Oz

"We can't stop now." Liam sighed, trying to urge the group forward. They were tired and had all been stumbling through the dark forest for what seemed like hours. The further they walked, the darker it got, and Ilithyia was beginning to believe the crepuscular place was never going to end.

"We need to rest." Niall argued, hunched over and clenching his sides.

"Come on guys, Liam's right, we have to keep moving or they're going to catch up to us." Ilithyia tried.

The small girl, Marianne, was leaning into her brother as she tried to catch her breath. Her heart clenched at the sight of the two. They were all so tired, and these poor newcomers had no idea what kind of world they had plummeted into. As much as she desired to give into everyone's need to stop and sleep, she was well aware of the kind of danger that was awaiting them if they did. The back of her neck hadn't stopped tingling since they stepped into the cold and dreary woods, the feeling of being watched all too familiar to the strange girl. Her conscious mind was telling her that she needed to stop, but her sub-conscious was telling her that if she did what ever was watching her would make its move.

Rowan opened her mouth to protest, but a twig snapped somewhere in the distance causing all of their heads to turn in the direction of the noise. Ilithyia's chest erupted into a volcano of panic as something began to growl predatorily.

"Run!" Liam hollered, adrenaline snapping them out of their exhausted haze. She watched with horror as a large creature with yellow eyes and a thick pelt stepped from the darkness, its eyes trained on her own. Her mind was urging her to move her feet, but a tree had viciously tangled itself around her ankles, locking her in place. Everything that happened next happened so fast, it was all one big blur.

“The trees here don’t speak, they’re awake, but say nothing. They feel like they're waiting for something.” Cecily's voice rang in her memory.

It was Niall's words that caused the blood curdling scream to erupt from her lungs, however. “Dinner, I suppose.”

It was then that the beast lunged forward, its white teeth snapping wildly in anticipation of its attack. She could hear Liam's voice begging her forward, Rowan's voice yelling out in a last attempt to save her. There was nothing she could do, except stand there and watch as death came to collect her debt. Closing her eyes tightly and holding her breath, she prepared herself for what was to come. Only it didn't.

When she dared to take a peek she was startled to see the monster laying on the ground before her, its eyes wide with what must have been its own realization of its demise. His mouth hung unnaturally wide, blood pooling around it. There was a sharpened twig directly through its throat and Ilithyia just couldn't seem to understand the vision her eyes were seeing.

"What?" She muttered, looking around to see that her friends' faces were just as bewildered as her own. She felt the roots around her legs loosen, her skin crawling as she watched them slither their way back into the earth. She was alive.

"Your welcome." A cheeky voice called, drawing her attention to a large figure she hadn't noticed before.

He had a hair full of curls the color of cocoa and a smirk that showed off a dimple in his left cheek. His clothes looked like they hadn't been washed in weeks, dirt and grass stains littering the white surface of his shirt. She watched for a moment as his chest rose and fell from his adrenaline rush, but it was his eyes that snapped her out of her confusion.

"Thank you." She breathed out with relief. "Thank you."

"Yeah, thanks mate, but who the hell are you?" Liam stepped in, his protective instincts still in high gear. Niall stepped forward too, his hands gripping onto Ilithyia's shoulders as he looked her over. Cecily was fussing about her near tears, Rowan trying to calm her. She kept muttering that she was fine, but no one seemed to be listening. The blonde was still having trouble believing she was still alive herself, her eyes never leaving those of her savior.

"If I planned on hurting you, I would've just let the wolf do the trick." He chuckled. "The name's Harry."

"What in the name of Oz are you doing out here?" Rowan snapped, not trusting the newcomer.

"I could ask you the same," He winked. "But I think we best keep our feet moving as we chat. There will be more where he came from."

"Fair enough." Liam nodded, motioning for the group to start walking.

Rowan didn't budge as she glared at the back of Harry's head. Niall gave her a knowing look, staying behind with her as Liam and the curly-haired fellow started to lead the group. Ilithyia stuck close to the man that had saved her life, not trusting herself to protect her own life now that she had frozen in the face of danger.

No one else found the will to complain about how tired they were after that. Louis just kept shaking his head and muttering things under his breath that would cause Marianne to glare at him. Liam and Harry chatted away, Ilithyia and Cecily hanging on every word that fell out of their mouths. Rowan kept scoffing and rolling her eyes, she didn't trust this new fellow one bit, and one look at Niall let her know that he didn't either.

"Lucky you were here." Liam sighed. "Extremely lucky."

Harry shrugged. "I heard your voices, figured I would scope you out. I thought you were guards, or scavengers."

"Scope us out for what exactly?" Ilithyia asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"I have a bit of a problem with wanderlust, you see." He grinned. "One doesn't make a whole lot of money wandering from place to place, so I have to take the things that I need."

"So basically you're a thief." Rowan glared.

Harry nodded, shrugging his shoulders. "Basically."