Will we ever really be free?

I began to panic. The man whispered something to the guard next to him and the guard ran off. He probably wanted to grab reinforcements but he chose to do it quietly, so as to not alert the slaves.

He saw that they were on strong spirit animals and he didn't have one of his own so he had to be careful. He then started to follow them quietly.

Speranza witnessed the whole thing and nudged Jakie.

"Jakie, someone is following us. I think they asked for reinforcements. We have to hurry!" Jakie stiffened and turned to look behind them. "Where?"

"Don't look! He might see you and know that we saw him!" I hissed in her ear. "we have to hurry and let Sam know. Quickly, get closer to him. But do it gradually so as not to alert the guard."

Jakie listened and started to approach Sam. When we were close enough to communicate I called out. "Sam, someone is following us! They have reinforcements coming soon!"

"I already know." I stared at him in shock. "Sam! If you knew why didn't you tell us! You didn't know if we saw it too! What if we didn't?!" Sam ignored me. "We need to take down the guy following us. It's too late to catch the man getting help. We'd better hurry!" Sam yelled back.

Jakie understood and I looked behind her. She couldn't see where the man was because Beka was running so fast and swiftly dodging trees. It was hard to focus on anything.

"Beka go left! We have to lose him then attack from behind!" Beka suddenly turned and jumped onto a tree branch. Speranza squeezed her legs tighter around Beka and held her arms around Kogi.

Kogi started to move around in her arms and let out a little cry. "Keep him quiet Za," Jakie whispered. Speranza covered his mouth and he squirmed even more. She felt terrible but there was nothing else she could do! Beka started to make constant turns and Speranza felt like she was going to puke.

Suddenly Beka jumped out of the trees and landed on top of the man who'd been following them. The man was about to cry out but Beka stopped him. She bit down hard on his neck.

Speranza couldn't see that well since it was dark but she could tell the man was dead.

She didn't get to look long as they jolted back and started to bolt into the forest. Speranzalooked around but couldn't see Sam. She guessed they'd been separated and would meet up later.

Speranza was tired. They'd been running for hours nonstop. Kogi had stopped crying out of exhaustion and they were starving. Sam still hadn't turned up but Jakie had to keep going.

The men in yellow could still be looking for them.

After an entire day, Beka couldn't take it any longer and slowed down. She started to complain to Jakie. "I'm tired, I'm gross, sweaty, my legs could break, I'm thirsty and hungry! Please can we stop!?" She groaned.

But honestly, Speranza couldn't agree more and cut in. "Come on Jakie! Even if they were still after us it wouldn't hurt to take a break. Plus Kogi is so little, he might get sick!" Jakie sighed.

"Fine! Let's look for a cave to camp in for the evening. But when it gets dark, we are headed back out! Okay?" "Yesssssssss, finally! I need to take a bath!" Beka sounded relieved and started to move faster, motivated by the idea of licking all the grime off her fur. She started looking around for any caves they could hide in.

After walking for some time Beka let out a yelp of joy. "There there! A cave!" I turned my head excitedly but my face fell when I saw it. It was shallow and made of pure hard rock, it didn't look like I'd be getting much sleep. It would be so cold in there! But I didn't have much of a choice as Beka ran towards it.

She stopped right outside the cave and stood ramrod straight. "Now you filthy humans, get off of me! No offense Jakie."

"None taken."

"Huff," I grunted as I slid off of Beka. Kogi realized we were finally stopping and started to wiggle in my arms, trying to get out and run. I let him go bet held tightly onto his hand. I didn't need him running off.

"Pee."

"What?" I looked down at Kogi in confusion.

"pee." He said again, stamping his foot with his face knotted up in annoyance. My face paled.

"Y-you, have too, p-pee?" I could barely get the words out of my mouth. Dang it, why did Sam have to go and get himself separated!

"O-okay um." I paused and looked at him.

"Can you do it by yourself?" I crossed my fingers and prayed he didn't need help.

"Mhm."

A wave of relief hit me. "Okay, but stay close and come right back when you're done. Call out if anything happens, okay?

"Mhm." Kogi waddled off to a bush nearby.

I looked at my surroundings. We were in a small clearing covered in moss. Trees surrounded the area, almost leaning over, giving the effect of an enchanted forest. The cave was made of solid rock and didn't look comfortable.

Jakie was gathering wood for a fire as Beka stretched on top of a rock and started to clean herself, her white fur shining brightly. Honestly, she didn't see why they could only travel at night. Beka would be easy to spot either way.

"Speranza! Make yourself useful and gather some sticks!"

"Jakie are you sure we should make a fire? What if they see the smoke?"

Jakie frowned.

"There are so many hunters that camp in the forest. Surely they won't notice anything?"

"You're pulling at broken strings, Jack. Even if they thought it was a hunter they'd probably come and ask if he'd seen anything."

Jakie looked downcast.

"You're right." She looked disappointed and looked at the sticks in her arms as if they told her she was going to die. Then she dropped them watching them longingly.

I sighed and sat down on the soft moss.

'I wonder where Sam is' I thought to myself. 'I hope he's okay. What if they found him or he got hurt and was stuck. After all, he was pretty beat up when they'd run away.' Worry began to trickle down her spine. She felt uneasy. 'What if he's hurt while we're just sitting around?' I bit my lip. 'This isn't good.'

I closed my eyes tightly and tried to change the topic in my head. I thought about what it would be like when we were finally free. Free. Then her thoughts turned to the other slaves who were still living in torment. How could she ever truly feel free, knowing her people were enslaved and dying? "Will we ever really be free?" I said out loud softly. I gripped the moss underneath me, pulling my legs closer to my chest. I didn't want to think about it.

I was yanked out of my thoughts when I heard a yelp. I swung my head up and looked in the direction it had come from. Fear seized my body, as I realized the noise had come from where Kogi had gone off to.