I crouched in the bushes after Remi and Hazel left, waiting for the next guard to pass. I wasn't worried about them, those two were seemed strong and inseparable and even though i'd only met them a day ago, I knew they could get through just about anything. A guard started ambling across the far end of the field and I readied myself to run. When I judged that they wouldn't be able to see me, I took off.

My feet pounded the earth and within seconds I was gasping for breath. I don't think I've ever run that fast in my life. I barely leapt over a root that stuck out of the ground in time. With only the moonlight to see by, it was hard to make out what things were, although it was better than nothing.

I reached the village and dove behind someone's lilac bush. I waited for the guard to pass. When they did, I caught my breath, enjoying the brief scent of the lilacs, and then continued on.

My house was close to the edge of Pira. "Closer to the woods, so I can see the wildlife if you know what I mean," my mother always said. In no time, I arrived at my house and admired what I could see of its sky blue paint and familiar dark red door.

I went around the back of the house and fished around under the small staircase leading up to the back door until my fingers landed on something metal.

I pulled a small key from under the stairs and fit it into the lock, it clicked and I carefully pushed the door open.

I pocketed the key and stepped inside, breathing in the scent of fresh bread. To my left was the living room with its comfy blue sofas that we sat in after dinner, to my right was the kitchen with an island in the center and a large fruit bowl in the middle. On the corner of the island was my dad's stack of Sunday newspapers.

First stop, my room.

I walked past the living room and kitchen and over to the front door, bathroom, and stairs.

I turned left, past the front door and climbed the stairs, treading carefully over the smooth wood. I reached the top and looked to the left where the door to my parents room stood slightly ajar.

My resolve crumbled and I went over to the door and peeked inside. I love those two people, the people who adopted me almost immediately after I was put in the orphanage at the age of seven. These people who had cared for me for almost nine years. They were truly my parents. Some small part of me remembered my birth parents, and missed them, but they were taken by the Zorg when I was so small. My adopted parents were never able to have children themselves, so they got me.

All of the sudden, a bone rattling sound came from inside the room, like a vacuum cleaner. I stifled a shriek, but as fast as the noise started, it ended.

I put a hand to my heart, breathing hard and realized what the sound was.

I nearly kicked myself. The sound was my dad snoring.

I closed my eyes and turned away before I could start laughing because of the absurdness of this all, or wake them up and confess how scared I was and how much I just wanted things to be perfect forever. I knew that things couldn't be perfect.

I crossed the hall to my room, past the guest room and the bathroom, and pushed open the door.

My room was painted almost the same shade of blue as the house was. Over in the far right corner, my bed was untouched with its light green sheet and blankets. My small pile of stuffed animals was still sitting on the corner of the matress. My dresser sat directly to my left, dark shiny wood that my father polished himself, and my desk sat right next to the window. Most of my furniture was made by my father.

I stepped past my rug and opened my closet door. I fished around in my closet until I found my hunting boots that I got for my fifteenth birthday in August. I slipped them on and immediately felt calmer. I stuffed several pairs of clothes for me and one or two for Remi in an extra backpack, and then slung it over my shoulder.

I wandered over to my nightstand and grabbed a necklace off of it. I clipped it on. It was a present from my parents, a dark red flame design in a square. I also grabbed some books, the history book with the map in it, and some others that I was reading.

I left my room, missing It's familiarity immediately.

I went into the bathroom and rummaged under the sink. I shoved some over-the-counter medicines into the front pocket of the backpack: ibuprofen, some bandages, gauze, things like that. I didn't know if they would help with Gen, but better to have them, just in case.

I went back down the stairs to the kitchen and took the loaf of bread on the counter. There was only two there, which was odd, normally there was more than that because mom worked at the bakery.

I also grabbed three apples from the fruit bowl. We would have to eat the food quickly before it spoiled, then we would have to rely on hunting and fishing to feed us, well, if we even ended up having to go anywhere. I wasn't too worried about food.

I took one last look at my house, I will be back here soon, I told myself.

I opened the back door again and stepped outside onto the grass, shoving the key back under the steps as I did.

I started toward the street but saw a guard passing under a circle of lamplight. I dove into an alley, but there was a problem. The alley was already occupied.

"Ow!" Grunted a girl's voice as I collided with her. There was a shink! as a weapon was drawn from a sheath.

I scrambled away from her, farther into the alley but my back hit a fence at the end.

Footsteps came toward me in the dark.

This is where I die, I thought, praying to the Dragon gods that Remi and Hazel would be able to make it and save Gen.

The girl grabbed my shoulder and threw me to the ground. I felt her knee on my chest. I was pinned and couldn't move.

Suddenly there was light.

The girl who was on me was wearing a long sleeved shirt and jeans with a dagger in her right hand and the source of the light in her left. I looked closer at the light and realized that it was a sphere but there was something inside of it, rooted to the bottom of the ball shape. Literally rooted. It was a tiny tree with glowing sap running in rivers down it's bark.

With a start, I realized who the person was. She was the last person I expected to be roaming in the middle of the night.

"Natalie?!" I whispered.

"Nicholina!?" She whispered back.

"What are you doing out this late? Aren't you supposed to be on your way to Gomoria?" I whispered, remembering what she had told me in school.

"What are you doing out this late!? She countered, sounding angry, "What have you been doing for almost two days, Nicholina? People have been panicking!"

"I'm not the only one who needs to explain," I hissed, "You talk first, why are you sitting on me with a dagger and a glowing tree?"

She sighed, all her aggression seeming to melt away, "It's called an Ulai."

I gave her a confused look, "A what now?"

"This," she said and held up the tree, "Is an Ulai, a spirit tree."

She sheathed her dagger and got off of me. I gingerly got to my feet, rubbing my shoulder where it hit the ground, on guard in case she attacked me again.

"So?" I prompted, "Why are you out here in the middle of the night?"

She gave me a glare, "We forgot something back at our house," she mumbled.

"Sure," I said skeptically, "So they sent you, armed and alone, in the middle of the night, with a glowing tree."

"What about you," she said, rolling her eyes, "I'm sure your explanation is a heck of a lot better."

"Well," I said, trying desperately to think of a believable backstory. "We were in school and as we were going to second hour I dropped my pencil."

She nodded, "I know that. That was the last I saw you."

"Well I got my pencil and then I heard someone call my name from up the stairs," Here was where my mind went blank, how could I tell her about Remi without giving away what actually happened?

"It was my friends Remi and Hazel, you know them," I said, "Remi was sick and we had to get her out into the woods.

She gave me a puzzled look, "Why did you go out into the woods instead of the nurses office?" She asks.

"She was really sick," I mumbled pitifully.

Natalie pursed her lips but said, "Continue."

"Gen followed us into the forest, we didn't know," I said and Natalie's eyebrows knit together.

"Gen and I went back to get the nurse but on the way, Gen tripped and stabbed her shoulder on a really sharp stick."

I mentally punched myself repeatedly, I had to be the worst liar in history.

"I got the nurse and brought her to Gen, Remi, and Hazel,  and she said Remi would be fine but Gen's shoulder was infected and needed a treatment the Piran healers don't have." That much was kind of true, let's just say Pira wasn't known for its doctors. "We decided to go to one of the other cities to get treatment for her," I finished, "that's it."

The lie was so bad I was almost proud of it.

Natalie thought about it for a long time, "Wait, you could come with us!" She exclaimed, surprising me.

"What?" I said, the words coming out louder than I meant them to.

"Keep your voice down!" She hissed at me. "You could come with my parents and I, to Gomoria. Gomoria is the capital, it would definitely have the medicine you need. I can totally convince my parents to help you guys to Gomoria."

I shook my head and her face fell, "I'm sorry," I told her, "What would you even tell your parents? We need to do this alone. Besides, we were thinking of going to Ortha."

"Fine," she said, hanging her head.

I gave her a quick hug, "Thank you," I said gratefully, though I didn't really know what I was thanking her for. She tensed at first but relaxed quickly.

"You should probably get going, I assume your friends are waiting in the forest somewhere?" She said as I released her.

"Yeah," I said, resisting the urge to say, hopefully.

"Then go," she said, "And good luck, you'll need it."

And then, before I could say goodbye, or wish her luck with moving to Gomoria, the light was gone and so was Natalie.

Thank you for reading!
Vote, comment, share!

Written by justasnarky_sandwing on WATTPAD