"Boo!" the teen boy shouted jovially, his head popping through a portal in a tree.

His partner jumped, body stiffening to attack. His fist was half way to his companion's face when he realized that it was his friend.

"One of these days I will beat the ever loving crap out of you, and I won't feel bad about it," the startled one warned through gritted teeth.

That was the fifth time in however many miles that numbskull had pulled this stunt. Each time, his fist was progressively closing distance between that forsaken straight nose.

"C'mon, Yvarren, I don't mean any harm," the boy whined as he emerged from the portal. "It's just a goof."

"I'm going to goof your ass one day, Methuselah."

Methuselah's frowned deeply, scooting away from Yvarren. That was probably one of the most disgruntling things he had heard in a while from him. He kept his distance from his partner's slouch figure, fearing that he would end up bruised.

"So, how much farther until we reach the village?" Methuselah asked, twirling a lock of his unkempt brown hair around his tanned finger.

Eyes the color of pea soup gazed back at him, causing a sense of uneasy. Methuselah never got used to how piercing Yvarren's gaze was.

"I don't know," Yvarren sighed, looking to the heavens. "That man told us it was only the length of the forest. I love how he never mention how large this freaken place is."

"It can't be that much more, buddy. We just have to keep going straight, and we'll be out of here in no time." Methuselah put his arm around his taller companion's shoulders. "I bet if we really hightail it we can get out of here before night and get into town to sleep in warm fluffy beds."

"You say that, but we've been travelling so long that the sun is setting."

It was true. The forest was starting to developed an orange blush to match the sky's. The air was cooling, areas in the shade becoming freezing.

Methuselah's smile faltered slightly, but his steel eyes never lost their hopefulness.

"It'll work out. I know it will," Methuselah affirmed.

Yvarren gave him a doubtful look but stayed quiet.

They continued to treck through the forest, wary of thick roots that stretched like fingers. The scuttle of leaves and feet slowly pittering out as the sun disappeared. Soon enough, light was scarce and most of the forest sounds were gone.

"Maybe we should just rest here for now, Yvarren? I don't think we should go any farther without light."

A sigh escaped the lanky, slumped figure of Yvarren. He didn't want to stay any longer than he had to in this place, but Methuselah was right. He couldn't see very much anymore, and the lack of noise was putting him on edge. He let his tense body slump against a large tree trunk, pressing his back to the rough bark. Methuselah followed suit, pressing his side close to Yvarren's. A light blush found its way to Yvarren's cheeks, his eyes looking the opposite direction to Methuselah.

Silence stretched out elastically between them. Methuselah's eyes drooped closed as he basked in the heat he got from Yvarren. Soon enough he was asleep, breathing softly. Yvarren finally glanced down at his companion when he heard the soft rhythmic breathing. The harshness of his eyes softened as he looked down at the calm and content face illuminated by soft white light. He let himself relax, his muscles finally relaxing.  Yvarren closed his eyes, deciding that it was okay to try and sleep.

The ground shook softly, rustling the leaves throughout the forest. The rumbling became more intense, coming closer and closer to the boys. Yvarren's eyes shot open, his body going on high alert. Pea green eyes darted around, looking for what was causing the disturbance.

"Methuselah," Yvarren whispered, shaking his friend, "Get up."

Methuselah groggily looked up at his friend.

"What'sh the matter?" he slurred, rubbing his eyes.

"Something's coming. We gotta go."

Yvarren pulled them both up, still looking around for what had caused the earth to shake. The ground gave another rumbling, and he saw it.  Black eyes shined in the moonlight. Eight of them to be precise.

"C'mon!" Yvarren shouted, roughly tugging Methuselah's arm. 

Yvarren sprinted off, keeping a tight grasp on Methuselah's arm. Behind them the sound of clicking jaws filled the air. The ground rumbled, eight massive legs  carrying a hairy beast. A hissing sound followed, legs scuttling alarmingly fast.  Yvarren looked back, his heart pounding. Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. The thing was massive. It stood taller than both of them combined, its mass enough to cause  indentations in the hard packed dirt.  He turned his head back, forcing his legs to work faster. His lungs were beginning to feel a burn, his heart hammering against his rib cage. He made a sharp turn, hoping that the arachnid would get stuck in the thicker clump of trees. 

The trees did little to deter the spider, its humongous form slowing a little as it maneuvered sideways climbing onto trees, but it was still approaching fast enough that Yvarren was worried they weren't going to make it. He made a left, trying to weave through the trees to keep them as obscured as possible. His lungs were now on fire, sweat forming on his brow despite the coolness of the night air.  He looked back at Methuselah. He too was breathing hard, his fuller face flushed. Their eyes met, Methuselah giving him as reassuring half smile. That was when Yvarren tripped.

A massive root stuck out of the ground, cruelly grabbing his foot. He  fell, the hard earth colliding with his knee. A curse left his lips as hot searing pain shot up through his leg. His eyes teared up, the pain on of the worst things he had felt in a long time.

"Yvarren!" Methuselah cried, scrambling to help his friend up.

Behind them the spider closed in, the clicking of its jaw disturbingly loud. Methuselah looked back, eyes fretfully looking for a solution. Only one thing came to mind.

Gritting his teeth, Methuselah began rapidly mumbling incantations, placing his left hand on the ground next to Yvarren.  A swirling mass of colorful light emerged from under his hand, the tendrils forming a portal. The portal shimmered in the ground, growing just big enough that the boys could squeeze through. Methuselah pushed Yvarren in head first, eyes glancing back behind them. The monster was almost upon them.  Once Yvarren was in, Methuselah followed suit. A long hairy limb followed in after him, a blood curdling screech follow it. The portal closed, and for a moment the inhabitants were drifting in an area of nothingness before being plopped out into another part of the forest.

They thudded to the ground, the severed  leg giving a small twitch, a sickly purple viscous liquid oozing from the opeing. Methuselah scrambled away from the leg, moving closer to Yvarren. 

Yvarren's face was contorted in pain, his hands cradling his knee.

"Let me," Methuselah murmured, touching the aching joint.

Under his fingers he felt liquid move. If his friend wasn't wearing pants he would have felt the tightness of the skin as it stretch to house the liquid. He could imagine the nasty blackish purple his friend's knee cap must be.

"Well, I think the best we can do for now is keep it wrapped and you off it," Methuselah informed him. "At least it isn't broken." 

Yvarren nodded, slumping forward. He rested his forehead against Methuselah's shoulder, wrapping his arms around his friend's middle. Methuselah smiled gently, running his fingers through the light blonde hair.

"I'm glad we made it out alive," Yvarren mumbled, arms tightening around Methuselah.

"I am too, bud."

They stayed like that for what seemed like ages, their nerves relaxing from the previous beating.  Finally, Yvarren pulled away, looking around at their surroundings.  All around them there was once again trees.

"Where did you take us?"

Methuselah's brow furrowed.

"I know it's somewhere still in the forest... I'm just not sure where exactly. I just kinda wished to be anywhere but there. My magic doesn't work too well when I'm stressed, and I was worried that you wouldn't be able to handle the void. That's why we ended up here."  Methuselah looked sheepishly at his friend.

Yvarren sighed.

"I guess we'll just figure it out in the morning. Here is better than with that god awful spider."

Methuselah nodded, looking around for a place that could function as shelter. One of the trees had a deep recess which looked good enough for now. He stood up, offering his hands to Yvarren. Slowly, he helped up his injured friend, wrapping an arm around his waist. Together they made their way over to the recess. When they got there, they settling down close to one another, Methuselah wrapping his arms around Yvarren. Sleep enveloped them hesitantly.

They slept through the rest of the night, snuggled together for warmth and comfort.