Dawn- An age of Darkness

The grass was large and there were monsters everywhere but it didn't stop us even for a second.

Eventually, we passed the grasslands and neared the sacred forest: no purple thingies this time. But all my fears came alive when I saw those damn black, thick trees.

The forest was thick and we'd have to go on foot from here on out. Which meant our troubles only increased more and more. The horses were set free as they would only slow us down. Hopefully, they won't get eaten.

"You okay?" Brenda said.

"Ye-yeah." I couldn't control my nerves. I'd been here three times already and yet I still found it nerve-wrecking. "What about the cart?" I asked the old man.

"They're properly trained. They'd go back to that village. And I'm pretty sure the villagers already knew that. And that's why they also gave us such nice service." The old man chuckled. He and his theories! Yeesh!

It did make sense though. But I still wanted to believe that the villagers were helping out through the goodness of their hearts.

Something was odd about the forest though. I couldn't see any undead nearby: none were here, to be more accurate. "Something isn't right. Last time there was plenty of undead even during the day…" Of course at the time, the undead couldn't see me but they were still roaming inside the forest.

"Yeah, better stay on your toes." The old tried to be vigilant and look cool, but it all got ruined the moment he started to sneeze.

With a lot of courage, I entered the forest. When I first left here that day, I never thought I'd be coming back. But here I was, for the third time, taking a stroll in a forest of death. It really was an irony.

I had to tie some cloth on my face but the stench wasn't as prominent as last time. Something was really wrong with this forest.

We moved ahead and reached Misrael's statue or where it should have been.

"It's gone! She was here! And-"

Jowy shook me. "Calm down!"

I took deep breaths and tried to regain my composure. But it was impossible. The rancid air and this sudden surprise were enough to stir me up pretty bad. "There was an angel here. She was the one-" I couldn't think straight.

"An angel?" Alisa pondered.

We didn't have time to explain things to her.

"But if the angel isn't here, then how come there ain't any undead?" The old man was right. There wasn't even a spec of the undead or the statue. In fact, unlike Sisrael, this one wasn't in pieces; rather it wasn't here at all.

Something just wasn't right. Was it possible to steal the statue of an angel?

Jowy stood erect and inspected the surroundings. "Anyway, we have to move. We have to get out of the forest before night. There aren't any undead, but we shouldn't take any risks." He was right. We had better things to worry about.

"Yeah."

I grinded my teeth and cursed fate. There wasn't anything I could do. I'd promised Misrael I'd free her one day and yet… I couldn't even keep one promise. Just how much of a failure was I?

There weren't any undead but the smell was as bad as ever. At one point Alisa threw up. Poor kid. I felt bad for her. Jowy carried her like a potato bag. She probably would have liked to be carried like a princess, but her fate wasn't so nice.

"Almost makes me feel bad about her," Brenda said under her breath.

I heard that but didn't really feel like replying.

The dense forest thinned out and after a few hours of ruthless walking, and ruining our lungs we got out. We'd passed the spot where I first awoke in this world. But I just pressed on nonchalantly without worries. I wasn't the same guy and I wasn't alone either: at least that's what I came up with to console myself. The goblins might have known that as well as there wasn't even a single one of them today. Nothing: no hobgoblins, no normal purple ones, and even no undead ones.

Just as the old man said there was an even bigger forest just ahead of the sacred forest. And it really was covered in thorns. Behind us was the sacred forest and ahead was the forest of thorns. In the middle, a small grass field, probably half a kilometer in length. We were sandwiched in between. It was already afternoon. The sunset made my anxiety skyrocket. The same was true for all of us.

The grass was big and sharp. We could have cut ourselves if we weren't careful. The old man coughed and sneezed more and more as the sun went out. It wasn't comforting, since he was our lifeline.

"I think it would be better to camp here." Jowy took the lead.

We had reached the outskirts of the forest. Believe me or not, I didn't want to be here. But there wasn't anything we could do about it.

I still tried anyway. "Couldn't we set camp a little further back?"

"It wouldn't matter. You should know that the undead roams everywhere at night, so it would really be pointless," Jowy said. He was frank but precise.

I sighed. There was no helping it.

We set camp before the evening and made a large fire. Shivers ran down my spine as the very thought of spending a night in front of two forests crossed my mind.

Would we really be alright?

Eventually, darkness knocked at our door and night befell us. There were all sorts of noises coming from all around us. The faint groans that came from the forest were the most worrisome among all of them. However, we kept on the lookout for goblins and other possible dangers as well. But I still couldn't see a single red dot in the darkness.

What happened to the undead?

It wasn't like I was worried about those damn things or anything, but their absence was both a blessing and a curse.

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