Tohoak ran blindly turning into any tunnel that she thought would confuse her pursuers. There was no telling how many men of the group had followed each of them she just knew there were at least two behind her. She considered using her powers to fight them off, but realized they had years of experience with their own. She wouldn’t stand much of a chance. Her lungs heaved air in and out and suddenly she was appreciating all the exercises during practice.
Every tunnel seemed the same as the last and she dreaded that she was simply going in circles and would never be free of the dim labyrinth. She past a tunnel that led to a completely steel hall. That had to mean she was near the main part of the Decimator’s base! She ran harder using most of her energy turning into whatever tunnel she thought might lead her to an exit.
Suddenly a man loomed up in front of her. She had forgotten that the Decimators were much more accustom to the layout of the tunnels and had a huge advantage on her. She stumbled backwards falling onto the ground. She was back on her feet in moments running away from the man in front and behind her by diving into another tunnel to the left. Up ahead she could see a sprinkle of moonlight. She knew it had to be an exit. Giving it her last burst of energy she ran as fast as she could. Behind she could hear the men gaining. Looking back she could see them only a few feet behind. They were yelling something at her. She couldn’t understand what they were saying. It sounded like a warning. The closest man was now inches from her. She looked forward bursting out into the moonlight. But there was something wrong. There was no ground beneath her feet.
A scream escaped her lips as she started to fall only to have the back of her shirt caught by the Decimator that had been behind her. She was jerked backwards and she rammed into the rocky wall under the mouth of the tunnel. He stood at the edge of the tunnel barely clinging to her shirt in an attempt to keep her from falling. Her eyes were wide with fear. The tunnel had led to a cliff. She could see the bottom twenty feet below. It had grass and trees and was surrounded by a deep concrete moat. Looking up, she saw that there was a wall circling the moat. It was edged with fence. In the back of her mind she registered it as part of a zoo.
“Hold still!” the Decimator growled at her as she started to struggle. His grip on her shirt was slowly slipping. Tohoak tried not to look down anymore. It was making her dizzy. She faced a hard choice. Fall into the Zoo’s habitat and hope she didn’t get too scratched up on the fall then try to find her way out or let the Decimators capture her. She could at least fight back with them though she didn’t know how well. “I’m losing her, help me!” the Decimator called back into the tunnel. He was losing her. His grip was quickly failing and Tohoak wasn’t helping. She struggled, her feet flailing in the air uselessly. The other Decimator appeared at the entrance to the tunnel and reached to grab Tohoak and pull her up, but it was too late. The first one lost his grip and she was suddenly falling.
She had to force her mouth shut to keep from screaming as the wind ripped by her ears and she tumbled through the air scraping her arms and legs on the side of the wall. The air was knocked out of her lungs completely as she landed on her back with a small cry. She laid there for a moment struggling to breathe and push through her pain. Red spots fogged her vision and she shook her head trying to clear them away. After a few minutes she forced herself to her feet. She was glad to find her only sign of falling was a few scratches and cuts. A headache was starting to develop in the back of her head. She had to figure out how to get out of the enclosure. To her luck she had learned back at camp that the zoo in the city had been abandoned for quite some time.
There was a deep throated growl to her right behind a thick grouping of trees and a pair of eyes flashed out at her. It suddenly dawned on her that even though no one visited the zoo anymore it was more than likely the wild animals still remind. She slowly started to back away fearing her thundering heart would alert the creature of how scared she was. The creature slinked out of the trees its coat a pale tan in the moon light. A giant brown mane surrounded its head. Tohoak wondered when the Lion’s last meal had been.
The shadows of the trees started to pull toward her and began forming a thin wall between her and the big cat. It hissed and leaped at the black mass angrily. Tohoak winced as the wall of shadows shattered like glass leaving her exposed to the Lion’s wrath. There was no way to control her powers with her emotions erratic. Her breathing came out short and fear coursed through her veins. She was going to get mauled by a Lion. It wasn’t the way she thought she would die, but in the end no one ever died the way they thought they would. The cat licked its lips and stalked forward baring its teeth. Tohoak found her back to the wall. There was nowhere to run.
The Lion crouched preparing to leap at her, but as its front legs started to move into action a boy moved into its path. There was a flash of silver and a roar then the cat was backing away, a thin trail of blood trickling down its forehead. It hissed, but scampered back into the trees and out of sight. Tohoak’s mouth hung open in shock and she quickly closed it.
“Are you okay?” he turned toward her. He looked about her age maybe slightly older. His hair was a dirty blonde color that gleamed in the moonlight. His eyes were hidden in the shadows. A sword rested loosely in his right hand, its sheath slung over his shoulder. Tohoak nodded.
“If you mean that I’m glad not to be some big cat’s happy meal then yes,” she said eyeing him almost curiously. A faint smile played on his lips before disappearing. Tohoak wondered if she had just imagined it.
“Come on. The Decimators know how to get down here,” he heard something toward the other side of the enclosure, “and if I’m not mistaken that’s them now,”
Tohoak wondered if she should trust him. After all he did just come out of nowhere. She opened her mouth to ask how he knew she needed help when he saw her and spoke before she could. “Before you ask the whole ‘Can I trust you? Who are you? Where’d you come from?’ series of questions let me speak. I was in the area, heard you scream, and saw you fall. No doubt you’re escaping the Decimators, I mean who wouldn’t be, and you have no idea if you can trust me cause I could be a Decimator for all you know, but let’s just focus on getting out of here before we cross the bridge of questions. I’m Rebel by the way,” he spoke quickly giving her no time to interrupt. Then he was sheathing his sword and ducking into the trees. Tohoak had been staring at him in puzzlement as he talked, but now she took his advice and kept quiet, quickly disappearing into the trees after him.
“My names Tohoak,” she whispered catching up to him.
“Nice to meet you,” he said not even looking back at her. He was a complete puzzle. As to why he was helping her Tohoak didn’t know, but she would take any help she got. “Keep your head down and follow me. The Decimators are by the main entrance to the enclosure, but I know another way out,” he said finally looking back at her. The moon caught his eyes exposing their strange color. They were gold, blue, and grey all at the same time making a startling, but unique combination. Tohoak nodded and he turned back forward again moving quickly and silently.