North, East, West & South

Chapter Five: The Ice King

"How did you get here?"

"I was in the tower of my castle when my sister attacked. I ran out immediately to fight and saw myself in a very dark place when I crossed the door. The darkness was like nothing I've ever seen."

"This is a labyrinth and everything here is dangerous."

"The forest seems nice. You drank the water from the river and you're alright."

"For now maybe. We have to keep moving."

"Going where exactly?"

"Anywhere but we can stay in one place for too long. This forest is starting to give me the creeps."

The sound of the owls hooting was carried through the forest by the wind. It's been six hours and they've been moving through the forest looking for a way out. Neha is impatient and tired of walking around with no direction. Rachel is very weak and hungry. Her stomach growls loudly that the animals nearby hid. The trees in the forest were oddly shaped. Some had spiral shapes and some were too strangely shaped that it was hard to describe. There was not a single light in the sky. Neha illuminated their path as they went on.

"I'm so hungry right no." Rachel's stomach growled louder.

"Are you sure you're okay? That sound wasn't normal."

"I need to eat something." A fresh peach-like fruit caught her eyes. Without thinking she dashed to the tree and hopped onto the branch and plucked it. Neha flew after her

"You can't eat that! We're not sure if it's safe."

"The water was fine right? Right? So this will be too."

She had a psychotic look on her face. She was sweating and her eyes rolled from corner to corner rapidly. Before Neha could utter another word she had taken a bite. The sweet sensation she felt, her taste buds were tingling and her stomach finally settled. "Okay you've eaten now..." Neha turns around to see her swallow the remaining whole. She jumped to the next branch and kept eating like her life depended on it. Neha went after her.

Kori wakes up to see herself in a cage. The cage was poorly constructed and it looked like the work of an amateur. She couldn't see the whole room clearly but she saw three creatures discussing discretely. It was definitely about her, she could feel it. "I've gotta get out of here." She tries to stand to her feet but felt a bit woozy and falls to the ground again. The creatures turned as soon as they heard the noise.

"Hey what do you think you're doing?" One of them grabbed a rod charged with electric current enough to stun a rhino. Kori was sweating for some reason. She was gasping for air and was weak but she wasn't about to let anyone treat her like her an animal. As her got close to the cage, her eyes glowed green and glowing veins appeared on her tanned skinned. Her palm glowed brighter than the rest of her skin. She inhaled deeply and yelled as she blew the cage wide open with blazing fire. She burnt two of the creatures to crisps and the cage was completely destroyed. She was still panting with her right hand on fire. She walked up to the last one who was cowering in fear, about to finish him. Just then she looked around and noticed the place didn't look like a dungeon or detention centre. There was a round ball at a corner and on the wall were scribbles made by a child. The living room had comfortable chairs and there were images of a couple hung up on the wall too. This was a residence.

"Please don't kill me!"

"Papa?" A kid ran in towards the scared old thing. He grabbed his son tightly in his arm afraid it was their last moment alive. Kori stared at them with pity in her eyes as she smiled at the scared little kid. The flames slowly vanished and her eyes returned to normal. She immediately collapsed.