Searching for the Key

Chapter 20

The walk back through the forest was slightly easier since they were going downhill. But it was tiring nonetheless. After walking for almost two hours, they stopped for a break by the river. They placed their bags down and sat down on a fallen log.

"I feel like half of this quest is just us hiking," Celia grumbled.

"There are worse places we could be," Katia pointed out.

She actually found the Canadian forest quite beautiful. The lush scenery almost reminded her of Aevria and the hikes she would take with Nathan to the waterfall.

"I guess so but still--what the hell?" Celia shouted angrily. She spun around and pointed at Nathan who was drinking by the river. "Why did you throw mud at me?"

"What?" Nathan questioned in confusion. "I didn't do that!"

Celia had a wad of mud splashed on to her back and staining her shirt. She scoffed and stood to face Nathan.

"So the mud threw itself huh?" Celia said sarcastically.

Nathan shrugged. "I guess so," he replied innocently.

Celia growled slightly and stepped forward. Katia quickly stood between them, knowing things were about to get ugly. Suddenly a blur of brown flew past the three of them and hit Damien square in the chest, causing him to lose his balance and fall of the log.

"Ouch," Damien groaned.

"Where did that come from?" Katia asked.

"Our stuff! Where did it go?" Nathan exclaimed.

Katia turned around and sure enough all of their backpacks were gone. They were just there sitting against the tree a few minutes ago. They couldn't lose those bags. They had all of their supplies and--

"Cato's hat was in my bag!" Celia exclaimed.

"You think a bear got our stuff?" Damien asked.

"Why would a bear get our bags? There's no food in them," Celia responded icily.

Suddenly they heard a small, high pitched giggle. They looked at each other in confusion, making sure they didn't just imagine the sound. But then they heard it again.

"It's coming from over there," Nathan said quietly.

He tiptoed towards the underbrush. Suddenly he lifted his hands into the air and twisted them in a complicated motion. The thing making the giggling sound was pulled up by Nathan's whirlwind and plopped down in front of us.

It was a kid complete with chubby cheeks and a mop of messy blonde hair. Nathan was so shocked that his whirlwind dissipated and the little kid scurried back into hiding.

"What the hell?" Damien exclaimed.

"Was that a kid?" Nathan questioned.

He tried searching for the little boy again but all the heard was an occasional giggle that changed direction every couple seconds.

"I think it's a kinder," Katia answered.

"A what?" Celia asked in confusion.