The Curse

Chapter 13

Chapter 14: Audrina

Nicholas stopped walking suddenly when we reached the edge of the forest. 

Fear flashed across his eyes as his green eyes scanned over the forest, his eyebrows furrowing as if he was confused, when I said, "Nicholas? Have you ever been through this forest before?" 

He continued staring at the trees of the forest. 

"Nicholas? Are—" I began, but was quickly cut off by him. 

He looked over to me as his expression went back to normal before saying, "Y—No." he said, changing his answer. I frowned at his sudden change of answer. "No. I haven't been through this forest before." he repeated. 

"But you are aware of the dangers of this forest—the three stages—am  I correct?" Ember cut in. "After all, this forest is basically the only route back to your kingdom." she narrowed her eyes at Nicholas. "Isn't it?" 

"Yes." he simply agreed, and with that, we walked into the forest, wondering what dangers our fate had in store for us. 

  

Everything seemed normal. 

Light was broadcasted from the small spaces that were clear from a tree blocking it. Birds sounding far away chirped and sang tunes someone once must have sang some time ago. Old tree branches cracked here and there every so often, always making at least one of us jump, thinking that our first stage had come to play. 

And after a while, we all began to relax slight, thinking that maybe the forest had decided to spare us, and that with every step we were getting closer to the end of this nightmarish forest. 

"Are you hungry?" Peter asked after a long period of silence as we tiredly walked on. It was almost dark now, and the creatures of the night had begun to show up on by one, their little glowing beady eyes lighting up the night. 

We all nodded slowly. None of us had eaten anything since the day we stopped by the elves' village. And even then, we were still hungry. 

"We should make camp soon." Peter nodded on. "The forest seems safe enough for now, and it's getting darker by the second." he looked over at us to see if we were following what he was saying. "I'm going to go find some firewood to build a fire.  Will you ladies be all right?" he ignored Nicholas's stare. 

I glanced at Nicholas and then at Ember who avoided my gaze. I looked back up to Peter and responded with, "Yes." 

As soon as Peter left Nicholas shifted uncomfortably from the accusation he must've heard in Peter's voice about leaving us alone with him. 

Ember stood up as I sat down, leaning against a tree. I looked up. 

"Where are you going?" 

She barely even looked in my direction as she began walking in another direction. "I'm just going to go for a walk. I'll be back before night." 

I stood up. "Do you want me to come—" 

"No." she said a little too quickly before disappearing into the forest. 

  

I must've had fallen asleep because when I awoke, the forest was already darker than it was when we first entered.