Kel stepped forward and reached for Tria's hand. The two of them turned and slowly started walking together. Behind them, the grove withered and died at a speed visible to the human eye. The pond became nothing more than a dried hole in the ground, and the trees ended up nothing more than shrunken husks of their former selves.

Kel didn't see though. He could hear the grove dying behind him, but he couldn't bear to look back. After all, he was the one who had taken away the one who gave it life.

Sometimes, something beautiful...

******

The two marched on for a good portion of the day. Tria seemed to have truly become a child now - she spoke only a little and when she did, it was stilted and full of the innocence characteristic of one still naïve of the world. Oddly, she still seemed to know a lot about the plants around them, and would happily stop and pluck certain berries - or pull up certain roots, for the two of them to eat. When they came across a small stream, the duo stopped for a drink. Tria amused herself by splashing at the water's edge.

Kel sat on a rock overlooking the stream and the small girl playing in it. What the hell am I supposed to do with a kid?

Kel sighed and buried his face in his hands. He had lost both his Mother and his Sister already. He was supposed to be finding ways to get stronger. He wasn't exactly sure how he was going to do that, but he imagined it would involve finding hidden teachers or fighting in arenas...or something. He lowered his hands slightly and gazed over his hands at Tria.

This was...not part of the plan. He had no idea how to keep himself alive, let alone someone else - and a young child at that. And yet...she seems to know more about surviving out here than I do he thought ruefully, reaching down to pick up one of the berries sitting on a leaf at his side.

I'll have to drop her off with a village...or something he concluded, crushing down the voice inside of himself that whispered he was only doing it to escape the responsibility. It would be what is best for her.

He absent-mindedly popped the berry into his mouth. It tasted just like a normal blueberry...looked like one too. It was the first normal thing he had come across since everything changed. It was good, but it also brought a lot of nostalgia with it. Sadness really, as he thought about the times he would eat blueberries with his sister when they both were kids. The two of them had loved topping ice cream with them - it was their own little joke. As long as they put something healthy on top, they could eat as much ice cream as they wanted. Their Mom knew what they would doing, but she would just laugh and give them another scoop of ice cream - and some blueberries to put on top.

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Kel smiled and gazed off at nothing in particular. I hope I can find them soon.

It was about this time Kel noticed something was off. Tria isn't splashing anymore he realized. Looking down over the rock, he saw her still standing in the stream, her body frozen and her eyes staring straight ahead. Kel followed her line of sight - and froze too.

On the other side of the stream; just inside the shadow of the trees, stood the biggest wolf Kel had ever seen. He hadn't seen too many wolves, but he remembered seeing some at the zoo when he went with his family, and they seemed like medium size dogs. This....monstrosity's head...it would come up to his shoulder. And he was taller than he used to be.

The creature didn't growl or bark. It's yellow eyes merely stared at Tria, and then slowly raised to look at Kel, before falling back to Tria again. The eyes of a hunter that knows it has already won Kel shuddered with the realization.

The wolf took a slow step forward, and Kel saw a second wolf materialize out of the shadows behind it, this one black instead of grey. Kel would have sworn this one was smiling as it looked at him - as if to mock him and his inability to fight back.

Kel glanced back at Tria, the panic slowly building in his chest. It was then he noticed she had turned back to look at him, her eyes wide and full of terror.

The wolves lunged.

Kel moved.

Faster than should have been possible, Kel catapulted himself to the ground. In one swift motion, Tria was out of the stream and flung onto his back - and Kel was already plunging into the trees. The wolves hesitated a moment in surprise before letting out a howl and starting the chase.

Kel sprinted off into the trees, his mind frantically racing - trying to think of anything that might be done to save them. One of the wolves burst out of the path in front of him, and he rabbited to the left - only to come face to face with the grey wolf. It was too late - he was already moving in that direction, so Kel did all he could. He jumped.

And he rocketed straight over the wolf. He was so surprised when he landed that he stopped moving and glanced over his shoulder at Tria - who was staring straight back at him, her mouth a perfect surprised "o". The wolves seemed just as shocked, as they both stopped a moment to stare at him. Prey wasn't supposed to be this hard to catch, right? They didn't hesitate for long though, and the chase resumed.

They continued running for another 5 minutes, and Kel kept waiting for the burning in his lungs to stop him - but it never came. He kept running, tirelessly; jumping over streams and over boulders - running fast enough to out-pace the wolves, so long as he rabbited back and forth when they caught up.

Whatever happened to my body when I fell...it changed more than I realized. He put on a new burst of speed and was running faster than he had ever known possible. The trees blurred past at a dizzying speed, but somehow his eyes seemed to adjust - his mind working fast enough for him to keep track of the quickly moving scenery; making sure his footing never faltered.

Kel exploded in jubilant laughter. Behind him, he could hear Tria laughing too, the world melting past them as they ran. Ran from the wolves, ran from the past - ran from whatever might stop them.

Kel heard a crack - as if lightning fell from the sky. Suddenly, the grey wolf was in front of them again, small arcs of electricity sparking at its paws. Kel skidded to a stop, and the wolf's mouth fell into a grin.

Not over yet, it seems he though grimly, adjusting Tria on his back.