Vlad scrambled to his feet and rushed to the girl sprawled on the branch beside him, her chest heaving, hair tangled with fragments of torn leaves. He hauled her up.
"Let me catch my breath for a second," she gasped.
"We don't have time," He hissed. "We need to move."
Seeing Vlad's expression of barely contained panic, she swallowed her protest.
Vlad took the sack full of the meat from her and slung it over his shoulder. Around them, the massive trees bent and twisted. Their colossal branches intertwining created a labyrinth. With the added darkness of the night, wherever they looked every path looked like a straight road to death.
Vlad glanced down. Beneath them, a drop of tens of dozens of meters - filled with darkness…and things they weren't prepared to face.
"Where do we even go?" the girl asked.
"Along the branches," Vlad said. "For now just focus on getting as far away from here."
The girl didn't speak but her expression got the message across to Vlad.
"...something's chasing us."
***
They sprinted across the massive branches, leaping from one branch to the next. Their footsteps thudded dully against the rough bark. Leaves whipped past them - some as large as them, some sharp-edged, brushing against their suits as they pushed through.
Behind them, the sound of pursuit was unmistakable - branches creaking, leaves rustling unnaturally, and a low, rhythmic thrumming of wings.
The girl twisted to look over her shoulder.
"What's chasing us?" she panted.
Vlad didn't look back. He didn't need to. The sound alone was enough - a low, rattling of the leaves layered over the thrum of wings, was enough for him.
"Don't look back and waste time, just run."
The branch they were on abruptly ended, forcing them to climb to a higher one. Vlad tossed the sack in his hands up first and then helped the girl up. Next, it was his turn - the girl took Vlad's hand and pulled him up. She glanced in the direction their pursuer was and her breath hitched.
Through the dense shadowed canopy, something massive flickered in and out of view. Eyes - at least four - glowed a sickly yellow, fixed on them.
"It's flying through the branches," she said.
"It's not flying," Vlad said grimly. "It's hunting."
They continued their run dodging, ducking and weaving through the massive leaves and tangled branches in their path.
She can't keep running like this for long. Vlad thought, glancing at the girl in front of him. We need to find a place where it can't get to us.
Vlad scanned the surrounding trees, trying to find anything to help. A few seconds later he found a tree cavity in one of the trees.
"There - look!" he shouted, pointing to it.
The cavity looked to be a long-abandoned nest.
"If we make it there, we might be able to hide or at least lose it."
The girl without hesitation nodded in agreement.
They beelined towards it but there was no connecting branch. They had to jump a large gap to get to it. The gap was too large to jump across under regular circumstances but they had built up enough momentum to make it.
"We need to jump!" Vlad yelled.
"Give me the bag," she called, hand outstretched.
Vlad quickly tossed it to her without slowing.
Her steps pounded against the bark, then left the branch entirely, body arcing through the air. Her fingers barely caught the edge of the branch. She clutched a hanging vine next to her and threw the bag of meat onto the branch, then hurriedly pulled himself up.
Vlad was almost there but slipped on the moss growing on the branch and started sliding uncontrollably.
Damn it!
The branch curved downwards to the ground. Vlad was headed for a deadly drop.
"Grab something!" the girl shouted.
Vlad snatched at leaves and branches. Most snapped under his grip - until finally a vine held. He caught himself and stood.
But this little delay gave the creature chasing after them enough time to catch up.
"WATCH OUT!" the girl screamed at the top of her lungs.
Vlad turned his head. A creature akin to a nightmare flew straight at him. Twice the size of the Red Vulturov, wings creating small vortexes with each flap, body covered in a strange alloy and four yellow eyes fixed on him.
Ah, crap!
The creature flew straight into the branch he was on, making it shake violently. Vlad lost his footing on the already hard-to-stand surface and tumbled off.
The girl ran to the edge and saw Vlad dangling by the vine, trying his fastest to climb up.
[Nuclear Energy absorption exceeding previous...]
Vlad didn't listen to the rest of the message, his mind and body solely focused on climbing.
The girl grabbed the vine and helped him up.
"Just a little more!"
The monster dove again, claws outstretched to finish him off.
She reached for him - and yanked him up onto the branch. The creature whooshed past in a blur.
"Go! MOVE!"
Both of them sprinted toward the cavity in the tree, but the girl couldn't run as fast as before. She was reaching her limits
We won't make it… Vlad's heart pounded.
Vlad scooped her up without warning, making her yelp in surprise, and dashed the final stretch as fast as he could.
The air around them warped with the force of the monster's wings. Instinct took over and Vlad's body reacted before he could think, and dove into the cavity.
Both of them hit the hard bark and rolled across the floor.
They didn't have time to dwindle.
They jolted up and ran deeper into the nest. The creature shrieked outside, its body too massive to fit. But it wasn't giving up.
The creature lowered its head and peered in, its four eyes glowing in the dark. A moment later one leg reached in, claws swiping blindly, trying to find them.
They stayed still, breath held. Barely far enough away.
After a bit of trying and failing, it gave up, retreating its claws. Minutes passed, then the sound of its wings flapping reached their ears.
It left.
"We're safe," Vlad exhaled, slumping to the floor.
The girl, still catching her breath, nodded and replied:
"Yeah...at last."
"We'll have to keep moving though," Vlad added. "It knows where we are. It'll come back."
The girl nodded, wiping sweat from her brow with the back of her hand.
"It might not be able to get in but god knows what else is out there that can get in and rip us apart."
Vlad cautiously peered out of the cavity. The darkness beyond was thick, punctuated only by the faintest slivers of moonlight filtering through the dense leaves far above.
"We'll camp here for tonight," he said.
***
Hours passed. The pain in their bodies dulled their hunger.
The darkness of the night was overbearing. A fire would bring comfort. But a fire in this lightless void would act like a beacon guiding the residents of the Bentree Forest to them, which was the last thing they wanted.
Vlad gathered some leaves littered around the rather large cavity and stacked them to make a small bed to cushion against the hard tree bark.
"You get some rest," he said. "I'll take the first watch."
"I'm not that sleepy," the girl replied.
Who would be?
A place littered with hostile creatures everywhere was not a place anyone's eyes would want to stay shut. Barely surviving being hunted, the fear of being attacked kept both of them wide awake.
Vlad sat down on the bed he made with the large leaves. Stealing a glance at the girl sitting some distance away.
We never introduced ourselves… he thought.
As if hearing his thoughts, the girl said:
"I'm Lana Oliver."
"Huh? Oh-uhh…I'm Vlad."
Silence stretched.
Then she asked:
"You're still in great shape, barely showing the strain of all that has happened. Are you an Evolved?"
Vlad paused for a second before answering:
"Yes, but my ability doesn't have anything to do with my physical capabilities."
She gave him a blank stare.
"What?"
"No, nothing," she said, turning her head. "I'm an Evolved as well."
Vlad's interest peaked and he sat upright.
Evolved humans were not easy to come by. Vlad was used to being the only Evolved in the room so another Evolved person being in the same place was a new experience for him.
She's one too?!
She continued:
"My ability…" she paused. "It helps me sense a person's true intentions."
That's...useful.
"What about yours?" She asked her gaze on him.
"I can communicate with my brother telepathically - only within a certain radius."
"I see," She replied, turning her head.
They fell quiet again.
A thought popped up inside Vlad's head. Back when he was climbing the vine, his QC tried to tell him something...
He checked the messages.
[Nuclear energy absorption exceeding previous parameter.]
[Nuclear Energy utilization: 41.8 kilobecquerel.]
Still got a long way to go...
The silence of the nest remained unbroken, the constant fear of something attacking kept them on edge. They didn't sleep. But at least, they were alive when dawn began to break.