Koi slowly turned his whole body around as the giant canine approached closer, showing all his sharp teeth. The other two boys joined him, and they stood back-to-back as the murderous dogs approached.
"It's not real, he said...you'll be fine, he said..." Koi growled over his shoulder at Ethan.
"This is the punishment we deserve for listening to a blonde," Adam muttered. One of the dogs snaps at Ethan, and he lets loose a surprised scream and pulls back, slamming into Adam. The dog then leaps at him, and Ethan raises his hand as a metal chain shoots out of his bloody wrist as if they were a vein. Koi winced, having never seen such a grotesque superpower, and he was soon blinded as a shock of electric light burst from the end of the chains as Ethan whips it at a guard dog, zapping the poor mutt with a hard jolt.
The dog whines loudly as it is shocked back several feet. It crashes to the ground and lies there flat, unmoving.
Before Ethan could sigh in relief, Adams' fist knocks him upside his temple.
"What the fuck?!" Ethan shouts at him.
"You disgusting PRICK! You just killed that poor dog!" Adam yells back.
"You stupid fucking Americans and your obsession with dogs!" Ethan growls, running his hands through his hair, frustrated. Not caring in the least that his arm was still bloody. "The stupid bitch was trying to kill me! What the hell was I supposed to do?"
"It's not their fault!" Adam yells. "Someone trained them to attack trespassers. If you hadn't dragged us out here for nothing, they wouldn't have bothered us! You're the one who dragged us out here to fucking DIE!"
"You told me all this stuff was fake. It was an illusion." Koi chimed in.
"Everything was fake, except these dogs!" Ethan said. "They might have noticed me coming here at night and beefed up security."
"Maybe we can just..." Adam steps closer to the guard dog that's facing him. Surprised, the dog jumps back and hands Adam a surprised bark, but then his stance goes even lower, and his muzzle stretched even further in his growl as he glares at Adam, warning him not to get any closer.
"H-hey, it's okay, lil guy," Adam begins. "We're not going to hurt you."
"Yeah, I just zapped one of them to Valhalla. You think they're dumb enough to believe that?" Ethan mutters.
The dog and two others leap at Adam, claws extended and intent on attacking. However, they hit a protective barrier Koi conjured up. The dogs land at the base of the barrier, some still growling but now sniffing and confused by the obstacle.
Koi holds his hand up as he tries to concentrate and keep the spell going.
"I can't keep this up forever," Koi spat. "We need to figure out how to get out of here and get back to the dorms!"
"Not before I show what I have to show you," Ethan said, and he looked up at the sky with the approaching dawn. "It's just over there! Please! We have to get there before the sun comes up. We're almost there! We can make it?"
Koi and Adam say nothing; they just watch as the dog circles around the forcefield, trying to figure out a way to get in, a way to get to them to destroy them.
"Look, I am sorry about the guard dogs, but I really need you guys to see this." Ethan pleaded. "I can't hold this alone anymore."
Seeing Ethan nearly in tears surprised Koi. Whatever Ethan needed them to see was clearly important. It also made Koi very eager to see it too, even to the point of risking his life.
He looked over where Ethan had pointed. Could he hold the barrier up long enough for them to make it? It wasn't far, but how was Koi supposed to hold his concentration while running.
"Fine. Go, go, go!" Koi shouted. He knew this was insane, but what other choice did they have at this point? They were now farther from the safe side of the forbidden lands than they were where Ethan's surprise lay.
The trio broke off running. It took Koi about 15 seconds for him to realize what a Gigantic mistake he had made. Ethan pulled ahead immediately, Koi having forgotten he was dealing with an Advanced human here.
And Adam was fast on his heels, having all that military training. It didn't take long for the two of them to pull far ahead of Koi, completely out of the force field's range.
The dogs did what their instincts told them to do: attack the slower prey. The circles around Koi and the forcefield, as he soon had to stop and catch his breath.
Ethan soon came to the area where he could stop and take a break. A moment later, Adam joined him. They both leaned against a tree, trying to catch their breath, only now looking behind to see how far back Koi was.
"Shit! Dude is dog food out there if his shield doesn't hold." Adam said.
Ethan looked from Koi to the space before him. "Just right...there..."
'We'll be able to see everything if we go up this tree," Adam said. "And the dogs won't be able to climb. We'll be safe there for a while."
Ethan nodded, still breathing hard, trying to catch his breath as he started scaling that tree.
Adam hesitated before he went on.
"C'mon, WEIRDO! Get the lead out!" Adam yelled at him.
Koi heard him and took a deep breath before rushing after him, the dogs still attempting to attack the force field and tear him apart. He could sense the sphere beginning to weaken, but he was nearly there. Gathering all his strength, he pushed forward and sprinted toward the tree with everything he had.
Koi initially didn't notice, but through the grass, the round metal balls that had exited Adam's room to tidy the bathroom reappeared, now glowing with bright colors. They moved toward the dogs and began circling them. The dogs tried to avoid them, utterly baffled by the devices. Seizing the moment, Koi ran as fast as he could. Only three dogs continued to chase him, stubbornly ignoring the bouncing disco balls.
Koi's power failed, and he was too exhausted to summon the force field again, so he simply ran with whatever strength he had left toward that tree.
Adam sees him coming and climbs up himself with an ease that baffles Koi for a second. It's as if he were part monkey the way he scaled up that tree and hung upside down from a thick branch.
Koi took the hint and jumped for him with all that was left. Adam grabbed him, nd Ethan helped pull them both up. The dogs remained barking at the base of the tree, but there was nothing they could do. Ethan climbed up to a higher branch, not wanting the three of them putting all their weight on one.
"No look, look over there! There's not much time left!" He pointed to the patch of land before him
Koi looked, honestly, too exhausted to care anymore. Anyway, nothing could be more amazing than the painful death he just escaped.
Or so Koi thought. As he looked over at Ethan's surprise, he realized how horribly wrong...he...was...