Ferras couldn't believe it. He had only ever heard myths of the undead creature that guarded The Forest of Death, but never in his dreams had he ever thought that it existed and that he'd actually see it one day. Torn out of his thoughts by that horrific screech, he knew exactly what was happening.
The darkness was no problem for him and guided by his hearing he quickly found what he had been looking for. He quickly drew his bow and arrows from his space pocket and knocked an arrow in.
The beast stood at least two meters tall with a visible aura of death so heavy it made his heart drop, even with the unbreakable barrier between them. Most people would probably fall over dead just by its mere presence. But that girl! His mouth dropped open. She was running away from it as if Roth Mortiferus himself were chasing after her.
Without thinking he immediately started running after her, shouting her name. He drew his bow and aimed an arrow at the beast. He was going for its eye. He missed the first shot which hit a tree. Immediately he drew another arrow, hitting its flank this time.
It wasn't what he'd been aiming for, but it was enough to make it stagger for a second. Without his magic, there was no way he could control the arrow as well as he wanted to. There were too many trees. Luckily Jacklyn had heard his call and veered towards him.
But then suddenly she was gone. The barrier was blocking his senses so all he could do was watch as the beast dove after her into the ground.
Was this it?
Dismayed, he lowered his bow. There's nothing he could do for her now. How unfortunate. Now he never would figure out how she managed to get past the wards. But just as he was about to turn back to camp, he heard a crack.
The air seemed to vibrate.
The sky was falling to pieces!
From the inside of the warded cage, a flashing blue light shot out. Where it hit the barrier, it cracked and crumbled into pieces. Where it passed trees, rocks and bushes, the stale dead white coating cracked off and was blown away into ashes.
What in the world? He couldn't believe his eyes. The ashes completely blocked his view. Coughing, Ferras quickly turned away and covered his face with his cloak. When the ash storm cleared after about 30 seconds, the Forest of Death was gone. Where it once stood now was a lush and green forest no different from the rest.
Ferras stood there, speechless. Cautiously he slunk towards the ravine Jacklyn had disappeared in and peered down. Jacklyn was lying, unconscious, on her side.
Her face was pale white with blood running down it and she was covered in cuts and bruises, but was still alive. Nimbly he jumped down to her. He leaned down to check her weak pulse. That's when Ferras saw her right hand which was covered in a thin sheet of ice. What on earth? But he didn't have time to ponder on it for too long. Jacklyn was coughing and moving again. Gently he helped her sit up so she wouldn't choke on her own blood.
"Hey, it's alright now. You're safe. Come, I'll bring you back." Her only answer was vomiting. Thankfully she didn't vomit on herself or Ferras. "Feeling better? Good, now I need you to stay awake for me. Look at me. Come on, look at me and keep your eyes open for me." Jacklyn was trembling violently as if all her energy had been sucked out of her.
Calmly he picked her up. On the way back to camp she stayed curled up and absolutely silent. She didn't even twitch.
Back at the camp, he leaned her against a tree near the fire and folded his cloak over her shivering body. Jacklyn fell asleep almost instantly. Ferras sat on a tree stump, flicking twigs into the flames, keeping watch until he was sure Jacklyn's condition was stable.
When dawn's light broke through the trees I felt a soft nudge at my shoulder. I groaned in pain. My back was sore and stiff. My head was spinning and the taste on my tongue was awful. My stomach was grumbling at me but I felt too sick to eat. Again, something soft nudged my shoulder. A snort in my ears. "Uhh. Stargate?" I coughed and touched my blood crusted face. Eww! What is this?
That's when I remembered what had happened last night. The Creature, the orb. Me fainting. And of course, the moment when I vomited in front of Ferras. My cheeks started blushing in embarrassment. He had seen all of it. This was so awkward...
Stargate nuzzled me again. Then I noticed Ferras's cloak was covering me. Aww, he's so considerate! So this was his other side, versus the cold indifferent face he always puts on.
Ferras wasn't at the camp, but there was an apple sitting on the tree stump next to me. I assumed it was meant for me and, honestly, what surprised me the most was that Stargate hadn't eaten it already. Still a bit shaky from last night, I pull myself up and dust off the twigs and leaves that hung to me.
"I need to go clean up. Do you know where there is some water around here? I'm not sure if you understand me but oh never mind I'll go look by myself." I put the neatly folded cloak on to the tree stump, took the apple and walked out onto the path. I hesitated.
"Hey Stargate? Want to come along?" I waved at him, signaling to follow. Thankfully, he obliged. I seemed to remember that there was a small spring a few minutes away. And, this time, I made sure to not leave the path.
The water of the spring was cool and smelt like fresh moss. I didn't see any fungi, but I didn't take any chances and resisted the urge to drink from it. I scrubbed off the blood and dirt but didn't touch my open wounds, afraid they might get infected. Feeling much better already, we returned to camp where Ferras was waiting. Slung over his shoulder were two cute looking ferret like animals with horns. They were so adorable and also Ferras' next lunch.
I was so sad
"I see you are doing better
"I see you are doing better." He kicked some dirt and stones on to the fire, putting it out. He tied the two ferrets to the side of the saddle.
"Yeah. Thank you. You saved my life." Standing next to Stargate, I was using him as a shield. It felt so awkward talking to Ferras now. I didn't know why.
"No problem. But we have to get going now. Pack your things, we're leaving." Nodding, I hurried over to help collect the stones Ferras had scattered around our camp the night before. Shortly after, we set off once more. He even allowed me to ride with him on Stargate because of my injuries.
Ferras tried his best to take my mind off of the incident yesterday night and actually started some small talk with me. Which was funny, because usually he's all confident and sure of himself, but he struggled to have a normal conversation with a semi-stranger. I didn't find out much more about him, other than the fact that he was an expert with all kinds of weapons.
On the way he started showing me some tricks with his knives and also shot some arrows. It was obvious he was only trying to show off, but it was a lot of fun to watch and very impressive.
Another two days of traveling passed before the vegetation changed again to a more open and brighter sub-tropical forest. I was glad to finally be out of the darkness. To make up for the time we lost before, we started off even earlier in the mornings now. I wasn't used to this intensive traveling at all and almost always fell asleep on Stargate again, once we departed.