The Unseen Road

Chapter Twenty-Two

When Celeste finally escaped the aphotic cover of the Haunted Wood about two hours later, the first thing she noticed was that had not come out where she had entered with Nicolas and Kylie as she expected she would.

"... Great," she muttered to herself, looking from side to side where she had broken through the trees; maybe she had simply come out facing in a different direction. Perhaps if she were to simply turn around...

But nothing seemed familiar. Not even the walls of Agrelind were in sight; instead, a gloomy nightscape of rolling hills stretched mercilessly before her with the dark forest at her back.

The brunette rubbed her elbows, a chill running up her arms as she stood vulnerable in the still night.  "...How could I have possibly...?" she huffed.

Letting out a long exhale, Celeste turned back around to face the forest once more. The only way that could have happened was if...

The only way that could have happened was if she had crossed the entire forest, which must have been at least ten miles across judging by how it stretched into the horizon when she saw it from the wall. And that could not be done in the matter of barely a single hour.

Pressing the heel of her palm to her forehead to bottle her frustration, she kicked a branch. "Prince Nicolas could have told us that this forest was magical as well as haunted..." she grumbled.

Regardless, she figured there was nothing more she could do but keep moving. Maybe if she continued along the peripheries of the forest in the right direction, she could reach the edge and therefore be in sight of Agrelind. After taking a moment to think, she glanced up at the moon and was barely able to discern from its shadow which direction was which; south was the right way to go— right? Since the Haunted Wood was to the northwest of Agrelind...

Because that's where the sun sets, she recalled, and exhaled a steady stream of air. "...Okay. Got it."

Resolving to leave, she adjusted her sword and took a few steps along the peripheries of the forest.

But then, not ten steps later, she stopped. Placing one foot beside the other and biting her lower lip, she looked over her shoulder back at the place where she had come out.

There, everywhere, forest loomed, darker and more formidable than the night itself as it stretched over the entire landscape beside her.

"..."

Her sister was still in there. Who knows what danger she could be in right now?

Celeste shook her head. ... No, she could handle herself. Especially since she had seemed so insistent that she was right, no matter what Celeste had said.

Even if there was a possibility that she could get killed by goblins if- or when- she found Prince Nicolas.

The thought sent a pang of regret up into the brunette's throat, but she tried to swallow it down as she kept weighing the possibilities in her head, still looking deeply into the forest.

"Damn it!" she cursed; with every passing second, she was getting closer and closer to turning around. But how was she going to find Kylie if she did? Where would she even start?

"...This is all her fault!" she sputtered into the frigid air. "If only she hadn't...!"

Her words trailed off. After a moment's thought, she remembered Prince Nicolas having said something about his Generals being able to take over in a state of emergency. That meant if she was able to get there as quickly as she could, she could get the Generals to send help.

"Okay. I'll do that." She turned away from the forest once more- though she still felt remorse weighing her down like a stone. With the forest at her side, she continued along the peripheries, not daring to look back or to even give the forest a side glance.