I just can't handle these 'woke up in a start.'

Thankfully it was not the monsters that awoke me with an scream, but it was a Shadow Hunter. When my eye lids revealed what was in front of me, an old, wrinkly, disgusting pale brown face was in inch close to my face. We were almost nose to nose and this guy smelled like rotten eggs.  I scrambled away from him my feet pushing the ground and my hands reaching farther from the Shadow Hunter.  I than accidentally bumped into a tree that ants crawled. Hopefully non-poisonous.

"Good morning young Cameron." The Shadow Hunter greeted like an robot with out the accent though. He dipped his head politely and I copied him dipping my head. The man wore black robes with a black fancy leather shoes. His hoodie was not worn, reveling his few pieces of grey hair. There was silence to make me scared. My mouth quivered, my hands was sweating. 

"You are new." The Shadow Hunter said. "A newcomer like you would need help surviving. I invite you to the palace, a place to learn advanced needing, full survival skills, and provide what you food, water, a cozy bed, medicine, treatment for a week." He said plainly his expression unreadable. 

I expected his presence hearing from Luna and Harley but it was still quite terrifying as sweat poured down my forehead. My hands shook , my finger wobbled. The Shadow Hunter continued, explaining about the Trial of Death. It was the same description as Luna said before, a life or death battle field.

"Your Trial If Death will be on January 12th. Please attend to it or I have to kill you painfully." He sounded sorry while saying that he have to kill me if necessary. Chill crept over my back like ants crawling behind my back. (And they might cause I might've destroyed their home) January 12th, it was Friday from what I remembered. I will never ever say something like 'Fun Friday'. It's not.

"I must go invite the other survivors. Have an nice day." Instead of walking away, the Shadow Hunter disappeared in a second like a silent ninja. It took few moments for my small brain to process.

"Morning Cam we caught an tiger. Care for a good breakfast?" Harley appeared out of the leaves of the jungle. I nodded than followed his way. I guessed that Luna was going to be quite mad at me for waking up late and not contributing in the hunt.

In a small open area, fire rose and smoke smelled as I sniffed the air. Juicy delicious smell was mixed in the smoke my mouth watery. Luna was watching the meat burn on a grey rock that was secured on top of the fire. Three juicy looking big pieces of meat cooked and hunger took over me.

Surprisingly Luna did not say anything to me. She didn't hiss, yowl, or growl nor drew her sword down my chin. I blinked at her than focused on the meat.

"How's the meat Lulu?" Harley asked with his full sunshine smile. Luna smiled back warmly, a smile she has never showed to me. I can tell that the seven year old and the happy guy trusted each other fully their bond unbreakable. But not the romantic bond, it was an bond of friendship and team mate.

"It's cooking great Harley, we should be able to eat in five minutes or so." Luna replied her eyes observing the tiger cooking meat. When the purple haired princess sat still without her scary side showing, I realized she was very beautiful. Her face was small, her black brownish eye brows was thin and long, and the perfect pair of eyes glittered of fire sparks reflecting. Sometimes, I wonder what kind of life she had as an daughter of King Enzo. Scared? Lonely? Embarrassing? Or puffing up with pride?

Harley settled next to his yellow backpack that was leaning against a tree. He started to scramble inside his backpack looking for something. The chubby boy handed Luna something. "Treat that nasty scar you got on your bicep. It might infect."

I looked at Luna's right biceps and saw a deep wound that blood has dried out, but it looked painful. A normal eight year old would have freaked out and cried . Luna started to wrap around a white bandage that Harley gave her remaining calm. Morning sunshine glimmered the jungle as the three young sat in silence.

"What are we going to do today?" I asked breaking the silence that felt awkward. The jungle was even silent too, perhaps birds were eaten by monsters.

Luna answered as she pulled the strip of bandage with her own teeth. "We shouldn't stay here very long. I was hoping to move on the northern part of the island. I heard there was an mountain there with good deers to catch."

"Mountains?" I repeated with suspicious. How can this small island have mountains? What now deserts? 

"Yeah," Harley chuckled like he was responding to an small joke by the class clown. "This island is twisted and changed by a bunch of monsters. It can have anything; jungle, mountains, deserts, volcano, canyon, and other geography. Though, some of the geo only lasts for only a few kilometers."

Deserts. Volcano. And canyons. This island was becoming farther and farther than a simple uninhabited island. The green leaves rustled together that is probably poisonous because this island is crazy.

Luna stood up and brought a tong. "Well the meat's cooked, let's eat shall we?" Than we munched down the tiger meat ripping into pieces with our teeth. The tiger meat tasted delicious. It was an full belly-filling meal for the last two days. Two days doesn't seem long, but it was for a complaining boy like me. 

After we ate, we packed up our supplies and got ready to leave. Luna told that we were heading north where the mountains are. My heart pounded with nervous, Luna squeaked excited because of her adventures instinct, Harley just made his sunshine smile. "Let's go!" Luna exclaimed as the small eight year old lead the way to another journey.

I realized that Luna was truly an royalty. It's not like I haven't believed her, it's a strange feeling. Like a moon shining in the night, but it was the sun that was producing the shine and this true fact was hard to believe. That's what I felt for Luna, I knew the truth, but I could not fully believe it.

The princess walked like a model despite her small age and the path that did not have a secured trail. Each movement was smooth, gentle, and beautiful even a flick of her finger. The way she picked up fruits, it truly looked like a princess picking an flower bundle. Luna did not wear a pink glittery dress, she instead wore a black T-Shirt that said 'Power' printed in white that was over sized and short jean pants that was almost completely covered with her oversized T-shirt. Her long purple hair covered a side of her perfect face making it look like a one portrait drawing.

"What are you staring at Cameron?" Luna dragged me back to the truth her growl sounding like an lion. I guess her looks does not mean her inside is pure too.

"Wait did you call me my name for the first time?" I exclaimed when I found out why her words was tickling my heart. Luna remained cool but a hint of embarrassment showed in her white cheeks. Harley smiles.

"See Lulu trusts you now. You just need a few days to get along and get to know each other." He said as he gave a bear hug to us. My stomachs tightened by his strong arms almost choking. Harley released us from a tight-but-cuddly bear hug as we continued our journey. 

Luna suddenly stopped. "If we kept up this pace we aren't going to make it to the mountain by night." She said. 

"In this distance, we will get to the mountain in two or three days." I rolled my eyes. The mountain was very far from where we started and my legs were starting to get stiff. Since the path we were walking did not have a secured trail, we had to climb huge boulders and the bumpy ground was hurting my back feet.

Harley nodded an agreement. "Finding the ancient bird will have to wait Lulu." Luna bit her downer lips. If she was an normal kid, they would have wine and complained. What really was in my mind was about a ancient bird Harley stated.

"What ancient bird?" I asked. I had heard nothing about it.

"It's an mythical bird that lives in the mountain. Name is unknown cause they were just rumors, but people who came back alive from the Island of Destiny says about it. They describe as frosty blue feather with white feather, the most beautiful bird they sawn, and it has an round markings like a moon.  Lulu wanted to see it, and the rumors mostly says it's from the mountains." An ancient bird, I thought. The imagination that Luna had showed her eight year old ness. 

"We need to travel faster!" Luna complained grumpy grasping her sword holding part. Harley looked troubled and I did not know what to say. The truck that Harley had was basically claimed by the zombies now and they could not risk getting their brain eaten. "Let's climb the trees!" 

Harley and I could not even say a word before the princess got to action. She ran giving an boost than made two quick jumps on a tree branch than called, "C'mon you slow pokes!" 

The chubby boy shrugged than jumped grasping hold of an ivy that was wrapped on the tree. Before I dropped my jaws in surprise how he managed to jump so high with his fat, (no offense) he was next to a tree branch to Luna. I tried to climb the tree too, grasping the ivy dangling. Although it took time, I managed to climb to a branch near the two skilled survivors. My chest was puffed with pride.

Before I steady my breath, Luna jumped to another tree like an Tarzan. Than Harley followed her jumping like an frog, They jumped and jumped until they were quite far from me. I took a deep breath and bravely jumped onto another branch. I did again, and again and magically got the hang of it.

"Ouch!" I screamed when I slipped off when relaxing my tensed shoulders. I fell on the ground with an oof that struck pain. My right arm had blood trickling off from sizzling against the tree. Luna, nor the nice Harley comforted me or said if I was okay. They stayed in their position, waiting for me.

With all my limited strength I stood up, than climbed the tree again. And when I got high, I jumped to another tree, than another, than another, until I fell again. I did not complain or screech in pain. I stood up, climbed, continued jumping on the trees. Warm disgusting air blew that would have been quite a torture for me. Instead, the mildness felt like an AC for me.

The process continued. Jump, jump, fall. Climb, jump, jump, fall. By the time the sun started setting and we were only a few trees away from escaping the jungle, I had bruises and blood trickling from thorns. Luna and Harley was already there by the time I was out of the jungle. They finally smiled and gave an approving nod.

"Good job."

Do you guys and girls think my book cover is boring? If yes do you have or recommend any graphic shops?