Forced to Split Up

---Katherine---

We followed Indigo into the safety of the forest. I brought up the rear, keeping an eye on Ashley, who was in front of me, and any pursuers that might come after us. Way in the front, Indigo swerved suddenly to the left, off the main trail. We followed quickly, hoping to lose the Evils but not lose sight of each other.

The already dim forest only got darker as we ventured farther and farther inside. Branches scratched at me like bony fingers reaching out from beyond the grave. Unknown plants brushed my legs again and again, some wet, some dry, and some that felt unnaturally wrong. I've never been this far inside the forest. The most our Herbology teacher ever led us in was within sight of the entrance, and that was walking on the main trail. We were carving our own path, literally, twisting and turning and running over unfamiliar grounds.

Over the rush of the wind I heard howls and shrieks. The Evils were coming closer. I realized with a start that we would be very easy to follow, since we had seven horses and were literally trampling a path through the forest for the Evils to follow. We would never get away in time.

"Indigo! We have a problem!" I shouted.

"What?" came her voice.

"We're too easy to follow! We're basically leaving a path for them to follow!" I yelled.

"Oh! Shoot!" Indigo caught on with me. I think she cursed under her breath but her words were carried away by the wind. She took us around another sharp corner, into a small clearing, then halted abruptly.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" I tried to stop Legacy. We skidded to a stop just before crashing into Ashley. The horses shook their manes and stomped, restless.

"Indigo, what are we going to do? We're way too easy to follow," I said urgently.

"I didn't think about this—oh my gosh how could it have slipped my mind?!" Indigo wringed her hands, looking upset.

"No one thought of it till now," comforted Rachel. "Good thing Katherine brought it up in time. We can still find a solution. It's not too late."

"But it costed us valuable time! And now—"

"Every minute we spend here talking gives the Evils time to catch up," said Lucian sharply. "We need a solution now."

"You're right," said Indigo. "But what? I can't think straight right now; it's just too much…"

"What if we split up?" asked Ashley. "Will that make it harder for the Evils to follow?"

"I don't want us to split up," said Indigo. "We could get lost. Or get attacked and not have backup. Lots of bad things happen when people split up."

"Then what are we going to do?" asked Lucian, frustrated.

"Guys, you might want to hurry it up," I warned, pacing around the perimeters and eyeing the forest around us. "I think the Evils are arriving."

I could feel their oncoming presence. Legacy snorted and stomped the floor nervously. The back of my neck tingled. This did not feel good.

"We could always try and fight…" suggested Rachel weakly. The others looked appalled and…frightened.

"No we can't. Nope nope nope. We have no experience defeating them, and there are too many of them!" said Jason, a hint of fear lacing his voice.

"Jason's right. We can't risk it. What if we die here? The quest barely begun. We would let down everyone who's still back there fighting for us." Aaron affirmed.

"I guess we don't have a choice. Let's split up," said Indigo suddenly. "It's the only way. We'll go in a group of three and a group of four."

"So, Jason, Indigo, Ashley can be in one group, and Katherine, Aaron, Lucian, and me can be in the other group," suggested Rachel. "Each has at least one person powerful enough to kill Evils, if it gets down to that."

"Guys, we probably have one minute left before the Evils catch up to us," I said tensely. "Indigo, give us the directions on how to get out of this place and where to meet up."

"Okay, the basic thing is, always follow the sun," she pointed up at the sky. We could barely make out the outline of the sun in the darkening sky. "Keep the sun in front of you, and you're good. No matter how you weave through the forest, you won't get lost if you follow the sun. Remember to double back, circle around, make sharp corners, and do whatever it takes to lose the Evils.

"One more thing: there is a river in the forest that we will cross at some point. It's not deep, so our horses can walk through it. Go upstream, and walk in the river. After you've traveled for about fifteen minutes, cross to the opposite bank and head west. Eventually you'll exit the forest and see a big road. If you head directly down that road, the first village you will see is called Northbell. There is a small inn in the village, called George's Shack. We'll meet there."

"Guys, we have to leave now," I said, urging my horse forward to join my group. "If anything happens, we'll leave some sort of mark to tell the other group what happened."

With that, we split up. Indigo's group headed to the left as I led our group to the right. By the time the Evils emerged in the clearing we were already gone.