Pure Ice

Chapter 2 - Finding The Antidote

Walking through the forest with two men following in step was not what Sheila was used to. Sheila who was always alone walked quietly and quickly through forests as if they were her backyard, however, with the two men in tow, they made her have to wait and they walked so noisily that every creature in the forest was able to hear them.

Sheila wanted to just ditch them then and there however, the sooner she get the girl cured they would leave. Sheila had wanted to leave the men back at the Pong of Healing but that would have made every single creature there stand on an edge, especially the two silver wolves.

As Sheila grabbed herbs, she tossed them into the bag krýakardiá held while Mythios helped her collect. Moving from site to site, collecting all the herbs took longer than Sheila expected with two men.

With only one more herb to go, Sheila turned to the two. "We now only need one more herb, it is a secret herb however and no one is allowed to follow me when I go to retrieve it. The two of you stay here."

The other two nodded in acknowledgment with that, Sheila went on her own.

Walking around many shortcuts that were hidden, Sheila arrived at the entrance of a cave. Walking in silently, she walked in total darkness, being left unable to see, she relied on her sense of smell.

Finally, she arrived in a opening where blue flowers bloomed, to any normal person, it would have looked like they glowed in the dark. Sheila knew better, the water from the caves made flowers bloom with an extra glow, that's why it was kept secret from outsiders. Outside, these flowers would have made a fortune.

Walking back the way she came she found krýakardiá and Mythios sitting while playing with grass.

"We can return now." She told them.

With that, they returned to the clearing where the wolves waited with Lilac still sleeping.

Sheila went to grinding and mixing the herbs. The results of her antidote was a red liquid.

Giving the antidote to the boys she said, "Take her out of the pond and give this to her to drink, it will neutralise the poison."

Taking out another satchel, she gave it to Mythios, " From all the blood I saw, she had a terrible wound. Rub this in, it will heal and repair the skin tissues there."

Mythios bowed, his forehead touched the ground, Krýakardiá followed suit. "We are grateful for what you have done. We promise not to tell anyone outside what goes on in this forest."

Sheila nodded. " you guys can sleep here for the time being. Beware, the creatures that sleeps in this clearing is more intelligent than you know. Do not do anything foolish."

Turning her backs on them, Sheila walked towards where the wolves were waiting. Sheila had warned the humans, but she only did it since all the creatures around her were agitated, she did not say it because she was worried about them. Without saying another word to them, she fell asleep in between the two wolves.

*****

Krýakardiá and Mythios watched her silent form before looking at each other.

"Seriously, I have never met anyone so emotionless and cold." Complained Krýakardiá.

Mythios watched Sheila's form for a little while before replying. " I'm pretty sure there were some circumstances. Think about it, who on earth would be living in the infamous Forest of Death?"

"Your right" krýakardiá said, lying down, " as soon as Lilac wakes up, let's get out of here. It scares me, seeing their eyes you know? The wolves, the birds even that girl......they all have such intelligent and cold looks that it scares me."

"Yeah" Mythios agreed, it took them a while before they fell asleep.

"Mythios! Mythios! Wake up!" Mythios still half asleep opened one of his eyes.

"What now?!" He demanded at the figure.

"Is that any way to talk to me?" Questioned the figure.

It took half a second later before Mythios realised who it was a was addressing, " Mistress Lilac! Your well already?"

Lilac nodded. Turning to wake Krýakardiá, Mythios explained everything that had happen in the following days. About how they received help from the mysterious and emotionless Sheila.

Krýakardiá who finally caught up with the conversation looked around at their surroundings.

"Hey, Mythios, you might wanna see this" he says jabbing Mythios in the stomach.

Surrounding them, all the creatures had woken up and stared silently at the group. This included the two wolves with the girl in between them. Staring, watching, silently they sat still as stone. Not even a bird chirped. The wind even seem to have stopped moving.

*****

Sheila who had been woken up at the slightest sound of movement watched as the girl woke her two companions. Around her, the others seem to be doing the same, observing and learning.

It took the group to finally realise that they were being watched. Seriously, how long does it take to realise that they were being watched?

The girl, Lilac, looked at Sheila before walking over. Seeing as the girl walked closer to Sheila, the two wolves growled in warning. Patting their heads, Sheila calmed them. " Do not worry, she's not going to do anything to us or anyone else. "

The girl sat down in front of Sheila, clearly trying to forget the fact that every living creature there was staring at her with blank and emotionless eyes.

"From what I hear, you were the one who saved me and allowed us to stay here. I thank you, I will never forget this debt." She says.

Sheila continued to sit there silently, the girl clearly baffled looked at her companions.

All of a sudden, there was a shriek in the night. Clearly from a bird, following up there were many other sounds of angry creatures. Pure anger entered every single creatures eyes. The only one with the still emotionless and cold eyes were Sheila.

The sudden noise erupting from the silent forest caught the group off guard.

"What is going on?" Mythios demanded Sheila, "a moment ago, you were all just sitting there silently as statues"

Sheila turned to Mythios. " There are intruders here, and they are disrupting the peace we already have."

She stared at them a little longer before going on. "Whoever they are, even if they're your companions, they now can't leave this forest alive. They will die, for that is the law of this forest."

Sheila's emotionless words scared Lilac. " How can you say that? They humans just like us and you don't even flinch when you say they're going to die?" Screamed Lilac.

Sheila looked into Lilac's eyes, before looking at her other companies. "Whoever they are, they have broken the law of the forest, now they die. Normally the three of you would have died. I should have left you to the mercy of the forest"

"The why save us?" Lilac demanded.

"I thought it would be interesting to watch the three of you struggle to survive however things turned out differently and the wolves wanted you to leave as soon as possible. Your companions had already agreed to our deal that your group will stay silent about this place." Sheila watching her expression saw true fear and continued, "if you do tell the outside world of this place then we will know and hunt you down."