Set 17 years after her parent's defeated The Lord of Darkness, Princess Jasmine wants more than just to become the next head of the throne of Fabula.
Curious, impatient and courageous, she regularly escapes life behind the castle walls by learning h...
Jasmine blindly navigated her way further into the forest as her rustling guide stopped moments before.
"Screwball?" She whispered into the darkness.
A hissing echoed around her as screeches and squawking joined in to replace the dead silence and introduced a new wave of foreboding.
"Please tell me I'm not where I think I am" the shivering princess panicked as she swung round trying to find any form of light.
The tree imps were nowhere to be seen as she called out to them again for help, realising where she was.
"Oh no! I need to leave now!" She cried to herself.
Her breathing became laboured and a cold sweat began to form on her brow.
A group of fireflies hovered in the distance and Jasmine stepped nervously from one foot to another, unsure whether to turn back into the darkness behind her or continue going forward with their limited light.
"Screwball, can't be too far away! Come on, Jasmine - time to get brave!" She anxiously willed herself and stepped forward, climbing over the shadowed raised tree roots in front of her.
Following the tiny orange hues, she kept extra focused, knowing that she shouldn't be in this section of the forest - especially at night.
Set at the far edge of the woods, this region of the forest harboured some of the trickier forest creatures, who enjoy lost travellers, especially humans.
Neither good nor evil, many are tricksters who get their enjoyment from putting travellers on the wrong paths and keeping them in their section of the forest for their own gains.
Jasmine remembered being taught about this region in her lessons with Gump as graphic images of the residents flashed before her eyes.
Horns, claws and multiple eyes taunted her mind as she tried to focus on getting out of the area before she came into contact with any of them.
"Please let me find Screwball before 'The Perdita' find me!" She panicked to herself.
Remembering back to her lessons, Jasmine always focused on the positive features of the forest and dismissed the negatives as she felt that once the leaders put the barrier up, there was no need to be scared anymore.
However, the barrier only banished those associated with the Lord of Darkness and the forest already had creatures who enjoyed the more sinister aspects of the woods and these creatures happily lived in this region of the forest without intervention from the leaders.
Most of the residents, in this region, were guilty of taunting or playing little tricks on those who had found themselves off the beaten track but there were the few creatures who saw an opportunity when a misguided traveller would enter their domain.
"I don't want to be turned into one of 'The Perdita' so sorry Screwball but I'll have to find you another time" the petrified princess said to herself and turned around to face the shadows behind her.
The flickering orange fireflies disappeared one by one, leaving Jasmine in complete darkness with just the sinister screeches and screams from the creatures lurking in the shadows, watching their prey to see where she went next.
"Hello?" She stammered as she swung around to see where the advancing crunching sound was coming from.
A scratching from above caught the petrified princess off guard as she jumped back and stumbled over something large and long on the ground.
"Darn tree trunks!" She cursed and quickly jumped up and blindly fled forward.
Dimly lit pale blue lights flashed in and out of the branches above as Jasmine slowed down to try to catch what was following her.
"Stop!"
"Go back!" They echoed from above in an eerie warning tone.
It was the tree imps and they looked scared for the lost princess.
Their translucent bodies flashed in and out of the trees, too scared to fully form as they tried to stop Jasmine from going any further.
"It's okay. I think Screwball is close!" Jasmine reassured them unconvincingly as their flashing began to wane as they looked ahead in terror and eventually disappeared, leaving the nervous princess in the dark again.
"Where have you gone? A little more light would help" she whispered.
"I can help lead you onto the right path" a female voice purred as Jasmine swung round trying to detect where the stranger was standing.
"Where are you? Who are you?" The terrified princess continued as she felt around in front of her without success.
Leaves floated down onto her head making her duck down in fright to avoid attack as a rustling sounded from in front of her.
Yellow eyes slowly appeared from beneath the darkness in front of Jasmine, closely followed by a dimly lit face.
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The black-haired woman smiled at the crouched, shivering princess with intrigue as her the black slits within her sinister flaxen eyes observed every inch of her body like she was assessing her prey.
Jasmine slowly looked up to see the attentive woman's fang glistening in the limited light from the fireflies that helped the princess see the stranger's limited, terrifying appearance.
The woman twisted her head from left to right as she held her long, sharp nose upwards and smelt the air intently.
Her thin, lanky, long black hair softly blew in the cool night's breeze as she remained fixated on Jasmine with a piercing glare that radiated uncertainty as the horrified princess watched on, unsure what her next move should be.
Transfixed by her intense stare, the mesmerised princess slowly stepped back before a slithering around her broke her attention.
She swung round in the darkness trying to identify the new threat.
"Who's there?" She panicked as she still kept one eye on the strange woman.
The sound got closer and a new wave of terror swept over her,
"There are many dangers out here for someone like you. Follow me and I'll guide you back to the right path" the black-haired woman stated coolly.
Jasmine jumped back as dirt and branches brushed against her feet as the unseen intruder got closer to the trembling princess.
Her mind raced with a thousand thoughts a minute, unsure of what to do as the sounds of screeching got louder from the darkness ahead.
"I don't even know your name?" She tried, hoping that putting a name to the face would help her trepidation.
The smiling woman advanced forward, revealing her bare torso, with her thin, black hair only just covering her exposed breasts.
"You can call me, Havu. Now let's go before it's too late" she smiled and headed to the right of the forest with the fireflies following her lead, creating an obscure trail for the hesitant princess to follow.
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