Chapter 5: Decision

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The two flew all night over the forest. Hope could barely see anything with only moonlight, but Abyss could notice that they were now over the Forest of Death. He could never mistake that view, even from up above.

A sense of nostalgia hit him as he observed the familiar view whenever he went to fly with his mom. Though it looked ominous and dry, it was the place that held his once home.

"It's almost sunrise, we need to land." Said Abyss. "Be on high alert once we enter the forest."

"You really think Leviathans would be waiting in the forest after five years? Can't we just fly over it?" Hope asked.

Abyss gently dove down to the forest "I'm not taking any chances, being in danger on the ground is better than in the sky where you could fall to your death, even with my darkness." He explained in a very serious tone Hope had never heard. The moment they was over the Forest of Death, his days of training with his mom came back to him, prompting him to begin thinking about everything he sees and consider the dangers that lie within, which he hadn't done for years in Hollow's forest.

They landed through the trees and into the forest, darker than anything Hope has ever seen. Somehow almost as dark as their cave. "Light this for me." Said Hope, holding a torch up to his snout.

He blew a little fire on the tip of the torch, shining his necklace which he was wearing at all times now, and revealing a bit of the area around them.

Everything looked as if death itself had enveloped the area. The trees were gray, cracked, and twisted, feeling as hard as stone when Hope touched them. No hint of green grass, but purple swirling weeds, poisonous mushrooms and all kinds of unknown, possibly dangerous plants all over the ground. And she noticed a few scary looking snakes slithering under their feet, and to top off the atmosphere, she heard many ominous sounds all around them.

"You used to live here...?" Hope, confused and concerned, but curiously asked. "Why choose this forest over literally anywhere else on the continent?"

Abyss closed his eyes to sense his surroundings while talking at the same time. He could now sense much farther than before, reaching the bear den from his cave if he tried his hardest.

"Nightwalkers don't have a home, unlike other tribes. Scaleshifters occupied the jungle, and Treasure Hoarders have territories all over the continent." He continued, his head tilting every now and then. "We can't live in the ocean or the freezing Ice Region, so we had to find somewhere we could live without drawing any hostility from the other tribes, and the Forest of Death was the only place no other dragon would think of living in." He added.

"So all Nightwalkers had to live in this terrible place just because other dragons couldn't share..." She complained.

"Well... the fact that Leviathans asked us for help at all is strange." He pointed out. "All dragon tribes lived in separation, well... you know, apart from us, since we are something of a mercenary tribe, we offer services no matter the tribe of the dragon in need. But 'sharing' isn't something any tribe does... Although, mom did mention that we were gonna go somewhere better and safer in the future." He pointed out. "She never told me any details, but I'd guess it was somewhere next to the Sea Kingdom, since they were the only other tribe we knew."

Hope stayed silent, knowing that mentioning anything about Leviathans would make Abyss remember what happened to his village.

Eventually, he opened his eyes. "Hop on, I found a good place to rest." He said, walking through the gray trees and bushes.

As they walked along the forest, Hope was shining her torch on her surroundings to see the environment. Every tree gray and twisted, many reptiles and small... weird animals getting out of the way upon noticing Abyss, and many dirty, strange colored puddles and weird plants, which she guessed most were poisonous.

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