Ysar had successfully swimmed to land.
Her scent had been washed off by the river and her footprints ended at the bank of the river.
"That will delay them for a while," she said, wringing her wet hair.
She was certain that the fear of the cold water would keep them at bay until they could figure a way out but she waited a while to see if they would reach but they were still much farther behind than she had assumed.
She glanced at the sky and sighed.
She was thankful to the heavens for their grace.
Taking one last glance at the side of the river from whence she had come, Ysar then turned around to leave.
She continued onwards through the chain of tall trees that were lined up in front of her, using them as a cover for her presence as she ran off.
As she ran for her dear life, she glanced back to see the goblins stopping their chase.
Just as she had expected, they were unable to traverse the river as effortlessly as she had done.
.
.
.
Several minutes later.
Ysar stumbled upon a gigantic tree that stood out among the rest.
It was thick and massive with hollow roots enough to accommodate three elves her size easily.
She felt so relieved at this and immediately moved into the space to hide herself.
Ysar tried to stay as quiet and motionless as possible to avoid drawing attention to her new hideout while also listening for the presence of her pursuers and resting at the same time.
Minutes turned into hours and some more hours came after that yet she heard nothing.
She knew better than to step out to go and check.
Ysar, at least, did not think her pursuers to be fools. She had considered the possibility that the lingering silence may also be a trap.
The way she thought about it: they may have arrived and might also be lying in wait for her.
Working with her assumption, Ysar decided to lie low a little longer.
It was about to become a game of who had more patience in them.
The light of day was dimming and the weather was getting cooler as it approached evening.
Darkness was coming.
Although Ysar hated the dark, she had to embrace it in her current situation as it would become her most trusted ally, even if it was for a short time.
The darkness would shroud her like a cloak and mask her presence better.
She finally decided to step out of hiding after a long time of waiting and still, there were no signs of the goblins anywhere.
No malicious growls.
No devilish giggles.
No sound at all.
Nothing indicated the presence of a person other than herself.
Ysar sighed with relief at apparent safety and just as she was about to continue walking.
Rustle. Rustle. Rustle.
She heard the rustling of many leaves.
Her heart dropped down into her belly out of fear.
Ysar fell back into the hollow roots that harboured her a moment ago as she laid quiet and watched her surrounding.
Her senses sparked and she carefully peeked from where she was hiding, searching for the source of the rustling noise that she heard.
Her eyes finally caught sight of the culprits.
It was two rabbits moving past and possibly searching for food. They stopped occasionally, ground their teeth and looked around.
Seeing that there was no immediate threat to her life, Ysar relaxed a little better.
She breathed calmly and laid back down as her heart beat started to normalise from the sudden jolt.
'It seems I've lost them for good this time,' she thought, sneakily peeping to assess the area.
For precautionary reasons, Ysar waited out another hour inside the hollow roots before setting out of there to wander further into the forest.
Her goal was to get as far as possible before nightfall finally came.
.
.
.
On another side of the forest.
Damon had been wandering through the forest without any end or sign in sight.
He didn't know what he was doing here or what he was supposed to even do in the first place.
He looked up, noticing that it was not as hot as earlier.
"The sun is setting. What the hell am I supposed to do on this floor?"
Damon sighed.