Protecter: A Giant Tale

Chapter 4

Dawn slowly creeped as light began to seep through the darkness. The birds had begun chirping, marking the beginning of the new day. Lyra slowly stirred in her makeshift bed, sweat dripping near her brow, fists clenched. And then she snapped up with a gasp, her chest tight with anxiety. Her eyes began searching the area whole before she remembered that she had to breathe normally. She reached for the back of her hair tie and pull twice, the feeling of familiarity and control finally rushing over. 

"Everything that happened yesterday was real. It wasn't a nightmare. I'm alive and I'm with a giant, but I'm alive." She slowly got into a sitting position and then leaned her back towards the wall to try to stand. To her surprise, her sprained ankle seemed good enough to walk, and the gash above her knee wasn't inflamed. "Well at least I can get back. But first, I have to figure out where Micah is. I need to just leave. After all, will he let me leave? Have I seen too much? If he stops me, there's no way I could get past him. My best chance is to leave now." 

She then quickly walked over to her backpack and swung it on her back. She looked back and listened. But the only thing she could hear was silence. She sighed in relief and quietly walked back to the entrance to greet the day. The sun warmed her skin as she slowly picked up the pace and then ran. She never looked back but just kept running. She got back to the trees and the hill and quickly began to climb up back to the original spot she had seen the coyotes, retracing her steps back to the trail. While she did she heard branches sway from afar. Fearing it was the giant, she didn't hesitate to look back and went from a walk to a full sprint. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, helping her ignore the slight pain and throbbing of her healing ankle until she emerged through the bushes back to the two rock pillars and past the rope. Completely out of breathe, she collapsed to her knees and looked back. She expected to see the giant trailing along, but instead she saw nothing. The only sign of life was the chatter of the birds. She slowly picked herself up and held to her necklace. 

"He's not coming for me, I'm safe...or was he even real? I didn't hear anything when I left, and what if the leaves rustling was just the wind? No, he had to be real...right?" Lyra chewed on her bottom lip and then tightened her makeshift ponytail twice. "Maybe it was a dream. Those coyotes were real alright, but Micah...". She looked up to the sky and waited for a sign, something, anything. 

"So this is great, not only did I injure myself, but now I might be crazy. Just perfect. Well, I have no choice now. I have to go back, get some more supplies, and go from there." 

She cleaned dust from her pants and rose up. Then, with slight hesitation and doubt in her step, she began the trek back to her village, waiting for the next hurdle to get over. 

Sorry for the delay, I just hit a wall and writer's bloc. I'm going to push out as much as I can as I have some fresh ideas