199 Past and Present I (2/2)

Bella woke up to Ange growling. She could feel his broad chest rattling, and she sat up, rubbing her eyes.

”Nightmares, Ange?” said Bella quietly. She smelled smoke, and immediately she grew alert. She stood up in a panic and looked around her.

It was a terrible sight. All around her, between the dark spaces of the trees, there were eyes staring at her. Not the friendly eyes of her friends or the animals of the forest, but sharp, evil eyes that she knew wanted to hurt her. In the distance, she could hear fire crackling.

”Ange, what's happening?” said Bella as she hopped onto Ange's back, hugging tightly onto tufts of fur to stop herself from falling.

Ange growled more menacingly, his huge teeth showing, fire flickering between them. Some of the eyes stepped forwards, revealing ugly creatures. They looked like little men with pot bellies and big arms and legs like the scary butcher, but they were not human. They had long, pointy ears and big, sharp teeth, and dark blades and fire flickering from their backs.

Ange roared, loosing a huge breath of fire that lit up the night, revealing that there were many, many, many more evil creatures of all different shapes and sizes around them.

The fire breath reduced several of the little men into blackened clumps, but there were so many more that Bella tugged at Ange's fur and said urgently, ”Fly. Let's fly, Ange, and get away from here.”

Ange spread out his wings and flew, and they rose above the trees. Bella widened her eyes as she looked down. There was fire everywhere. Horrible crackling and heat and smoke that came up from them, making her cough.

She looked up and saw that there was something dark all around her. A dome covering the forest, stopping anything from leaving.

Not that Bella would leave. She would never, ever leave her friends behind.

”Ange, let's find the others!” shouted Bella, and Ange flew downwards, his big eyes tracking the forest.

===========

They came to the wide creek where Simon lived.

Simon, massive as he was that he was larger even than Ange, was sprawled out in the middle of the raging water, blood pouring out form big holes at his side. Around him, there were dozens of bodies of evil monsters all dead, massive chunks ripped out from them through Simon's jaws.

Ange landed beside Simon and whined, licking the crocodile's face, but Simon was dead.

Bella balled up her fists and held back tears, even if she knew she could never see Simon again, that once something was dead, she could never bring it back, because she knew it was dangerous to stay here.

She got back onto Ange and tugged his fur. She knew the dog was sad, so she had to be strong for him. For the others, too.

”Come on, Ange, we have to find the others. They may still live.”

=======

It did not take long for Ange to track the familiar scents of Ames and Sheila. They were in a clearing closer to the forest center, by a stream where they usually fought over fish. They were crumpled on the forest floor, lying side by side together with blood pouring form their still bodies.

Ames's big hide had been pierced with a giant sword, and Sheila's sleek form had been punctured with flaming arrows to her neck. In front of them, there was the body of a knight, though not any Bella had seen before.

It was a knight far bigger than any man she had known, and his armor was black and there were still hints of fire flickering from the gaps between it, but the fire was waning down – the knight was dead.

Sheila and Ames had set aside their differences to work together and kill this knight.

Bella stepped down from Ange and knelt by Ames and Sheila, hoping desperately that there was still some life in them so that she could heal them and then take them somewhere far away, where nothing could hurt them, but there was no breath in them, no life.

She began to cry, unable to control herself. Why were evil things hunting her again? Hadn't everyone hunted her and her friends enough? She'd had so little for herself that she thought that maybe, just maybe, she could have a few friends of her own and live happy, but why?

Why did she seem to lose everything she wanted to call her own?

Bella jolted up as she heard Ange whimper in pain. She saw a big, flaming arrow sticking out from Ange's back. She wiped down her tears and leaped back onto Ange, tugging at his fur to get him to fly.

Ange whimpered, limping, but his wings worked, and he took to the air again. Another arrow sailed past them, but it missed, and Bella hugged Ange and cried again.

”I'm so sorry, Ange, I let you get hit. I got you hurt. Here, I'll make it all better.”

Bella focused, remembering the image of the Light, of the sunny gate, and power flowed from her hands and healed Ange. Flesh grew back and pushed the arrow out.

Ange whimpered, but this time, to comfort Bella, to tell her that it was fine, that it was okay, that he would take her to safety. She waited for a minute, Ange panting heavily as he flew, and she realized he was taking her to the forest center where mister Bale lived.

”That's a good idea, Ange,” said Bella. ”Mister Bale can do anything. He knows where the berries and fruits are and he knows how to make them all grow. He'll know how to get us out, too.”