The darkness of the night took over the whole forest. Only the slight light from some far away lighted oil

lamps helped to guide the now running for her life Pamella. Moving vegetation behind her, and yells could be heard as clear as the water that rushed wildly under the bridge she was now crossing. It was a sturdy bridge; with a solid rough base, and wooden poles that took care in carrying the lighted lamps. The wooden poles weren't so tall, so the lighted lamps only passed Pamella's head for six inches; plus, the lamps as they swung back and forward gave the sense of being hooked. She slowed her pace, and as the idea quickly went through her mind, and the yells became nearer, and nearer, she roes on her toes, grabbing a hold of the pole with one hand, and rising the other towards the handle of the hot lighted lamp. She was taking real care not to spill the hot oil on her while lowering the lamp from it's hanging place. It wasn't th first she had seen how these were made, put together, and handled. Of course, it was on television, and books, and it wasn't a practical assurance, but things weren't looking so normal, and real for the moment, so she could only act the parts, and see what happens. The lamp felt quite warm in her palm. She didn't want to think what would happen to her hand if she touched it any lower.

How can I walk with this heavy thing, and be careful not to spill the oil in the process?

Now she could hear the guard's yells clearly, and she didn't need to think twice. She ran, holding her

breath for the lamp's heaviness took almost her ability too take in breath correctly. She wanted to run

faster, but she dealt by staggering. She didn't know how much she had been moving away, from the

noises that had been following since she had sprinted after the monk's yelling to her... Him?

It didn't make any sense. All that has happened; from the hypnotizing, and inviting necklace, until now,

has been painfully surreal. She was doubting all of it was a dream, because her ass wouldn't have hurt as

much in a dream as it hurt when she fell from the tower. And to sweat from the tremendous marathon

she was making, and the heat eradiating from the oil lamp; it wasn't something that'll happen in a

dream; at least she wouldn't dream of something like this.

I'm... so... tired...

Certainly, there had to be a nearby town, or village. Her legs, started to run numb, and too sluggishly stagger along the trail she had being following for an undefined time. Her eyes were now failing her, and she had to squint them, to magnify the objects that she encountered on her way. Trees were everywhere, and even though this was a trail she was walking on, the people in charge of the region apparently didn't have the care to maintain the roads. It all reminded her to the roads back at the mountainous center of her island. God! They were the same! The roads almost covered by the grass, weeds, and vines, making walking, or running nearly impossible. Pamella could remember when she told her parents, that she was getting tired of hiking to the same places every year, and almost getting a fractured foot as a reward. It had been long since she experienced the annoying feeling of getting entangled in the slippery ground, and now she was paying for all those years without practicing at least a little over strenuously difficult ground. The ground was a pain, but now that the voice of the guards was barely distinguishable, she could lower her footing.

Since the light from the lamp wasn't to bright, it didn't ruin the night sky view. Sure, a tree's canopy would cover it ones in a while, but when it got the chance to appear again, it rewarded Pamella with the most beautiful sky she had ever seen in her life. She has seen four shooting stars already, and stars from different sizes. The wind's sound against the rustling tree leaves, the sound of crickets, the glowing yellow eyes staring at her from a distant bush... It all gave her a relaxing feel...

What? Why are there yellow eyes staring right at me?

Whatever thing it was hiding, it gave a rasp snarling, and a hissing sound that made every hair on Pamella's body stand. From the dim light the lamp offered, she could see only it's face; its body was covered by the bush's leaves, and the darkness. It had black scale like skin and had three holes in its face. Two small ones, that may had been were it breath, and one medium sized at where a mouth aught to be. It didn't have a mandible, but a thick substance kept dripping from that large hole on its face.

Pamella was frozen on the spot, and her already worn out feet didn't help her feel any better than how she had been feeling under that thing's stare.

O.K. Calm down. Just... Calm... Down... Just like facing mountain tigers at California, don't give it your back, and walk backwards, staring directly unto it's... creepy eyes. It doesn't have any teeth, or a mandible to chew so maybe it isn't such a dangerous... "animal"?

Right when she was convincing herself that the creature was harmless, it gave a gurgle, and from the large hole on it's face, a thick, long, and reddish substance covered "thong" emerged. Pamela opened her eyes in shock, and fear. It wasn't until the "tongue" grew out spike like protrusions, that Pamella opened her eyes to a height that almost made them fall from their sockets. The yellow eyes, the gurgling sounds, and the tentacle like, swaying tongue made a sickening feeling rice in Pamella's stomach up to her throat. She wanted to faint.

Is this for real?!

Seeing that its prey wasn't going anywhere, the creature again gurgled, and accompanied by a new cascade of fluid, it charged directly towards Pamella's direction. Suddenly, the necklace that had been hidden inside Pamella's top robes, became warm. It wasn't unpleasant, but being a cold night, and being cold herself, the sudden change of temperature, gave her a shocking sensation, that made her yelp.

- AH!

Accompanied by brilliant reddish, and black flares, a beam of energy made its way through the clothe's fabric and went straight at the grotesque tongue. A sizzling sound invaded the soundless forest, and the echoes of the creature's were hurtful to the ears. The beam of energy had burnt away half of the creature's tongue and it no wriggled itself back from where it had come from. The creature came out from the bushes it was hiding from, and what came to sight instead of taking Pamella's out of her stupor, it added an intense fear difficult to describe. The creature had a snake like body; completely black scaled, like newly polished leather. It's upper section which had the head maintained itself straight up, while its lower one glided from side to side. It had caught up to Pamella in no time, and as it stretched it's upper body a few inches over Pamella, and the hole from where the monstrous tongue had emerged from, expanded itself to a dimension from which it could eat Pamella whole.

I'm going to get eaten ALIVE!

By impulse, as the creature made it's next to move to devour Pamella, she threw the hot oil lamp towards the creature's mouth, causing it to retract and shrink while giving a deadly screech. Pamella took this opportunity to run for her dear life. She couldn't believe her bad luck. First, she had woken up in an unknown place; she still felt dizzy after waking up. Second, she had been pursued by a crazy general, and his guards supposedly because of stealing the necklace that still even after the shock remained inside her robes. Third, she had to work her way out of these woods and adding to her misery she almost got eaten by a god dammed monster. She was still confused by all this, but the only thing she could by now is keep on running. She wished to not encounter a thing like that again, or better say she hoped to never again encounter anything that passes from being a human, or a cricket. She was heaving in all her escape running. Since she had no longer the oiled lamp she relied on the moon for the light, and her human intuition. She bumped here and there, getting scratched, and bruised by the bushes, and trees. Speaking to herself,

- There must be a safe place; a town; somewhere with houses; a place with lamps. Somewhere I don't have to fear for my life!

She was growing impatient. Her breathing became hysterical. It hadn't passed much time until she crashed against something painfully hard. She hunched, while stocking her head, and face; making sure it was still there, and hadn't been smashed into a pancake. A touch to one of the sides of her forehead, and cheeks, and she immediately complained.

- OW! Ahiya! Duele... ow...

It hurt quite a lot for her to speak, in her native language suddenly. Concentrating her attention to whatever she bumped to, she could tell it was a wooden sign that said,

- Luoyang Zhèn. èr shìlǐ.

Two miles huh... That's not so far...

A rustling of leaves sounded near. Turning her eyes towards the direction the sound came from she concluded with,

Luoyang Zhèn it is then!

Another rustling sound, and she ran off.

[duele]- Spanish for "it hurts".

[Zhèn]- Chinese for "town".

[èr shìlǐ]- Chinese for  "two(2) miles". Sometimes in Chinese written works, you'll see "miles" simplified as "lǐ"; without the "shì".