The disturbing silence that prevailed in this world wasn't any different than that on the other side of the wall, however I was so tense and nervous, feeling that each blow of wind carried an arrow, and each group of bushes had enemies inside them.
And so I was moving inside this small piece of woods like a wasp tied with a line, doing his might to get free.
And the three little girls behind just giggled, as they laughed on my actions and caution.
"Entely is really into this game," the little punny said, and I just glanced at her with glaring look, "even she is deeply into Entely herself," she hurriedly said, while running to evade my gaze behind Oly, who was currently laughing at this little scene.
I sighed, it seemed I couldn't be serious with them, and I couldn't be so cautious here; was I overprotected? I should enjoy the trip, not spoil it with my worries.
"Let's go there," I said, pointing to an area well hidden between a group of thick old trees, with their barks crossing together, forming a small natural shack.
"Good place, it resembles our old hiding place, right?" the active little punny jumped at once towards that place, while others followed her, while I asked:
"Old hiding place, something I don't know of?" I asked, mimicking the tone of Entely at this moment.
"Oh, Entely, you are always busy and attentive to little details, even missing our hide place that was in the basement, just underneath your beloved barn," Oly said, and I understood there was a place under the barn itself.
Never heard of that before!
"I'm still shocked, you should have shared with me your little secret a long time ago."
"You were acting weird at first," Emma, the one who rarely spoke, said. "It wasn't until a couple of years ago that we began to trust you, and by that time we had already moved our secret place from the depths of the barn."
"To the barn itself," I added, and we all chuckled at my words.
"It's really like our old place, but the smell here is much worse," little punny already got herself hidden inside these trees, and her voice only came, weaker as she was speaking from far.
"Let's go and see," I said, as I went with the two girls to this place. The moment I slightly bowed my head to pass the crossing thick branch, I found the interior was much wider, very spacious than I initially thought, more than it appeared from far.
The trees all shared together to cover this little wooden cave, while the ground got a depression lined by the roots of these trees, while the roof went higher than I thought, with these tree barks combining together at some point, to shelter this place from light, sun, and even rain!
It was a perfect place to stay, and we weren't the lucky ones to find it first!
The place was already occupied, by an unknown party. The ground was covered with a thin layer of different types, colors, and shapes of clothes to walk over it. as for the ceiling, we all could find this small candle with a place to plant a lightning ore inside.
Someone lived here, but it seemed for a long time he never came back! I moved to check the place, where there was a bed, or something made of neatly cut some trees' shafts, with a thicker layer of clothes over it, thicker and softer than the ground.
On another side there was a cabinet, where a thick spider web lay there in protection. I blew my breath several times before waving my sword towards these thick disgusting webs; I hate spider webs!
The girls hurried to save the cabinet of my sword, before I would totally smash it. they went to check it for me, and everything inside was either rusty, rotten, or dusty.
And the smell of the place just got worse!
I retreated again to check that candle. In the palace, we have many candles with the same principle, but in a much grandiose and more refined way to use these ores; this little one here seemed like a bastard daughter of those noble ones in my palace!
I put my hand there, in the small oval socket place for the ore to be held, and all I found was a cold dry place. I rubbed my fingers against it, and then sniffed it, before putting my finger on the tip of my tongue; and I spitted it!
"Sulfur, and a crude rank of it. it seems our little owner here was already on the edge of being desperate," I said, as this sulfur kind of lightening ore was the worst of all.
It wasn't only the cheapest, it was also toxic, as just living here with such ore for enough time might be, alone, able to kill you!
"It seems he left here a long time ago," Oly said, while pointing towards the small red treasure chest inside the closet; it was empty!
"So, he either ran away, or was plundered and killed," I muttered, as this was always a sign that the place owner decided to leave it. This treasure chest was always the most precious thing in any territory, in any building, even in such a tattered shack in such a desolate place; all held the same importance and significance.
"It's safe then?" a little punny jumped over the bed, mistaking it for her own bed at our mansion. However, the next moment her body touched the bed, she jolted herself off, with an arched back and pained face; an extremely pained face.
"Don't ever think about going there, it's harder than sleeping on the bare ground," she said in a very pained, extremely weak tone, while trying her best to hold back her tears.
However, we three just laughed, and thus she started to cry, while trying to touch her arched back with her hands, acting so funny indeed.
"I think it's a male ranger home," Emma suddenly said, as she took out a dagger from underneath the soft layer of cloth over the bed.
"Or a lady, don't judge without seeing it yourself," I corrected her, as I once met a female ranger, those forest dwellers and wilderness adventurers, who came to my palace and asked for release to her beloved man, even paying enough money to do so.
However, my beloved father refused, and this poor ranger had to endure his filthy breaths for a whole night, before he decided to release her man after five more nights!
Sigh! I was eleven at that time, and I was feeling as disgusting as I was feeling right now!