A Hero In The Dark

Chapter 4: Run, Hide, or Die

Over roots. Under branches. Running faster than I thought my legs could go. Away from an enemy I only recently discovered. An enemy that's been on my planet for years. Lurking in the shadows.

I have no idea which direction I am running in anymore. I can hear them chasing me, closing in. I can hear twigs snapping below their feet.

I'm not concerned with getting lost in the woods. All I want is to get away. I know I need to. If they catch me, there's no telling what will happen.

I reach a clearing.

Nothing but dirt and dry terrain. The sun is high and its rays heat my tanned skin so that it bakes. I can hear the distancing highway through the trees still, the cars passing by audible. Above all else, I can hear them.

They haven't given up chase.

My legs burning from exhaustion, I continue running. There's a rock up ahead. In the middle of the clearing. I'm hoping I can hide behind it and figure out what to do. I can't keep running forever.

The boulder barely offers enough shade for my entire body. Yet I gratefully crouch in it, careful to stay out of the mogs' line of sight.

I peer my head around the rock – just an inch – to see them come out of the forest. They scan the vicinity.

I lean my head against the hot rock; close my eyes from the overlooking sun.

When a sound is heard from my left.

I jerk upright. My entire body stiffens. My fists are cocked, ready to swing.

There is no one to my left. No Mogadorians. No people.

Instead a fuzzy creature nuzzles the top of my left hand.

A small brown rabbit.

Floppy ears and white round tail. Its fur is dirty but its heart is clean.

I'm not sure how I know this, but somehow, I can tell that this rabbit is in a similar situation as me. Lost and scared, yet willing to do whatever it has to do to survive.

I can hear the same Mogadorian's voice from where forest meets open space, shouting in his own language that I have never heard before.

I almost laugh. It's not that I find anything particularly funny; I am just in disbelief that this is happening right now. Sure, there were times where I wished the Lorien Legacies were real, but I never really wanted it. It would mean an intergalactic war.

Now that this has become reality, I know there is only one option:

Find John Smith. Find the Loric and help them put a stop to this.

The bunny climbs onto my lap and rests its two front paws on my abdomen.

I've never had a pet bunny before. Though I can tell that there is something different about this one. I can't place my finger on it and I'm afraid I don't have the time to figure it out.

"I don't have any food," I say as I lift the bunny off of me and return it to the ground at my side.

I can see it has quickly grown fond of me, though I don't understand why.

I stand to survey the mogs.

Just as I peer my head out from my right, do I find a massive Mogadorian soldier standing over me. Tall and slender yet muscular at the same time. He's at least twice my size.

He grabs me by the throat in an instant. I gasp as my feet leave the ground.

I kick at him; clutch at his grasp. Though I know it's futile.

They found me. They caught me.

They'll kill me.

The Mogadorian smiles, revealing his sharp pearly white teeth. It speaks, its voice deep and low.

"Human," it says. "At last."

I can't breathe.

This is the end; can't breathe. My life will end before it begins. I can't breathe.

As I see the mog reach for something at his waist – likely a sword or some other weapon – I hear a low guttural growl.

I'm not hearing things. The alien heard it too.

Though just as he turns, a claw slashes through its back. A claw that matches that of a grown lion.

Dark blood begins to spurt onto the ground. A black liquid I have only read about until now.

I fall to my knees and gasp in deep breaths as the alien turns to ash before me.

Standing in front of me in the pile of Mogadorian ash, is the same brown coloured rabbit from before.

Confused as to how the mog died, I grab my dusty backpack and force myself to my feet.

As I stand, the bunny gets excited, bobbing its small round tail from side to side.

"I need to go," I whisper to the animal, too focused on the mogs activity to fully be attentive with this bunny. "I'm sorry. You can't come with me."

I already put an innocent person's life in danger today. I won't put an animal's life in danger too. I'm not making that mistake twice.

The bunny doesn't seem intent on listening to me. It hops closer.

"No. Stay," I command with a palm extended.

For a few seconds, it stays, but quickly grows restless again.

It spins in a circle.

Once. Then twice.

Then something strange happens.

Its body begins to morph. Changing shape; changing appearance. Growing larger. Stronger.

Its round ears become pointy. Its legs form muscle. Its claws develop sharpness. Its tail spreads long and thin.

In a matter of only a few short moments, I am looking at a full-scale lion.

I can't believe my eyes.