Armin yelped as Esther slowly started backing up, gently pushing Armin back as she went, “Easy….easy there…” The eyes slowly moved into a moonbeam trickling down through the treetops, revealing the head of a small, doglike creature, baring its teeth and making a low growling sound from the back of its throat.

Esther whispered softly to Armin, “I’m going to keep backing up towards that larger tree behind us. When we get there, sneak around the tree and run to get Zaida, I’ll draw it off.”

Worriedly, Armin asked, “Are you going to be ok?”

“I’ll be fine,” she snapped under her breath, “We’re almost there. Are you ready?”

Armin nodded and reached behind him to feel the bark of the wide tree now directly behind him, never taking his eyes from the animal stalking towards them. He slowly crept around the back side of the tree and ran towards the beach as fast as his legs could take him.

Now alone with the dog, Esther felt her breath begin to shorten as she backed up to the tree completely. The dog was no longer moving towards her, but instead was now circling to her left slowly. Esther attempted to step around the tree to her right, but as she moved her leg to do so, the animal snarled and barked, snapping its jaws at her. She tried to force herself to remain calm, taking a deep breath as the dog inched closer, strands of saliva now dripping from its mouth.

The dog then appeared to ready itself to run in to attack her, but right as it was about to launch itself, Esther heard a yell that was quickly followed by Zaida running straight at the animal, swinging a burning stick in front of her. The dog began barking again but turned and ran back deeper into the forest.

Esther breathed a sigh of relief, sliding down the tree until she was sitting on the ground. Zaida turned back to look at her, the torch in her hand illuminating an adrenaline-fueled grin, “You alright?”

“Yeah, just let me catch my breath for a second. How did you get here so quickly?”

Armin, who had come up behind her, said, “When I got back to the beach, Zaida was already on her way to find us. Seems she wanted to brag about her fire-making skills.”

Zaida giggled triumphantly, waving the torch around, “Seems I have a right to brag! We have light and heat and dog protection!” She reached out a hand to Esther who took it, climbing to her feet. “Let’s say we grab some water then head back, hm?”

Esther and Armin agreed and walked a short way further into the forest, eventually coming to a small pool in a partially open clearing. The calm surface of the water looked glassy under the light of the moon, shining down unhindered through the opening in the canopy. They each took turns drinking their fill from the spring, Zaida handing Armin the torch when it was her turn.

“That’s probably not the last we’ll see of that dog, and where there’s one, there must be more, right?” Armin asked, scanning the area.

Zaida finished drinking and looked up at Armin, “And when we find more, we’ll have more torches,” she assured him, taking the burning stick back, “Nothing to it.” Armin didn’t look very reassured by this.

The three walked back to the beach, wading through the shallows to reenter the cave, which was now being warmed by a crackling fire, not large, but enough to give the space a more welcoming feel. Placing the now smoldering stick back into the flames, Zaida yawned, and the exhaustion all of them had been ignoring began to overcome them all.

Armin and Zaida each took some of their leaves from their improvised beds to create a third, and soon all of them were laying by the fire, doing their best to get comfortable. Eventually, the tiredness became too much though, and sleep overtook them.