Chapter 1

Hiding

	I let out a sigh of relief when I spot the bird in the trees. I finally found one not in motion. I swiftly and silently place my arrow on the string and aim it at the nark sitting in the tree. I'm in luck. The bird is sleeping soundly on the branch above. When these animals are awake, they are almost impossible to catch and kill for a meal. They fly with a speed of a cheetah when if that mammal runs. They are jet fast.
	I pull back the arrow and then release my grip, letting it soar through the air and hit the nark in the chest. It's body falls from the tree branch to the ground, providing a fine meal for the four of us for at least two nights. I walk to it, picking it up by its tail feathers and head back to the small campsite. 
	"Jake!" I yell happily. 
	He runs to me and I run to him, our arms extended. I wrap my arms around his neck and he swings me around. We laugh. I look into his blue eyes. 
 	"What did you catch?" he says, putting me down gently. 
	"Two rabbits and a nark." I say proudly.
	"You hit a nark?" he asks. "Man, those birds are jet fast! How did you manage to do that?"
	"I was in luck! It was sleeping!" I say happily. He laughs and so do I. 
	I give him the game so that he can roast them over the fire for a good meal. Then Zack comes out of no where and attacks my legs with a big bear hug. He pops his head between my legs and looks up at me, giving me the most adorable smile. He has two missing teeth in front which makes it double as sweet. 
	"Hey, buddy!" I say, squeezing him tightly. "How are you?"
	"Fine." he says shyly. 
	"And where's William?" I ask, searching around with my eyes. 
	"Um…" Zack says, glancing nervously at Jake. 
	"He went to the forest's edge again- this time taking Zack with him." Jake says, letting out a heavy sigh. "He's now sitting up there." Jake says, pointing at the branches of a nearby tree. "I can't get him to listen or understand." 
	I nod. 
	I give out a tired sigh myself and quickly pat Zack's hair, "I'll be right back."
	I come up to the tree that Jake pointed to. "Will!" I call up. "William?" There's no answer. 
	I start to climb up the tree and spot William sitting, arms crossed on a branch about five feet up the tree. I climb until I'm eye level with him. 
	"Will. Why do you do that?" I ask.
	"What?" William says, in an angry tone.
	"I've told you not to wander the woods by yourself." I say.
	"I didn't- Zack was with me." 
	"Will! I especially don't want you to bring Zack with you to the edge of the woods! It's too dangerous. Much too dangerous for you- much less an eight-year-old!"
	"Whatever." he says, looking away.
	"Will. What's wrong?" I ask.
	"Just go away." he says, still avoiding my eyes. 
	I open my mouth to speak, then close it again. I climb back down and find Jake waiting for me. 
	"And?" he asks. 
	I shake my head. "He's growing rebellious. I think it's time to tell him the truth." I say looking up at Jake.
	This time Jake shakes his head. "I don't know. I don't think now's the time."
	We stand there together silently. Then Jakes perks back up, "But now is the time to have some rabbit for dinner!" he says, happily, giving me a slight squeeze on the hand. I smile. 
	"Okay. I'll be right there." I say and Jake hurries off. 
	"Will! It's dinner time!" I call up to him.
	"Not hungry." I hear him mumble. 
	I run to have some supper with Jake and Zack. The rabbit is good. Jake cooked both rabbits, since there's not enough meat on one of them for the three of us. But when we're finished eating, there are leftovers.
	"Just enough for breakfast! Perfect!" I say. "But now it's getting dark. Zack, it's time to go to bed." 
	"Aw…" he pouts, but then the pouting turns into a yawn and I lay him down in my blanket, gently placing Zack's head on my soft fir coat. He's out before I can even say good-night to him. I plant a small kiss on his cheek and let's out a sleepy smile.
	I look for William in the tree, but I find him already asleep. I place a small kiss on his forehead. "Goodnight, Will." I say.
	I find Jake cleaning up the nark meat for tomorrow's meals. 
	"Hey, Jake." I say, coming and standing next to my friend.
	"What are we going to do about him?" Jake asks, and I already know he's talking about William. "I don't think it's smart to tell them about your parents yet. He's only gonna get angrier with more people he doesn't even know yet. I'm just worried about what he might do in his anger in the meantime."
	I nod in agreement. "He's been angry with me for a long time because he thinks I'm keeping things from him- which I am." I say guiltily, "But I only do it for their safety." I mumble, more talking to myself than I am to Jake.
	"I know." Jake says. "Do you think Brian is still looking for you?" 
	"I'm not sure- but it's better if we're safe than sorry. His father is getting more and more desperate. I'm pretty sure he'll send Brian out first to do the dirty work for him. Tomorrow, we should keep moving. We'll fill the rest of our bottles with water from the lake and then head off." 
	"I'll do that right now." Jake says, and starts to gather our bottles up.
	"I'll help." I say, getting up. 
	"No." Jake says, sitting me back down, with a hand on my shoulder. "You get some rest. I'll do this and then sleep myself." He gathers the rest of the bottles and leaves.
	I lay myself down between Will and Zack. I'm thankful that Jake did that, because I'm exhausted. 
	I take my bag and cushion it as a pillow for my head. I close my eyes and rest my head against my bag. Something in my bag is hard, and I hit my head uncomfortably against it. I open my bag and take out a piece of wood. I stare at it. It's not just a pice of wood. It's in the shape of a heart. The initials: 'B. &  P.' are carved in the heart. I rub my finger tips across the surface and over the letters. I close my eyes and hug the piece of wood to my heart. A silent tear trickles down my cheek and I fall asleep. 
	I will never forget the memories.

Chapter 2

My Enemy Finds Me

	I give a piece of meat to Zack for his breakfast. He smiles and shoves it in his mouth. I rub his head. Suddenly, a noise in the forest catches my attention and my head jerks up at the direction of the sound.
	My eyes slide to Jake's and he gives me a nod. 
	I shake William. "It's time to move deeper, kay?"
	"Whatever." he says, shrugging slightly and swinging his bag over his shoulder. 
	I grab his shoulder. "Will. You know why we can't stay."
	He shakes my hand off with a quick brush of his hand and glares at me. "No, Page. I don't know why. That's what I want to know! Why are we constantly running? Why are you keeping things from us? What is going on, Page?" 
	"It's too dangerous." I say, watching Jake's blue eyes focused on me. 
	"You know the woods, Page- what else could be dangerous?" William says.
	The strange noise comes again and this time we all hear it. 
	"What was that?" William asks, still glaring at me.
	I keep my eyes on the trees. "There's no time. We have to keep moving." I grab Zack's hand and swing my bag over my shoulder.
	"Gosh!" William yells. 
	"I'm sorry!" I say, whirling around, watching his face turn angrier than I've ever seen it.
	"You're not sorry!" he screams, flailing his arms around in his anger, "If you were sorry- you'd tell me what in the world is going on!!!" 
	"William." Jake warned. He was right. Will was being too loud. They were going to hear us by now. 
	"Will, please." I say, glancing down at Zack, hoping he would stop yelling for his sake at least. Zack was only 8. He would only get upset if William started yelling.
	"HA! You- you think that I'm so stupid that I wouldn't catch on- huh?" he says, his face is so close to mine, he's practically spitting in my face in his rage. "I'm not stupid, Page!" he screams.
	"I know- William! I know! I-"
	"You DON'T know!" William says- pushing me back. I stagger backwards, letting go of Zack's hand.
	"William. That's enough." Jake says. He picks Zack up and I hear Zack sniffle- just as he always does when he's about to cry. 
	"You have no idea, Page! NO IDEA how hard it is when your own sister keeps everything from you! No idea!" William shouts, pushing me back roughly. "You've taught us never to keep things from each other, but you're the one who keeps everything hidden from us! Why?"
	Zack begins to cry now.
	"Please, Will." I beg.
	"Please? I've been asking that for years from you! Have you told me anything?- NO!" He screams- pushing me hard to the ground. 
	Making matters worse, before I can get back up and see it coming, an arrow flies straight into my arm. I yelp and hold my arm in pain. I see the arrow sink through my sleeve of my shirt and into my skin. Blood already soaks through the sleeve, and I grimace as I quickly yank it out of my arm.
	Zack screams through his flowing tears. Jake lets him go and my little brother runs to me. I catch him in a big hug and smooth his hair down, trying to calm him.
	Another arrow flies through the air, and hits the ground next to my foot. 
	"He's here. Run." Jake says firmly, pulling me to my feet.
	I pick Zack up, hoist him on my hip, grab William's hand, before he can make any sense of it, and make a run for it. I run hard, just letting my feet go as fast as they can. We fly past tree after tree, hop over logs, slide under tree branches, and race through the bushes. I don't know how long we've run until we come across a small cave. 
	I run to it. When we're inside, I set Zack gently on the ground and release my grasp from William's hand. The cave echoes with the sounds of panting and hard breathing. 
	"And who was that?" William demands angrily.
	I look away and walk to the entrance of the cave to see if we're still being followed. There's no one in sight. I give out a sigh of relief. We lost him.
	"William." Jake says. "What's gotten into you?"
	William locked eyes with me, "Who was that?" he repeats impatiently. 
	"Brian." I answer. I stop and listen when a branch snaps outside the cave. I spin around, facing a boy I recognized too clearly. He was older than me but not by much. He had grey eyes, olive skin, and dark brown hair like me. He had an arrow set in his bow and aimed at William. 
	"Get down!" I yell and throw myself into my brother, knocking him down, just before the arrow would have hit his chest. Instead, it hit me in the rib cage. 
	"Brian!" Jake yells. "Stop! You don't know what you're doing!" He ran to me. "Page! Page? You alright?" 
	I nod, but I don't feel alright. I feel a horrible pain in my side. I look up at Brian and gasp. "You wouldn't!" I whisper. He's got poor Zack in a headlock. Zack is trembling uncontrollably, tears streaming down his rosy cheeks.  
	I look Brian in the eyes, but he avoids mine. He takes out his knife and points to Jake with it. "Move away from her, Jake, or this little guy's life will end."
	Jake slowly moves away from me, keeping his eyes on me. "Don't tell him anything." he mouths. 
	I nod before Brian throws Zack into Jake, grabs me, and yanks me away from the cave and from the others. He puts his knife to my throat as he runs with me. I run with him, trying my best not to trip. We're moving too fast for me. I feel weak and tired. Sweat beads my brow and makes my hair stick to my neck. 
	Finally, when I think my legs are going to give out, Brian throws me against a tree. I slump to the ground, holding my wound. I breathe hard, shut my eyes and remove the arrow from my side with a quick tug. 
	Brian stands over me, the knife still in his fist. "You haven't changed a bit," he says with a smile. 
	I glare up at him. "You have." I snarl. 
	He grabs me by the shoulders and brings me to my feet. He draws close to me and I smell his formiliar minty breath. I turn my face away from him. His face is close to mine, but I keep mine as far away from his as possible that it's resting against the tree. His nose is almost touching my ear, he's so near.
	"Page, listen. My father just wants to ask a few questions, to see if you still remember. He knows that you know where it is- so just tell him, okay? -so that nothing unnecessary has to happen to you."
	I turn to him, glaring up in his eyes. I try to pull away, but he's too strong and his hands keep me steady. "And why would you care?" I spit in his face.
	His hand quickly reaches up and grabs me by the cheeks. I look into his eyes and he looks into mine. He finally looks away and pushes me away from him. "Just do it. It'll be easier on all of us. Especially your little family there."
	He slides down against the tree in front of me.
	He's right. My brothers and Jake are not safe. Jake knows how to hunt, but they do not know the forest like I do. They would probably stay in the cave. Jake would go out to hunt occasionally, but they would wait for me. Then Brian would know where to find them and then kill them if I didn't do as he wanted. 
	"It's a five day trip to your father's camp site." I say.
	"That's right." Brian says, reaching in his bag and pulling out  a long strip of cloth. "But first we've got to bandage those wounds. The animals will smell the blood and immediately hunt us down." he says, moving towards me. 
	He rolls up my sleeve to reveal a bloody mark of the arrow he shot into my arm. I jerk away and glare at him. I snatch the cloth from his extending hands. "I will do this myself. You've already done enough for me." I say, quickly removing his hand from my arm. 
	He pulls away. "Suit yourself." He says, snatching an apple out from his bag and taking a large bite from it, "Just make it quick."
	I sneer at him and start wrapping the piece of cloth around my arm. When I'm finished, I'm ready to wrap the second piece around my waist to cover my next wound. 
	"Turn around." I say. 
	He gives me a shrug and turns around. "You're mad at me because of your brothers, huh?" he says as I wrap the cloth around my waist. 
	"Brian. I can't trust you any more. You almost killed William and threatened to kill Zack! Will's 14 and Zack's only 8! How could you? You know how much they mean to me. They used to mean a lot more to you too- before you and your dad turned on my family." I grumble.
	He stays silent. "You done yet?" he asks roughly. I finish up wrapping my wound up and pull my shirt back down. 
	"Yeah." I say, getting to my feet.
	"Then, lets go. You know the woods, and you know the way to the camp. Lead the way." he says, putting out his arm for me to pass. I do and hear him taking more bites of his apple behind me. I feel myself longing for some food, and for some water. I know that I'm dehydrated. My lips are sticky and cracked, and my throat aches for a cool fluid to flow down it. I'm sore and week all over. I need rest, but I know that Brian won't let us stop proceeding until he says so. 
	I limp on, trying to stay alert, but it takes too much energy. I soon feel my eyesight get fuzzy. As I walk, my legs wobble and become unbalanced.  My head hurts too much, and suddenly, I pass out, falling backwards into Brian's arms.

Chapter 3

Attacked By The Beast

	I wake to see Brian shaking me. "You've been out good. You slept all night, but now It's time to get a move on." 
	I still feel sore, but I have much more energy. I get up and swing my bag over my shoulder. It feels too light. I turn.
	"Brian. What did you take?" I say, glaring angrily at him. 
	He holds up the wooden heart. "You haven't forgot." He says, his expression hard to read. He's staring into my eyes, searching me. 
	I snatch it from his hands. "Don't you ever search my bag again." I say harshly. 
	I keep walking, my hands grip the wooden heart tightly, then I slip it back into my bag and swing my bad over my shoulder once again. 
	"Page-"
	"I don't want to talk about it, Brian." I snap and he's instantly quiet. I don't care if I offended him. I just keep walking, trying not to get too caught up in the memories of my past. It is always too painful. 
	We walk in silence for a long time. 
	Suddenly, a large bird swoops down ahead of us, startling me. It makes a long loud squawk and then flies back up. It's so fast, but I see it's beautiful feathers as it does this motion. I can recognize that it's a nark by its speed and colors. Soon, there's more birds squawking loudly every direction, swooping down every which way.
	Brian grabs my arm and pulled me along as he ran. "You drove us into a nest full of mad birds!" he hissed. "I thought you knew the forest!"
	"Brian! They're harmless! They wouldn't hurt a fly! Brian!" But he wasn't listening. His grip on my arm was so tight, it began to hurt. He just kept running. Suddenly, I realized he was running the wrong direction.
	"Brian, stop! Stop!" I said, trying to pry his fingers from my arm. 
	But it was too late. Out of no where, a harry animal shoots out and tackles Brian. Brian loses his grip on my arm and goes flying backward. 
	The beast has gray and brown fur. It is not a big animal, but it has four sharp claws sticking out from each paw and its razor sharp teeth clench together. It is on top of Brian, growling and ready to pierce his body with one touch of his claws. 
	I could've run. I could've left him there to die. But of course I didn't. 
	I run at the animal, my knife ready in my hand. The animal glances at me and then, with more speed than I had been ready for, comes flying into me, its claws flailing.
	I try to duck, hoping that the animal will jump over me, but it doesn't. It lands on my chest, making weird agitated sounds. It swings its paws around frantically. I try to shake it off but one of its claws slices into my cheek before I can throw it off. 
	The beast is about to make another move, but I quickly grab hold of my knife and stab it into his side. It yelps and tries to scurry away, but I stab it again. Whimpering the creature tries to crawl away from me. He's almost dead and is in much pain. The humane thing to do would be to simply finish him off. I stab it one last time and it remains still. I stare at the corpse of the beast and breathe hard. 
	I jerk my head up as I hear more sounds of agitated screams from the beast's family getting closer. More are coming to attack. I search frantically for Brian and find him lying on the ground a few feet away with a jagged bloody scar across his chest. 
	I run to him. "Brian! Brian, c'mon- before more of those things come. You got to try!" I say, seeing the sweat on his forehead. "Please!" I urge. 
	He starts to move and I help him up. I wrap his arm around my neck and help him run away from the sounds of the screeching beasts. 
	We run and run until, I know that we're out of their lethal animal's nest. I look at Brian and he doesn't look good at all. I keep running with him, half carrying him until I find a good spot to rest. There's good shade from the trees and a little stream passing through so that I can clean out his wound.
	I set him down gently, propping his head up against a rock. I can see the scar on his chest more clearly now. It's real bloody but not too deep. I remove his shirt and take out a rag from my bag. I walk over to the flowing stream and soak it in water. I walk back over to Brian and start wiping the wound, cleaning away all the blood. 
	He startles me as he puts his hand on my hand. I look into his eyes, pausing to see what he wants.
	"Don't stop." he says, smiling slightly. 
	I stare at him and return the smile as I go back to cleaning his wound. I don't know how long it's been since I've smiled at him, and I don't really want to think about it. He keeps his hand on my hand and I feel his eyes on me while I clear away the rest of the blood. 
	"Why didn't you just run?" he asks me, and I was thinking the same thing. "After all I've done to you- to your family- you could've stood there with pleasure, watching the animal kill me off. Remember what I did to your-"
	I put a finger to his lips, keeping him from continuing. I shake my head slightly. I didn't want to hear what he had to say. It wasn't worth it. 
	We stare at each other for a long time. He takes my hand in his warm hands and puts it against his cheek, closing his eyes peacefully. I sit there awkwardly, not sure what to do. He opens his eyes and looks at me, releasing my hand. 
	"Sorry." he says, looking down. "I forgot about Jake." 
	"Jake?" I ask.
	"Yeah. Jake." he says, looking up at me, his eyes full of hurt, "Your good friend."
	"Brian. He's practically my brother. He's been there for me, when you haven't- yes. But he's no more than that."
	Brian's quiet. He's still looking at me, and he doesn't drop his gaze. "Just go ahead." he says.
	"What do you mean?" I ask, confused.
	"Just cry, scream, hit me, yell at me, tell me how you feel. Let it out, Page." he says, almost begging.
	"What would the point of that be, Brian?" 
	"I can't keep going on, not knowing how you feel. You must hate me by now! Page. Tell me. Tell me what's on your mind." he pleads.
	I drop his gaze and look at my hands. "I can't do that. If I shared what was on my mind, I would just fall apart. And I don't have time for that, do I? We have to get to your father's campsite as soon as possible." I say, getting to my feet.
	Brian gets to his feet, too, but has to stable himself with his hand up against a tree. "I'm not sure how quickly we can move." he says, stiffly slipping his shirt back on. 
	He takes a few steps before I see him lose balance. I'm there just in time to catch him before he falls. 
	"Sorry." he says as I let him drop back to the ground, "I don't know that I'm strong enough yet. I guess we'll have to wait here one more night." he says, cringing as he goes into a laying position. 
	I nod, knowing exactly what he feels like. We sit there quietly. I don't want to talk. Everything that we could possibly talk about, I wasn't in the mood for. But I knew Brian wouldn't let it drop.
	"Do you miss them?" he asks suddenly. It was the question I was waiting for and dreading. 
	I look up into Brian's grey eyes. "Sometimes." I say quietly. "Other times I try to forget. Forget everything and every one."
	I find myself fiddling with the wooden heart once again. Almost every one.
	We are quiet for a while, but the question in my mind will not stay inside.
	"Why did they have to go?" I finally let it slip out. I feel myself get angry. Pain and grief overwhelm me. My voice raises, "Why did they have to run? to leave us? to leave me?" I hug my knees close to my chest, and try to steady my shaking body. "I feel so alone, Brian…" I say. 
	He stares at me with concern, and I feel him searching my face with his eyes once again. He moves close to me and wraps his arms around me. It was too long since he was this close. I decided not to pull away this time.  
	"I'm sorry for everything, Page. I'm so sorry."
	I hug him tight. "Is your father still angry with me?" I ask.
	Brian's quiet and this confirms my suspicions. 
	"I didn't mean to. I was scared at the time." I say.
	"I know. I tried to tell him."
	"So… he still wants to know then?" I ask.
	"Yeah." he replies. 
	"But I've told you before. It's going to be too dangerous. Why can't he see that?" I say, sitting up in frustration. "My parents died trying to keep it hidden. I need to do the same."
	Brian shakes his head. "He doesn't understand." he says, and I sense pain in his words. "He doesn't want to understand. The only thing he still cares about is getting his hands on the treasure, Page." His words are now stony with anger.
	I pull away and look into Brian's eyes. "Why are you doing this for him, Brian? Why do help him if-"
	"Stop. Stop it, Page. We've been through this before." he says closing his eyes impatiently. 
	I look into my hands. It seems too long ago since we were little children, playing with wooden swords together in my parent's backyard. Now we're both older, fighting each other with swords for the wrong reasons. 
	I sit there feeling as if we're two worlds apart. 
	Too much was on my mind now. I couldn't let Brian's and my past get in the way of what really mattered to me now. I thought about Jake and my brothers. They were in a safe part of the forest, but I still couldn't help but worry about them. 
	I get up, shaking everything out of my head. "I'm going to get some herbs for tomorrow's breakfast." I say to Brian. 
	Brian shakes his head, "I'll do it." he says. He tries to push himself up from the ground, but he just moans and falls back down. 
	I place my hand on Brian's chest as gently as I can and look into his eyes, "Brian. I'll be right back."
	I turn and start walking out of view. "Please don't go too far." he calls out. I can hear in the tone of his voice that he has his suspicions of me 'wandering off'. 
	He knew me too well. 

Chapter 4

Visiting An Angry Zepheron

	I start a quick sprint when I think I'm far enough away. It's just a quick visit. I will return. I just have to check- check if they are all okay.
	Now I have to think. If they stayed in the cave, then we are not far apart. If I keep my sprint in a steady pace, then I can make it there and back in about 20 minutes. 
	I breathe hard, pumping my arms up and down, and running so fast, it feels as if I'm almost gliding. I pass tree after tree, following my scent to the correct path. 
	I could never perfectly explain to anyone how and why I knew the forest like I knew the back of my hand. I just knew. My parents showed me the ways of the forest since I was little. It was something I grew up with- something that is now part of me. Something that I could never forget even if I wanted to. 
	Brian's father and my parent's have a bad history, and it forces Brian and me to be against each other as well. We were once the best friends. We were once even deeper then just friends, but now that is behind me. Now I have different priorities. Priorities that my parents died to keep intact. 
	When I recognize the area, I slow down and continue the rest of the way jogging. Finally, I spot the small cave and I speed up again, excited to see them. I race around the corner, gaze into the dark cave, and my heart starts to sink down into my stomach. There was no sign of them. No one. Nothing. 
	Now my chest was thumping hard and rapidly. What had become of them? I search the area, my eyes scanning frantically, but I know that they are not there. My shoulders sag and I feel as if my legs could give out beneath me. 
	Suddenly, I catch something in the corner of my eyes. The rocks in the cave walls have large black letters written on them! I squint and try hard to read the words written on the rocks. It's getting dark, so it's hard for me to see all of the letters clearly. 
	This is what I read:

	Page. Don't worry about us. We are on our way to the tree house. Be safe.

-Jake

	I let out a sigh of relief and then realize that if any one sees the message, then they are done for. I quickly use the back of my arm to smudge the words away. Jake used the charcoal from the fire to write his message on the cave walls. I curse under my breath, because there remains black coloring on my arm now. 
	I look around, making sure that there isn't any more messages. I just hope nobody saw the messages before I did. When I don't find anything else, I begin to make a run back to Brian. As I run, I lick my fingers and rub them against my charcoal stained arm repeatedly. But, it just doesn't go away. Frustrated, I keep running, hoping that Brian won't notice when I arrive there. 
	As I zip through the forest, I yank herbs from the ground and even pick a few berries that I see hanging down from a tree branch. I finally arrive, standing before Brian, out of breath, with a handful of herbs and berries in my sack.
	Brian lays there. He looks up at me. "You came back?" he says, unemotionally. He sees the black charcoal on my arm immediately.
	"You know that I had to see them, Brian." I explain, placing the bag of herbs and berries beside him. "I had to make sure they were okay."
	"And are they?" he asks, but I know that he has no interest in an answer. 
	"Yes." I say simply.
	"I don't even know why you are staying with me, Page. At this state, I can't force you anymore. Why don't you just leave?" he says, pushing the bag away. He drops his gaze with me and glares at the ground. "Go. I'll tell father you were killed by the beast."
	I look at him, hardly believing what was coming out from his mouth. "Brian- You're father wouldn't let you show up at his campsite without my body. I remember what he said clearly: 'Bring her back dead or alive'. He-"
	"I can't." Brian whimpers. He has tears in his eyes, but quickly wipes them away with the back of his hand. He faces away from me, no doubt to hide the tears. I've never seen him cry- he's always been so strong. Seeing him shake and tremble causes me to do the same.
	I put my hand on his shoulder. 
	"I can't keep doing this." He says to me, shaking his head in shame. "My father ordered me to kill off your family. He ordered me to slit Jake's throat. He told me to capture you and take you to him. He said that I had to force you no matter what might have been between us in the past. But, I can't, Page. I can't do this anymore."
	"Then don't." I say. I realize that Brian spared Jake's life. He hadn't killed off my family like his father ordered him to. 
	He looks at me. "I have to. I have to, or my father will- he's going to-" he stumbles over his words and he cannot continue.
	"He's going to what?" I say, stroking his back and putting my forehead gently up against his.
	We look at each other, and I try to comfort him. I try to stop his shaking. 
	He speaks slowly, "He's going to make you suffer in all the ways possible when he does find you."
	"He won't find me then." I say.
	"No." He says, shaking his head. "You don't understand. He will, he has his ways. He can't be stopped. He has-” but a snap of branches comes from the bushes behind us and interrupts his words.  
	“Oh no…” I mumble, immediately getting to my feet and whipping out my bow and one sharp pointed arrow. I set the arrow directly inside the bow and pull it back, aiming into the green, thick bushes.
	"What is it?" Brian asks, uncomfortably shifting his body.
	"The Zepheron!" I say, guarding Brian's body protectively. "It smells blood."
	"Great." Brian groans, pulling himself up to his feet. "What's a Zepheron?"
	"You will find out soon enough." I say, keeping my eye out for the creature. I hear rustling of leaves to my left and quickly turn and face the sound, ready to shoot as soon as it appears.
	The rustling is louder and I see something emerge from the bushes.
	"Cover yourself! Make a run for it!" I yell at Brian, waving him to back away. He doesn't listen; Brian's feet are planted.
	I brace myself for what is about to jump out of the bushes. I feel slightly embarrassed but more relieved than anything when a baby Zepheron pops out of the bushes in front of us.
	The baby Zepheron has beautiful colored feathers along with golden eyes and a golden beak. It's eyes are round and cute. It is a harmless bird about the size of a squirrel.
	"This is it?" Brian teases. "This is the Zepheron?"
	"Very funny. It's a baby Zepheron. It's lost and wandered off, away from it's nest. This little guy is- wait." I say stopping myself in mid-sentence. "If this baby has wandered off from it's nest, it's mother is out there looking for it!" I swirl around to face Brian. "That means it's mother might be here any moment. We have to-"
	“Watch out!” Brian shouts.
	But, it was too late. 
	Behind me the large bird tackles me to the ground and I lose my grip on my bow and arrow. I hit the hard soil, chin first, causing my teeth to bite down painfully onto my tongue.
	I scream as claws pierce into my back.
	I roll over, looking up into the face of a large, colorful feathered bird. It's eyes are fierce and angry looking. I can tell that the Zepheron is bitter with rage, thinking that we've taken her baby. It's about the size of a semi, making matters a lot more difficult than if I was up against a squirrel sized bird. 
	It pins me to the ground, digging its claws deeper into my flesh when I try to move away. Suddenly, it lets out a shrill squawk, giving me chills that run down my spine. 
	I knew right away that this was not going to end well for me.
	I hold my breath and stare up into the creature's eyes. If I died now, nobody would know how to find the treasure that Brian's father was so eager to get his hands on. I look for Brian, but I don't see him. So many things are swirling in my mind right now, but I don't have the time to sort them all out. 
	The Zepheron's claws grab onto my shoulders. It leans its head back, ready to thrust its gold beak into my chest. I struggle against the bird's grasp, but she's too strong for me. I rest my head on the dirt ground and wait for her to strike me. 
	"Hey!" Brian yells from behind the Zepheron. He throws a sharp rock at the bird. "Over here!" 
	The bird doesn't let me go, but she turns to look at Brian as if irritated. Brian is holding a thick and sturdy staff, directed at the Zepheron. The bird seems to be quite ticked off when Brian throws a second rock, this one hitting her against the forehead.
	"C'mon, stupid!" Brian taunts.
	The Zepheron releases it's hold on my shoulders and steps towards Brian, making an annoyed squawking sound.
	I move quickly. I slide my bag down from my back to the ground, and reach into it, pulling out a long strip of rope I just finished twisting last week. I take it and run to the Zepheron. 
	The bird was so focused on Brian now, that it payed no attention to me as I wrapped my thick piece of rope around her long legs. Soon enough, however, the bird realized that there was something wrong. When ever she tried to take a step, I would tighten the rope around her, eventually making it impossible for her to take another step. She squawked loudly as her body came crashing to the ground, wings and everything flailing. 
	I race away from the bird and to my bag, swinging it over my shoulders. I grab my bow and case full of arrows along with Brian's hand. We had to make a run for it before the Zepheron snapped that rope apart with her beak and found us again. With us gone, I had no doubt that the mother bird would immediately tend to her baby, forgetting about us completely. I keep running, pulling Brian along. 
	"Why didn't we just shoot it?" Brian asks as he limps after me, still holding his chest in pain. 
	I shake my head, ignoring his silly question. It would've been inhumane for us to kill off a mother bird, leaving her baby to starve to death as well. 
	There were many things I had to teach Brian about the forest. This in my mind, I miss Jake even more. He knew much more about the forest than Brian did. I remember he came to my family as an orphan and ever since, he was like family to me. He is the older brother I look up to that I never had. 
	He never wanted to go back to the orphanage in the city, so he ran away to our house in the country. My parents took him in and Jake and I  soon became the closest of siblings. The day my parents died, he even vowed to himself that he'd always be there for me, William, and Zack. He vowed that he'd protect me. 
	Brian is the son of my parent's most dangerous rival. Since I was born, Brian and I were the best of friends, always doing things together. But when I turned sixteen and he turned seventeen- Brian's father found out about the treasure in the forest. Since then, I have been running from Brian, hiding, and afraid to show myself in front of him. He had always followed his father's directions, never once being there for me.
	As I run from the near chance of a death occurrence, I realize that Brian had just saved my life. I realize that Brian had spared Jake's, Will's, and also Zack's life as well- breaking his father's will.
	I look at Brian as we run, watching him hold his wound with one hand and hold the staff in the other hand in a protective kind of way. He was changing back to the boy I had once known- the boy I had once even loved. 

Chapter 5

A Softened Heart

	I slam myself against a tree, breathing hard and unsteady. I let myself fall to the ground. I close my eyes and rest my head against the trunk of the tree, my body fully relaxing. 
	I find a water bottle in my sack, only half full. I take a small drink from it, trying to save it up for later.
	"Brian." I begin, "Take some."
	"But there's not much left, Page." Brian protests, shaking his head.
	I shove it into his hand. "Drink the rest." I decide, seeing him wheeze with exhaustion and pain. "I'll find more soon." I say reassuringly. I remember that there is a small stream about a mile away from here. 
	He takes it hesitantly, and drinks it in small sips, savoring it as it flows down his throat. He closes his eyes, and I see his whole body, once all tense, finally settling down a bit.
	"Thank you for that back there." I say softly, looking at my hands.
	I feel his eyes on me. "Page. It's different now. I'm different."
	I look up at him, not quite sure what he means. 
	He sets down the water bottle, and gently takes my hands in his in a firm hold. "I'm not going to let anyone or anything harm you. I know I haven't really been there much for you in the past." He says, taking in a deep breath, "We've had a rough past- but can we just start things over?"
	I nod, smiling. Relief seemed to flood over me. I squeeze his hands slightly. "But what about your dad?" I ask.
	Brian looks down, releasing his grip on my hands. "I'm done with him. It's over. I can't help him anymore." he says looking angrily into my eyes. "All he cares about is the stupid treasure. He doesn't care about me anymore. I doubt that he even remembers my name."
	 I want to say something to cheer him up, but what could I say? He was right, and for me to say  'I told you so' was not the first thing that came to mind. 
	"He is not my father- he's a cruel man that influenced me of letting down my best friend." Brian concludes. "And I'm more than sorry for everything I did to you, Page. You didn't deserve the way I treated you or the way I treated your parents." he lets out a sigh of remorse. "You were all so good to me before my father found out about the treasure. Then I let you all down." 
	I can tell he hates himself right now. I didn't know what you say.
	"I killed your parents!" Brian yells, tears brimming his eyes with pure rage. "It's all my fault."
	"Brian, You didn't kill them." I say, trying my best to reassure him.	
	"Of course I did! I was the one who turned them over to my dad! I never did anything to stop him- I just watched as my dad slit their throats!"
	I shake my head, trying hard to push the memory away. "Stop it, Brian. Just stop." I want to be strong for him right now, but it's too hard when he shoves the worst parts of my memories in my face like that. "Don't worry about it, okay? Forget about the past. We're going to start over, remember?"
	He nods, and I see him tire down a bit. He relaxes against the tree behind him and lets out a shaky breath. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything, Page." 
	We sit there, both waiting for the other to say something.
	"I'm not the right guy for you." Brian says finally. "I've hurt you too many times. I don't deserve you."
	"Yes you do." I snap curtly. 
	Brian looks at me, surprised. I feel my body get hot inside. The words had popped straight out of my mouth, and I couldn't take them back anymore. I don't know what had let the words slip out, but when they were out, it sounded like the truth. We both sit there awkwardly looking into our hands.
	"So what do we do now?" I ask eventually, after a while of sitting in pure silence.
	"We go find your brothers." he pauses for a second, and then continues tensely "And Jake, of course." 
	Picking up my empty water bottle and bag, I stand. I offer my hand out to Brian and he takes it. I help him up to his feet and he groans, holding his wound.
	"Will you make it?" I ask, calculating his face. His face shows immense pain and every reason for him not to, but he just nods.
	"Sit down, Brian. Take your shirt off." I say, crouching down beside him as he sits against the tree once again. His wound should've healed by now. It wasn't making any sense that he was still in pain.
	He looks at me and slowly removes his shirt. "I'm fine, really, Page."
	I gasp. The wound has gotten much worse. It's a nasty dark red, with puss and another black substance seeping through the cut. I feel sick inside just looking at the thing.
	"Brian. You should take it easy for now. This doesn't look good." I say, observing the cut the best I can without throwing up on him. I place my fingers gently on the wound to feel the bubbly black liquid. Even that small touch causes him to jerk away and groan.
	I pull some of roots and leaves from the ground and place them on the wound. "There. That should help."
	"Thank you." Brian replies softly, his eyes are closing and his words are quiet. He's exhausted. I can see it in every subtle movement he makes.
	"Tell you what." I say, getting up to my feet and grabbing the water bottle. "I'm going run to the nearest creek and fill this leather bottle up while you rest." 
	He gives me no answer, and I figure he's already out, sleeping soundly. I remove my jacket from my shoulders and wrap the brown fur coat around Brian's still body. I take his own blood-stained shirt, tuck it underneath my arm and carry it along with me. I would clean it in the creek waters.
	I start a slow jog toward the direction of the stream. It is already getting dark, so I speed my pace up. I hope to be back with Brian before the stars become visible. Some how, something feels wrong as I run. I feel as if Brian is vulnerable being left all alone, still weak and barely moving from the wound. Even though he is nowhere near a dangerous animal's nest, I still feel uncomfortable. The jog quickly turns into a sprint. 
	I study my emotions carefully. They are much different than they were just a few days ago. My heart seems to be softening up to Brian. 
	I told myself I'd never forgive him for tricking my parents and handing them over to his father. I promised myself that I'd always hold my parent's death against him. But my emotions are shifting and changing within me. I feel as if I could finally forgive him. 
	When he spoke to me earlier with such hatred towards his father, I was confused. Why would Brian allow his dad to order him around these past three years while hating him so much? Brian was old and strong enough to make his own decisions now. I knew he could stand up to his father. He was defiantly brave enough. There is something up- something going on. But what?
	Then I remember what Brian warned me about earlier: 'He's going to make you suffer in all the ways possible when he does find you. He will, he has his ways. He can't be stopped.'	
	I shiver, and not because it's cold outside. What if he's looking for me right now? Some how I don't feel safe either. I feel as vulnerable as Brian is.
	There is a snap of a branch to my left. I swing around, dropping the bottle to the ground. They've been waiting for me to be alone. They were waiting until I left Brian's side. 
	Panic stirs inside of me as a rustle of leaves come from behind me. They had me surrounded. I was trapped. I see dark figures running to and fro, circling around me behind the trees and bushes. 
	I step back, and into a body. I scream and as the large man standing behind me pushes me to the ground. I roll around and face a big buff guy that I recognize too clearly. He had a familiar scar on his neck that I had given him a while back and patch over his left eye. He was the right hand man to Brian's father. His name is Zazor. 
	I crawl back away from him.
	He takes a step forward and steps on my hand. I yelp in pain, but he does not pick up his foot. Zazor's heavy boot smashes my fingers into the dirt, crushing them and cutting off the circulation in my fingers. 
	"Found you at last." he says.
	"How happy I am for you." I say sarcastically between gritted teeth.
	I see Zazor's men surround me in a close huddle- cutting me off- giving me no chance to get away.
	"We've been looking a long time for you, girl." he sneers. "And with absolutely no help from Brian." he adds. "Time for you to stop hiding. Time for you to behave." he says.
	Zazor holds his black gun in his hands, tightening his grip on the handle. He pulls it back, and I know what he is about to do, but I have no way to escape. I am surrounded and my fingers are pinned beneath Zazor's boots. All I can do is turn my head and cringe before Zazor rams the back of his gun into the side of my face.

*	*	*

	I wake up to a cold bucket of water being splashed in my face. I jerk forward sputtering out icy cold water from my mouth. 
	I glare up into the face of Zazor once again. I glance around him and I recognize this place very clearly. Deja Vu. I am tied to the very same post that I was tied to the last time I was here. Last time, however, Brian was the one standing over me with a bucket of water- this time Zazor is standing over me, while Brian is tied up beside me.
	I slide my hand over on top of his and hold his numb fingers in the warmth of my hand. He trembles, his jaw chattering, and his face a white as snow. He doesn't look good at all. He needs more medical support, which I know Brian's father has. However, I am not positive if Rick will be willing to help his only son after Brian so bravely tried to help me. 
	The post that we are tied to is centered in the middle of Rick's campsite. We are inside a tent-like shelter which is probably guarded by all of Rick's best men that are fully armed with his best equipment. There was no way to escape.
	"Rick is not pleased." Zazor declares. "He's been looking for you for along time."
	"Really?" I say sarcastically. "Because we were really trying not to find him. We actually were hoping to-" 
	Zazor growls like an animal and grabs me by the throat, cutting me off short. "No more jokes- got it, girl?" He says, squeezing his fingers around my neck. "I'm not going to give you any more slack this time."
	He releases me and I gasp for air, coughing violently. Zazor leaves the shelter in a huff.
	"Like he ever gave me any slack." I grumbled. 
	"Page. Please don't push my father's buttons. Don't tease. He's running out of patients with you. I don't want anything to happen to you, Page." Brian says from beside me, letting out a depressed sigh. 
	"Don't worry, Brian." I say confidentially. "Rick can't hurt me. I'm the last map he's got if he wants to find that precious treasure of his."
	Brian shakes his head, regretfully. "You don't understand." he begins, but he doesn't finish before his father whips through the canvas doors. 
	There before me, stands the man I've been striving to avoid the last few years of running in pure fear. He stands there, tall and mighty. His face reminds me too much of Brian. The olive skin, the wavy black hair, and the grey eyes are identical of those to Brian's. He wears boots resembling that of Zazors, and a black leather jacket over his red silk shirt. Around his neck, fingers and wrists there are various gold chains and diamond jewels. 
	"I can see you've stacked on your valuable collection, Rick." I mock.
	"Remove my son from this camp and place him in the one next to us, Zazor." Rick commands, ignoring me.
	Zazor roughly unties Brian from the post, but I do not release my grip to his hand. I hold on tight until Zazor yanks Brian away from me. We exchange eye contact until he disappears outside the tent.
	"Don't do anything stupid." Brian mouths before he exits the room.
	"I see that you've reconnected with my son, eh, Page?" Rick says, once they're gone, spitting out a large blob of saliva into the dirt beside my foot. "That won't last long." 
	"How would you know? You don't even take the time to know you're only son! You only care about your gold!" I say.
	He kicks me in the face with the heel of his boot, causing blood to fly out from my mouth and splat on the dirt beside me. I sit there, tied up, feeling dazed and achy with a bloody cut on my bottom lip. I recoil as if I'm a snake shying from a predator.
	"Shut your mouth!" Rick shouts, looming over me. "Tell me where my treasure is, girl!"
	"Hit me all you want- but I will never tell you!" I yell back, the anger and hate I have inside for him, pouring out. "I will NEVER tell the one who so brutally killed my parents! EVER! You can hurt me all you want!"
	"I'm not going to waste any more of my strength whipping a worthless kid like you into shape. I'll let your brother, William, to do it, if you don't do just as I say." Rick threatens.
	I don't believe him.
	"You don't have him!" I scream at him, "You're lying!"

Chapter 6

	"Bring him in!" Rick orders to the men outside.
	My heart falls, when I see William walk in the sheltered room, unassisted by Rick's men. As he walks in, he glares at me, and I can tell already that Rick has told him something to make him even more upset  than he was with me before.
	His brown hair is cut shorter than when I saw him last, and he is wearing a beautiful blue silk shirt with clean pants on as well. Rick has buttered up on him. This makes me even angrier with him.
	"Will!" I say, acting as if I'm happy to see him. 
	"Don't even try it, Page. It's not going to work on me this time. I now  know every thing you tried to hide from me all these years, and I'm done being your puppet." he says. "It's time you showed me where the treasure is."
	"What?" I say, confused. I have absolutely no idea what Rick could have said to him now. I look between my brother an Rick, trying to find some answers.
	Rick smiles at me without any touch of humor. "He knows that you killed your parents to keep all of the treasure to yourself." he explains.
	I look at Rick, horror struck. "You- You wouldn't." I sputter.
	"You will answer my question!" Will screams at me, pointing a finger at me.
	But my gaze does not leave Rick's face. I was too shocked for any tears to spill out, too shocked to even comprehend what was being said to me. 
	"How could you?" I finally let the words fall from my mouth. The words barely came out as a whisper. 
	I stare at Rick in horror. Rick and my father were best pals before my father confided in Rick to tell him the truth about the secret of the forest. That was the worst mistake my father had ever made. Rick turned on my father immediately, and acted cruelly towards my dad by the greed he had for the treasure. 
	After going so far as to kill my parents in front of my eyes, he was now even inserting the worst of lies into the ears of my brother. Did he have any touch of humanity inside of him at all anymore? 
	I look up at him with a vicious expression on my face, "I hate you!" I declare.
	Rick flinches slightly, but soon regains his composure. 
	"Do you hate me, too, then, Page? Did you hate our parents when you killed them?" William says, taunting me. He kneels beside me, his face in mine.
	"I didn't kill them, Will." I whisper, my heart aching more than ever. "Can't you see? Why would I ever kill them, Will? I want them back as much as you do."
	"Ha!" he laughs bitterly in my face. "And then, who killed them, sister?" he asks sarcastically.
	I stare at Rick. 
	William catches my gaze just as I intended for him to and lets out a snort of distaste. "What? Have you gotten so used to lying to me that you do not have the sense to tell me the truth even now when you are tied to a post, surrounded by an army?" he smirked. "You are a sad exude for a sister." he says, standing and walking away.
	His words hurt more than I thought they would. They cut deep into my heart, leaving behind a gaping hole. 
	I knew that no matter what I say, he would not buy it. But I had to try. I could not give up on my brother. "You place your trust in the wrong person, William."
	William turned to me and clenched his teeth together. I could tell he was keeping himself from striking me. "Don't you dare talk to me about trust, sister." he says harshly. 
	Rick ducked out of the tent, "I will leave you to your sister, William." he says to my brother with a sickly honey like voice.
	William stood before me in his rage.
	"Don't you see, Will? He's using you. He will keep all the treasure all to himself in the end, killing us all off." I say almost begging. "I will tell you everything, Will, but, please, trust me on this!"
	Will looks at me, scrutinizing my face. "Why trust you? Rick has told me everything you never did."
	"It was a mistake not to tell you, William. I only kept those things from you to keep you safe from this mess." I say, shaking my head. "I should have told you, but I promised mom and dad I would keep you all safe, and that was what I did. Though I did it all wrong, and I'm sorry I let you down." 
	The words came out in a jumble. I looked at the dirt ground, searching for the right words.
	"I've always wanted to tell you, Will, I was just scared. I didn't know how to tell you." 
	I look up into my brother's face. His face is relaxed. All the frown lines is smoothed out from his face.
	"Please. I will tell you the truth, but Rick has been lying to you. He wants to break us apart. He wants to tear you away from me. But, William, I'll do everything I can to earn your trust back. Give me a chance. I promise I won't let you down again." I say. I stop quickly, because I was beginning to choke on my words. My voice was breaking into a sob. I hold it back and look away from William's gaze, hoping that he won't see the tears brimming my eyes. I have to stay strong for him.
	I wait. I wait for him to answer- for him to respond, but he doesn't. I quickly look back up at him, panic stricken. He hadn't left, had he?
	No. He was standing before me, smiling. He is smiling his normal sweet smile, the smile that always caused his eyes to shine. "That was all I wanted to hear, Page." he said calmly. 
	I am confused, almost startled by the sudden mood change.
	"I never trusted Rick when he said that you killed our parents. I might've only been 12 at the time when all the drama started between Rick and our dad, but I still remember it clearly. I remember how he turned against our dad, and how he chased us into the forest. I just want you to tell me the truth from now on, okay, page?" Will says, crouching down in front of me.
	I smile at him, relief flooding through me. "Gosh, Will! Never do that to me again! I thought I had lost you!"
	"I'm a pretty good actor, aren't I?" He teases, looking quite smug.
	"Why the sudden change? Earlier you were angry with me. You were angry with me before Rick got hold of you. What changed your mind about me?" I ask.
	"Jake explained everything, Page. He told me everything before we were captured by Rick's men." 
	I suddenly become tense. "Where are they? Are they safe?" 
	"They're here at the camp. They're safe. I have a plan to get us out of here. You just have to trust me." he says.
	I study Will's face and let out a sigh of satiation. He was growing up and resembled dad every day. "Of course." I breathe happily. "I love you."
	William smiles again. "I love you, too, sis."
	We embrace, and we hold each other for a long time.
	"I knew he wasn't strong enough to hold against his sister." Rick says from behind us. "Zazor! Get in here!"
	William jumps up, bewildered.
	"She agrees to show us the way to the treasure." Will says quickly, trying to cover up our mistake.
	Rick stares at William in disbelief. Zazor runs through the canvas doors, ready to arrest Wiliam, but Rick puts his hand up to stop his right hand man. Zazor grudgingly relaxes his hold on his rifle.
	"I saw you two hugging." Rick states, waiting for an explanation.
	I smile at Rick with dreamy eyes. "He's my brother." I say, hoping with all my heart that my acting would also pass. "I'll show him where the treasure is."