“You were here in exile as well?”
“Yes, but not for that long. We had only been in here for a week or two,” Melvin said.
“So maybe this forest is the key to beating Morpheus,” I smiled.
“We just have to get out of here alive first,” Davis whispered.
“Shouldn’t be hard, you did it last time,” I said.
“Yeah,” Davis glanced at Malcolm and Kenny. “Barely.”
I thought about furthering the conversation and asking what he meant by barely, but I decided I didn’t want to know. Between Malcolm and Kenny’s dour faces, I knew it wasn’t a topic they wanted to press any further. I would figure it out someday, though, if I had the chance.
After a few more minutes of silent rest, we started up again. The tension seemed to grow between the guys. Memories, I presume, from the last time they were here were coming back to them. No one said a word, but I could feel it and see it in the way they looked at each other.
Chase pulled me towards the back next to him as we made our way up a hill.
“Why are you sticking so close to him?” he asked.
I blinked, surprised at the question. It had come out of nowhere. “Because he knows this place the best.”
“That’s it?”
I nodded.
“Just be careful, alright? You don’t realize how this place can affect a person. It may have been a long time ago, but Malcolm and Kenny used to rule these woods.”
“What do you mean by rule?” I asked.
He started to say something but out of the darkness a loud roar rang through the trees. I spun forward to see one of the strangest creatures I had ever seen come out of the trees before us. Its head was round with large eyes and teeth that belonged on a tiger. Its long neck ran down to its round body and even longer tail. It had massive arms with claws that extended out towards us. Its dragon-like wings flapped vigorously to keep its body up off the ground.
It let out another roar.
Everyone pulled out their swords, even me. The beast charged at us and everyone jumped out of the way. It screamed as Davis slashed it with his claymore. Angry, it grabbed the sharp edge of the sword with its hands out of Davis’s hand and threw it. Davis just stared at it, horrified.
“Retreat!” Malcolm ordered.
We all ran to the right of it. It followed after us, making trees crash down beside it due to its large size.
Malcolm put his arm around me and guided me left. “This way, hurry.”
Melvin and Kenny turned the other way, leading the creature away from us. Chase and Davis turned around and followed it.
“They are going to deal with it, I’m going to get you to safety.” Malcolm pushed me further away from the creature.
“No, we have to,” I began when I felt him pull me back. All of a sudden we both started sliding down the cliffside. We both screamed as we tumbled down into the rocky cliff below.
CHAPTER 28
I don’t know how long I lost consciousness, but when I woke I found myself at the bottom of a cliff. Looking back up at where we slipped, I couldn’t believe I was still alive. My body ached from all the rocks beating against my body and twigs snagging my clothes and hair. After I caught my breath once more, I tried to stand.
My body didn’t want to stand, nor move really, and my leg screaming at me in pain. It felt like it was screaming, it really did. I fell back down. “Ow...”
I peered around, looking for Malcolm. He lay a few dozen feet in front of me.
“Malcolm, can you hear me?” I whispered.
He didn’t budge. I crawled over to him. He was completely knocked out. I tried not to panic, finding myself in a situation that was dire. I had to take deep breaths and calm myself down.
“Malcolm.” I shook him. “Wake up, we have to get out of here. Wake up!”
Still nothing. I felt his wrist and could feel a pulse, as we were taught in Middle School health class. At least he was alive. A roar echoed behind me. I glanced back to see trees swaying back and forth. That creature was coming this way. I quickly turned back to Malcolm.
“Wake up! Malcolm! Please, for the love of...”
The monster roared again. I grabbed Malcolm’s arms and began to pull him in the opposite direction of where the sound was coming from. My leg exploded in pain.
“Please wake up, please!”
The creature came flying through the trees, its scream piercing my ears. I didn’t know if it was the same one as before and if it was, I wondered where the others were.
I stayed still, hoping it couldn’t see me like the T-rex on Jurassic Park, but that wasn’t the case. It started flying straight for us.
Malcolm’s eyes flickered open. “Oh, my head.”
I pointed up. “Uh, Malcolm...”
“You have got to be kidding me.” He tried to stand but failed. “I think my leg is broken. Alice, run! Get out of here!”
“I’m not going to leave you here.”
“You will die if you stay here!”
I pulled out my katana. “No, Malcolm, you have saved me multiple times. It is my turn.”
I ignored the pain in my leg as I limped between Malcolm and the jabberwocky. The jabberwocky let out a fighting roar.
“No, I will not let you hurt my friend! I am sick of this place and I am not going to die by some stupid creature! I made it too far to die now!”
I charged at the creature, slower than I would have liked due
