Flames

8. THE WOODS

"Get up!" I yelled at Kelarie.

"Jeez...can't you be more gentle? I just want to sleep a little. Stop being so grumpy!" Kelarie muttered under her sleep.

"If you don't get up now,I'm going to abandon you here and leave!"

She made some frustrated noises and reluctantly got up from her sleeping mat. She made more animal noises as she packed up her sleeping things and rolled them in her bag.

When she was done, I gave her some dried bread to eat and some water to drink.

"Eat up quickly, you'll need all the energy you can get", I told her.

She just groaned in frustration and continued to eat. I smiled but made sure to hide it from her.

Before long, she was done and we continued our journey through the woods. None of us knew exactly where Ezra was. We were hoping we would get to the nearest village and ask for directions.

"What's wrong with you? You've hardly said a word all day", I began.

"I just.....I'm scared. What if I find my family and......and they don't want me?" She hesitated.

"Well...we can never know until we meet them. If they don't want you, you'll be stuck with me forever I guess", I assured her.

She smiled at me and I smiled back.

"You're right. I'd love to be stuck with y—" she was saying before she got interrupted.

"Please! Just go! Stay away from me! Please! I don't want to hurt you! Please!" We both heard the voice of a pleading lady coming from somewhere in the woods.

"What is going on?" Kelarie asked.

"I think she needs our help, let's go!" I instructed.

We both ran towards the direction and slowed down after we saw the reason for her pleas.

A lady was hanging over the shoulder of one of the men. There were four men to be precise. They were all well built in size and height. Three had fair skins and one had a dark brown skin. They all had dark hair that stood an inch above their heads. They all had full facial hair. They wore short brown tunics and pants made out of wool. Sandals protected their feet from the danger of the ground. They also had another thing in common.

They were all armed with swords.

The Lady on the other hand had full long dark hair and a fair skin. Her bound legs were struggling on the chest of the fair man who carried her and her tied hands were also struggling to be free on the back of this same man.

The men laughed at her futile efforts to be free but this lady didn't stop pleading with them.

"You say you don't want to hurt us. You can't even if you want to, we aren't foolish enough to do anything that will draw your blood. Except of course, when it's time to put an end to you miserable life, wrench!" One of the men spat out in a husky voice.

Kelarie and I were hiding behind a tree as we watched what was happening some yards before us. They were travelling down my left, taking her to some unknown location to probably end her life.

"We need to help her Hay. Those men are going to kill her", Kelarie whispered.

"We can't just go running to save her. Those men are armed. We don't even know who she is or why they want to kill her. The last time I rushed to help, people died", I whispered back.

"Whatever she did doesn't justify what they are about to do to her. We have to help—" Kelarie was cut off by the sound of a thud.

We both turned our attention back to them only to realise that the sound came from the Lady. She had fallen off the shoulder of the man who carried her and somehow managed to cut her right hand in the process. Blood started slowly flow out of the cut.