After a whole day of lectures, Lyca had wanted to return to her room. Isabel and Jeida were sent by Master Heitor to run some errands for her so she was all alone.
She was a little used to the roads in the divination hall by now and could tell places apart. So, she was able to walk on her own.
But suddenly, a girl seized her arm as she walked and walked along with her. Lyca didn't know her but she had a sweet and gentle voice.
She said, "You're going to Master Heitor's hall, right? Let me take you there."
Lyca had rejected severally telling her that she could walk herself. But, the girl seemed adamant as she complained about Lyca not having a guide. Lyca had no choice but to let her lead her.
However, as they walked, she suddenly realized that the girl wasn't taking her the right way.
She immediately called out in panic, "Where are we going?"
" The Hall."
"This is not the way to the hall," Lyca corrected, shaking her head and now very wary.
The girl chuckled and retorted, "You are mistaken. We are almost at the hall."
Lyca was silent. She couldn't see and couldn't always trust her instinct so she believed she must have been wrong.
But they continued to walk some more distance and Lyca finally panicked. The hall had never been so far from the main hall. There was something wrong.
She stiffened and abruptly removed her arm from the girl's catching her unexpectedly. Lyca looked in her direction defensively.
"Who are you? What are you trying to do?"
Lyca expected the girl to panic and run away now that she had been caught. But, she didn't.
Instead, she leaked a small laugh and said to Lyca, "What do you think?"
" You... Who are you?"
"I won't tell you, " the girl replied. "But I must tell you, that you are not even anywhere near the halls."
Lyca stiffened. "Where is this?"
"Inside the forbidden woods."
The girl laughed seeing Lyca's panicked expression. She added, scaring Lyca as she did so. "Do you know why it is forbidden to enter the woods?"
Lyca was silent but the girl didn't need her to talk before going on.
"There are monsters and wild animals in here. It is evening now and you'll probably be here for a long time considering that you have no one to help you or hear your cries for help," the girl explained.
Lyca felt a jolt in her heart. Who was this person playing such games with her?
"What do you want from me exactly? Why are you doing this?"
The girl didn't reply for a moment. But when she did, Lyca could barely mistake the viciousness in her voice as she spoke.
"I hate you and I hope you die in here. I hope no one finds you and you die in here before anyone discovers you are gone."
Lyca's body went cold with fear. How had she offended such a person?
But she knew she couldn't panic now. Instead, she waved her hands frantically, hoping the person could see her.
"I don't know who you are," she said. "But if I have offended you, I'll definitely apologize. Please take me out and I promise I'll do anything you want and no one will ever hear that anything happened in here."
The girl was silent. It didn't take long for her to start laughing.
She seemed to think Lyca's words were funny but her cold voice revealed she didn't find it funny.
She said coldly, "I don't need you to apologize. Just your existence is a threat to me. You need to be gone."
And before Lyca knew it, the girl turned on her heels and ran off.
"Please don't go, " Lyca called out, quickly running in her direction. At first, she could still follow the sounds of the girl's footsteps.
But as she ran, her leg got stuck in a tree root, tripping her and she rolled down the slope once more. When she stood up again, she could not tell the way apart any longer.
Lyca was very much scared and in pain due to the heavy fall earlier. But, that didn't stop her as she ran heedlessly in the woods and without a sense of direction, at least.
That was when she heard a loud growl near her. Lyca paused and the girl's words rang in her ears.
There were monsters and wild animals in the woods...
Lyca immediately turned in the opposite direction and tried to run away. But, she was unaware that she was running in its direction.
Soon, she heard the heavy footsteps of the wolf as it approached her.
She could tell it was a huge animal from the sounds of its footsteps and she was scared. She took several steps backward in a flurry but as she did so abruptly, she missed her steps and fell on the floor.
The wolf was now standing close to her. She could hear its narrow breathing above her head but she couldn't tell what it was intending to do.
She breathed heavily and tried to stifle the gasp that nearly shot out of her lips due to fear.
Would she die in here?