[WIP title] Cecilia's Journey

Part 2: The Twisted Forest (10)

The girl ran through the groves of trees, breathing heavily, tears streaming down their face.

The wind whipped at her skin as she ran, but the pain was nothing compared to the cries of the people behind her.

You monster, what have you done? Go to hell, die.

The girl had no choice but to run, hunted like a beast for sport.

She ran, and she ran, and she ran, until her legs were screaming, and her lungs were crying, and she couldn't run anymore.

Hugging a grizzly old oak tree, the girl desperately tried to reclaim the air that refused to enter her lungs, breathing in and out, in and out, panting like a dog.

Her eyesight was weak, her body ached, her head hurt like she'd been punched and hit and beaten and battered.

If I can ever escape here, she cried to herself.

She drew the sword from her right hip, holding it firmly in her left hand, then struck the tree with a feverous might.

* * * * * *

Tracing her hand along the base of the tree, Cecilia could just make out a shallow gash, an artifact of the past that nature had yet to heal. She was headed the right way.

Cecilia looked towards the ground and bit her lip. It had been four years. Four whole years, and she had nothing to show for it.

Just like before, she complained, I've been driven away again. To this damn forest.

The Twisted Forest.

A large, dense forest biome in the southeast of this continent, Tagayde. From the outside, it just looks like a simple forest, filled with trees and plants and animal life.

But this was the third time Cecilia had been in the Twisted Forest, and she knew better than anyone where it got its name.

The Kladenan Forest, more often called the Twisted Forest, was a massive swath of dangerous creatures and plants, run by an overwhelming aura of magic.

The forest featured some of the most dangerous creatures in this world, such as the Arachnious Spiders, known as the most venomous spider on the Tagayde continent.

But more dangerous than the wildlife were the plants. Given the high density of magic particles in this region, the plant life had taken on an almost sentient way of life.

As the name implies, the forest twisted and turned, changing itself at random, like a cursed maze.

The last time Cecilia had to wander the forest, she left herself markers, in case she returned to the village. They weren't of much use then, but now Cecilia was smarter, and she could make her way through the forest. It was clear: even if the forest changed shape, it couldn't heal its own scars.

There was still a path for her.

But Cecilia knew what lay at the end of that path. I need to go back to that place, don't I?

She closed her eyes, deep in thought.

She wasn't scared. Things were different now. No longer was she the small, scared girl who couldn't defend herself. Now she was strong, smart.

Now she could fight people.

Cecilia opened her eyes and looked out towards the looming darkness the forest welcomed her with. Silently, she smiled to herself. I'm back.

Carefully, she began walking into the darkness, ready to meet whatever she had to face.

She walked and walked, avoiding poisonous plants and gross critters, feeling the trees for her markings. One cross here, another there. An X, don't go that way, turn back. Vertical line, use caution. Horizontal, it's safe.