The Rosewood Prophecy

Chapter 8

                                                                             Katherine

We followed Indigo into the safety of the forest. I brought up the rear, keeping an eye on Ashley who was in front of me, and any pursuers that might come after us. Way in the front, Indigo swerved suddenly to the left, off the main trail. We followed quickly, hoping to lose the Evils but not lose sight of each other.

The already dim forest only got darker as we ventured farther and farther inside. Branches scratched at me like bony fingers reaching out from beyond the grave. Unknown plants brushed my legs again and again, some wet, some dry, and some felt unnaturally wrong. I've never been this far inside the forest. The most our Herbs teacher ever led us in was within sight of the entrance, and that was walking on the main trail. We were carving our own path, twisting and turning and running over unfamiliar grounds.

Over the rush of the wind I heard howls and shrieks. They were coming closer. I realized with a start that we would be very easy to follow, since we had seven horses and were literally trampling a path through the forest for the Evils to follow. We would never get away in time.

"Indigo! We have a problem!" I shouted.

"What?" came her voice.

"We're too easy to follow! We're basically carving a path for them to follow!" I yelled.

"Oh! Shoot!" Indigo understood in a second. I think she cursed under her breath but her words were carried away by the wind. She took us around another sharp corner, into a small clearing, then halted abruptly.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" I tried to stop Legacy. We skidded to a stop just before crashing into Ashley. The horses shook their manes and stomped, restless.

"Indigo, what are we going to do? We're way too easy to follow," I said urgently.

"I didn't think about this—oh my gosh how could it have slipped my mind?!" Indigo wringed her hands, looking upset.

"No one thought of it till now," comforted Rachel. "Good thing Katherine brought it up in time. We can still find a solution. It's not too late."

"But it costed us valuable time! And now—"

"Every minute we spend here talking gives the Evils time to catch up," said Lucian sharply. "We need a solution now."

"You're right," said Indigo. "But what? I can't think straight right now, it's just too much..."

"What if we split up?" asked Ashley. "Will that make it harder for the Evils to follow?"

"I don't want us to split up," said Indigo. "We could get lost. Or get attacked and not have backup. Lots of bad things happen when we split up."

"Then what are we going to do?" asked Lucian, frustrated.

"Guys, you might want to hurry it up," I warned, pacing around the perimeters, eyes on the forest around us. "I think the Evils are arriving."

I could feel their oncoming presence. Legacy snorted and stomped the floor nervously. The back of my neck tingled. This did not feel good.

"We could always try and fight..." suggested Rachel weakly. The others looked appalled and frightened.

"No we can't. Nope nope nope. We can't defeat them, and besides, there's too many of them!" said Jason fearfully.

"Jason's right. We can't risk it. What if we die here? The quest haven't even started. Those people back there fighting for us? We would've let them all down," affirmed Aaron.