"So, where are we headed now?" Nell asked as soon as June and himself got their packs on their back, with Simon, placing his on his chest.
I was thinking of traveling eastward to find the cliff edge where we fell off from. We can trail along the cliff wall until we find a way back up to the main road.
"Good idea, let's go!" said Nell.
"But first, we would need to know were the east is," said Simon.
"It's where the sun is, right? Then let's go that way!" said Nell, pointing at the sun which was at the northeast direction from where they stood.
"Actually, the east is this way," said June, holding a compass.
"Oh, good thing you have a compass with you," said Simon, "I was actually trying to decide where the sun rose!"
"Let's go, then!" said Nell, leading the way.
The three were walking for some time, following an animal trail, when they reached a small clearing.
"Can we rest here for a while?" asked June who was not used to walking long distances.
"Yeah, my feet are starting to hurt!" Nell agreed.
"Okay, we can place some blankets on the ground underneath that tree." Simon pointed at a tall tree whose dense canopy made a nice shaded area beneath it.
"Ah, thank goodness," said June when she finally got a seat under the shade, "is there any more food left?"
"I'm afraid there's only two pieces of bread left," said Simon after looking inside Nell's bag of supplies. "I guess it's time to look for more food."
"Let me look around, then," June volunteered, "I actually got some berries while we were walking, perhaps there are more around the vicinity."
"Okay then, the two of us can look for food while Nell stays here to look after our things," said Simon, carrying his bastard sword.
"Good luck!" Nell waved while lying comfortably on his back on the soft blankets.
The two left the clearing and stepped back into the forest.
"Lady June, have you noticed something weird, though?" Simon asked his companion.
What is it, Prince Simon?" June asked.
"We've been walking for more than an hour, but we haven't seen a single animal," he said. "They say that Twilight forest is full of wild animals and monsters and I'm glad we haven't encountered any yet...but how come we haven't seen any creatures at all?"
June stared at Simon, her brows drawn together.
"Perhaps it's because we're near the forest's edge?" she suggested. "Or perhaps the demons have eaten all the woodland animals in this area?"
"That's a scary thought," Simon gave a nervous laugh.
"Anyway, those mushrooms are edible," June pointed at some white mushrooms near a half fallen tree. "And that wild apple tree has quite a lot of fruit."
"Nice, let's take that back instead."
"Look, there's a pear tree over there, too!"
The two started picking mushrooms and fruits. They kept finding other edible fauna in the area that they soon lost track of time, until Simon pointed out that it was getting more noticeably darker.
"I can't tell where the sun is due to the dense overgrowth, but it's obvious that it's getting much darker."
"I didn't notice it either..." said June, feeling nervous.
She should have been more vigilant.
They are currently inside the Twilight forest.
She had read hundreds of stories chronicling the creatures inhabiting the place from travelers who were lucky enough to make it back alive. She should have used a simple reminding spell of alarm to keep track of time!
"We better get back to the clearing before it gets even darker," Simon told her. "I bet Nell's worried about us..."
"Y-yes, of course..."
June looked back to where they came from.
But where exactly did they come from?
"This way," said Simon. "I remember we picked some fruits from that pear tree and got some berries from that bush..."
The two made their way back, but try as they may, they can't seem to find the path back to the clearing where they came from.
"Why don't we try going the other way?" June asked. "I've seen that berry patch four times already!"
"Okay... I'll try marking our way as well..."
But again, the two found themselves lost.
'Damn!' June cursed beneath her breath. 'I should have used a marking spell and some magic thread to make sure we would get back to the clearing!'
But it was too late to do so now.
"Let's go this way instead," she told Simon.
"But that side doesn't show any sign of a trail..."
"That's why I want to try going there!" June snapped at him.
It was getting even darker, and she has no plans of dying in that forest.
"Well, if you insist..."
Simon led the way, pulling out his oversized sword as he did to leave notches on tree trunks along the way.
They had been walking for a while when June heard something rustle to their right.
"What was that?"
"What was what?" asked Simon, equally nervous.
The two looked at the shadowy overgrowth.
"There doesn't seem to be anything up there..." Simon whispered. "Let's go on our way."
"Wait."
June squinted her eyes, trying to see beyond the leaves of a thick bush.
Finally, she lifted her hand and called the element of fire.
"Light."
Simon gasped as a small flame appeared at the tip of June's index finger.
"Y-you can use magic?" he asked in amazement, but June ignored him.
She stretched out her hand towards the bush, lighting up the shadows, as a dozen red eyes stared back wildly at her.
"Move back!" shouted Simon.
He pulled June pulled back just as several small furry creatures with sharp teeth and sharp claws jumped out from beneath the bush.
'TATATATARIIIN!' they screeched. 'TATATATARIIIN!'
June saw Simon brandishing his sword with his right hand while his other tried to fend two off, one of which had its jaws around his arm.
"F-fire ball!" June cried.
A ball of fire the size of her head appeared in front of her and hurled towards the bush, but the critters were small and fast, and too many.
They simply dodged the fire and started going after her as well.
"F-Fire ball!" she shouted again. "Fire ball!" she was able to hit some of the critters, but even more came out of the bushes.
"Fire – "
She was cut off as furry critter jumped her from the side.
It bit and clawed at her.
The pain was so intense that she could hardly scream. All she could do was crawl away feebly, as more critters jumped at her and bit and clawed at her flesh.
'Tatarin monsters. White fur on the top of heads, and as well as lower body...' June suddenly remembered as she lay helpless on the ground. 'Nocturnal primates that hunt in packs of hundreds...'
But the knowledge she was so proud of, are all useless now.
She looked desperately for Simon, but even their kingdom's hero was being overwhelmed by the small critters.
There were simply too many of them.
She watched wretchedly as the younger boy gave a last thrust of his bastard sword, fending off three critters, as five more took its place.
He was quickly covered by the furry creatures as he also fell helplessly to the ground.
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bad ending 💀
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