HOMEPAGE LIBRARY

The bomb exploded, sending me and my clan backwards. I tumbled into a pile of dirt. Ow.
"Retreat!" Our clan leader, Elison, yelled. It was all happening so fast. One moment I was eating Cheerios, and the next we were being attacked by some foreign alien species who knew how to launch bombs.
I felt a hand grab my arm. It was Elison.
"Come on, Luna!" She yelled. "We don't have much time!" She started sprinting and sort of dragged me along. She was clutching my arm so tightly it was cutting off my circulation. This escalated quickly.
The clan kept sprinting until we reached the forest just outside of Dragonslate's borders. Elison released my arm and I felt the blood going back into my arm. There was a white mark where she had grabbed me.
"Okay, guys, let's split up. Get help from other clans if possible." She said. "Stella, Jase, Rin, and Max, go left." The four nodded and dashed off.
"Jason, Melanie, Andrew, and Steve, go right. Tate, Eliza, Louis, and Jade, go back and try to get the rest of the clan outta there. Try to hold off the 'aliens' from spreading any further. Good luck. The rest of you, Serena, Evelyn, Luna, Karl, and Easton, come with me."
Elison led me and 4 others deeper into the forest. After a bit of running, we stopped.
"Does anyone know the way to Ravenstone?" Asked Elison.
"Ravenstone?" I asked. "Why are we going to Ravenstone?"
"To get help, dummy." Said Serena.
"What? We don't need help!" I protested. "With the whole clan together, we can take them!"
"No." Said Elison. "They're way smarter than we think. They know how to activate a bomb, for crying out loud! And they've probably gotten into the weaponry, too. We wouldn't stand a chance."
"Besides, we'll need all the help we can get," said Evelyn. "My cousin is in Ravenstone."
We started to walk. We found some food and had a mini-picnic, even though it wasn't even 12. Easton and Karl went hunting so we wouldn't have to eat vegetables. Bleh.
"Okay, people." Said Elison. "Lay out any weapons you have." We laid our weapons on the ground. There wasn't a whole lot of variety, but it would have to do. It was better than nothing.
Elison examined the weapons. Then she turned to us.
"I'll be assigning weapons." She picked up a big gun I didn't know the name of.
"50 Cal. Sniper rifle. Good to have." She looked at us. "I'll give this to.."
Definitely not me. I can handle a pistol, but this.. This thing.. Lets say it was made for putting dents in lightly armed fortresses.
Elison turns to Serena. I knew it.
"Do you think you can handle this?" She asks her.
"Um..." Please say no... "Maybe..." Serena shakes her head. "I'm not a good aimer. I'd probably blow up the whole forest."
"Are you sure?" Asks Elison, surprised.
"Yeah, I'm sure." Says Serena, then winks at me.
Wait, what?
I mean, Serena's nice and all, she's nice to everybody. But why would she give up this opportunity to handle this? It's super powerful, and even with a bad aim, she could do something with it.
Elison sighs and turns to me.
"Luna, I know you want this sniper rifle. Do you have the responsibility?" She asks. I shake my head eagerly. She sighs and hands it to me. "Don't blow up the forest. The DSR-50 is a bolt-action sniper rifle chambered to fire the massive 50 Cal. BMG round. It has an integrated hydraulic recoil damping system in the buttstock and an integral muzzle break reduces the perceived muzzle blast. It's designed to punch holes in aircraft, fortresses, etc." Whatever all that means. "So, don't EVER use it on people, animals, or the alien things. The aircraft, sure. But not them. Understand?" I nod. "And if you blow up the forest with this
thing, I swear I will tie you to a post and shoot you 5 times with it." That sounds painful. It probably is.
Elision turns and picks up a metal bat.
"Use this to fight." She says, and hands it to me. "Evelyn, you can have the-" She's interrupted by Karl and Easton running to us.
"They're back!" Spits out Easton as the ground starts to shake and we hear more bombs.
Elison gasped. She tosses me her backpack.
"Put the rifle in it!" She yells over the sound of explosions. "Serena, Luna, your job is to get to Ravenstone.
"What about you?!" I yell, confused.
"We're going to help back at Dragonslate!" Yells Elison.
"But you'll die!"
"Go to Ravenstone!"
"Why can't we all go?!"
"We'll be a bigger target!" She yells. "NOW GET YOUR BUTTS TO SAFTEY!!"
"NO! If you're going to die, I won't go without you!" I protest.
"Look, kid! We're all going to die someday. It's better to die knowing you've tried than knowing you've killed your friends along with you!!" She yells, then pushes me away. "Get to Ravenstone. My last order as your leader is to get to Ravenstone!
Serena grabs my arm. I start to cry. Everything was in havoc. The rest of the clan is going back.
"ELISON!" I scream. She turns one last time.
"I'm proud of you two." She was crying, but smiling.
"Elison, no!" I cried. She turned and ran after the rest of the clan.
Serena grabbed me as I desperately tried to run after Elison.
"Serena, I don't want to go to Ravenstone." I sob. Serena is crying, too.
She sat me down on a rock.
"Luna, look. I don't want to go either. But it's like she said. We're all gonna die someday. I don't want her to die. I don't want anybody to die. But we want her to die proud and brave, yeah?" She said. I nod. Serena wiped tears off of my cheek. Serena was 16, only 2 years older than me. But she acted like she was my older sister, or even my mom sometimes.
"Why couldn't she have come to Ravenstone with us?" I ask.
"Luna, there's a reason for everything." Said Serena. If Elison had gone, she wouldn't have died, but she would have gotten the rest of us killed. She is the clan leader. She's just doing her job." She stood.
"Elison's counting on us. The clan is counting on us. The whole world is counting on us. We can't afford to let them down." She says. I stand and nod. I would go to Ravenstone for the world.
I would do it for Elison.