Kituo felt relieved that the object was harmless. A key – okay he could tolerate that. He emitted a sigh of relief and tried his best to calm his nerves. He was unapologetic about the whole ordeal. He couldn’t understand how the other members of the group could be so relaxed. Kituo on the other hand didn’t want to take any chances. He was in an unfamiliar place where just about anything could happen.

The tallest of their group seemed to take charge, at least to Kituo. He appreciated the assuring attitude he took towards him. Kituo rarely ever received such patience even from his own kin so for a complete stranger to console him really meant a lot. He started to loosen up a bit around the other three. They didn’t seem like bad people. As matter of fact, although they were certainly different, they didn’t seem much older than him. Perhaps they would easy to relate to later on down the road? Wherever that was.

Unfortunately, Kituo would learn that a young man as nervous as he should never let down his guard so quick. Not long after he finally began to simmer did he find himself riled back up. The sight of a human skeleton nearly sent him into a frenzy. He leaped back and let out a high pitched shriek which he was immediately embarrassed about but again did not fully regret. That was the only sign he needed to know that the forest wasn’t safe. Something had killed that guy and the odds were that it was still around. He was conflicted about how the tall guy could smile when there was the remnants of a man – a human being like they were – laying right within their reach.

And just when it seemed as if Kituo’s day couldn’t get any worse.

“What is that?” He yelped, looking at that the root that had wrapped around the girl’s root.

To anyone trying to survive, it was apparent that Kituo would be inherently useless. He was so squeamish and easily frightened that even the slightest unfamiliarity startled him. As the tall guy reached for the knife he sprinted back in hopes of creating more distance between himself and the ensnared girl for he didn’t want to be next.

Please let me get out of this alive!

Kituo whirled around and squatted, shielding his head with his arms as the tall guy reached into the cocoon. He fought not to listen as the sounds of squeaking and hissing cursed his ears. However, curiosity seemed to always kill the cat without difficulty. No matter how much he wanted to pretend like something serious wasn’t going on around him, Kituo could not completely shunt out the disturbance. He turned his head just when the snake latched onto the tall guy’s hand. Kituo winced. While he himself wasn’t bit he felt a tinge of pain course through his body. Watching alone was harmful to him.

I-I have to do something! M-move Kituo! Don’t just sit there!

But Kituo didn’t know what to do at all. When times got tough Kituo was always among those who ran and hid. He spent the entirety of his life in the shadows waiting for others to solve the problems that were both his and the world’s. Thankfully, Kituo didn’t have to intervene with the crisis for the tall guy’s strikes managed to defeat the root and send it packing.

By that point Kituo’s heart was nearly exploding within his chest. His stomach churned and he felt like vomiting. He bent over and clenched his stomach as he warred with himself to keep his breakfast contained. Not giving him even a second to recover, Kituo looked up to see the cocoon’s root open and begin what was probably the most scariest scene he ever had the displeasure of witnessing. He caught a clear glimpse of the skeleton and the snake’s corpse. Kituo’s dark skin nearly lost all of his coloring. He couldn’t hold on after that. He spun around and puked.

Fortunately for Kituo’s sake he didn’t see the small man get devoured. He did, however, experience an overwhelming amount of shock when he turned to see him gone. He knew what happened. He was glad that it wasn’t he was who killed. Now there were only three left in total – he, the tall guy, and the girl. Kituo was worried that their numbers had already been reduced. There was certainly safety in numbers when stuck in the middle of only the higher powers know where.

All that was left of the horror was a little rat that clung to the tall guy’s back. Strangely, although everything else had terrified him, Kituo wasn’t all that afraid of the rat. He could feel its weakness – or at least what he deemed weakness – as it shook. The poor creature was drenched with blood and presumably in a state of shock. Hoping to useful for once, Kituo slowly approached the tall guy and tried to coax the rat off of him.

“C’mon little guy,” he said. “Its okay.”

He stopped a few feet away in hopes of maintaining some security. He didn’t expect the rat to heed his generosity – it was an animal after all. Kituo’s only goal was to try and lose the title of weakest link.

(Void).

worst part that is was from a rodent and they freaking him out a little bit. So seeing this happen to Hato is a little nerveracking than have some women walks out of the blue, and the weirdest part is that she was calling Alexander by a different name "Lord Argen"

them both them (since Hato was young it wouldn't be him) and taken them into this random woods that he still doesn't know where he is.

of a forest not knowing which way to get out of here" He decided against asking her what she meant by calling Alexander by the title of Lord Argen and just figured it would be best to get out of this forest with creepy rodents delivering objects.

Anise squeaked as the felt herself being tossed away from the group towards the path by Randold as he bellowed for them to run. The platform had begun to drop and Anise's fear got the better of her. She turned and ran, well she ran about as well as a woman in a dress with heels could, which is pretty poorly. She ended up kicking off the heels partway through, but half-regretted it as the ground did not feel comfortable at all barefoot. She ran tears dripping off her cheeks and didn't make it very far before she had to stop to catch her breath.

She looked over her shoulder nervously, hoping that nothing dangerous was following her and that maybe she wasn't the only one that ran to escape. She ended up turning to begin running again as far as she could before she stopped again to catch her breath and leaned against a rock so she didn't fall over from weariness.

Arin slowly took a few steps backwards as the beast approached him, now somewhat lit by the lantern in his hands. Never in his life had he ever witnessed a creature as ferocious as the one before him, he was almost paralyzed by its presence, the snarling of the wolf only made him feel that much more agitated.

TICK . . . . TOCK . . . . . TICK . . . . . TOCK . . . .

The sound from beneath coupled with the owl desperately trying to keep the group away snapped Arin back into reality. He took a step backwards and fell onto bottom for the second time. To his dismay the floor beneath him began to tilt, coincidentally towards the wolf. Even in the dire circumstance he couldn't help but find that bit odd. Arin rolled off of the platform, carefully keeping the lantern close to his chest, and stood up just in time to see Randold throw Anise out of danger with valor.

Randold said
RUN! YOU HAVE TO GET MOVING RIGHT NOW!

Without hesitation, Anise sprinted down the faint path and within a moment she was gone. Arin turned and to his curiosity, watched as Hania hung on the edge of the now tilted metal platform. Randold held his ground against the beast. As Arin watched the events before him, he suddenly felt hypnotized by his own thoughts. In his hand was the lantern, shining brightly. It was their only source of light. They were pretty much dead without it. Dark thoughts overcame Arin's thought process, the urge to leave both Randold and Hania to their deaths was excruciatingly heavy. He wanted to turn around and run, not because he had too, but because he wanted too.

As Hania screamed and Randold held his ground, Arin let his ill mind take over. He turned and sprinted down the same path as Anise, holding the lantern up high as he did so. The fact that they couldn't investigate the area further disappointed him, but maybe he could return soon. To both find clues, as well as admire Randold and Hania's corpses.

It didn't take long for the young man to catch up to Anise. He wasn't exactly athletic but there were a handful of physical activities that needed to be done in Mayloom to keep him relatively in shape, at least enough to run through a forest. Slowly the young man came to a stop a few feet from the princess, who was now resting on a rock.

"Anise," he said aloud, and cautiously began to approach her. The light from the lantern illuminated her face. He bent down to observe her condition. "Are you hurt?" By now his ill mind was in full swing. Arin admired her presence in the lanterns light for a brief moment. The two of them were practically alone in the forest, he could murder her pointless life now and nobody would know. Not even Randold or Hania. He could simply say she was mauled by a creature. The idea was utterly provocative but Arin's face remained blank.

"Can you walk?" He asked in a worried tone, keeping his thoughts hidden.

Hania's arms trembled from fatigue as she dangled from the top of the metal platform. She looked back down again to watch Anise and Arin run off into the woods before the grove grew black. Her fingers ached and slowly began to shift, within moments she couldn't hold on to the platform any longer. Her flingers slid over the smooth metal edge of the vertical platform and clawed hopelessly at its metal surface as she slid down in the darkness towards whatever lie beneath the platform. Her screams echoed into the woods adjacent so that Anise and Arin could both hear what they had done.

((No rune again, posting from phone.))
Randold's standoff continued with the wolf, as the platform became a less viable place to hold solid ground he had been sidestepping his way off the platform, quickly enough to get off it but not to startle the wolf. Then everything became dark, at first some terror threatened to retake Randold, but then he realized this was a good thing. It meant the others got away, just as he wanted besides there was just enough ambient lighting to make out the wolf, especially those large yellow eyes. The platform slid into its vertical position with a small thud, the woods became uncomfortably silent, all he could hear was his breathing and the harsh huffs from the wolf, then screaming? Randold looked up, not that he could see anything, from the sound of it someone was actually left behind.

Randold silently swore to himself, matters just got a lot more complicated, then an idea came to him. Randold shook his head before self preservation could kick in, for this idea was somewhat insane. He walked away from the platform getting some good distance, then simply ran at his highest speed. The insane part comes into play when guessing where the ground ends and the newly formed hole began because in this insane plan he had to jump over it. When he felt it was right Randold leaped forward his arms stretched out, when he came into contact with a small body he instinctively held her close has he started to roll forward. With a grunt Randold landed on the other side of the hole, although with absolutely no idea how close they were to falling.

Despite what has happened so far, Randold started laughing the hardest he had for years. They were still alive and the feeling was fantastic, however has Randold started to stand up pain exploded from his right ankle. He imminently fell back to the ground, a quick inspection revealed that it was not broken, only twisted. Didn't matter too much in this situation however as there was still the problem of the wolf and Randold was incapable of running.

Heart pounding, Anise panted heavily. She had never run like that before in her life. Well, perhaps when she was a child, but certainly not within her memory. She looked over her shoulder to see that the boy carrying the lantern had followed after and she smiled. She wasn't alone. That in of itself was a comfort. He began to ask her questions that she couldn't hear for some reason, maybe it was the pounding in her ears from her running so hard. "I-I can't hear you." She was so out of breath that the words were barely a whisper.

She was still standing in spite of her fatigue. The pounding stopped before too long and she heard his last question. "O-of course I can walk!" She stood up straight and wobbled towards the young man before stopping. "After I rest." Her tone was disappointed. She felt disappointed. She felt defeated. She was spirited away to some unknown land with strangers she didn't know and there were things out there looking to make a meal of them.

She looked down the path where they came from hoping that Randold and the other girl were following, but there was no sign of them. A scream echoed through the trees and Anise shuddered. What had she done? She had left them behind. In the dark. With that thing. Regret instantly hit her. Your actions will affect others, so take care which ones you take. Her father's wise words echoed in her memory. Randold had been the first one to show her kindness, he even saved her from a nasty fall, and she left him behind to fend off a monster.

She looked around for something, anything to use as a weapon, even a branch. In her head it was clear what she had to do next. She took a moment to stare at the young man with the lantern who's name she didn't know and pointed. "What's your name?" She waited long enough for him to answer before continuing. "We need to go back and help. I'll not have their deaths on my conscience. I'm Anise by the way." She grabbed a sizable branch that was loose on the ground and began to jog back up the path back to where they had come from.

She knew she was weak, scared, and didn't know how to fight, but she had to do something to help them. She couldn't live with herself if she let them die easily.

Randold & Hania

Arin said As Hania screamed and Randold held his ground, Arin let his ill mind take over. He turned and sprinted down the same path as Anise, holding the lantern up high as he did so. The fact that they couldn't investigate the area further disappointed him, but maybe he could return soon. To both find clues, as well as admire Randold and Hania's corpses.

With the lantern went the light. The wolf snarled, Hania screamed, the platform clinked and clanked, and shadows devoured it all.

Only just before the light was gone...

Randold said He walked away from the platform getting some good distance, then simply ran at his highest speed. The insane part comes into play when guessing where the ground ends and the newly formed hole began because in this insane plan he had to jump over it. When he felt it was right Randold leaped forward his arms stretched out, when he came into contact with a small body he instinctively held her close has he started to roll forward. With a grunt Randold landed on the other side of the hole, although with absolutely no idea how close they were to falling.

The owl silently released Randold's shoulder, unwilling to follow him in his madness. It flapped away, quiet, into the woods.

With barely enough light to see Hania's silhouette, Randold had brought her safely to the ground -- at the expense of his ankle, which was now trapped in a knot of roots. Upon first appearances he must have lodged his foot there when he landed, but they seemed to slowly be growing tighter around his ankle.

The last small flash of red light disappeared among the trees, and, Randold and Hania were left in complete darkness. Eyes closed or open, there was no difference -- there was only a thick, hungry black.

In the darkness, the ticking of the platform was hollow and deafening.

TICK . . . TOCK . . . TICK . . . TOCK . . . TACK!

There was a sound of a lock falling into place -- and then, quiet.

The wolf had stopped growling, but Randold and Hania would hear its paws moving in the weeds. They would hear it breathing -- a low, rasping sound.

And then, they heard something else. Something was snaking through the weeds, rustling and churning. There were several of them, weaving along the ground all around them. They were coming closer, all of them headed directly for Randold and Hania.

The wolf began to growl and snarl again, but it was not directed at them. The great wolf was moving through the weeds, its teeth snapping and paws digging. The roots around Randold's ankle were squeezing harder. They began to wrap their way up his leg. They were hungry.

And all the while, all Randold and Hania could see . . . was dark.

Anise & Arin

Arin said Arin admired her presence in the lanterns light for a brief moment. The two of them were practically alone in the forest, he could murder her pointless life now and nobody would know. Not even Randold or Hania. He could simply say she was mauled by a creature. The idea was utterly provocative but Arin's face remained blank.

It could have been a trick of the forest that pressed so close around them, but for a moment the lantern seemed to glow a slightly deeper red.

Anise said A scream echoed through the trees and Anise shuddered. What had she done? She had left them behind. In the dark. With that thing. Regret instantly hit her. . . . "We need to go back and help. I'll not have their deaths on my conscience. I'm Anise by the way." She grabbed a sizable branch that was loose on the ground and began to jog back up the path back to where they had come from.

The path rose and fell and twisted; it was overgrown with weeds and prickled flowers, crossed by jutting roots and fallen trees. It was rough, muddy in places; stones pricked her shoes and thorns tore her dress. All around, the forest was alive: crickets and toads, screeching rats, rustling leaves, and a sighing and murmuring echo that haunted the shadows.

But unlike the blind darkness she had run through to get here, now Anise could see. She could see the individual trees, she could see the branches and boulders that stood in her way, she could see the little animals flitting through the boughs and scurrying on the bark. To Anise, it all seemed illuminated as if by a full moon. Though Arin could only see what the lantern's light touched, it was Anise who had the ability of sight in the darkness.

It might have to do with the branch she had picked up from the path. If she were to investigate it a little closer, she might find a string of little runes burned into it. They sparkled, ever so slightly.

But this path was much longer than the one she had traveled before. Anise could run and run, but everything looked different, the path twisted in directions unfamiliar to her, and although she could see her surroundings she could not see the lantern-tree.

The path forked. The trail to the left led up a rocky hill, beyond which was the sound of falling water. In the distance along this path, candlelight flickered; Anise might even make out a small house beyond the hill, nestled comfortably in the rocks, a candle burning in its window.

The path to the right was thin, weedy and overgrown. Roots and fallen trees blocked the way, and shoulder-height weeds served as a perfect home for snakes and rats. This narrow path led down into a ditch, and on through damp moss-hung trees with crippled branches like fingers.

Hania's scream rang out again through the forest, shrieking in pain and terror. It came from the narrow path on the right.

Behind her, Arin was being followed. At first there had only been one firefly that emerged from the dark branches -- and everything, to Arin, was black beyond the reach of the lantern. And then, more fireflies flashed around him, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. They gathered together in a trail behind him, silently pulsing their yellow glow, as if in response to the lantern's red light.

Once again all seemed lost, the darkness was greater then ever Randold could no longer even see his hand. Strangely enough he did not feel terror, well really he felt nothing no emotion was left it seemed, not even the burning passion from earlier that helped him save Arise. Slowly the vine crawled up his leg, at first he tried shaking its tight grasp but only gave up, it seemed fruitless. Slowly his mind drifted, back to home, back to his workshop. More then ever he missed that old barn, it was his inner sanctum the walls filled with tools that only some carpenters could dream of, the days and nights practicing his craft. Some projects were small, craving simple figurines that he sold in the central market, while others were large, at least in the scale of the sleepy town he called home. Once he coordinated the building of a palisade around the village, the first major undertaking for quite sometime. He missed the old faces, the old sights, the peace seemed much too far despite, at least to his knowledge, that peace was not so long ago.

He then drifted off to the more recent events, the first time waking up in these nightmare woods, the first, short and quite honestly probably the last time he met with the others who came with him, shoved into darkness just as he. These lands were very strange, and of course very terrifying, yet above all else Randold surprised himself the most. He never has been much for jumping into action, he did do his part but no more then that. Here it was different, twice now he took risks to save others, first the princess Arise, then whoever the girl was holding know. Randold always believed in the common good, that in order to prosper people had to cooperate, that putting the well being of everyone above his own needs was paramount to his own identity. It was not until now that those beliefs been really tested, life and death situations tend to have that effect. In the end at least Randold could say, if asked, that he was steadfast in keeping true to this. His focus snapped back to reality, or whatever kind of reality was he living in. That's right he was still himself, he was still alive so was the girl, and hopefully so was Arise and the boy.

The vine has moved past his upper thigh, the pressure was only growing greater. He did not need to see to know the wolf was still there watching them, Randold knew now was not the time to give up. Up until this point he had only used action, what has that gotten him? As far as he could tell his actions only lead into more trouble, it was time to try something different, there had to be something other then brawn. If one could see Randold's face, they would be able to see the same fire in his eyes that shone before, before when he faced the wolf only minutes ago. He leaned down to Hania and whispered. "Do not worry, we're still alive, and for now that is enough."

He carefully lifted Hania out from under him, the last thing he needs is for her to fall down the hole or become lost in the shadows. He tried his best to stand up, only hampered by the vine, so instead he managed a half kneel.

He stared into the blackness, he mentally steeled himself then yelled to the wolf, and whatever was with it. "I do not know why we are here, and in honestly I do no need to. What I do know is that we... they, the others that came with me to this land, have done nothing wrong that they deserve to live. So I ask you, whoever you are, to allow us to leave, myself and the girl here with me, to reunite with our comrades." Randold paused unsure if he should continue, however he knew that just asking wouldn't be enough. "If my first request cannot be fulfilled, then instead only allow the girl to survive, you can consider my own life to be forfeit, that I will cease any struggles to resist only if she is allowed to escape." Randold deep inside did not expect to see either of his requests honored, even then he kept waiting for any kind of response, still peering into the dark with defiant eyes.

Anise practically wobbled towards Arin. Clearly she was somewhat disoriented from the running, which only seduced the now murderous mindset that was now running rampant. Against his will, the young mans eyes were wandering everywhere, searching for something he could use to attack the princess. He even considered using the lantern as a weapon but didn't want to break his only source of light, at least not now. As he looked around with ill intentions, something peculiar began to happen.

The lantern in his hands began to glow red. Had it happened earlier he would've found it strange but considering the rest of events that had already occurred, the light of the lantern changing colors wasn't too much of a surprise to him. Before he could examine the now red glowing lantern, Anise pointed a finger towards him shouting a question and barking orders.

Anise said
What's your name?

The young man hesitated for a moment, simply because he was slightly taken aback at the sudden energy in her voice. "My name is Arin. Arin Ackerman."

Anise said
We need to go back and help. I'll not have their deaths on my conscience. I'm Anise by the way.

Arin instantly grew desperate at her words, like a lion watching as it's meal sped off. He slightly cringed at her words but not enough to make it too noticeable. He did not want her to leave his sights, nor return to the other two so early. If he was going to end her life it would either have to be now or later, to do so would require the aptitude to knock her unconscious or injure. For some reason Arin lacked the strength to do so but certainty not the desire.

"Um, we shouldn't. We should stay here" A poor attempt at convincing the princess. With haste she sped off, back down the path they had arrived from. Arin bit his lip in frustration, but at least now he had a reason to return to where they had awoken. If Randold and Hania had been slain by the beast, maybe he could finish Anise there as well. All of the blame would go towards the beast. It was almost a perfect opportunity for him to finally satisfy his dark ambitions. None of their lives meant anything anyways, their battle for survival a worthless effort in his eyes. They would die. Someday.

By now Arin's sadistic side had completely overcome his thoughts. He couldn't help but recall the nights in Mayloom when his desires were just as strong and passionate as they were now. Except this time, he wouldn't be satisfying them by killing cattle. He was in the company of three complete strangers, in the middle of a dark forest, seemingly nowhere near Mayloom. What was at first a very unfortunate turn of events now felt like a godsend.

Then suddenly, a firefly.

"Huh?" Arin muttered to himself. He curiously observed the flying insect hover behind him. To his amazement, more appeared seemingly out of thin air. He gripped the lantern tightly, his eyes glistening the red and yellow light that illuminated his face. He admired the sight of the insects, and couldn't help but grow fond of their presence. He was mesmerized.

Arin pulled his eyes away from the curious sight before him, laying them back on the path that Anise had bolted down. With a malevolent expression in his face and movements, he followed the princess.

Anise took note of Arin's hesitation when he gave her his name, but she nodded once to acknowledge his response before giving him hers. Something felt off about the young man, but then again everything about this place was off. He gave a weak response that didn't stop her at all as she charged back down the path she had just come from.

However, Anise's steps faltered and she didn't make it far. Since when could she see so well in the dark? She glanced upwards, she couldn't see any moon through the leaves of these trees, and yet she could see just fine. She saw the house with the candlelight, houses meant safety, but someone lived there if there was a lit candle. Would they let someone come in? She shook her head twice. No. She had to find and help Randold and the girl. She looked around the path. Something had changed. This made her hesitate again.

Where was that tree? She hadn't gone that far had she? She had only run in a straight line... right? She heard the girl's scream again on the fork to her right. This had been a straight path, right? Her instinct was to follow the scream, but the direction felt wrong. Then again, she had stopped and turned around a bit. Where was the broken lantern tree? She scanned around for her high heels that she had kicked off for some sort of reference, but couldn't find them.

She cried out at the top of her lungs. "Randold! Other girl! I'm coming to help!" She felt odd calling out someone by their sex instead of their name. Back in her castle she had known everyone by name: her maid, the guards, the stable boy, the other maids, her father, her mother, and many others. She waited briefly for a reply before she slowly and cautiously headed after the scream she had heard. Her heart pounded so hard she thought that it might end up jumping out of her throat.

Hania screamed as Randold suddenly took hold of her figure, pulling her quickly up and over the platform. When he had landed she fell out of his grip and rolled out a ways from his body, she hit the earth with thud and a lowly grunt. She paused for a moment, dazed, before collecting her wits and trying to look around, she blinked a couple of times but could tell no difference between the two lenses.

Through the unhampered ticking of the forest she heard the entities snaking their way through the grass, the wolf fighting off -presumably- whatever was closing in on Randold and her. The a loud click followed the monotonous ticking coming from the platforms and the rustling was heard in full force.

Randold, having come back from the depths of his mind, grabbed her arm and pulled her up. He whispered to her:

Randold said "Do not worry, we're still alive, and for now that is enough."

Randold paused and Hania stared off into the darkness, trying to soak in the dark optimism that Randold had offered. She jumped at little when he broke the eery silence and directed his speech to the forest. After he gave his lengthy demands the cacophony of violence and not-so-sneaky stalking took its place. Anise's voice broke through the noise, faintly heard over the sound of the rustling roots and the floundering wolf:

Anise said "Randold! Other girl! I'm coming to help!"

Hania gulped when she heard it and yelled as loudly as she could, "Hurry!" She looked around in vain and gripped her rosary. She thumbed along it until she got to the small silvery rose in the center. She gulped again and began to pray out of desperation, her thumb followed along, touching each bead in order as she recited her mantras. The meanings seem deep, but she recites them without giving them a thought, its as if she's reciting from memory rather than meaning. As if she were reciting something in a different language than her own:

All the gods, deposed and ascended, I beseech now in my time of need,
Guthrun, deposed councilor, give me comfort as I ride into battle,
Runa, ascended councilor, give me the knowledge I need to defeat my foe,
Herleifr, deposed general, give me cunning that I might cheat death,
Ragnheithr, ascended general, give me foresight to counter my foes' advance.
Ethelred, deposed king, give me the courage to face my final foe,
Cynefrith, ascended king, give me righteous justice if I pass to the next life.

A battle prayer that Hania helped lead the faithful of Riverforde in before the War of 78 Sinclair. The gods' names would be foreign and unrecognizable to any but those from that world - that would be, the world of Anise Sinclair. She continued the prayer, as her finger passed a larger bead on the chain she recited a different mantra:

Bless me, make me holy, burn off my sins and restore my virgin soul.

Thomas' excitement at the opportunity quickly turned into panic as pain ripped through his hand. He grimaced and flinched, but made sure to do no more than that. He had already created an image of himself for the people around him -- someone who was calm and in control. Breaking that now would do no good.

So instead he swallowed his panic and slammed his fist into the ground, in an attempt to rattle off whatever was latched onto him. It didn't work, and before he could try again, another creature in the cocoon made it's presence known, in the best way possible. Through the holes, Thomas could see a long, slender animal -- the one that was biting him -- being attacked by a furry one. He felt the pressure come off his hand, and immediately grabbed the knife.

He spent no time inspecting his hand as he pulled it out of the hole, instead unsheathing the knife and spinning around in one motion. He leaped at the root, landing and sliding on his knees. It was quickly moving up the girl's leg.

He slammed the knife down onto the root once, causing it to flinch. His hand gripped the knife tightly, and he felt the vibrations from the impact. He briefly thought about how much his injury should be hurting, though he felt no pain at the moment.

Another violent, undisciplined swing was brought down onto the root, and it let go of the girl, quickly receding into the shadows.

Thomas had no time to catch his breath, however. Behind him, he heard loud snapping and cracking. He felt something land heavily on his back, and he looked over his shoulder in time to see that the strange cocoon of roots was alive and open like a hungry maw. It snapped down around the eldest of the group, swallowing him whole.

Thomas fully turned around by slowly rolling off his knees and landing onto his rear. He stared in a muted horror as the jaw of roots closed around the man and muffled his pained screams. The sounds that came from inside were awful -- Thomas imagination ran wild, creating images to match the gruesome noises.

Now vaguely aware of the rodent on his back, Thomas clutched his forehead with his injured hand in disbelief. Blood dripped off of it onto his brow and into his hair.

The strange warmth brought him back to his senses. He jerked his hand away from his face, quickly wiping off the blood with his sleeve. As the other boy tried to coax the thing that shook on his back, Thomas stared at his hand.

It hurt. And every movement made it hurt more.

In control. Be in control. He pushed aside the pain, picking the knife -- which he had dropped at some point during the older man's death -- up off the ground with his good hand. He tentatively held the sheath with his injured hand, sliding the knife back in.

He craned his neck awkwardly to get a better look at the rodent on his back. It must have been the thing that had attacked the snake, as it was covered in blood and clearly shaken up.

"Helpful little guy you are," he said to it, before addressing the girl and boy. "You two all right?"

He eyed the cocoon. "I can't say I think staying here is the best of ideas. We should leave."

(Oops)

Hania said "Hurry!"

Anise shifted direction when she heard the shout from the girl. Now that she could see so well in the dark she felt a bit braver now. She rushed as quickly as she could to get to them. She then was guided by the battle prayer of her homeland and found the two of them. Randold was being grappled by the vines which now seemed to be quite alive. She saw the metal platform they had been standing on had completely fallen in. She quickly acted by doing the one thing she could think to do: slam the branch she held into the vines to get them to let go. She didn't have much for strength, but she put as much of her weight as she could into the strike hoping it would do something. As she did, she began to recite the prayer herself.

"All the gods, deposed and ascended, I beseech now in my time of need,
Guthrun, deposed councilor, give me comfort as I ride into battle,
Runa, ascended councilor, give me the knowledge I need to defeat my foe,
Herleifr, deposed general, give me cunning that I might cheat death,
Ragnheithr, ascended general, give me foresight to counter my foes' advance.
Ethelred, deposed king, give me the courage to face my final foe,
Cynefrith, ascended king, give me righteous justice if I pass to the next life.

Bless me, make me holy, burn off my sins and restore my virgin soul!"

By the time she had finished she was quite out of breath, although the recital of the prayer that she heard her father say so many times gave her a strange comfort that couldn't be explained in words. In this strange and dangerous forest, at least there was one person from her homeland. One person that she had responsibility for and couldn't just leave behind. "It's OK.... I'm here." She panted. Her heart pounded. She shook with fear, but she had to help them. She couldn't leave them behind again.

Randold listened to Hania's prayer, the words held power and did bring some confront to him. The thing was however, the prayer was very unfamiliar to him, he had never heard it before, The names within it were strange, in reality Randold couldn't understand the higher meaning of the words, although he understood the basic meaning, a battle prayer seemed very fitting there. If he could get the chance later on Randold planned to ask the girl about this, the mystery of the woods only grew deeper as now he wondered where the others were from. Randold's sightless eyes moved upwards as he detected new movement, it was not the wolf that much he could have told. *whack* he heard the familiar sound of wood striking, the vines that encircled him shook with the force of the blow. Again the prayer was back, but this time it was not from Hania, to much of Randold's surprise it was Arise's voice.

Still Randold did not understand the prayer, although listening to it again he felt the same comfort. One thing he could admit is that he found some respect for Arise, it was still clear the princess was terrified, but she came back to help. Perhaps his initial judgment of her was wrong, maybe she could make a fair ruler, he knew that Arise couldn't see him but Randold gave a supporting simile in her direction. Randold had never been a truly pious follower back home, even then he still respected his gods, he knew a few prayers himself.

"Randolk, Brother of the Shield,
I ask you for protection from the northern winds on my journey home.

Yalmla, Patron of the Wayfarer,
I ask you for guidance so I may take the right road.

Ulthor, Speaker of the People,
I ask you for a sound tongue so I may speak with right judgment.

Althuria, Protector of the Stars,
I ask you to allow the night to shine bright so I can find my way.

Granoth, Master of Fates,
I ask you to change my destiny so that I am fated to return.

And finally,
Thorton, Keeper of the Hearth,
I ask you to protect the home so that my kin shall continue even if I were to fall."

It was only a simple prayer for travelers, of course Randold never had use for it himself, but plenty of outsiders had passed through his village that he kept it to heart.

Anise said She cried out at the top of her lungs. "Randold! Other girl! I'm coming to help!" She felt odd calling out someone by their sex instead of their name. Back in her castle she had known everyone by name: her maid, the guards, the stable boy, the other maids, her father, her mother, and many others. She waited briefly for a reply before she slowly and cautiously headed after the scream she had heard. Her heart pounded so hard she thought that it might end up jumping out of her throat.

The trees around her were dark, twisting, tangled, dripping with moss and lichen and thick swaths of spiderweb, their branches thin like veins. The ground was soft and fanned with ferns. The air had grown damp and thick and cool, as if just after the rain. Fog crept around her like something alive.

And then, fireflies appeared out of the fog, pulsing their light. They moved ahead of her, guiding her, while the forest seemed to creep all around.

Finally there was a break in the trees, and Anise would see the back of the lantern-tree rising up ahead of her. The wolf was digging in the ground, snapping at little striped rodents that darted in the weeds. Whenever a rodent would get close to Randold or Hania, the wolf would leap upon it and gnash it between its jaws. But only Anise could see this -- to Randold and Hania, it was only a terrible noise in the dark.

Randold said He stared into the blackness, he mentally steeled himself then yelled to the wolf, and whatever was with it. "I do not know why we are here, and in honestly I do no need to. What I do know is that we... they, the others that came with me to this land, have done nothing wrong that they deserve to live. So I ask you, whoever you are, to allow us to leave, myself and the girl here with me, to reunite with our comrades." Randold paused unsure if he should continue, however he knew that just asking wouldn't be enough. "If my first request cannot be fulfilled, then instead only allow the girl to survive, you can consider my own life to be forfeit, that I will cease any struggles to resist only if she is allowed to escape."

A low, rumbling growl emitted from the dark wolf. The hissing sound of creatures weaving through the grass grew closer. There were no words, but Randold would discover that he knew instinctively that the snarl was not a threat. It was a warning.

There was a voice in his head, like a hissing whisper in the depths of his ear. It did not belong to the wolf, but to something or someone that permeated the dark forest itself: I accept your bargain. She will be spared. And you, as forfeit, are mine.

At that moment, something small and light landed on Randold and stabbed the back of his neck as with a white-hot pin. A searing, crippling pain ravaged down his spine like fire.

Only Anise, perhaps, would see the huge black spider as it struck.

The wolf lunged forward, opened its jaws and wrenched the thing off of him; a crunching and snarling accompanied the hiss of the weeds around them.

Hania said The meanings seem deep, but she recites them without giving them a thought, its as if she's reciting from memory rather than meaning. As if she were reciting something in a different language than her own:

All the gods, deposed and ascended, I beseech now in my time of need,
Guthrun, deposed councilor, give me comfort as I ride into battle,
Runa, ascended councilor, give me the knowledge I need to defeat my foe,
Herleifr, deposed general, give me cunning that I might cheat death,
Ragnheithr, ascended general, give me foresight to counter my foes' advance.
Ethelred, deposed king, give me the courage to face my final foe,
Cynefrith, ascended king, give me righteous justice if I pass to the next life.
. . . Bless me, make me holy, burn off my sins and restore my virgin soul.

There was a small light in the darkness: the iron flower of Hania's rosary pulsed a faint glow, like that of the runes on the platform. To Randold's eyes, it softly illuminated Hania's face.

Anise said She quickly acted by doing the one thing she could think to do: slam the branch she held into the vines to get them to let go. She didn't have much for strength, but she put as much of her weight as she could into the strike hoping it would do something.

The roots around Randold's leg relaxed as if suddenly dead -- and so did the surface beneath them. For they were not sitting on the solid ground at all, but on a net of mossy roots that stretched across the gaping hole beneath the platform. The once-solid surface unraveled quickly, sagged, and dropped away under them like broken string. In the dark, Randold, Hania and Anise would find themselves suddenly falling.

Should any of them attempt to crawl back onto solid ground -- where the rodents were teeming and squeaking and hissing -- the wolf lunged at them with a gnashing snarl and shoved them forcefully back into the well.

Randold, Hania and Anise could cling to the roots as they fell, but they would only break away the moment weight was put on them. The sounds of rushing weeds and the growling wolf slipped away above them; in the darkness they could feel the air shift, and walls close in around them as they fell, and fell, with no way to know just how long they had to fall.

Far above them, a wolf howled.

They would catch a glimpse of fireflies before they splashed into the still surface of the water. It was warm and deep.

The fireflies hovered over the surface of the water, their pulsing glow reflected like glass. Only Anise might see that they were inside a wide cavern, and that a smooth rocky shoreline was only a short distance away.

Something beneath the water brushed Hania's leg.

Arin said He curiously observed the flying insect hover behind him. To his amazement, more appeared seemingly out of thin air. He gripped the lantern tightly, his eyes glistening the red and yellow light that illuminated his face. He admired the sight of the insects, and couldn't help but grow fond of their presence. He was mesmerized.

Arin pulled his eyes away from the curious sight before him, laying them back on the path that Anise had bolted down. With a malevolent expression in his face and movements, he followed the princess.

He had taken his eyes off of Anise. When he looked again, and no matter how far or fast he ran with the reddened light ahead of him, she would not reappear. He would not hear Hania's cries, nor Anise's response. Only crickets, and the sigh of the wind in the trees -- and a rustling and squeaking in the bushes.

The owl sat on a branch just ahead, watching him with eyes that stared into his soul. Beyond it, a single path led onward and up a hill. There was a small candlelight in the distance, and the sound of rushing water, but the light didn't reach far enough to show him what was there.

The owl swooped down from the branch with silent wings, opened its beak and devoured a few of the fireflies in one snap.

Cries, chanting, the howl of a wolf, a faint splash of water -- all of it led to the right, where with the lantern's help he might stumble upon the tree, the opened platform, the angry wolf with little rodents jumping on it and biting its pelt.

TICK . . . TOCK . . . TICK . . . TOCK . . .

The metal platform began to turn again, to seal the cavern once more.

Kituo said Hoping to useful for once, Kituo slowly approached the tall guy and tried to coax the rat off of him.

“C’mon little guy,” he said. “Its okay.”

He stopped a few feet away in hopes of maintaining some security. He didn’t expect the rat to heed his generosity – it was an animal after all. Kituo’s only goal was to try and lose the title of weakest link.

The rodent was a bit smaller than a squirrel, with ears each as big as its body and a fluffy tail that was striped tawny and brown beneath the matting of snake blood. Its whiskers wriggled, and it craned its neck back to stare with black beady eyes at Kituo. Its furry tail swished.

In a blink, it sprang off of Thomas and was suddenly clinging to Kituo's sleeve, its tail flinging in circles. With sharp little claws it scurried behind his neck and snuffled in his ear, its whiskers tickling his cheek.

And then, it emitted a piercing, echoing sound:

RRRRRRR-EK-EK-EK-EK-EK-EK

Its claws were digging into Kituo's shoulder and its jaws were open wide as it screeched, revealing a mouthful of thin needle-like teeth. Those teeth would immediately sink into whatever attempted to touch it.

Thomas said Now vaguely aware of the rodent on his back, Thomas clutched his forehead with his injured hand in disbelief. Blood dripped off of it onto his brow and into his hair.

The strange warmth brought him back to his senses. He jerked his hand away from his face, quickly wiping off the blood with his sleeve. As the other boy tried to coax the thing that shook on his back, Thomas stared at his hand.

It hurt. And every movement made it hurt more.

For awhile, the wound only throbbed and bled. And then, a tingling numbness began at the punctures and slowly, slowly spread into his palm, his fingers, his wrist. His heart began to pound, and his vision wavered in and out.

And then, a chemically induced fear gripped him. It was like a black ice that engulfed his stomach and dragged his heart into his gut, all while setting fire to his brain. The trees of the forest were stark and menacing, their branches and roots grasping for him, alive and teeming like snakes. The ground moved under his feet. The shriek of the rodent on Kituo's shoulder struck his ears like an icepick. Something in the woods was snarling, hissing, laughing, mocking him with jaws that would devour him like the minstrel. But all of this was obvious only to Thomas -- Kituo could neither see nor hear it.

To Thomas, the lantern's green light was beckoning, soothing. Out here, in the weeds at the edge of the light's reach, the pain and the screeching and the tremble of his heart were only growing stronger. The closer to the light he moved, the lesser his symptoms, the easier he could see and breathe and think.

The tree ticked and clanked on. The roots dragged back into the woods, leaving a trail of fragrant turned earth behind them. A breeze whispered through the trees above. The silver key glimmered in the grass.

In the distance, a wolf howled.

Ragnheithr,ascended general, give me foresi- ahhhHHHHHH!

The mess of roots had given way beneath them and Hania could feel nothing but weightlessness as she fell further into the hole under the platform. Her limbs flailed as she tried to fight against the wind's resistance. The glow of the rosary offered little light and little time to prepare for the impact of the water. She gasped, filling her lungs with oxygen, before hitting the water with a resonating [i]splash[i]. All around her she felt a warm, fluid void. She held her breath, but did not do anything to paddle herself up to the surface.

Suddenly, a something brushed up against her. Little breath escaped her as she was wretch out of her sensory deprivation. She opened her eyes quickly and looked around, trying to make out the entity by the light of the rosary. A sharp pain filled her chest as she began to run out of breath, she fought against the instinct to breathe. She struggled to ascend to the surface of the water, her arms and legs flailed almost as helplessly as when she was falling. When she finally broke the surface of the water she breathed in deeply and choked to the point of nausea. She looked around, trying to make out the vague figures of anyone who made their way to the surface also.