The Hope Of The Three (Book 2 of the Hidden Trilogy)

Chapter Eight: Run!!!!!!

★Alena★

Ali, Eliana, and Umair disappeared into the air as the Nartoches advanced towards us. Soon we were standing back to back in a circle facing the monsters. There was about twenty of the Nartoches. They were thin and black with a snake like tail. Their green eyes peered menacingly at us, a forked tongue flickered and out of a Nartoches mouth. Then I realized what they were.
"Ite!" I telepathically sent to the others. I had never seen this type of Nartoche in packs bigger than four. This must be a planned attack by Aswa.
"Watch the spears, they are very accurate and rarely miss," I told the others in my head.
"They are not fast runners, hit them before they get you." Kaito sent back to us. Right. My aim was good but not as good as theirs. I tightened my grip on Aileen and muttered a quick enchantment to make my aim perfect.
"Now!!!!!" Tsuki yelled and we ran at the monsters throwing out weapons and using our magic. A Nartoche aimed a spear at me and I just blocked it. I ran and threw my dagger, hitting the Nartoche dead on. I grabbed the dagger and found myself back to back with Rayn surrounded by at least five Items.
"Throw me," I whispered.
"What?"
"Grab my arms and throw me." We grabbed each other's forearms and he swung me around. When he let go I flew right at the Nartoches taking three with me. They disappeared into dust piles when I killed them. Rayn was able to kill the other two. I smiled at him to thank him when I heard Tsuki's voice rang through the clearing.
"Kaito!" I whipped around to see Kaito move to dodge a spear, but it was moving too fast and embedded itself in his arm. He fell to the ground and Tsuki killed the Nartoche before it could even go for another shot. We ran to Kaito who was writhing in pain on the ground. He had pulled the spear out before we had gotten there and it too had turned to dust.
"Oh, gosh, oh, gosh, oh gosh, oh gosh. Kaito. "
"We have to move. Aswa will attack again. And Kaito cannot fight like that. We must go." I said urgently. Tsuki nodded silently, and I reached down to heal Kaito but he stopped me.
"Don't, " He reached over and healed himself. The large hole in his arm healed until there was a thin circle in his arm. We snatched up all we could of our supplies and headed for the hills in the direction of our meeting place.

           ★★★★★★★★

I sat in a tree watching the stars that are always visible no matter where you are in the galaxy. Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Pieces, and of course, the North Star. I let my eyes slide to Orion's belt. The middle star of the belt glittered and winked happily.
Oh, Ali. Be safe. I thought and a small breeze blew passed me pulling some of my hair back. The breeze seemed to take my wish and carry it up into the sky. I scanned the sky and found more of my favorite constellations, as well as Umair's star, Altair the second star on the left of the constellation Aquila(Eagle). We had been running for days now and this is our fourth stop. We didn't have a real plan in mind, only to get as close as we can to the meeting place. We now have a guard at night all the time and almost never talk unless to agree on orders or to inform others off guard swaps. With Nartoches chasing us there is a fear that has settled on us like a thick cloud of fog. I spent my time training alone or do things around the camp. I heard a twig snap and I whirled around. Rayn sat at the foot of my tree completely unaware I was there. His ear buds were in and he was softly singing. I crept down the tree until I was almost directly in front of him. I wrapped my legs around a branch and slowly lowered myself until I was hanging in front of his face. Rayn's face showed some confusion as he saw a lock of my light brown hair on his lap. He looked up and yelped as he saw me right in front of him and literally jumped up and fell over. I laughed so hard that I lost my grip on the branch and fell the short distance to the ground.
"Oh, my gosh Rayn! Your face!" I gasped. He scowled then began to laugh as well. I sat back upright and he joined me sitting at the base of the tree.
"Were you up there the whole time?" He asked. I nodded
"I heard you singing, you're really good." He blushed slightly.
"My parents made me join the Choir at school."
"What were you singing?"
He turned on his phone and I saw that he was singing to a song from Les Mis called Empty Chairs at Empty Tables. We began to flip through his playlist and compare songs.
"So what were you doing up in that tree anyway?" He asked after a while.
"I was looking at the stars."
"Did you see anyone you knew?"
"Oh yes, I saw Umair, Ali, and my father. All of their stars are shining brightly, it means that they are not dead or dying."
"Okay, got it. Can you see your star?"
"Yes." As I said it his face lit up and he turned away from me furiously typing on his phone. Soon the song 'a sky full of stars' was playing and we were singing along. As the chorus came he pointed at me when the singer said 'in a sky full of stars I think I see you' Rayn pointed at me laughing.
Tsuki soon woke up and took over watch forcing us to go to bed. As I started to fall into the deep cavern of sleep, I thought about how nice it was to have someone to bring light and laughter into our lives when life seemed to surround us in darkness.