The forest really was big. I stood at the edge, and remembered the children daring each other to go inside. I smiled and thought about what it would have been like to have a normal childhood.
Suddenly the panther came into my mind's eye... black and sleek with the eyes of a cat, anger like a mountain and so much muscle it could be used for two normal men.
I shook my head. No one should have to deal with those animals. Not Fern, nor Bravery. It was simply cruel to expect them to go into the forest.
For the first time ever, I wondered if Fern was even supposed to be in the forest. Wilder had said they had been banished.
It had been a harsh word for it, but probably sadly true. How could people be this cruel? Maybe I had been sheltered... because this seemed like ordinary life in Polislam... to backstab and see death.
I shook my head. What kind of a world did I live in? Though it couldn't be all that bad. As bad off as Polislam seemed, it was a beacon to other kingdoms that they should inspire to do great things and help protect their people.
I smiled at that, looking at the forest that seemed to hold so many deep secrets that I had the pleasure of knowing.
Noise came from within the forest that sounded like a roar and I became painfully aware of how close I was to the edge of the greenery. I took a step back and tried to focus my eyes to pierce the gloom.
That's when I heard ... was that.... a scream?
YOU ARE READING
The smart, the skilled and the BRAVE
General FictionBravery doesn't remember who she is. Ever since she was six, She has been in the woods. She doesn't care if she ever had family outside the forest that she now calls home, but everything changes when strangers show up that know her name and say that...
