Poseidon's Academy

Chapter 14. Darkness Falls

'Hailey, we need to stop.'

Hailey didn't slow her pace. She continued tracing the marked trees back through the forest, the red nail polish getting harder to see with the fading light. 'We can't stop, Jayden, or we won't make it to the beach before dark.' She gazed around at the growing shadows and pushed herself to move faster.

How is the sun setting already? It isn't even 3pm yet. It almost felt as though the island was setting the sun early on purpose, just so they couldn't escape the forest before nightfall.

They needed to get back to the beach as soon as possible, because being in a forest at night was basically suicide. Hailey shivered, imagining an array of terrifying monsters waking up and preparing to hunt for dinner. Monsters like the chimera—who would tear her to shreds with its sharp claws before its three heads devoured her.

'We won't make it out of this forest before nightfall. We have to stop and set up some sort of camp before all the light disappears.'

'We'll make it,' Hailey replied, not bothering to turn around.

'Jayden's right, Hailey.' Hailey could hear how much it pained Demi to say those words. 'We have to stop.'

'We really do, Hailey,' Kendra agreed, the footsteps behind Hailey falling quiet.

Hailey whipped around to face her friends, who gazed back at her restlessly, hugging their arms and looking like they wanted to be anywhere else but here. 'We have to keep moving. The big monsters will be waking up soon— if they haven't already.'

'We don't have a choice, Hailey,' Jayden told her, not budging from where he stood. 'Trust me, I don't like the idea any more than you, but the beach is about another two hours' walk. The sun will be gone by then, and we won't be able to see any of the marked trees. We'll just get ourselves lost—or eaten.'

Hailey couldn't bring herself to admit Jayden was right, because she was afraid if they spent the night in the forest, they wouldn't live to see morning. She opened her mouth to argue, but Demi cut her off. 'I can use my powers to grow some of these bushes around us for protection.'

Kendra was cradling Rain in her arms, the pegacorn nuzzling into her shoulder. 'And I'll be able to sense any approaching animals. But it won't work on monsters,' she added quietly.

Hailey gazed around at the growing shadows. They would never make it out in time, and while staying in a forest was one of the stupidest things anyone could do, it wasn't as stupid as wandering aimlessly around it in the dark—especially when most monsters possessed night vision. 'All right,' Hailey gave in. Jayden's stomach grumbled, making Hailey suddenly realise how hungry she was. They hadn't bothered packing food before they'd left, because Hailey had never thought they'd be gone this long. 'We need to find some food—and water,' she added, feeling the scratchy dryness of her throat as she spoke. But where they'd find a stream, she had no idea.

'There's plenty of berries around.' Demi touched a bush of ripening blackberries, the berries on it seeming to vibrate as they doubled in size 'And their juices would probably be a good water sub—' Demi froze, her eyes growing wide.

Hailey raised her arms to the sky and whirled around, ready to toss a gale of wind at whatever monster was charging towards them.

But there was nothing but trees. She was about to ask Demi what she saw when something caught her eye. She gasped along with Jayden and Kendra.

A young woman stood several feet in front of them. She blended in so well with the forest's verdancy that Hailey hadn't noticed her until she'd stepped forward.