The Game

I ran. I ran as fast as my legs would carry me; pushing myself past the point of extraordinary pain. Tears ran down my face as I gripped onto the only piece of reality that I had left. This wasn't real. This wasn't happening. This was all just a dream.

No, a nightmare.

"Mia, to your left!" I heard a boy scream. Without evening needing to think, I forced my feet into the ground and watched as the ground beneath me broke and I fell closer to the hard surface of this planet. As dirt and plants shoved their way into my face and rocks cut into my skin, I saw a large mass jump over me. It was only inches above me, and I knew if I had not fallen when I did, I would not be conscious. "Mia!"

I ignored my name being screamed by my two companions as I stared into the silver eyes of the beast that now stood in front of me. It's head was crouched low to the ground, almost level with me. The black nostril flared viciously as it smelled the air around it, confirming that I was still it's target. Red blood dripped from it's partly opened mouth and I felt my whole body tense up. That blood; it was mine. The gash that was on my arm was proof of that.

"Get up!" I heard them scream. I knew I had to, but I was frozen. The stare of the silver eyed beast kept me in my place. All I could think about was the death that I was going to face from this monster. How my whole life had been pointless and how this was how it was all going to end; with me in an unknown world, being tracked down by animals and killed for trying to survive. "I said get up!"

A pained yelp echoed around me and I watched as an arrow hit the beast in the shoulder, sending it stumbling back. A hand grabbed my upper arm and yanked me to my feet before it dragged me back into a run. I picked up my speed quickly as I remembered the fear and adrenaline that was pumping through me.

"We need to get to higher ground!" The boy along side me yelled to the girl running just ahead of us. I watched with blurred eyes as she ran towards a tree and kicked off the trunk to grab a higher branch. She pulled herself up with ease before running along the thick wood and launching herself at another tree.

"I can't climb," I said, barely able to speak as my breath forced its way in and out of my lungs. The girl stopped on a branch a few yards ahead before, with amazing balance, crouched to her knees and aimed her bow and arrow at us. "We need to find something else."

I watched as the arrow shot between me and the boy, hitting something behind us that caused a loud cry to echo around. I dared not to look back to see what was following. I didn't want to know. I didn't want to know how close my death was.

"Kairi we need cover!" The boy yelled, but it went unheard. Kairi, the girl jumping from branch to branch above us, was too busy keeping the beasts at bay with her arrows. Two. Three. Four. She kept adding more arrows to her aim, but they seemed to do nothing in the pursuit. "Kairi!"

"Sasha!" She yelled back as she shot an arrow a little to close to him. It barely missed his cheek and hit the target behind him. "I'm a little busy right now." She said as she jumped to a further branch. She made sure to keep just enough a head of us to keep our path clear. She aimed an arrow again before lowering her bow slightly and pausing. "I have an idea!" She lift her bow and shot one last arrow before she jumped back down to the ground and bolted to our right.

Without question, we followed her deeper into the forest. Roots and large rocks tried to trip us; tried to stop us from heading this way. Low branches cut into our skins as we pushed past them. It felt like this was doing nothing but slowing us down. That was what I thought until I heard her scream, "We are going to have to jump."

There was no notice at all. Kairi spoke the words as she pushed herself off the edge of a large cliff. Sasha and I had no time to prepare or even think about what was happening as the floor disappeared beneath us.

This wasn't real. This wasn't happening. This was all just a dream. It was all just a nightmare.