Heir of Darkness

Chapter Six

A single small squirrel darted across the path I walking down carrying a golden acorn in its small paws as it dashed from one tree to another, one eye on the path ahead and the other looking for danger following it from behind. Everything in the ForbiddenForest was either the hunter or the hunted.

Soon I came to the summit of the large hill I had trekked upwards. The sun had moved in the sky, filtering between the heads of two trees and beat down on my shoulders, warming my body. But still I felt a chill around my body where the fog had crept up once again to wrap around my body.

Once I reached the top of the hill I felt my body collapse from exhaustion, my bones giving up on holding me and my muscles weak from the torture of the first challenge placed in my way.

If climbing hair and walking a few miles made me like this I feared what I would be like after not only dragging myself across the forest but also facing the countless other challenges the Evil Queen placed in my way.

Rolling onto my back, I pushed myself from the ground so I sat with my knees drawn up slightly.

I decided I deserved a rest and allowed my body to relax, although I didn't close my eyes. I needed all my senses to survive in here.

I was looking at my bruised and broken hands, picking at the blisters until they burst and pulling the horrible flaky skin off, when what I had done hit me. Most of them had burst due to how tight I had hugged myself in fear through the pain and random pickings to distract myself from the noises and sights all around me.

I began to cry, thrusting my hands over my face like I always did to hide my tears from other, but here there was no one to hide from. The tears streamed freely through my fingers and onto the dirty grass below.

I had left Parker behind.

Yes, he had a way out but I didn't know if he would follow the tunnel back to safety or attempt to climb the hair. And if he did successfully climb the hair he was in the forest and I didn't know what would happen to him then. Would he look for me? Yes. Would he find me? I didn't know. Would he be eaten by a beast, caught by the Child Snatcher's or swallowed by that terrifying large worm? Probably all three.

I, his best friend, left him behind to face the danger and darkness of the ForbiddenForest. And I hadn't even looked back. I walked away as he cried out after me, screamed my name until I could no longer hear him.

I was his executioner but his fate was up to him. If he left by the tunnel then all would be right but if he climbed the hair up into the forest then his blood was on my hands. I didn't think I could die in here without knowing if he was alright.

So I had to live to find out.

Wiping my tears from my eyes I pulled myself onto my feet, wincing from the pain as a sharp twig dug in my heel. I lifted my foot and pulled the twig from my foot, watching a small trail of blood drip from my foot. The bottom of my feet were torn and covered in dried mud and blood and I had so far been able to block out the pain and focus on walking without wincing with every step.

As I put my foot back on the ground again and looked up, I hesitated as my gaze caught the scene in front of me.

The hill swooped down at a dangerous slope leading once again back into a thick disperse of trees. However, these trees held no leaves like the ones behind me did and were as bare as my own feet. They were a patchwork of thin and thick and as black as the night, as if they had been burned in a fire and now no life could ever grow on them again. I wondered if they would fade into ash and the bark would crumble into my hands if I touched them.

A sudden loud rustling caught my attention and my gaze swooped to the tree tops in the distance where a pack of crows emerged from the forest and flew high into the air, swirling before diving back towards the trees.