Beauty Is The Beast

"This is a joke right?" I looked back at the busy Time Square behind me, were the sun was shining bright, then back at the forest in front of me. It was dark, foggy, and screamed "Hey! Death is this way!" How was this possible? Behind me was full of life, and in front of me looked like death. Crazy part, he expected me to walk through the dark forest.

Kyle scoffed walking ahead of us, still holding my suitcase. "Baby." He mumbled, disappearing behind a few trees. I wondered if I'd ever see those clothes again, cause no way in hell was I going in there. Luckily my mom always taught me never to get attached to material things. Good riddance.

A small push on the small of my back had me digging my feet in the dirt. "This is the only way to get to the elevator that will deliver us to level four." Enzo says.

I gripped his arm when he went to walk pass me. "You sure you don't have an elevator to get to that elevator?"

"If it gets too bad you can always fly back." Amusement shone in his eyes as he answered. He knew as well as I did that flying was not an option. I still wasn't used to the heavy things on my back.

"Gets too bad? What in there can make things bad?" My wings spread themselves out behind me. I feared they could sense my fear, and was moments from wrapping me into a cocoon.

Enzo eyed them warily, probably thinking the same thing I was. "It's called The Forest Of Dragons for a reason."

Silence. Then, "The Forest Of Dragons? What the hell Enzo! Why is the elevator in there?" Dragons? I didn't know if they were real or not but I definitely wasn't ready to find out.

He tugged on my hand, trying to get me to take a step. I can tell he was starting to lose his patience. "If you're not brave enough to enter the forest, then you're not permitted to level four."

"Did all the levels have a dragon forest before the elevator?" I shuddered thinking what five and six looked like.

A shadow passed over his face. "Only this one has dragons." What was that look? Was there something worse than dragons? "Enough talking." He turned grabbing me by my waist, then threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

This isn't good. "Wait Enzo! I think I forgot something!" I screamed. I started squirming.

"Ow! Stop that." My wing accidentally hit him in the face. I bit my bottom lip trying not to laugh.

"Sorry." I said, sounding anything but.

"You think that's funny?" He asks. I could see Times Square getting further away from us. We wasn't in the forest yet, but a few more steps and we will be. I had to stop-

"Ow!" I rubbed my right cheek, trying to stop the sting I felt. That jerk just smacked my butt!

"Not so funny now, huh?" As an answer, I hit him with my wing again. "Bitch."

"Asshole." I shot back, just as we were engulfed in darkness. Then a thought occurred to me. I never went to see Jacob.

My stomach was aching and my legs were starting to cramp the longer we walked. The forest was just as creepy as I expected it to be. There was no path so we had no choice but to walk on the uneven ground. Enzo, thank goodness was a well balanced man and didn't trip once. "Can you put me down now?" He's been carrying me on his shoulder for almost thirty minutes. How far away was this door? And where was Kyle? Did he make it already? Or was he dead?

"Are you sure? There's bugs on the ground? You sure you'll be safe?" He removed his arms from around my legs and I instantly slipped off his shoulder, falling to the ground.

I glared at him from the ground. "You could've put me down gently!" He shrugged, walking around me. I scrambled up to follow after him, but stopped when I saw something dart pass in a nearby tree. "Enzo!" I whispered, he was several steps ahead of me.

"Get moving Valentina." Always a jerk.

"Enzo!" I didn't want to raise my voice, but he wasn't stopping. The figure darted pass again. I hastily started crawling backwards.

"Yes drama queen?" He finally stopped to look at me.

My eyes widened when I looked up at him. "I think there's- Ahh!!" Something grabbed hold of my leg, dragging me deeper into the woods. "Enzo!" I tried grabbing trees, roots, and everything else. But they were dragging me at an unnatural speed. "Enzo!" I screamed again. I flipped onto my back, trying to kick whatever was holding me, causing pain to flare up thanks to my wings. Whatever it was, it had claws, which dug more into my leg the more I struggled. "Let go!" Digging my nails in the dirt I tried slowing the thing down, nothing helped.

"Valentina!" A dark voice boomed through the quiet forest. I swear I saw the trees cower in fear.

"En-" I was dropped harshly into a black hole. It took me a second to catch my breath. It was so dark, I felt I was standing with my eyes closed. Looking up, I made out a few trees above. Feeling around I tried to touch a wall, or anything to help me get out. "Enzo!" Spinning around in circles I started panicking even more. Is this how I die? I knew it was a bad idea coming into this forest.

"Ow!" I jumped, something bit my ankle! Oh God there was something in here with me. I moved back as far as I could from whatever just bit me. "Enzo!" Where was he? He was right behind us earlier. Where's the thing that put me down here? Will it come back? Was this a food hole?

A shriek left me as a tiny fire ball came out of the dark and towards my ankle. What the hell is in here with me!? I needed to get out. The hole was so small that my wings were practically around me, so flying wasn't an option. Even if I knew how to fly. A frustrated sigh left me, I was seconds from pulling my hair out.

Suddenly something attached to the bottom part of my leg. I screamed, shaking it until my leg felt light again. My breathing was coming out in fast pants, I was terrified.

The weight was back on my leg. This time it didn't wait for me to shake it off. It started crawling up my leg, fast. Four sets of feet with sharp claws was digging into my body as it climbed.

I threw myself back, wincing when my wings slammed against a wall. Flinging my arms I tried knocking the creature off me.

"Valentina!" His voice was right above me.

"Enzo!" I felt arms wrap around me and the creature, then I was on the forest floor. "Enzo!" He held me as I shook.

"Did you see what grabbed you?" His voice was low, a wave of danger pouring out of his body. I shuddered at the feeling.

"No, but there was something -" A fire ball hit me in the back of my leg. The creature! I scrambled off the forest floor, looking for it. I located it standing a few inches from us. There was light up here, I was finally able to see what was down there with me. "Oh God Enzo! It's a dragon!" The thing was small, about the size of a shoe with small black wings. It's body was covered in black shimmering scales.

It's stomach started to light up from within, turning red. Seconds later a fire ball shot out of it's mouth, right at Enzo.

He stepped to the side, staring at the dragon curiously. It flapped its wings furiously, causing leaves to fly up around it. While the top part of its wings were black, underneath it was a dark red.

It came barreling towards us. I moved back a few steps when it landed in front of me facing Enzo, the belly once again heating up.

It shot out another fire ball, catching Enzo's ankle. He laughed.

"Why are you laughing?" I kept a good distance between me and the dragon as it continued to shoot fireballs at Enzo.

"It's protecting you from me." He squatted down, smacking away a fireball that was aimed at his face. Now that he mentions it, the dragon was paying no attention to me. "Pick him up."

"No!"

He sighed. "I promise it won't harm you."

I eyed the creature, it was walking back towards me while still trying to burn Enzo alive. Won't harm me my ass! "How can you be sure?"

"It's a Gazzak, recently born by the looks of it. Meaning," He smirked up at me, "it thinks you're his mother."