Chapter 5: The Rescue

"What!? Aria are you crazy? Those men are more than ten times our size. We wouldn't stand a chance." Killian hissed. Aria scowled and stood up with determination. "Fine. Go ahead and be a chicken. I'll do it myself." She said, jumping off the branch before Killian could stop her. She darted between branches, trying to dim her light as much as possible until she was standing on the branch the net was tied to. Killian waved at her from across the clearing frantically but she ignored him. She slipped through the holes of the net and landed atop the girl's knee. She jumped and Aria flew up, "Shh shh shh!" She said, putting her finger to her lips. "I'm here to rescue you. How fast can you run?" She whispered. The girl shook her head, as if to say she didn't understand. Aria groans, "You don't speak Elvish, do you?" She asked with a frown. The girl tilted her head in a way that reminded Aria of a dog, or Fang when he was hungry. "Okay, Well this is gonna be a bit more difficult than I anticipated." She said to herself. "Hey! What are you doing in there!?" A gruff voice yelled and it made Aria jump. A huge, burly man had spotted them and was stomping towards them, followed by the other men with him. Aria yelped and flew up and out, tugging at the knot holding the rope to the tree. It wouldn't budge, figures. Then a huge hand came up and clamped around her, trapping her inside. "Ahh!" She screamed. She found herself trapped in a meaty hand that smelled like sweat and raw meat. It was greasy and hot and she pounded at the sides to be let out to no avail. She looked back at her pack where Fang was still securely tucked away. She bit her lip but slipped her pack off, took Fang out and held him against the man's hand. "Fang, sick em!" She shouted. Fang woke up and out emerged a sharp barb from his back that stabbed the man and injected a rather nasty dose of venom into him. The man yowled in pain and dropped them both. Aria scooped up Fang and tucked him in her pack and flew off before any of the other men could catch her. "Aria!" She heard a shout and turned to see Killian swooping in on Ebony. Upon closer inspection she saw a swirling blue aura surrounding his hands, he made a thrusting motion with his hands towards the other men and suddenly a gust of wind blew them off their feet. Aria's jaw dropped, "Did you just..." Killian looked back, "There's no time! Cut her loose and run!" He shouted, tossing her a dagger, which she caught with surprisingly no problems. She flew over to the rope and started sawing at it with the serrated edge. It cut quick and the girl fell to the ground, tangled in the net. Aria flew down and started trying to untangle her, "I know you don't understand me, but we need to go now!" Aria said, pointing towards the woods. The girl nodded and untangled herself, standing up and stumbling towards the woods. "Faster!" Aria urged as Killian knocked the men back again with another gust of wind, this time knocking the, out. Killian flew after them. "Come on! They won't stay out for long!" He yelled before leading them off into the woods.