Dried leaves and twigs crunched under Weasley's feet as he walked side by side with his master and mother through the woods.
Night had almost completely fallen and the only light source around was the luminous silver orb that hung high above in the sky. This made it a little harder for Weasley for see his surroundings but he managed well as he was constantly regulating mana to his eyes to enhance his eyesight.
As a part of a series of basic self enhancing enchantments, it wasn't considered a spell and Weasley could use this perfectly fine. In fact, it could be used by almost anyone that had mana, albeit at different levels of mastery.
This enabled Weasley see the surrounding 15 yards clearly but anything beyond that quickly sank into murky darkness.
The surrounding forest at night time was a lot scarier than it had been at dusk when Weasley had arrived. The meagre moonlight cast dark shadows against ground and barks of the trees around, seemingly emulating the form of terrifying monsters as the occasional roar of actual monsters pierced the night. All in all, it was the perfect setting for a horror movie, of which Weasley was absolutely not a fan.
" Are we there yet?" Weasley asked in a voice that would nit make it seem like he was whining. They had been walking for quite awhile and truthfully, Weasley's legs were already aching from the strain.
" Almost there darling. Just hang on for a bit a longer." Sylvia replied without looking back.
Facing his mother's small yet seemingly indomitable back, Weasley could only sign and trek on.
After awhile, Henner who had been following silently behind them increased her speed and caught up with Sylvia and whispered something into her ear.
Sylvia nodded her head several times in reaction.
" I see...that's good to hear...….further to be safe."
Weasley couldn't make out the part of their conversation but he didn't intend to eavesdrop in the first place so her kept his distance and walked silently.
Suddenly, the two in front of Weasley came to abrupt halt. As their back we're facing him, Weasley couldn't tell what was going on as he couldn't read their facial expressions but he could, he would have known that something was terribly wrong.
Henner whirled around before Henner did, trying to make a mad rush to Weasley's side when a deafening roar broke through the eerie silence of the forest.
" ROARRRR!!!!!"
Weasley almost jumped about off his skin. His body spun around as fast as it could towards the source of the noise when he saw a pair of bright yellow eyes look back at him through the darkness.
The eyes of the creature glowed in the dark like miniature moons as it stared intensely at Weasley, its gaze never leaving his body. Its body was cover in pitch black fur with tufts of purple at the ends of the fur on its head. The animal back was hunched as it crouched low to the ground, but still towered over Weasley nonetheless.
It was a wolf which was larger than any animal Weasley had ever seen. It's stood a staggering 6 feet tall and it was at least 9 feet in length. It's legs bulged with muscle and explosive power as a low growl escaped its throat.
Adrenaline exploded through Weasley as his body's fight for flight mechanism jumpstarted as quickly as a race car. Call it instinct, a third eye or whatever you will but Weasley's body sensed the unmistakable chill of death as it drew near.
Somewhere in his subconscious, Weasley knew that the logical move here would be to look around and run to run to his mother or teacher for help. He was small and weak, but the same couldn't be said for the two talented mages that accompanied him. Surely they would be able to work things out right?
Well, perhaps.
But Weasley's fight for flight system had unfortunately chosen flight and with that, all conscious thought left Weasley's body and the only the remaining was the overwhelming urge to run for his life.
Weasley made a U-turn and ran straight into the forest behind him. The snarl that escaped from the mouth of the wolf as it chased after its prey only compelled Weasley to run even faster as he bumbled and and blundered and staggered through the low branches and plants that blocked his path.
Weasley didn't know how long he had ran. He had lost track of time and when he stopped, he noticed that he was completely alone in the forest.
Panting and with his heart pounding away like a sledge hammer in his chest Weasley looked around and was greeted by only an expanse of darkness and trees. Luckily, there was no wolf in sight.
Weasley breathed a sigh of relief but soon realised a new problem that had arisen.
He was lost. Very lost.
Observing is surroundings, Weasley had absolutely no idea where he was. He didn't even know which direction he came from!
' Well…this is bad.'
' I guess I should just keep walking. Not much that I can do by staying here.'
' Wait, maybe I may have left tracks! I was running really hard so maybe, just maybe!'
Carrying this small hole in his chest, Weasley started looking intensely at the ground in the surrounding area around him. Initially, he didn't find anything but looking further out, he found a small area on the ground where the small weeds and plants seemed to have been trampled over.
Weasley grinned to himself and thought.
' I'm so smart.'
Walking up to the trampled weeds, Weasley extrapolated outwards and soon located the next noticeable spot of trampled weeds and he thus started following the shoddily made trail back to the place where he last met his master and mother.
' Hold on, what if that wolf is still around?'
Weasley froze in his tracks. He had unconsciously assumed that the animal had lost interest and left but what if it was actually stalking him or patrolling the area and waiting for him to come back?
' But if I just stay here, I might put myself at risk of attracting other predators. And Ms Henner and Mom might end up being further away if they are looking for me as well.'
Weasley strained his ears to see if he could hear any noise or calls that his mother and teacher could have made but unsurprisingly he found none. He was too far away anyway.
Looking around, Weasley picked up a thick branch and wielded it like a club. His makeshift weapon was heavy and unwieldy but it was better than nothing.
Branch in hand, Weasley sought out the next patch of trampled grass and continued following the trail.
While continuously straining his eyes to see in the darkness, Weasley continued walking. The process was much tougher than he'd thought. He often found himself doubting his decisions, unsure if certain branches were really broken or if they just looked that way. If certain patches of plants and grass had been trampled by him or some other animal.
Weasley came to a stop.
On his left and right were both possible paths. The weeds and low grass in the right seemed ruffled. Weasley thought so at least but he wasn't sure. As he had been with his entire progress so far. For all he knew, he could just be leading himself by the nose with wishful thinking.
On his right, the choice was no better either. There was a twig that looked as if it had been broken into two. One twig. And its parts were also at least 2 feet apart and in different directions. For all he knew, it could be him, or just some other animal that walked past on its way for a midnight snack that broke the twig.
Weasley was frustrated. The feeling of insecurity gnawed at him and it made him feel cold in his gut. Weasley hated this feeling. It made himself made him constantly doubt himself, constantly feel inadequate, constantly feel as if he was making a wrong choice and lying to himself that it was the right one.
He hated this feeling!
Gritting his teeth, Weasley breathed a
Weasley looked back once again at the two paths that faced him and randomly decided to pick the one on the right. Weasley stepped forward and proceeded to walk in the direction of the grass.
Soft swishing sounds could be heard as Weasley's feet brushed against the low grass and as he walked through the grass. Weasley walked slowly, making sure to look out for other signs that he could have left if he came through here.
Initially, Weasley found none so he continued walking.
Then, he still couldn't find anything and his footsteps had slowed significantly as doubt and indecision crept in.
Before long, Weasley came to a complete halt. He was no longer within the dense forest at this point and had arrived at a small clearing in the middle of the forest.
There was small pond in the middle of the the clearing that was about 200 square feet in size. The clearing had nothing but it grass and small plants and it was fenced off on all four sides in circular fashion by rows of all trees.
Moonlight reflected off the surface of the water and exploded into shimmering twinkles, casting beautiful sight that contrasted perfectly against the still and plain surroundings.
Weasley was spellstruck. His worries about being lost all faded to nothingness as he seemingly moved forward involuntarily at the beckoning of the beautiful sight informs of him.
' Wow…That is amazing.'
' .....'
Weasley stood in silence at the edge of the pool, looking into its depths and leering the wind ruffle his hair. It was an unforgettable moment of cathartic release and relaxation.
However, it didn't last long.
The occasional chirping of birds aside, the forest was completely silent but for some reason, out of the very periphery of his senses Weasley could hear the light patter of footsteps.
They were hushed. Almost muted, but the light crunch that indicated pressure being exerted on the hard ground was unmistakable.
Weasley turned around just in time to see a row of razor sharp fangs bear down on him.