Novel Jumper

Chapter Twenty

 "Now we can assume that everything unlikely and unlucky that could happen, will," Connor reminded Lilia.

"I know," she replied. "How are we going to survive?"

Connor sighed. "I don't know," he admitted.

Lilia smiled ruefully. "At least it's the most unlikely outcome," she pointed out dryly.

Connor chuckled. "It must be exhausting, living in the most unlikely world ever 24/7," he mused. "Well, maybe not when you're the one who made it that way."

"After all, the Wizard can turn it off whenever he feels like it," Lilia pointed out. "Or at least, control it to some degree." That much was obvious by their turn in luck.

Connor shrugged and nodded. "I guess so."

They continued onward.

The forest actually seemed rather calm, despite it being trapped in the wrong season and the most improbability-filled forest in existence. Lilia had been expecting the bad luck to attack them in an endless onslaught - it's what she would have done in the Wizard's place. As it was, she was left, jumpy and worried, to await whatever doom approached.

And approach it did.

Connor grabbed Lilia's shoulder and yanked her backwards just as her foot started to sink through the literal ground. She staggered backwards from the shock and suddenness of it as a huge hole opened in front of them - a cleverly disguised trap. Inside, several animal skeletons lay decomposing.

"Thanks," she gasped, glancing at Connor. His eyes were focused on the forest around them, however, undoubtedly looking for the people who had built the trap.

"We have to move," he said urgently.

"You know we're powerless to stop this," Lilia reminded him.

"I know. Doesn't mean I'm not going to try."

Shrugging, Lilia followed him as he took off into the woods.

Every so often, Connor would halt in his tracks, bend to retrieve a stone or stick, and toss it onto the ground in front of them. If a pit didn't open, a net trap sprang into the air, closing as it did so. After the third or fourth trap, Lilia had trained herself to look for what were obviously deliberately placed leaves and sticks, along with strange dips in the ground or flashes of ropes in the trees.

As the traps became more and more frequent, Lilia ventured, "I think we're actually moving toward the people trying to capture us."

Connor just sighed, slowing but not stopping. Knowing that they could not escape the Improbable Slaves, Lilia simply followed him, hand on the dagger she had strapped to her waist.

Finally, it happened.

A group of men and women stepped out in front of them, ten or so. Lilia and Connor twisted around just to find themselves completely surrounded by the Improbable Slaves. Intrigued despite herself, Lilia took in the strange sight of them.

Everyone's hair was long, even the men's. It was also strangely groomed, decorated with colorful beads and what Lilia hoped to God weren't bones. Some of them had their hair tied back into a ponytail.

The men were all bare-chested. They wore patched trousers. The women wore dresses with skirts so ripped that they, too, had adorned trousers to preserve their modesty. Like their hair, their skin was oddly clean, smooth and without blemishes of any kind. Their clothes were spotless.

One woman stepped forward. Her eyes were a shocking green and her hair was a bright brown. She had a smattering of freckles over her nose. She was quite pretty.