"There's nothing anywhere," Ralph scoffed. "We didn't see a single monster all day, remember? Stop trying to scare everyone. It's not working."
Ellen looked to her friends. They watched her in silence. The longer they went without speaking, the more frustrated she became. They'd known each other for weeks yet Ralph was the one they listened to. "I heard a footstep," she said, but they weren't convinced. It didn't help that the thumping had stopped already.
But there was something out there, and she had zero intention of letting it find them.
She grabbed a thick stick that lay nearby and lunged at their fire. Burning pieces of wood scattered in all directions. The flames might burn for a while longer, but they'd be too small for anything in the distance to see.
Her friends shouted and complained but they kept their distance. Ralph was the only one to try and stop her. He grabbed her from behind and held her arms behind her back.
"What are you doing," he complained. "Calm down you freak!"
Ellen dropped her stick and tried squirming free, but Ralph was too strong for her.
"You're worse than a monster. At least they let us sleep at night. You're a constant hassle all day long!"
"There's something out there," Ellen said as she struggled. "It's getting closer. This fire-"
"There's nothing out there!" Ralph shouted. "I'm going to shut you up for good if you don't-"
"Give her a chance to explain," Ludendi ordered.
She spoke much more sternly than Ellen had ever heard her speak before. She stopped struggling and glanced at Ludendi.
Her friends all had their weapons out, and they were looking at her and Ralph the same way they looked at most monsters.
"What's out there, Ellen?" Ludendi asked.
"I don't know," Ellen admitted. "On our first night out here, after you went to sleep, I heard footsteps in the distance. And just now, I heard another footstep, but this one was a lot closer. There's something out there, and its moving our way."
"How come we didn't hear these footsteps?" Ralph argued. "I'll say it again: there's nothing out there!"
Ellen watched her friends intently. If there was ever a time for them to take her side, this was it. Of course, none of them had heard the footstep. There was no telling what they'd do.
They were quiet for a moment. Her friends glanced at each other, then at her, then to each other again.
"Let's just forget the fire," Ludendi said. "It's not going to kill us if we're cold for one night."
"It's probably safer that way," Barry agreed.
They set their weapons down and Barry started digging out their sleeping bags.
"There are definitely monsters in the forest," Trevor said while he waited. "We just need to look over our shoulders and we'll see two of them."
They shared a laugh.
They might've taken her side, but Ellen still couldn't relax. Ralph had yet to release her. His grip actually grew tighter once her friends turned away.
"You're such a brat," Ralph muttered. "Does putting me down all the time help you get off?"
"You're the brat," Ellen said. "I told you what happened back then was an accident, but you won't listen."
His grip on her started to loosen. For a moment she thought he was going to back down, he even released one of her arms, but then she felt a pull on her tunic. Ralph was after her knife.
He managed to pull it from its sheath, but before he could make another move, she jerked free, spun around and kicked him hard between his legs. Ralph immediately dropped her knife and collapsed to his knees. She then kicked him again the ribs and shoved him over.
She calmly picked up her knife. There was no need to hurry. Ralph wasn't going anywhere for a while.
Her friends darted over.
"What happened this time?" Ludendi complained.
Ellen pointed her knife at them. "I don't care if you ignore everything I say," she snapped, "but don't try to take this from me."
She lowered her knife. They were her friends, or at least she still wanted them to be her friends. She had zero reason to turn her weapon on them.
"I'm glad this is over tomorrow," Ludendi sighed. "I don't think I can take much more of you two."
"What should we do with them?" Trevor asked. "Is it safe to leave them together tonight?"
"I think I have some rope in my backpack," Barry said. "We could tie them both up and stuff them in their sleeping bags."
Ludendi grinned. "We need something to stick in their mouths so they can't argue."
"Maybe we can tie them to a tree and use them to distract whatever monster is lurking out there while we head home," Trevor said.
Ellen lowered her head in shame. Ralph was a menace, but she wasn't much better. "I'll leave him alone if he keeps to himself."
"I surrender!" Ralph shouted, clenching himself. "No more fighting until we get back to the fortress. I promise."
"It's going to be too dark to see in a minute," Ludendi said. "I guess we'll have to take their word for it."
Ellen put her knife away and climbed back into the stump. She still didn't trust Ralph, but her foot had likely left a strong enough impression that he wouldn't try anything for a while.
Her friends followed her in and laid their sleeping bags down beside hers. Ralph crawled in last and positioned himself in the far corner.
Ellen was the first to wake up the next morning. She crawled outside the stump and started rolling up her sleeping bag.
Some of the wood from the fire was completely charred, meaning it had to have burned throughout the night. The thought made her uneasy. They'd all been so busy arguing last night that nobody had bothered to completely extinguish the flames.
The others joined her after a few minutes.
"We're going home now, right?" Barry asked in a yawn. He looked around. "Which way is the fortress?"
Trevor took out his binoculars, looked around for a moment then pointed in a direction that seemed no different from any other. "It's that way. It's faint, but I can see light from the plains."
"I hope you're right," Ralph said. "I'd rather be trapped with Ellen than lost in a place like this."
He used her name. Ellen felt a tinge of relief. Maybe their fight was finally over. "He hasn't been wrong yet," she said, and Trevor smiled.
That relief only lasted a moment. A commotion in the distance behind her scared it out of her. It sounded first like metal hacking into wood, then ended with a loud crack.
She glanced over her shoulder. A massive ancient tree a few miles away had broken off its stump and was falling over. The fracture point was covered with dozens of round, black scales too warped and twisted to have been made by a human.
Ellen whimpered quietly to herself. The tree was as wide as a house. Whatever monster cut it down had to be immensely powerful.
Chapter 19
Ellen faced forward. Her friends did the same. Something powerful was lurking behind them and she couldn't bear to face it.
Barry chuckled nervously. "It's probably just someone out gathering wood."
"Wouldn't it be great if that was true," Ludendi said, a crooked smile on her face. "Maybe if we pretend-"
"You're out of your minds," Ralph said. "It's a monster for sure."
"What kind of monster?" Trevor asked. "Maybe you should look and tell us what you see."
"You're the one with the binoculars. You look."
"I'll look," Ellen said. She already knew she wasn't going to like what she was about to see, but she forced herself to turn around anyway.
A monster as tall as the fortress's outer walls was stomping its way towards them. It was far enough away that its footsteps were little more than soft thumps in the distance, just like the one she had heard last night. It walked on two great legs that were covered with black scales. Each foot had three long toes. Its body was long and narrow and white, and its tail was even longer and covered with even more scales. It had a brick shaped head with black ridges around the top
, a mouth with narrow, jagged teeth sticking out beyond its lips, and a single large eye in the front and center.
The only part of its body that didn't look evil was its arms, which were skinny little things. They were too small to cause any harm, but they didn't need to, not when the monster had its teeth and tail and head and feet to ravage things with.
Ellen lowered her head and whimpered quietly. She'd traveled so far only to end up once again facing a giant monster she had no chance to defeat. This one would separate her from the people she cared about just like the last giant she'd encountered, she had no doubt about it, or it might just kill them all outright.
Her friends turned around.
"Taking this mission was a mistake," Ludendi said glumly, "wasn't it?"
"Definitely," Trevor agreed.
"We never had a chance," Barry said.
Ralph looked to Ellen. "I can see why you were so worried last night."
They were all so calm for a group that was about to be run down by something they couldn't possibly stop. "I told you there was something out here," Ellen said. She turned her back to the monster and ran.
Her friends ran with her. None of them tried to take the lead from her. While she appreciated the gesture, but it meant very little now.
"It's going to catch us in a minute," Ludendi said, panting. "What do we do then? Do we fight it?"
"You can fight it," Barry scoffed. "I'm going to keep running until my legs fall off." He pulled his backpack in front of himself, unhooked his shield from the back then threw the backpack away. "I'm not dying with that thing on me."
Ralph tossed his backpack away as well. "Do you guys have a plan for this kind of thing?"
"I don't think anyone has a plan for this type of monster," Trevor said.
Ellen glanced over her shoulder. The monster was a massive, lumbering hulk. It could move fast, but she doubted it could turn fast as well. They might be able to duck behind a tree or a rock and slip out of its sight for a moment, and while that wouldn't save them forever, it would at least buy them time. "Just follow me," she said.
The footsteps kept getting louder, and the monster was soon so close she could hear its grunting and snorting and the clicking of its teeth. That's when she veered right behind a massive tree. Her friends followed.
The monster charged passed them then started slowing to a stop.
She led her friends to the opposite side of the tree, to where the monster wouldn't immediately see them, then took off running towards another tree. It was a short sprint away. Her friends followed her around to the backside then keeled over in exhaustion.
"This isn't such a bad plan," Ralph said between breaths. "Maybe it'll get bored of looking for us if we keep finding new places to hide."
"Could we ever get that lucky?" Ludendi asked. "I... sort of doubt it."
"It does only have one eye," Ellen said. "One hit from a magic weapon could blind it... but it would have to be a really good hit."
Her friends all seized up. She couldn't blame them. Even if she could create a magic weapon, she doubted she would the nerve to face a monster this large head-on.
The monster snorted loudly. Some rustling followed, then came an explosion of wood and metal.
Ellen peered out into the open. The monster was hacking into the other tree with the sharp scales on its tail. Each swing launched a cloud of splinters and broken wood into the air.
She leaned back behind cover. "It's not safe here," she sighed.
Her friends sighed as well.
They stood up, then she led them towards the next closest tree, which wasn't close at all, and there was nothing but small rocks and flat, open land along the way.
Something behind her cracked. Ellen glanced over her shoulder just in time to see the first tree collapse onto the second, which started falling straight towards them. "Get out of the way!" she cried.
She regretted being so unspecific, because Barry was the only one who followed her. Ludendi, Trevor and Ralph went the other way. Before she could call out to them, the tree crashed down beside her.
The impact shook the ground and launched a cloud of dirt into the air, which for the moment shielded her from the monster's gaze.
"Are you two alright?" Ludendi called out, her voice racing. "The three of us are okay. Tell me you didn't get crushed!"
"We're alive," Barry said, "for now."
Ellen grabbed his hand and started pulling him forward. "Run towards the end of the tree," she shouted.
"That's a long ways off," Ludendi said, "but we'll try to meet you there."
Ellen still hated that word try, but she planned to see her friends again, so she ran.
The cloud of dirt soon settled, and the monstrous footsteps resumed. Ellen glanced over her shoulder long enough to see a hundred teeth each as long as her knife heading her way then faced forward. The tree was tragically tall. It would take a minute to reach the end, a minute they might not have.
"We might still have a chance for that special time together," Barry said with a nervous chuckle, "but it's not looking good."
"Yeah," Ellen sighed.
The ground beneath her was starting to shake. She tried to pick up her pace but her legs were aching too much.
"About that blinding thing," Barry said. "Do you want me to try it?"
Ellen glanced at him. Did he really believe he could hit the monster in its eye while they were on the run, or did he plan to sacrifice himself to save her?
Barry smiled. "Even if I miss, I should distract it for a minute. At least one of us will make it out of here alive."
"No!" Ellen blurted out. All the miners and Julius's team were strangers to her, and losing them made her feel horrible. Just the thought of losing one of her friends made her sick to her stomach.
"We're both going to get run over like this. Are you okay with that?"
She hated that idea as well, but a sacrifice wouldn't stop the monster for more than a second, if it worked at all. All it meant was one of them would have to go on by themselves and face their demise alone.
"If it's going to catch us," she said, "it'll catch us as a couple."
Barry's whole face turned bright red. He smiled a big smile, to which Ellen responded to with a smile of her own.
She faced forward. They still had a tragically long distance to go before they reached the end of the tree.
But they didn't need to. A small section of ground up ahead sunk so low it formed a tunnel that led from one side of the tree to the other.
She dropped to the ground and crawled inside the tunnel. Barry scurried in after her. Two monstrous feet raced passed them, missing them by only a second or two.
Ellen crawled out of the tunnel just in time to meet Ludendi, Trevor and Ralph.
"You made it!" Ludendi greeted her. "Do you think we lost it?"
Ellen shook her head. Losing a small monster was hard enough. Something this big would probably never give up.
She had a few seconds to catch her breath before the monster circled around the top of the tree and started charging towards them. "The other side," she said, still panting.
Her friends crammed themselves inside the tunnel together. There was barely enough space for them and their weapons, but they made it through with time to spare then she followed them over.
"Why don't we just keep doing this?" Ralph said. "If we swap sides enough it might get sick of chasing us, or maybe it'll drop dead from exhaustion."
Ellen shook her head again. A fallen tree wouldn't stop a monster that size, it could simply step over it. They needed a hole or a crevice or hideout they could disappear into.
She led her friends forward. Another tree was up ahead.
"I don't think I can do this for much longer," Trevor said, his voice miserable.
"Same here," Barry said. "Nobody has this kind of stamina, especially not me!"
"It might be less painful to just let it step on us," Ludendi said.
Ellen grit her teeth. They
were all on the verge of collapse, but the monster wasn't going to give up anytime soon. Their only option was to keep running until they found an opportunity to escape.
She led them behind the massive tree then collapsed to her knees. She was completely out of breath, and her body was hot and aching all over.
Her friends collapsed beside her.
She had just a few seconds to rest before a small tremor shook the ground. Ellen groaned and leaned out into the open.
The monster had leapt over the fallen tree. A cloud of dirt surrounded it for now, but once it settled, it'd be after them again.
"We have to keep moving," she sighed.
"No more," Ludendi whined. "I can't move another step."
The others were too busy panting to speak.
Ellen looked around for any kind of escape. There were trees in every direction, none that were very close, and a handful of rocky outcroppings, most too small to be of any use, but one thing caught her attention. It was a large, flat rock sitting a short distance away. It sat at a slanted angle, and one side stuck slightly into the air. Beneath that elevated side was a dark crawlspace. That narrow space might be the escape they were looking for, or it might end up being their graves, but is the only option they had.
"Get up," Ellen ordered, her voice strained. "I found somewhere we can hide. It's just a little bit further."
None of her friends moved. Their faces were red all over. They probably didn't have the strength to stand up, but they'd have to find it soon because the monster wasn't about to let them escape.
"Come on," she begged. A new energy swelled up inside her. It was a combination of fear and anger. "I'm tired of losing my friends because of these stupid monsters," she shouted. "Now get up!"
Her outpouring worked, or maybe it was the monstrous footsteps stomping towards them that spurred them on, but she didn't care. Her friends got back onto their feet and then they ran.
The rock was a short sprint away. She was on her hands and knees and crawling under it before the monster could reach the tree behind them; she kept her head turned towards it the whole time. The tree was shielding them from the monster's sight, or so she hoped.
Forlorn Dimension Page 19
