Liam reaches out, grabs my arm, and pushes me behind him, shielding my body with his. Cowering behind him, I watch as the mysterious figure opens its mouth and lets out a deep, earsplitting growl. I double over in pain and put my hand up to my ears, trying to block out the sound.
“Don’t move.” Liam pulls a long knife out of his belt and runs towards the beast. The knife seems to have a glow around it. The beast lets out an even louder cry as Liam jumps on its back and stabs it in the side. Sticky green liquid oozes out of the wound and cascades down its body. When the liquid hits the ground, it begins to smoke and dissolve. With the swing of its arm, the beast knocks Liam to the ground and begins to walk towards me.
Shoot.
I break out of my fear-induced state. Scared, I begin to take steps backward. I don’t know what to do or where to go. The wind begins to pick up again. My hair flies across my face, obstructing my vision. Pushing my hair back, I scream when I see how close to me the beast is. Standing less than three feet in front of me, it is staring at me with its beady eyes. I don’t have any sort of weapon to defend myself with. I can smell its putrid breath as it moves towards me. It abruptly stops and lets out a deafening wail. A bright piercing light appears behind it and a long knife blade pokes through the middle its chest. Its short ugly arms reach towards the knife, trying to pull it out. Letting out one last scream, it begins to disappear right before my eyes.
Behind where the beast stood seconds before, Liam falls to the ground, breathing heavily. “I hate those things. They don’t usually die that easily. We have to get out of the forest.”
I just stare at him, unable to speak or move. He begins to walk away, but stops when he notices that I still haven’t moved.
“W-w-what was that?” I yell, demanding that he finally give me an answer.
“A gorgoth. I’m not going to go into too many details. They are very dangerous creatures. They can suck your life essence out of you. It’s a painful way to die.” I feel like I was thrown in a J.K Rowling book. I knew I wasn’t a muggle. When I don’t move, Liam continues, “Now, I repeat, we need to get out of the forest. There are other dangerous things in here.”
He grabs the crook of my elbow and drags me forward. I stumble, but try to keep up. He is walking too fast for me. The wind begins to pick up again, and he looks at me questioningly, but doesn’t say anything. With each of my stumbles, I can see the corner of his mouth rise a little. Is he trying not to laugh at me?
When I am finally able to catch my footing and keep up with Liam, he lets go of my arm. “How much longer?” I ask. I don’t want to be whiny, but goodness gracious, we’ve been walking forever.
“You’re not very patient, are you?” He asks me as he pushes a large tree branch to the side.
“You’re not very patient, are you?” I mimic as I walk past him. I hear Liam’s deep laugh behind me. I really want to be angry at him, but the laugh makes me smile. I keep my back to him, so he can’t see my reaction though. Walking out of the dark forest and into the bright sunlight, hurts my eyes. The sudden change forces me to close my eyes and wait as they adjust.
Exhausted, I turn towards him and say, “Can you please tell me where I am?”
“Where is not important. The question is why. Why are you here?”
“How in the world would I know that? I already told you. One second, I’m in my room reading a book and the next, I’m here. I don’t understand what is going on and I’m really confused.” I place my hands on my hips and glare up at him. He tries to suppress another smirk as I continue to stare at him.
“Most people don’t know that they’ve come here; they experience it in a dream. You’re different, though. You are fully awake.” He stops looking at me and focuses on something in the distance, apparently lost in his thoughts.