The Call of Heroes

 The sunset's pink and purple clouds floated in waves over Kade and Bayli's heads. They were sitting on a little grassy hill in the middle of a forest. A large oak tree loomed nearby, shedding crispy brown and orange leaves all over the ground. As the tree let go of its leaves, they slid reluctantly to the earth. They lay there staring at the clouds as the autumn air blew over them. They hadn't shared a moment like this in a long time. They haven't relaxed like this since they were with their mother four months ago. She had pointed out a plethora of interesting shapes to them. Kade smiled as he remembered it.  “Do you ever regret having us mum?” Bayli had enquired of her. The wonderful naive smile that stretched across their mother's face came back to Kade. "I'm the proud mother of twins! I couldn't be happier with my life!" Their mother had told them. They had settled for it even if it wasn't precisely a response. Nothing seemed to be able to go wrong at the time. Kade's mother had sat up and rummaged through the food in the picnic basket next to her, dipping her finger into the whipped cream and wiping it down her sons nose. They all burst out laughing. Bayli took the cream pie and pushed it into their mother's face in revenge. Her face was covered in whipped cream, and her mouth was open in the shape of an O. She wiped her eyes with the cream and splattered it all over Kade. A peaceful evening spent viewing the sunset quickly devolved into a food battle. It wasn't exactly what Kade had planned, but that's what family is all about, she smiled. Bayli drew Kade's attention away from her thoughts and said, "I wish mum was here." “I was just thinking about her.”  "I miss her," Bayli added, with Kade agreeing. They hadn't discussed their mother in quite some time. In some ways, they blamed themselves for her absence. They clung to the hope that she was still alive for a time, but, like everyone else, they gradually gave up. With the exception of Hunta, she was their only hope. Hunta had a lot of aspirations for her friends, including finding her big brother. Kade had no idea how she was able to do that; she was envious of her strength. “Do you remember that food fight we had in our backyard on the hill?” Kade inquired as she sat up, her gaze falling on her brother. “How could I have forgotten? Mum wiped cream down my nose!” they said, laughing and forgetting about their problems for a time. But that was only an ephemeral moment.   Hunta dashed up the slope at breakneck speed. She came to a halt at their feet, panting profusely. Hunta's garments were the worse, since they were coated in filth and ripped in spots. This was because before they set up camp for the night, she would always scout the area. Hunta's chocolate brown hair was pulled back into a tangled ponytail, her milky skin bulged with little muscles, and her lovely violet eyes were filled with worry. Kade turned to see her brother, whose ash blonde hair was strewn about and whose gentle brown eyes shifted between worry and uncertainty. “More of those one-eyed things!” Hunta said, pointing down the hill. "They're on their way, and we need to get moving!” Bayli leapt to his feet, pulling Kade behind him. She snatched the two bags from the ancient oak tree's branch and tossed one to Bayli. Hunta yanked her bag off her back, removing outdated clothes and tossing them down the hillside. They dashed down the hill and into the woods together. The trees were lit up with fireflies at this time of night, and Kade would have loved it if she hadn't heard the roars of the three monsters following them. They had found out over the months that they were being tracked by their scent; none of them knew how, but they had devised a number of strategies to avoid the animals. Hunta was mostly to blame; she had a magical ability to get them out of trouble. The three of them ran till they were out of breath. They came to a halt under a small canopy and collapsed. The trees spread for kilometres above them, creating a carpet of leaves. The horrible beasts' roars were barely audible in the night. “That won't keep them off for long; my best prediction is we'll be picked up again in at least 4 hours,” Hunta grumbled. Hey guys,  I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope you've enjoyed it thus far. I understand that it may need to be revised because some of it may be confusing. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help :) Have a wonderful day or evening!