the three angels losing altitude the longer they flew. They got so low that Jack began to worry that they would crash into the trees.

Just as they were near the first trees, Henry lost all strength to continue and fell to the earth. Sadie screamed as they fell and Henry quickly wrapped her in a protective huddle before they hit the dirt. They rolled and tumbled, coming to a stop just inside the line of trees. Henry moaned softly and his wings disappeared. Sadie tried to clear her head of the daze that had settled on her thoughts.

"Are you two okay?" Jenny's voice floated through her jumbled thoughts.

Sam quickly helped Henry up, "No time for that, we have to move." Jack looked at Sadie from atop Sam's back as she stood slowly. "Hurry, just pick her up!" he hissed and Sadie was scooped up into Jenny's arms. They quickly headed under the cover of the trees, the sun flashing in and out of sight through the leaves. Animals scurried out of their path, watching curiously as the newcomers stumbled past.

"Where will we go? We can't find a hole to hide in can we?" Jenny asked frantically, scanning the ground as she spoke.

"Try the trees." Jack said, looking at a particularly large one with a head full of bright green leaves. He smiled his toothy smile and slipped off Sam's back, "We can hide in this one." Without waiting for an answer, he began to climb. HIs hands gripped the rough bark and he drew in a breath of fresh greenery. He heard the protests of Sam, but he didn't stop. He knew that this was the only way to disappear.

Sadie watched him climb and wriggled out of Jenny's grasp, "I think he's right." She followed, a little slower, up the tree. The tree had grown perfectly for their comfort, the middle of the tree open and flat. It was big enough for all of them to lay down, granted it would be a bit snug.

"Don't run off by yourselves next time." Sam said as he joined them. He looked at the tree that seemed to be planted just for them and sighed, "You did pick a good tree though..." He shook his head and turned back down to Jenny, "Are you sure you have enough to do this?"

"Do you think he can climb up himself?" Jenny retorted. Pang still clung to her back as the energy around her seemed to crack. Blue light shined from her fingers, pulsing with the beating of her heart. Winds picked up Henry's weak body and flew him up to Sam's awaiting grasp. Pang could feel the exhaustion radiating off of Jenny as her blue light faded.

"Don't hurt yourself..." She said quietly, giving her big sister a quick squeeze. She slid off her back and led Jenny to the base of the tree.

Jenny smiled down at her and ran a thumb on her cheek, "Thanks...Let's get up to the others." She lifted Pang and climbed the tree, straining as they neared the top. Sam pulled them up, Jack and Sadie helping Pang onto the organic platform.