The only one who could stop him is a young girl, and she's going to need help from an unlikely source.

***

"Hurry up!" I shouted at the group around me. "We're not getting anywhere like this."

I looked over my shoulder, checking that everyone was ready. The six of us had been walking through the forest for hours now, but we hadn't found any sign of a village or anything else that would indicate where the people of these lands lived.

I didn't want to think about what we'd do if we couldn't find them. We were already so far away from our own lands that it would be impossible to get back home without someone traveling with us. Even if we did manage to find some way to return, it wouldn't take long before we ran out of food and water.

It was possible that they didn't have either of those things, but even then, it would be a very bad idea to let ourselves starve to death. That would mean we'd have to spend the rest of our lives in this world, which wasn't something I wanted to do. It was hard enough dealing with everything that had happened to me already.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" asked one of the others. "How can you be sure there's anyone here? We haven't seen anything yet."

I shook my head. "You don't understand. If there are people living here, they'll be able to see us coming from miles away. And they'll know what we are, too."

He frowned. "So how will they help us?"

"They won't," I said. "But they might tell us where we can find them."

"And if they don't?" he pressed.

I sighed. "Then we go on looking until we find someone willing to help us. They're probably scared to death of us, anyway."

The man frowned again. "That doesn't sound very likely."

"No, it doesn't. But that's just the point. We've got to start thinking more positive. Look at the bright side. At least we aren't dead yet."

"Maybe we should split up," one of the other men suggested. "If there really are people here, they might not be able to help us if they don't know we're coming."

"It might be worth a try," I agreed. "All right, I'm going to lead the way. You follow behind me and stay close together. Don't stray too far ahead of the others, though. I don't want anyone getting lost."

They nodded, and I took off into the woods. I didn't know exactly where I was going, but I knew I had to keep moving forward. I had no idea how much time we still had left. I was pretty sure that the sun was rising now, and we hadn't found anything yet. I just hoped that whoever was watching over us would be patient enough to give us a little longer.

After a while, I heard voices. I stopped and listened, trying to figure out what they were saying. I recognized the voice of the man who'd asked about splitting up, but the other two were unfamiliar.

"You don't understand," the first one said. "We have to find somewhere safe to hide. If they know we're here, they'll come after us. We can't risk that."

"You can't just abandon them," the second man replied. "If we leave them here, they'll die."

"It's not our choice to make," the first man insisted. "They have to take care of themselves. If they want to live, they'll have to fend for themselves."

"We can't just leave them to die," the second man repeated. "They're our neighbors, our friends, our family."

"They're not our responsibility," the first man said. "We're just passing through. Let's go."

"You're wrong," the second man said. "We can't just leave them to die. We have to help them."

"You can't save everyone," the first man said. "There are limits to what you can do."

"I can't believe you're talking like this," the second man said. "You've always been so kind and generous."

"That's because I'm good at making decisions," the first man snapped. "That's why I'm in charge. It's my job to decide when to help people and when to let them fend for themselves. You're not helping anyone by arguing with me."

"What if they're not strong enough?" the second man asked. "They could be hurt or sick. They could need help."

"Then they'll figure it out for themselves," the first man said. "We don't owe them anything."

"We're not leaving them to die!" the second man shouted.

"Why not? They're weak. They're stupid. They're pathetic. What difference does it make if they die or not?"

"That's not true!" the second man cried. "They're our friends! They're our neighbors!"

"They're not your responsibility," the first man said. "They're just some dumb animals. There are plenty of other things you can do with your life. Why waste yours on these losers?"

"I won't let you do this," the second man said. "I won't let you abandon them. You're being selfish. That's not what we're supposed to do."

"I'm in charge," the first man said. "Not you. Now get back to work. We have to find somewhere safe to hide."

The second man didn't answer him. Instead, he turned around and started walking away. The first man followed after him.

I waited a few minutes, then cautiously stepped forward and peered around the edge of the tree. I saw the two men walking down the road, heading deeper into the forest. I looked back toward the camp. Nothing moved there.

I hurriedly slipped out from behind the tree and set off after them. As I walked, I kept an eye on the men ahead of me. They weren't looking back, but I couldn't afford to take any chances. I wasn't sure what they were up to, but I knew I had to stop them before they did something stupid.

As I followed them, I wondered what the hell I was doing. I knew that I shouldn't have trusted those men, but I had no idea what else to do. If I went back, I was pretty sure they would just tell the others to leave the camp and move on. And then what? Would they be okay? Would they survive?

I thought about what the men had said. They were right; we didn't owe them anything. But I also knew that we didn't have to abandon them. We could help them. Maybe it wouldn't make much difference in the long run, but it might make all the difference in the short term. I just needed to figure out how to do that without getting myself killed.

I watched the men walk. They hadn't gone very far. I decided to follow them. I didn't know what I could do to help them, but I wanted to try. At least then I would know whether I could trust them.

The two men led me deeper into the forest. The path they took wound its way along a series of small streams and little valleys. Eventually, they came to a large clearing where several more of their companions were waiting. They had made camp there.

I studied the group carefully. I recognized some of the faces. These were the same people who had been at the camp earlier. Some of them were wearing armor. Others had weapons. They looked like they were preparing for war.