The heavy breaths of a man were heard in a far distance after weeks of starvation and wondering the same repeated routes in an unfamiliar forest for weeks.
After three months on this mission to seek the infamous thorn of TUTUS, Tristian and his soldiers had to wander for days non-stop. Some had to quit down the road since they couldn't make it in the immense cold winter, while others detached for a thorough check of what they trekked miles upon miles to search for.
However, the group who left with Tristian met their unfortunate ends in the dangers loitering around the forest one after the other...a truly deadly experience. More deadlier than all the reports suggested.
It seemed the way out of the forest was more complicated than the world's longest and most detailed puzzle ever solved.
'An entrance with no exit' was the first conclusion Tristian drew from the realities within the forest when they entered it, and he witnessed first-hand the horrors within a peaceful and silent FROZEN forest which seemed harmless upon their earlier entry.
Those Soldiers who were formally reported to have made it alive to even report their experiences within the kingdom, seemed to have made it simply based on pure luck, or maybe, they were those who quit from the beginning of the journey and cowardly turned back after they encountered few casualties as a cruel beginning upon entry.
No brain was powerful enough to scheme through this forest and leave to tell the tale. This was what happened to almost all of Tristian's soldiers whom he came along with on this fruitless expedition, for the past three months. He had even lost faith and presumed all of them dead, but he had to hold unto a little hope, maybe like him, another persevering soldier could be somewhere struggling to make it out alive and out of this doomed forest...therefore, Tristian decided to never give up and strive toward a strong confirmation, until he would be certain that all hope was truly lost and all the soldiers had already met their doom.
Currently, Tristian seemed to be the only surviving soldier from the looks of it, since he had a high tolerance for cold conditions and even came across an ancient abandoned hut covered in snow. Suddenly, he tripped on his path toward the thousand-years long abandoned Satharus hut, a place where Satharus took Arabella and the Kids when he found them stranded, for the first time.
Tristian suddenly deviated through the slippery ice without restraint until he accidentally penetrated through the scared Realm of the FROZEN time zone. The route where Arabella and the kids took to come out of the Time-Realm, but failed to seal it with the prescribed spell. Since Satharus was the only one with the knowledge of that ancient spell.
Countless times, Arabella had tried to find that path for their return into their world, when she first noticed the unfamiliarity of the strange world they emerged into. She didn't give up on that quest even after setting down with Diana, Arabella would return countless times to trace the same route they took out of the Time-Realm but it all proved fruitless, until she gave up and decided to embrace their new fate in the new Kingdom of Cyras.
But accidentally, Tristian was absorbed into the time Realm and he had been stranded there for days. Luckily for him, he had food in abundance and even some consecutive days of sunshine within that Realm which wasn't the same in the entire FROZEN forest at all.
So Tristian stayed there for days to recuperate from his worn-out body and regained his strength to further lead the search for the remaining surviving soldiers and also search the thorn of TUTUS. He rarely left a mission incomplete as part of his reputation which he honors to a great extent.
However, after days of recuperation, Tristian came out and suddenly found himself before the giant sacred thorn of TUTUS within his reach.
In his amazement and wonder, of finally reaching what he wanted to presume as a myth, after a tirelessly three months of search, he didn't realize the surrounding he found himself in was thousand years into the past, when he came out of the Time-Realm.
Now in the Angelic Kingdom, like the Future beyond, It was ten years after the birth of Prince Regan of the Angelic Race. Regan had accomplished every mission and the toughest training ever taught.
At the age of ten, he even mastered the sacred war techniques and the acts of various Royal etiquettes, suitable for the worthy heir of their kingdom. Which didn't come as a shock to anyone, since everybody knew who fathered him...the great and legendary King Zach Sanander, warrior and the bravest hero to relinquish an entire army of the giant Mogs in the past.
Over the years, Sabreena and her cousin Regan, had grown extremely close and bonded a strong connection in their relationship. Even Rally her friend, still remembers to tease Sabreena about her choice once upon a time when she yearned for the birth of a Princess instead of a Prince. To which Sabreena always responds.
"I am glad you won the bet... what if I had been given a fearful scaredy princess like you, that would be an awful trade to win...I guess!." The moment Sabreena uttered these words, she and Rally often engage in a merry-go-round of their childish tantrums to get back at each other, and it always ended with Rally being furious and Sabreena apologizing.
However, even though at the end of it all, Sabreena had always regretted that bet due to the reason of 'ifs'. If it was at the expense of having a princess who would take after Rally...it would have been a disaster for her and the kingdom.
Meanwhile, There were often times when Sabreena and Regan had been at each other's throats with their fierce competitiveness against each other in various training, almost all the time. Their rivalry and friendship sometimes rendered Rally, who seemed like the third wheel in their midst, and doesn't seem to understand both cousins' hot and cold relationship toward each other, which seemed quite unique from her perspective.
Sometimes, Regan and Sabreena's competition could get so fierce, one wouldn't understand the length they would both go to win the other...but later sweep their anger down the drain and tease each other nonstop, so their relationship was always intact...like today!. Another fierce competition is about to go on.
As the referee to usher a new horse racing match between the Prince and the Princess, Rally was on full alert. She didn't want to be blamed by either of her candidates who might end up on the losing side, to have an excuse and ask for a re-match, as it often happens.
Sabreena was on a white horse while Regan took his favorite all-time racing champion black horse called Flash, the fastest horse so far which no horse had ever beaten in a race.
"Are you sure you want to do this...Sabreena? I don't want you to later whine about getting cheated." Regan informed in a teasing manner.
"Show some respect, you clown...You should know how to speak to an elder!." Sabreena often used the elder card whenever she gets nervous about losing to Regan. A habit both Regan and Rally were aware of...it wasn't new to them at all, so they both chuckled teasingly at Sabreena's famous lines.
"Okay! elder cousin...I wish one day, you would no longer have this excuse of the age difference, and I would be the one older than you, then we shall see what other excuse you would end up with after losing miserably.." Regan muttered amidst humor.
"I am guessing she would use the "You are a man" phrase then." Rally added to Sabreena's frustration at their teasing.
Meanwhile, Sabreena only looked at the horse she had trained for the past two years. The was born to her formal horse who was now weak, unlike before. Yet, its pony grew up with stamina and strength more than its mother...a male after all which she named White knight.
It was a horse born on the same day as she, a unique coincidence though, and also the day she attained the age of twenty....on her twentieth birthday.
Sabreena couldn't forget that day as its freshly vivid memories still stuck to her mind like she was living through it as memories of her daily life.
On the night of her twentieth birthday, was the first beginning of those awful nightmares. Nightmare of death, horror, blood, and chaos in her kingdom.
Until today, Sabreena had kept the secret of the extreme sin she committed at the age of twelve at the stream, as well as the wrinkly old lady who appeared to her on the birthday of Prince Regan with her absurd warnings. She had refused to talk to anyone about it including her best friend Rally.
And now, it has gotten worse, the recurring flashing horrors in the dreams she kept seeing repeatedly, seemed to raise a serious concern on her mentality nowadays.
Was she finally facing the punishment for her grave sin in the past?. Sabreena would constantly ask herself.
The Angelic Race had always spoken of the legendary dream-casting on a few chosen individuals, who were given the honor and privilege to experience the sacred dream of bliss. But none so far was ever reported to have dreamt awful nightmares, that now seemed to be a part of Sabreena's every night occurrences.
Recently, it took a turn for the worse. Especially the dream she experienced yesterday night was a whole new different aspect from all her formal dreams. It shook the roots of her nerves with an extreme fear that she never had before.
This time around, it was a man...an unknown unrecognizable man with the teeth of a lion, which she viewed as the sharpest canines dripping with blood. He snarled like a fierce bloodthirsty animal, as its fearful footsteps drew nearer to a girl whimpering not far from where he stood.
The girl was engulfed with extreme fear as the man took steps towards her, but she no longer had the energy to run since her legs gave out from exhaustion after running to escape the dangerous animalistic human all this while...but he seemed fast and reached her in seconds. At the sight of that, Sabreena began to shake in her sleep...tossing and turning, with her head going back and forth in extreme fear of the dream flashing its reality before her...but it continued...
As the vicious human squatted near the girl in humor.
"How fast can you run from me? Is that all you've got?" He maliciously uttered in the torment of the already scared whimpering girl.
Suddenly, he moved to touch the girl's hand and closed his eyes for a few seconds, then he let go as if ignited by an electric shock from the girl's hand.
"Interesting...why can't I see anything. You are the first to render my power meaningless, and your blood is like an addictive drug that drew me thousands of miles to get here, simply to taste it." He snuggled his face to the girl's neck while he suspensefully swept her hair behind her with his fingers invoking terror into the girl.
"I smelled you from thousands of miles away...could you imagine that?. How could you smell this sweet, a very rare blood you possess, compared to none I have ever tasted so far." He snarled his sharp fangs out and was ready to dig into the girl's neck when suddenly, the girl's reflection appeared before Sabreena's eyes in the dream, then she shoot up out of bed screaming and panting for air.
"It was me! me!". Was Sabreena's cries all along, until her servant appeared worried when she heard Sabreena's screams after she awoke from that horrible nightmare.
"Not a word to anyone about this...Tessa." Sabreena finally caught her breath to threaten her poor maid into silence.
Back to the present...
Sabreena tried to forgo her fearful thoughts regarding the dream she had last night and concentrate on the mission before her...to beat her cousin in the horse race, before Rally's voice was heard loudly amidst her thoughts.
"Ready!...at one, two....and...three. Go!
And Both Regan and Sabreena make a run for it to get to the targeted point of their final stop before the other and win the race!
So, who won? check out the next chapter soon! until then...Greetings!