I ran left, pricking my ears for any movement by the bushes or behind the trees in the distance. I had to be careful not to run into anything I couldn’t handle. The sun was heading for the horizon, which made it harder to see. Raiya told us to go north. In the thick forest and the interlocking branches, I could barely see the sun above. I couldn’t rely on that to pinpoint the direction I had to follow.

The river was behind me, that much I knew, so I was running west. I had to keep going that way for at least a mile before changing course. I had to drag as many oversized gorillas behind me as I could. The witch was right after all. If we allowed them to surround us, we’d be minced meat.

My ears gave a sudden jerk at the sound of rustling behind me. I heard the stomping before I saw the monster that was tailing me. Each step it took covered the distance I struggled to keep between us. Then I heard another shriek to my left. Great! I couldn’t handle one, how was I supposed to take care of two of them? I didn’t even have a weapon!

The two monsters growled as they approached me. I was running at full speed, as fast as I could while carrying the unconscious woman on my shoulder anyway. I couldn’t fight them. I couldn’t outrun them either, not with Agatha slowing me down. I had to get rid of her, hide her somewhere safe until I led those monsters away from her.

Or, for a brief moment I had a fleeting thought, I could leave her as bait and save my own skin. I brushed the morbid idea away. I wouldn’t stoop so low as to leave a defenseless woman at their mercy. Besides, the Homopraelia were hunters, they wouldn’t accept easy prey. It would only make them angrier. They’d take their hunt more seriously and reach me in no time. At least now I had a fighting chance.

They were about a hundred paces away from me now. They’d cover it in three steps. I threw Agatha between two shrubs near a forked tree. I would remember that one. There was no other tree like it around here. Then I ran the opposite side, toward the monsters. As soon as they saw me, both of them stopped.

They looked at each other, then at me. They bared their teeth at each other and growled. One of them muttered something. I could only hear loud snorting and growling. Were they talking? Was that growling noise their speech I wondered. The two monsters turned to look at me then resumed their speech once more, more fervently this time. They seemed to be fighting.

Slowly, I tried stepping away. I didn’t know what they were talking about, perhaps who should get me first. But as long as it kept them busy, I didn’t mind. I backed away, careful not to arouse their suspicion. One of them was now gesticulating, its enormous arms flailing in the air. The other growled then pushed the monster away.

They were definitely fighting. It was my chance to get away. Careful not to lose sight of them, I kept backing away. Now the one who was pushed away retaliated with a heavy punch. I shuddered at the thought of being on the receiving end of that blow. The receiver, however, didn’t seem affected by the strong punch. It retaliated with one of its own.

It was my signal to get away. They were about to get busy, it was my chance to disappear. But a deafening scream glued me to the spot. The gorilla’s head was thrown sideways after the punch. It was looking straight at me, realizing I was trying to escape. The two monsters exchanged worried looks then ran toward me, their hands outstretched. It looked as though they were racing to catch me. Each of them snarled at the other as they extended their enormous hands to get a hold of me.

I dived beneath them as they jumped. Their size was also their weakness. They looked as though they moved in slow motion, which gave me a split second head start. I heard them crash behind me. Then a pair of legs fell heavily around me. I was almost crushed by their huge bodies. I quickly glanced at them before running away. To my surprise, both monsters hadn’t tried to stand up. They also stopped growling which meant something unexpected had happened.

I cautiously approached them, ready to tail it if one of them but twitched. But none of them moved. They lay on their stomach, their right arms outstretched, and their left hugging each other. It was a peculiar scene if I’ve ever seen one. Both gigantic gorillas lay sleeping on the dirt, hugging, their foreheads butting each other.

When I dived below them, they must’ve knocked one another unconscious.

I heartily laughed while I carefully walked past them, looking for Agatha. My happiness was cut short as a voice behind me spoke. It was unmistakably human. I jerked around. A young boy was leaning against a tree, arms crossed. He was smiling, the kind that says ‘I’ve got you!’

“What a lucky strike!” the young boy said then let out a long whistle. I recognized him as the boy who accompanied Utar when he visited Jory the other day. My heart sank. If he was here, it only meant that the Priest was nearby.

“Relax,” the boy said, as if reading through my mind. “He’s not here, not yet anyway.”

“What do you want?” I barked at him. I felt a sudden urge to attack, relieve him of his head. I didn’t know where that feeling came from. But as I tried think about it, my head started throbbing. Damn you memory!

“I was ordered to capture you of course,” Sam said matter-of-factly.

“Well, here I am,” I said. “Come and get me.” My voice didn’t come out as confident as I wished it to be though. The boy must have noticed it as his pursed lips widened in a nasty smile. “You can’t beat me Myles, not anymore.”

“Try me!” I said then dashed at him. What was I trying to accomplish? Vent my anger and helplessness at a stranger? I didn’t know. All I knew was that I wanted to fight. The Homopraelia were too big for me.

I was able to pick a fight with someone my own size at last.

The boy didn’t move though. He waited for me to reach him. I swung my right fist at him, aiming for his ribs. I felt my arm swing in the air. Momentum carried my legs forward. I almost fell but I managed to recompose myself. I stopped and looked around. The boy had vanished from sight. How was he doing that?

A punch to my left cheek woke me from my reveries. That bastard was aiming for my blind spot. I aimed a blind swing to my left, trying to get him off me. I missed again. I felt his leg hit my knee pit and I fell to the ground. The boy appeared in front of me, grinning.

“What’s happening Myles?” he asked. “Lost your touch?”

I jumped at him but he managed to slip past me again. That bastard! He was playing.

“I told you M, you can’t beat me!” he spoke behind me. I turned around and made to jump at him but -

I didn’t cross half the distance that separated us when he raised his arms and muttered something. I was frozen in place, one foot in the air and the other slightly touching the ground. He slowly walked toward me. I struggled to move or look around. My eye was fixed forward. My mouth was still open. I couldn’t even move a finger.

“Nasty scar!” he said walking around me, eyeing me with an air of superiority. “You know M, I used to respect you. You were my idol. It all seems like a distant dream now. I even find it silly, that I used to look up to a failure like you.”

What was he talking about? Why was he calling me by my initial? I knew he betrayed me. His name was Sam, I think. My memory hasn’t been acting properly ever since I was captured by Utar. I wasn’t even sure that was the time when it started acting up. But that’s as far as I could remember without getting splitting headaches. This boy here, I could remember from my dreams. I dreamt he helped me once.

When Utar announced Sam had betrayed me, I could only feel rage toward him. The same rage I was feeling right now. There was also a feeling of frustrating helplessness on the side. I tried talking, but no words came out. Whatever he’s done to me, I couldn’t move or speak. I even felt lightheaded, as if I couldn’t breathe anymore.

“Where’s the Herbologist?” he asked. “We didn’t find her at Jory’s study.”

I tried speaking, but I was still frozen, my tongue felt glued to the floor of my mouth.

“Oh, apologies,” Sam said then clicked his fingers. My eye started darting left and right it made my head spin. Air invaded my mouth and nostrils. It felt as though my organs started working again.

“I almost killed you in my hurry. Relax, you can’t move but at least you can breathe now. Where’s the Herbologist M?”

“What do you want with her?” I asked.

“So she’s with you somewhere,” he deducted. The bastard! I played right into his trap. “I’ll let you go if you tell me where she is.”

“Can’t your master sense her?” I said. My body was still frozen in space. No matter how hard I tried to move, my limbs wouldn’t answer. To make matters worse, my head was throbbing violently.

“Don’t play games M!” Sam yelled then smacked me on the back of my head. The bright side about being immobilized, I realized, was that I couldn’t feel pain. Otherwise my head would’ve hurt worse.

“You’d feel all the pain at once, as soon as I release the spell,” Sam said, still circling around me.

“What do you want from the Herbologist?” I stubbornly asked. I wouldn’t give her up even if it cost me my life. I only did it to annoy him, out of spite. Who was he to act so high and mighty?

“You really don’t remember a thing, do you?” Sam asked.

“Remember what?”

“You don’t know who Agatha is? After all she’s done for you and your useless family?” He had stopped moving. He was looking at me with utter disgust now. Who wouldn’t? I was badly disfigured.

“Get to the point,” I said, irritated.

“Give me the woman, and you walk free,” he said.

“Your master will catch me anyway,” I retorted. He was either toying with me or trying to find the woman before Utar could. But why? Did he hope to hide her from him? Why would he do that?

“He says you’ve got some help, you might escape his clutches after all.”

“What’s in it for you? Why is the woman so important to you?”

A punch to the face made my eye look sideways. It was stuck looking at the forked tree, not too far from us. Agatha lay there. But, for some reason, Sam didn’t bother looking around. It took me a while before I could will my eye to look at him again. He looked furious, a bit stressed too, perhaps scared.

“She’s my aunt you dumbass!” he said, his voice quivering. “We don’t have much time M. Tell me where she is.” There was a note of panic in Sam’s voice now.

The boy was trying to save someone he cared about. That was good news I guessed. How do you save someone from Utar anyway? It didn’t matter, but I could get myself out of this perilous situation.

“Are you telling me you’re here against your master’s wishes?” I asked. It was my turn to grin. I had the upper hand in the negotiation this time. I bet my smile wasn’t a pretty sight to behold, for Sam’s bushy eyebrows tightened and his eyes pursed into a slit.

Another punch to the stomach, I didn’t feel a thing. A kick between my legs followed then Sam spoke again. “You don’t have much time either M. Give me my aunt and I’ll let you go.”

Before I could answer, Sam’s expression greatly changed. His confidence was replaced with utter horror. A cracking noise behind a tree was heard. Then a figure, tall and muscular emerged. He had long white hair and wore a white, sleeveless shirt.

“What do you think you’re doing boy?” Utar asked.