The sound of the carriage's wheels against the dirt road was the only thing breaking the awkward silence.
Rhen, a young woman on the shorter side, was sitting on one of two lightly cushioned benches inside the horse-drawn vehicle.
She kept her hands folded in her lap, and let her gaze wander the boring inside of the carriage, mostly avoiding the man sitting across from her.
He was older, taller, with a well-kept full beard and dark hair tied back in a loose ponytail.
His cold, mist-grey eyes were focused on a book he was currently reading.
Rhen glanced at him and sighed. It was futile to try and ignore him. They were stuck in this carriage together, after all.
"So... Victor." she began,
"Where do you think we are now?"
He glanced up from his book for a second, and then flipped the page, continuing to read.
"The northern woodlands, sister. It has only been an hour."
"Right." said Rhen and poked a bit at the silver pin on her black vest.
The pin was in the shape of a regal-looking dragon's head, and named her as a daughter of the noble House of Amerial.
As her older brother, Victor wore an identical one on the breast of his shirt.
Rhen scrunched up her nose and leaned her back against the wooden wall of the carriage.
Her little attempt at being social had failed, and she didn't feel like trying again.
Despite their being brother and sister, even living in the same home - huge as it was - the two of them were not close at all.
Perhaps it was the fact that Victor was the whole of twenty-five years older than Rhen, combined with the vastly different interests and personalities of the two.
It had never really seemed a problem for her, but right now, as they were sitting there together, it was all kinds of awkward.
She ran a hand through her dark, shoulder-length hair and let her mind wander; once this trip was over and they arrived at their destination, she would meet up with their grandfather. And that would be the beginning of a whole new, exciting part of her life!
Getting to travel with him, learning his ways, and eventually achieving that one, ultimate goal... now that was worth this awkward ride with her brother!
Rhen smiled at the thought, and all of a sudden, everything seemed much better.
Until the carriage came to a sudden halt.
The sound of horses panicking and whinnying in fear cut through the air, and Rhen felt her heart in her throat.
Victor looked up, his calm grey gaze unflinching, but on guard.
He put a finger to his lips, silently telling his sister to be quiet.
Rhen gladly obeyed, and just sat there listening, hoping that whatever was going on, their two, mounted guards would be handling it.
Could it be something simple, like a wolf prowling a little too close, so the horses had seen it?
Or was it worse? Highwaymen, perhaps? These woods were not known to be dangerous, but criminals could still pop up everywhere.
No. There were no shouts, no sounds of blades being drawn.
And moments later, the sound of the horses whinnying died down - but in a strange way, almost as if the sound was rapidly getting more muffled, until it was completely gone.
As she sat there listening, Rhen strangely heard exactly nothing, save for her own heartbeat and quick, shallow breathing. A sign of the unease she felt.
Thirty seconds went by. Not a sound from outside.
A minute. Still silence.
She looked to her brother, who now slowly stood up and reached for the door.
Closing his hand around the handle, he called out: "Coachman! Is all well out there?"
His question was met with deafening silence, and after a short pause, Victor opened the door.
Despite it being late in the morning on a bright summer day, no light came in as the door swung open.
Instead, the forest outside was, impossible as it seemed, enrobed in the dark of the night.
"Wh-what...?" said Rhen as she slowly rose from her seat, eyes wide at the sight.
"I'm not sure. But the area must be under some kind of spell." said Victor,
"I will take a quick look and come back. Stay here."
Rhen blinked at that.
He wanted her to stay, while he went out there in this potentially dangerous situation?
Sensible. But not likely.
The moment Victor stepped out of the carriage, she followed him.
The sight that awaited her out there was surreal; not only was the forest dark as the night, it was also deathly quiet. Too quiet. No birdsong, no leaves rustling. Not even the whispers of the wind.
And when she looked up towards the sky, she was startled to find it completely black with a slight, dark blue hue, but not a single star, and with no sign of the moon.
"The horses are gone..." said Victor.
She looked to him, and followed his gaze towards the front of the carriage.
Much to her horror, he was right; the only thing left of the two animals was their barding.
No signs of damage either.
It was as if they had just disappeared.
"The coachman too... and the guards." she said, her voice unable to completely hide the fact that she was scared.
"I have a bad feeling about this." she heard her brother say, though the words sounded somehow... faded. Like the whinnying had earlier.
Rhen whipped her head around to look at him... and found only the silent forest where he had been standing a moment ago.
"Victor...?" she said, her voice trembling now.
She whirled around, looking for him as the panic spread in her body.
"Brother!?" her own voice, now nothing but a muffled sound, as if underwater.
The world spun around her, and she lost all control of her senses as an eerie darkness engulfed her.
Still conscious, a sense of dread spread in her as the world vanished and was replaced with nothing but a black vastness.
Utter, silent darkness.