Chapter 4 - Surprise Meeting

"NOOOO!!!"
I look up as Rat throws himself in front of me. Blood goes everywhere as his falling body pulls the sword from the goblins hand.
I can't help but look at Rat's head, which is now split in the middle. One of his eyes grotesquely bulged out of its socket.
Blood starts leaking from it as he begins coughing up blood, his legs twitching like and insect that had been squashed.
The goblin runs over and yanks on his sword, but the blade must be stuck in Rat's skull.
"Kairo, come on! Into the woods!"
Matt runs up to me and pulls me in that direction.
"But Rat-"
"Is dead! There is nothing we can do! He sacrificed himself for you so you would have a chance to live! Take that chance!"
I take one last look at Ratto, burning the image into my memory.
"Dammit!"
Slamming my fist into the ground, I scramble to my feet and dash into the trees, Matt close behind.
We run with reckless abandon, not paying attention to where we're going.
We run until both of us are vomiting. The exertion was the final straw, but images of that impaled man, the girl with the slit throat, and Rat flood through my mind, making me heave even more.
After I'm done, I'm left gasping for breath.
"I am going to go look for someplace that is better hidden."
I give a nod, and Matt walks off into the woods.
My mind still a wreck, I focus on each and every needle around me, then gradually move up to the trees.
My hammering heart settles, at least for the most part.
A flower with white petals catches my eye. There's a crimson red on the edge of each petal. It's the most beautiful flower I've ever seen.
'At least, the most beautiful one I think I've seen.'
A few deep breaths later, and I finally find a sort of calm.
"I found something!"
Moments later, we're sitting in a small circle of trees where we can rest, hidden from sight.
"What in the world were those monsters?"
"Goblins. Draken mentioned them before vanishing."
I answer his question quickly. Hopefully he doesn't notice my forced calm or the tension in my voice.
"I see. Very observant of you."
"Thanks." I say sarcastically, "So what's the plan now?"
"I was wondering that too."
Matt and I jump as a girl drops from the trees.
I recognize her as the girl who immediately ran off after coming out of the cave.
"Who are you?!"
She rolls her eyes at the spooked Matt.
"One of the people from the cave. Don't act so surprised. I'm Natalia. And you guys are?"
"Matthew." Matthew responds very curtly, his voice filled with suspicion.
"But you can call him Matt. I'm Kairo."
He looks at me incredulously as I say it with a bit of a smirk. She rolls her eyes again.
Sighing in response, I lay down and stare at the sky.
It takes everything I've got to keep my calm, to not curl into a ball and cry.
It doesn't feel real, but the blood staining my clothes and hands is a constant reminder of what happened.
"Hey Kairo, I asked a question."
"Which was?"
"What are we doing now?!"
Raising my head off the ground, I meet Natalia's intense stare.
"We? You just dropped out of a tree like a rotten piece of fruit. Why are you including yourself in Matt and my 'team' or whatever you want to call it?"
She furrows her brow, then seems to make up her mind about something.
"There is strength in numbers! We have a higher chance of survival if we work together."
"Valid, however you just said the first thing that came to mind, didnt you?"
A slightly blush creeps onto her face as she gives me a, "Humph"
She's kinda cute, with her arms crossed and cheeks slightly puffed.
"Honestly," I sit up with a grunt, "I don't care if you join us or not. Matt?"
"I would rather not, but she makes a valid point. Additionally, a triangle is the strongest shape."
The confusion is evident on Natalia's face, and I'm pretty sure I have the exact same expression.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"What I meant is that there are three sides of a triangle and there are three of us. So having three people gives us a higher chance of survival."
I sigh in exasperation.
"I suppose that makes sense? Guess that settles it. Welcome to the 'team' Natalia. Apparently, we now make a shape."
She smiles slightly, then sticks out her hand.
My hand envelops hers, which is soft to the touch.
"So, like I asked, what is the plan?"
"Well, all we're really doing is-"
I immediately stop talking as I hear a branch snap.
Making signs for Matt and Natalia to be quiet, I cup my ears with my hands in an attempt to hear better.
Now that everything is silent, I can hear heavy breathing and sliding uneven foot steps. They're coming from the same direction Matt and I had ran from.
'Goblins! Dammit, they must have followed us here!'
I point to the three nearest trees and motion for Matt and Natalia to climb them, putting my finger up to my mouth at the end.
They both nod and walk quickly toward two pine trees. I'm left with a tree that has scale like bark.
It almost looks like a thick version of a palm tree that has branches like a pine.
'Whatever those two trees are…'
I'm about midway up the tree when two goblins enter the clearing.
"I heared people here."
The second goblin turns back to his colleague, who is looking around.
"No here! You ears broke!"
The first goblin slapped his companion on the back of his head then pointed at the ground.
"No! See needles messy?"
Scratching his head, the second goblin looks around again.
"Where be they then?"
"No know. Look around."
Finally, they leave.
I wait in the tree until I'm certain they're gone before I climb down. Matt and Natalia follow suit, meeting me in the middle of the small clearing.
"Interesting, I did not suspect that they were capable of speech."
"Neither did I. Anyway, we should move. They knew we were here, and they'll probably be back."
"So how're we avoiding them?"
I turn away from our new addition, pretending to think.
'As if I know Natalia!'
Shaking my head slightly, I look around for any ideas or inspiration. When my eyes finally meet the tree I was just in, something clicks.
"The trees. They seem to be tightly knit enough for us to climb from one to the other. Once we're far enough away, we'll climb back down and go from there."
They look at me like I'm crazy.
"Any better ideas?"
They look at each other, then back to me.
"So which tree are we climbing?"
"From what I saw, the tree I was in has thick branches, so we should start there."
They both nod, then follow me to the tree.
"I'll go first to show you guys the route. Matt, you'll follow me after I'm about ten feet off the ground. Same thing for you Natalia, but after Matt."
As I climb up, I try to keep an eye on the ground. Matt starts climbing the tree, so I look around for a good place to cross.
The branches are thicker than I am wide, but I'm still making sure that they'll support us.
I happen to glance down right as the two goblins burst into the clearing.
Everyone freezes.
'Oh shit.'
Natalia and the goblins move at the same time, but I'm already climbing down the tree.
I quickly drop past Matt, keeping an eye on the ground while dropping from branch to branch.
She starts scrambling up the tree and they lunge for her. One of them manages to grab her ankle and a tug of war ensues.
The only thing keeping her in the tree is her grip on a piece of the scale bark, but it breaks off in a matter of seconds.
They both tumble to the ground.
Natalia kicks the goblin in the face and hands, but it has a solid grip and the smile on its face only gets wider.
"What think? Enough time for fun?"
The other goblin shakes his head but doesn't stop him.
"Why you no like goblinas. Some weirdo…"
The goblin exits the clearing as his companion laughs and starts ripping at Natalia's clothes. She's doing her best to avoid and fight him, but he's just stronger than her.
Finally I hit the ground
I desperately look for something, anything to use, and my eye catches something shiny.
The bark from the tree is lying on the ground. It almost looks like a shield. It even has a handle on the inside.
'Now or never!'