Dagger

Chapter 28

Forest slung his bag over his shoulder. He then gazed at the now empty campsite. When the Animax user had attacked them they had packed up right away and continued walking through the chilling cold of the night, until they stopped and set up camp where Forest was now standing and waiting for Kieran.

Kieran finished packing his bag and stood up from the ground. Rai stood against a tree, holding the black dagger Melody had given Forest. She twirled it in her hand before she noticed that they were ready. Rai pushed herself off the tree and began to lead them into the woods.

They trudged through the uneven terrain, over fallen logs and through bushes. Kieran made multiple flirty advances, that all seemed to fail. Eventually they were left to silence as Forest observed their surroundings, which consisted of tall trees. Everything looked the same, but that didn't tear away its natural beauty. He watched as squirrels scurried up trees and birds fluttered out of nearby branches. It smelled like pine needles and sap, green moss climbed its way up tree trunks.

They continued to walk, it felt like no time had passed and they were walking in a circle, until Forest noticed the shift in the sky as the sun began to set. He was too occupied with looking at the sky that he didn't even noticed that Rai and Kieran had stopped and were now crouched behind a fallen log. Rai reached up and tugged at his arm, forcing him behind the log. Forest had to hold onto the fallen chunk of wood to stabilize himself from falling over from the momentum.

Forest looked over at the two beside him, confusion across his features. Kieran met his gaze and shrugged.

"What are we doing?" Forest whispered to Rai. She pointed her finger in the direction of her gaze, Forest followed it. The ground declined, and at the bottom of the slope were fields of wheat. Light shone through windows in the distance, illuminating the small homes in the darkening sky. His brow furrowed."That doesn't answer my question."

Rai stood up, and they followed in suit. "All you need to know is that we're here." She shuffled her way down the hill, with Forest and Kieran trailing behind.

They disturbed the loose dirt as they shuffled down towards the small town, the tall grass shifting out of their way. The boys jogged to catch up to Rai as she entered the edge of the wheat field. The dirt between the crops were trampled with overuse, the grains themselves rose to their hips, and yet not one had touched them as Rai confidently strode through the field. As they neared the end of the wheat field, something caught Forest's eye. One of the identical red homes was burnt, It's roof charred black and caved in. Kieran seemed to tense at the sight of the house.

Rai slowed down as they emerged from the wheat field, their feet scuffling the sandy dirt that stretched throughout the town. They took a few steps forward into the cozy little town, but they didn't get very far as a few people blocked their way. There were people walking around the small town, then, one by one, the people began to stop and stare at them and they eventually formed a cluster around the trio.

Forest felt a little uncomfortable, but his gaze remained strong. Throughout the small town there were cherry blossom trees. Red and orange danced on the edge of the pale pink blossoms, threatening to take over the usually fully pink tree. From this Forest could tell that autumn was slowly but surely coming. Then he realized how long he was actually at Proelia, through spring and summer. He regretted not paying attention to the changes of the seasons.

Forest was brought back from his thoughts as terror took over. The townspeople began to squint and murmur amongst themselves. One person stepped towards Rai, she was tall and skinny, her short brown hair was tucked back into a ponytail although there were strings of hair hanging by her kind face. He stiffened, worried that they would be caught and called out at any moment.