"Is it gaining on us!?"(T)

Teen's desperate cry sounded in his ear.

They had been running for quite some time now. Turns out sleeping in a forest infested with monsters was not a clever idea.

"Don't leave me behind!!"(N)

Navy was visibly lagging behind despite being ahead of the both at the start.

"Please! I can't keep up!"(N)

Gol was very tempted to leave her behind. It would be far easier to escape without carrying dead weight. They weren't obligated to help her after all. He bet both his sister and dad would have told him to do so, that it was the most logical, safe choice. But... he couldn't. It didn't feel right to him.

He shot his sis a gaze, one she was remarkably familiar with.

"You can't be serious!"(T)

Holding his gaze for a second longer, Teen finally relented.

"Fine!"(T)

Gol knew his sis. Unlike their father, she was still too softhearted to actually follow through with what she thinks.

Having come to an agreement, deep dark red flames manifested on Teen while a lighter shade manifested on Gol. It should hopefully serve as a good distraction until they figure something out.

'This is gonna hurt'

Deciding to face his fears, Gol quickly turned around where he spotted Navy and the dreadful thing following behind her.

With the head of a woman, the haunches of a lion, and the wings of a bird. The fearsome beast had a playful smile donning its face.

"Where are you running off to children?"

The tail of the beast flew out from behind it and tackled Navy. Once on the ground the beast lifted its paw and brought it over her.

"No sudden movements, we don't want a mistake happening now, do we little one?"

Withering at the beast's gaze Navy squeaked out,

"N-no mistakes here"(N)

It felt oddly wrong to watch Navy suddenly acting so meek. She appeared to be rather strong-headed, evident by the constant butting of heads with his sister. Gol started feeling a little mad and as if reacting to his emotions, his flames flared out in greater volume. This wasn't right.

"Let her go you ugly monster!"(G)

Teen threw him a weird questioning look.

'I gotta work on my insulting skills...'

"Now now now. Is that anyway to talk to your elders?"

The beast surprisingly moved its paw off Navy and lowered it down to the ground.

'It actually listened!'

Seeing that she appeared to be free Navy got up tried to run. This resulted in her being slammed back in the direction of the beast by its tail.

"The hell do you think you are doing!!(T)

Teen's flames roared to life and attacked the beast. Of the two of them, she had finer control, she should be able to scare the beast far enough away from Navy that he could then go full might on her. Sadly, things didn't go as he had hoped. Instead of being scared away, the beast let out a chuckle as a strong gust of wind came and snuffed out the attack.

"Oh my! Kids these days!"

Before he realised what was going on, he was off his feet and crashing to the ground. Air knocked out of his lungs.

"Please don't force my hand. I rather dislike disciplining defenceless kids"

Still dazed from the fall, Gol asked in a weak voice,

"What, what do you want"(G)

"Nothing much. Simply curious as to what a bunch of kids are doing roaming my territory. Especially this little Yalery."

The beast's tail curled around Navy's own. The dazed look on Navy's face was quickly replaced by fear.

"Please! Not that! Not here! Anything but-"(N)

Navy's pleads fell on deaf ears as the beast lifted her up by the tail and brought her in front them.

'Did she say Yalery?'

Gol was familiar with the legendary Yalery, who wasn't? It was a known terror, a walking disaster. An entity with no real rivals in power. His mom had told stories of the beast in great detail. The only thing ever capable of stopping it was its own kind, who deemed it too dangerous to roam freely and even then, it was a temporary fix. The Yalery was back and was thirsting for battle. His father would know. After all he serves it.

Seeing the puzzled look on his face the beast's smile grew wider.

"Don't tell me you don't know what you are travelling with?"

"Oh never mind, it's not important for now!"

The beast turned its head back and stared at seemly nothing for a few moments before its eyes shone. Her already impossibly wide smile seemed to grow even more.

"I normally just kill trespassers but since you all a just a bunch of kids and I am in a rather good mood. I will propose you a once in a lifetime offer!"

"And what if we refuse"(T)

His sis spoke having finally just regained consciousness from the earlier fall.

"That's the fun part! You don't!"

Navy was dropped in front of them as the beast started moving in a random direction.

"Follow me children! I have something just in mind"

The beast turned around before heading deeper into the forest and spoke in an ominous voice,

"Don't make me comeback for you or... I'll be forced to use more extreme methods..."

Gol was in a heated debate. There were only two options available to them and Teen was insisting on the obviously wrong one.

"Have you lost your mind! We outta leave while we still can!"(G)

"Have you lost your mind! There is no way we are out running that thing!"(T)

"I don't know about you, but I am not in for another round of beatings!! Just look at Navy! We aren't moving, not with any real speed"(T)

'Speaking of Navy'

Gol turned away from his sister and to the girl laying face first on the ground.

Maybe if he could convince her, she could convince his sister.

"Navy what are you doing on the ground? You should get up. Your dress might get dirty"(G)

"..."

"I-I can't..."(N)

Her voice was barely a whisper.

A worried look spread on Gol's face. Gol went and kneel next to Navy while Teen hovered over his shoulders stealing glances.

"What's wrong? Is it your tail?"(G)

Gol stretched his hands out and gently started trying to caress her tail.

"Eep! Don't, it's-it's too sensitive..."(N)

Letting out a sigh Gol asked,

"Will you be able to walk?"(G)

"Of course! What kind of question is that!"(N)

Navy struggled for about ten minutes trying to get on her feet.

"S-see, I can still walk"(N)

Her legs were trembling like a leaf in the wind. It kinda reminded Gol of a slime.

'Welp, guess we're gonna follow a monster'

Gol faced his back towards Navy and crouched.

"Hop on."(G)

"I don't need to"(N)

"Navy! We don't have time for this! Just get on before that beast comes back and beats us again!"(T)

Navy glanced at Teen.

"I-I just can't! It's too embarrassing!"(N)

"Navy stop being childish and get on!"(T)

Navy hesitated a bit. She glanced at the direction the beast took off before finally giving in.

"I-If anyone asks this never happened!"(N)

With those final words they started to depart.

In an enchanting red forest, where the trees were forever in bloom, three children could be seen.

Walking and wondering about where they had been.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.