Fairy Tale Devices

Chapter 2 - Oh, Worm?!

"What on earth is that?!" Cecily shouted.

"A huge problem!" The boy climbed down his tower with remarkable ease. He ran towards her and started pushing her. "Okay, you need to get out of here! Right now! Town's that way."

Another roar shook the forest and Cecily caught sight of what had caused it. It was a giant snake like creature. Pale pink skin and black lifeless eyes, with huge sharp and yellow teeth. Barreling right towards them.

"Are you crazy?! I'm not leaving you wi- with whatever that is!"

"Listen. I'm going to distract it, you just run as fast as you can. Faster than that actually. Whatever you do, do not turn around." The boy ordered while giving her one last push.

Then, like a complete maniac, he ran straight towards the beast while waving his arms and screaming.

Did he forget she was armed? At least she stood a chance against that thing.

The boy stopped suddenly, a few yards away from the beast. He was looking around for something, but Cecily had no idea what that was. The beast didn't show any sign of slowing down.

Cecily frantically looked around for an idea. She had to think of something before it ate him.

A roar ripped her out of her thoughts. Just as she turned the creature lunged towards the boy. He managed to dive out of the way and fell onto the roots of a nearby tree. He shoved his hand in between the roots and started searching for something.

The creature doubled back and turned on him again. He cursed loudly but didn't get up or run away.

Cecily realized that it hadn't seen her yet. This was her chance!

She ran to the nearest tree and climbed up it. As she searched for a branch higher than the snake, she heard the boy let out a triumphant cry. He had a bow beside him and he had just managed to pull out a quiver of arrows from a hidden hole underneath the roots when she had turned to look.

Her tree shook as the creature reared up to lunge at him again. She saw him frantically nock an arrow. Was he really going to try to shoot sitting down?

Cecily took that opportunity to draw her sword and jump off the tree.

She landed squarely on the back of the creature, a few feet below its head. She drove her sword into it and held on for dear life. The creature let out a horrible high pitched cry and whipped its head wildly, trying to shake her off. Unfortunate for Cecily, it was working. Her feet kept slipping on its surprisingly slimy skin and she was losing her grip on the sword.

She heard a shout from the boy, but with the creature screeching she couldn't make out what he meant. Then she heard a sharp whistling sound and a rush of air pass her. Thunk!

An arrow?  She glanced at the boy, who was standing next to the tree she had jumped off and saw him fire another one. This one hit the creature on its jaw, close enough to Cecily that she could reach out and grab it. Was he trying to kill her?!

The creature reared up again, causing Cecily's legs to swing into the beast. She tried to keep her legs from swinging again by digging her heels into its side. It stopped shaking its head and was focusing on the boy. In the brief moment the creature was still, she let go of the sword and slid down the creatures back. She rolled off of it and pulled out her knife.

Regret made her stomach twist up. That was her dad's sword. How was she going to get it off of that thing?

She heard the sound of an arrow piercing the creature's skin again and looked up. An arrow was embedded in its eye. The creature let out a final pained hiss and swayed.

"Get out of the way!"

Cecily scrambled up and ran a few steps before diving into the grass again. She heard a loud crash and covered her head. There was complete silence for a few moments. Then she heard muffled footsteps and someone pulled her up. She was met with an angry pair of green eyes.

"What the hell were you thinking!? That was completely reckless! It was the stupidest and the bravest thing I've ever seen a person do! Are you alright?!" He shouted. His tousled, brown hair had leaves and sticks in it. His loose shirt and high-waist trousers were covered in grass stains and dirt. Even his boots were covered in a layer of dirt.

"I'm fine... I'm just getting a bit of a mixed message here. Is this your way of thanking me?" She asked, stepping away from his grip.

"The worm probably wouldn't have hurt me," he scoffed. "You should've listened to me before putting yourself in danger like that! Now it's dead!"

His eyes widened suddenly and his hands went up to his head. "Oh God. It's dead. What am I going to do? I'm screwed, she's going to kill me!"

"She? Who? What's going on?!" Cecily asked.

The boy turned towards her, eyebrows scrunched together. "You're not from around here... are you?"

"I used to come here with my family for vacation." Cecily replied, crossing her arms. "But, I haven't been here in years."

"Right..." he murmured, looking between the worm and his tower. He jumped at the sound of a twig snapping and looked around wildly.

"Alright, you're making me nervous!" She said, grabbing his forearm. "Did... did someone put you there? In that tower? Do you need help... getting away?"

He was looking back at the worm when he answered. "Perhaps."

"Well, you don't have to worry about her anymore. She's not here. We can go into town, find somewhere you can stay. Maybe someone's looking for you!"

"No one's looking for me. Besides, she'll probably just come after us."

"Then I'll protect you!"

He gave her an odd look.

"Unless... you want to stay here? Wait for her to come back?" She inquired. "I'm not judging you, but you seem terrified of whoever this person is."

He stood there for a moment. He kept looking between her, the forest, his tower, and then the worm. She could almost see the millions of thoughts running through his head. 

"In all the time I've been stuck in that tower, no one has really insisted I escape with them." He said, softly.

"Seriously?"

He shrugged in response.

"Alright then, let's go," she stepped over to her father's sword and pulled it out with a grunt. She stumbled back once she pulled it out, wrinkling her nose at the slime and blood that covered it. She did her best to clean it on the grass and with the side of her cloak, then marched towards a path in the forest.

"Hey! Town is actually that way." The boy called over. He pointed at another path to their left.

"Oh...."

"Wait here. Let me get my stuff before we go to town."  And he ran to his tower.