New Dawn of Scare (Second Lordi Saga - Story 1)

Chapter 3 - An Impossible Threat

Towards the end of the morning, as graying clouds continued to dot the sky, an investigation was taking place deep in the forest near Oakville, far from hiking trails and roads.

Lady Awa walked slowly, lightly and confidently over the blanket of snow that covered the ground, almost as if she weighed nothing at all. Dressed in her purple and red Victorian gown, a lace jabot around her neck, the Countess watched around her with the greatest attention. The trees were asleep, the trunks of most of them covered with snow or frost, as were the bushes and other plants.

But what puzzled Awa was the deadly silence that reigned in the forest. Since her arrival, she had not seen the slightest animal and not heard the slightest noise, except that of the wind cracking the branches of the trees. Again, she closed her eyes to focus and used her astral power to expand her mind and vision as much as she could through the forest. She opened her eyes a few seconds later, looking puzzled but mostly disappointed.

_ "Is there still nothing?" then asked a deep voice behind her.

Awa, unsurprised, turned to see the minotaur Ox coming up to her, stomping through the snow with his towering black hooves. Dressed in his large black coat with fur and chains on his shoulders, Ox showed a cranial face devoid of skin and sporting two gray horns on his forehead and a ring piercing his nostrils.

_ "No, nothing, alas." Awa sighed, answering her friend's question, nonchalantly shaking her head. "Amen took the lead a little further to see if he could find anything."

Ox didn't answer, but his gaze lingered on Awa for a moment. The latter then felt that she was being watched and turned her eyes to him. Immediately Ox looked away, pretending nothing had happened. Awa smiled softly to see him acting a bit like a teenager pretending he hadn't been spotted. She was not naive and thanks to her powers of the mind, she could easily guess the emotions of others. She walked over to Ox who stayed in her corner and pretended to be looking around.

_ "Listen Ox ... I know that for some time you have had feelings for me." Awa then said to him in a soft voice.

The minotaur felt her cheeks turn very slightly red, but decided to look her in the eye anyway.

_ "I was stupid to think that I could hide it from you." he admitted.

Awa smiled at him, showing him that she was already glad he was being honest with her. Honesty was most important to her. With her cold gray hand, she touched Ox's cheek.

_ "Ox ... You are a very good person, I know it. I feel that deep down you do not feel worthy of me, and that you are afraid of hurting me because of everything the anger in you ... But I assure you, it's not your fault. It's just ... My heart was broken a long time ago ... I don't feel ready yet to give my heart to someone else, not yet ..."

Awa had also been sincere, and Ox, though growling a little, seemed to agree with a brief nod.

But as the two of them spoke, their discussion was suddenly interrupted by the sound of hurrying footsteps in the snow and several brushed aside bushes. Amen, dressed in his pharaoh's golden armor and covered with his linen bands, came to them.

_ "You must come and see, quickly!" he said, in a tone that was at the same time calm but nevertheless imbued with a certain darkness.

Puzzled, Awa and Ox followed him without delay. It took them several minutes to walk among the trees, and they noticed a surprising and disturbing detail as they went. The cold was getting more and more intense and the daylight was weakening, all this in an abnormal way. Due to her ghost-spirit nature, Awa felt more uncomfortable than the others.

_ "The air is more than heavy here ... I feel a very deep and overwhelming aura ..." she breathed warily.

_ "And I think I know the reason ... Look, it's here." Amen replied, moving further forward and pushing aside other snow-covered bushes, revealing to the other two a blank and open space, like a small clearing in the middle of the trees.