2. Over The River And Through The Woods

It has been exactly one year since that day.

Ivy reached into her backpack and took out the letter. She studied it for the millionth time, following the line on the crudely drawn map with her finger, looking up to ensure that she was next to the correct landmark: three massive boulders in a horizontal line at the bottom of the mountain. She read the letter stapled to the back of the map.

The letter was placed on her bed over six months ago; it read:

Ivy, I know that I am absent a lot, so this will come as no surprise. I will be gone for a long, long time, longer than I have ever been gone before. I'm not going to lie to you or make excuses; I have neglected you for purely selfish reasons. You should be able to understand and relate to that more than anyone. If I am not back within five months of you receiving this letter, I want you to follow the map and instructions on the other page.

Once you are strong enough, you will see me again if you so choose.

We will meet in the center. I know ‌you are smart, strong, and talented; you will make me proud one day. -Lilith.

Ivy neatly folded the note back up and placed it in the small pocket of her backpack. She had a massive grin on her face, "Almost there," she said to no one in particular as she shouldered the bag and jogged past the boulders and towards the mountain.

When Ivy started her adventure last week, she packed only what she thought she needed: water, lots of candy, and a single sandwich. It turned out to be a pretty big mistake when she had already eaten through half her food supplies after the first two days. Foolishly thinking it would take only two to three days, the whole trip here was a four-day ordeal. Her starting point: a small island southwest of the United States—Dodola Isle. Following the map Lilith had drawn her, she took a boat to Texas, where she ran until she reached the edge of the ocean that bisected the US, crossing the bridge that spanned the gap. Something had split the continent thirty-three years ago. Sprinting the rest of the way until she reached the surrounding lake—flathead lake, taking another ferry across to get to a little, almost deserted ocean town.

Ivy reached the edge of the mountain; the dry pine needles made crunching sounds below her black combat boots as she sprinted through the forest that encased the entire mountain.

It took her only thirty minutes of running before she slowed down, her mouth feeling as dry as a desert. Ivy had made it about a quarter of the way up the mountain and ran a little over eight miles. Looking around and closing her eyes, she intently listened for any running water. The slight breeze blew through her long black hair; it was slightly spiky, looking as if her tongue had recently made contact with a power outlet. Falling autumn leaves and pine needles had embedded themselves in it while she was running. The sounds of creatures scampering up trees and bird wings flapping as they soared above, looking for a meal, were the only things auditory to Ivy at that moment. "There's got to be a river or lake around here. The animals have to drink from somewhere." A creature Ivy didn't recognize bounded through a small clearing in the distance. It was a thin white creature with grey hooves, multiple pairs of eyes, and an enormous head. It was followed by its offspring, disappearing into the forest just as quickly.

Ivy ran up the mountain again, this time paying attention to every sound she heard, as her life may have depended on her getting water. If she were to get dehydrated and pass out, no one would know she was out there, and she would most likely die alone in the woods. After another ten minutes of running, she heard it; it was so quiet that most would have thought it was their imagination. Ivy had heard it, though, as clear as day, the sound of something small breaking the surface of a body of water.

Skidding to a stop, she turned ninety degrees and ran towards the sound. Dodging skinny pine trees and hurdling over roots and logs, she reached the edge of a clearing, grabbing onto a tree to hold her balance as she almost ran straight into the crystal clear lake. She looked down. The lake was a bright blue color from the sky. She rolled up the sleeves of her dirty, tattered white jacket with dark red borders. She stuck her arm as far down as she could to see how deep the lake was but kept one hand wrapped around a large nearby tree root so she wouldn't fall in head-first. The ends of her black hair rested on top of the water. It was cold, but not quite freezing.

She heard it again, a light plopping sound coming from across the lake; taking her arm out of the water and glancing across the football-field-sized lake, seeing a glint of metal from the opposite shore. She stood up, covering her eyes from the sun, and squinted, barely making out a figure holding what looked to be a fishing rod. They were wearing a dark green and brown suit with fake leaves sewn onto its outside. Ivy bounced on her feet, smiled, and waved at the figure, "Hey! Do you know if this water is safe to drink?" The water carried her voice across the large lake. The figure looked up, a bit startled, and waved back.

"It should be." The male voice called back. The fisherman went back to casting his line back out on the still water. 'I'm surprised she's able to notice me; especially from that far away. I wonder…is she from the colony?' He thought. 'She's a little young to be hiking out here all alone.'

Ivy grabbed the half-gallon metal water bottle out of her bag and plunged it into the water. The fisherman called out again, "Hey, are you from the colony?"

Far beneath Ivy in the depths of the water, a silhouetted figure stirred. It darted across the lake floor headed towards the man. It moved from one side of the lake to the other in under a second. Its acute sense of smell drew it towards the bait at the end of the man's fish hook.

Suddenly, the man felt a hard tug on his line; peering over into the water, he noticed the water had turned dark. If he had a better vantage point, he would've seen there was something massive below him. Ivy had noticed the dark figure in the water moments earlier but wasn't sure what it was. A loud yell came from the other side of the lake. Ivy looked up and saw the lake's water explode in front of the man. In his state of fear, he stumbled back, tripping over the basket of fish he had already caught that day. The line from his pole wrapped around his foot. Receding back into the water was the head of an enormous serpent.

Ivy grabbed the heavy metal water bottle and was halfway across the bank of the lake within seconds. The serpent swam out and turned around for another attempt at the tasty human onshore. The water's surface broke, rows of dagger-like teeth snapping together, heading right toward the fisherman. Its long, scaly head was adorned with two golden horns the size of Ivy's torso. It threw back its head, letting out a roar that made the ground vibrate. It shot forward towards the man as he struggled to crawl away. The serpent was a few feet away from sinking its teeth into the man. In a flash, Ivy bounced forwards and slammed the metal water bottle into its right eye with all her might.

The screech that emanated from its throat was heard for miles, causing every animal in the area to sprint or fly away. A flock of birds briefly blotted out the sun as they flew to safety. Ivy hit the ground, completely disoriented, her ringing ears drowning out the fisherman's warning to run. The serpent had closed its damaged eye and tried focusing on Ivy with its other eye. It made eye contact with her. Ivy's big hazel brown eyes stared back, a smile on her face, her heart beating rapidly. It lifted itself higher out of the water and reared its head back, preparing to strike again. Green saliva gurgling in the back of its wet maw—the sound resembling laughter. Before Ivy could put more thought into that, the serpent flung itself forward.

Ivy had barely dodged out of the way, but the force at which it moved past her still sent her flying back a few yards, launching her into the forest. The fisherman had scrambled far enough away to get to a safe area, as well as being able to untangle the fishing line from his foot. He looked back towards the creature; the fish hook had dug itself deep into its gums. It writhed around, trying to get its bearings on the land.

Ivy got to her feet, using a nearby tree as support. She spotted the fishing rod and the hook in its mouth. An idea started to form in her head. The creature seemed to have gotten used to being on the wet and muddy sand as it had focused its attention back on the fisherman. It attempted to slither over to him like a snake, but it was clumsy and slow. The man got to his feet and tried to run but collapsed after a few steps. His ankle was on fire. He looked back; the serpent was a few yards away, and he'd swear it was smiling if he didn't know any better. The rows of metallic green-stained teeth glinted in the high-noon sunlight, its forked tongue flicking between them.

The serpent's confident gaze turned to one of surprise as its head was suddenly jerked to one side. Ivy had grabbed hold of the fishing rod, then ran around a nearby tree, using it as leverage to pull the creature away from the man. She kept pulling as hard as she could, her face turning beet red with effort; the serpent made it easier for her as it flopped in her direction, entirely leaving the water. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! I got 'em!" she yelled. Its fishtail slammed uselessly on the ground as it attempted to push itself toward her. The muddy sand made a wet slapping sound each time its tail collided with it.

'She must have realized the strength of the fishing line!' The fisherman thought as he picked up his large hunting knife and drove it through the end of the serpent's tail, nailing it to the ground. Ivy had been busy running through the forest, wrapping the metal fishing line around as many trees as possible, using them as a fulcrum to secure it in place.

Both Ivy and the fisherman had effectively anchored the serpent to the ground. The creature attempted to force the fishhook out of its gums with its last bit of energy. It thrashed around as hard as it could; the tip of one of its golden horns broke off as it slammed into a nearby rock. It weakly flopped around a few more times before falling to the ground, exhausted. The fisherman hobbled over to the serpent, its good eye following him as he walked—if looks could kill. He heard a voice from the forest, "We got him!" He turned to see the girl from before stepping onto the beach, a goofy smile across her face. Her large hazel brown eyes lit up with excitement at seeing the man standing next to the fish. "That was fun!" Ivy said while wiping the sweat from her forehead. She walked over to him, planted her feet together, and stuck out her hand. "My name's Ivy, by the way!"

The tip of the horn had spun off and embedded itself in the ground a few yards away. Ivy noticed its shine out of the corner of her eye. She sauntered over to it and picked it up, admiring it. It was the size of a baby and felt like it weighed at least ten pounds. She looked it over, using her jacket sleeve to rub the mud off it, noticing her reflection in it, before putting it away in her bag. Ivy looked at the sky, "Hmm, if I don't hurry, I'll get there pretty late." She muttered.

Behind her, the fisherman had removed his leafy-green boot and rolled up his pants. He winced, looking at his leg, the adrenaline wearing off. "Yeah, it's broken. I don't have anyone to call, and Crater is too far to crawl."

Ivy looked toward the man, "Oh, that's not too bad," she said. She looked around, "There!" She disappeared into the woods. A minute later, she came out, holding sticks and a long vine wrapped around her shoulders.

Using her foot, she snapped some of the sticks in half and wrapped them around the fisherman's broken leg using the vine. He tried not to scream out in pain as she pulled it tight.

After she was done, he tentatively got to his feet, slowly putting weight on it, testing the splint. He paced back and forth. It still hurt, but he would be able to walk the full distance if he pushed himself.

Ivy turned to the fisherman and pointed to the top of the mountain. "Hey, mister? The colony is just up there, right?"

"Uh, yea." He said, still in shock from what had just happened. He turned to see her start off in the direction she had been pointing. "I mean, I guess you could go that way, but-"

"Thank you so much, mister!" Ivy said as she sprinted off toward the top of the mountain. "See ya!" She turned around, smiling and waving him goodbye.

"Wait!" He yelled after her. "That's the longest way to get there!" His words fell on deaf ears. He shook his head in astonishment, "That kid is something else." He turned to his left and limped in the direction of the path that was two miles to the east.

Ivy ran and ran. The forest had been getting denser, and the trees getting larger the higher she got. By the time Ivy reached the summit, her stomach was grumbling, and the sun had lowered significantly until the sky was an orange hue. She walked past the last remaining trees, expecting to see a bustling city, but there was nothing. Ivy looked around, stepping forward and looking down. She was on top of a cliff edge, and down below was what she was looking for.

Ivy couldn't see much from where she was standing, but what she did see was enough. She thought her heart was going to explode out of her chest from excitement. Ivy had spent four days running and traveling across the country, then after the grueling climb up the mountain, she had made it. Below her was the colony called Crater. The bright lights below like twinkling fireflies in the quickly darkening sky.