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This was their first time in Nowhere's dark side, in fact, the queen had told them nothing about it.

Nowhere was a world made of dreams and wishes, but that was only one side. The other side was made of nightmares and despair, and both were separated by a boundary. Some creatures from the dark side could not cross over because they were hated and some would die if they were to so much as see sunlight. Nobodies from the light side could cross over but they tended to stay away because the dark side had horrible, horrible things.

The lost soul's destination was the Forest of the Ancients, a horrific and dark place just past the dark side's borders. Most travelers who entered ended up lost forever, some say the trees ended up eating them and others say their disappearances were the witches' doing.

Five human days had passed since they had spoken to the dragons. They did not return to the castle, but instead rested in Sol. However, it wasn't a peaceful rest. After they returned, a messenger rushed them back to the castle. One of the witches had invaded in search for gems but while everyone else had decided to run away, Vince stood his ground and began yelling at them.

He was turned to stone and the messengers said that it took him only one Solarian minute to die.

It wasn't the worst way to die, well, not in Nowhere. Most of them didn't know him very well, but it was another death and like all those who died before him, it hurt. Hakuren had frowned and muttered something about Vince being just like Axel. Harper didn't really know what to say and Riley, the girl went quiet for a few days. She didn't know him that well, but she had been with him and Lesley since the beginning.

They gave him a small funeral and after that things were quite somber. They rested and Tobias gave them all the information he could.

Not much was known about the witches but they were extremely powerful. They had never left the dark side in the past but for some reason, they had kidnapped a few dragon riders, turned Aven's dragons against Sol and sparked up a war. 

The lost souls trudged through the forests of the ancients, flashlights in hand and steps wary. The night sky above them was pitch black and the air freezing cold. They had been walking for what felt like hours, but the giant trees and skeleton-like branches all looked the same and for some reason their compass had stopped working and an ill-timed breeze had blown their map away.

"Hey guys, does that tree look familiar to you?" Harper glanced around, shoulders drooped and eyebrows creased. "I think we've been walking in circles, but I'm not too sure. Avian? Is there any way to tell without a compass?" The prince had warned them about the forest and had even volunteered to follow after them but the royal Dragoons didn't allow that and in the end volunteered for the job themselves.

"Spooky how the compass suddenly stopped working." Riley gave him a devilish grin before popping up beside Songbird. Ever since the compass broke Riley decided to pass the time by asking the item hunter all sorts of questions, and while some were smart things like "have you been to this part of Nowhere." the other questions were just outright silly.

Hakuren looked as smug as always and he trailed behind them, smiling. "It can't be a coincidence. The witches are probably behind it, but if they come to get us we can always sacrifice the bear." He jabbed his staff in Jasper's direction and let out a low chuckle.

"Very funny, these things could kill us, Haku." Harper kicked at the ground then sighed, but before he could look too upset Riley gave him a pat on the back and took the lead. 

"If we keep walking in a straight line, we're bound to reach somewhere, so let's not get too down, kay?"

If this were the human world then Harper would have agreed, walking in a straight line would get them somewhere at the least, but this was Nowhere. In this world, one plus one was a yellow humming bird, and walking in a straight line, especially in a cursed forest was probably the equivalent of running in zigzags.