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[quote=Simon]After she had started to walk away he waited 5 seconds and decided to follow her, it seemed better than waiting for any more of those rodents or even potentially worse ... threats.[/quote]

The old woman had turned her back on the lantern and the ticking tree, and she shuffled resolutely into the woods without a backward glance. There was no path -- only damp roots and mossy stones and cobwebs on the trees -- but she knew exactly where she was going.

After a few moments of walking in the woods, the red light of the lantern behind them was blocked by leaves and branches. Everything was suddenly very dark, until Simon would barely be able to see his hand in front of his face, let alone the stones and roots that threatened to trip him.

"If you don't want to be [i]eaten[/i]," Yurei snapped from the darkness in front of him, "you had best hold onto my shawl. Keep a good grip. It'll only get darker and I won't carry you."

The darkness enveloped them both. The sounds of the forest teemed all around them: rustling leaves, chittering squirrels, screeching, croaking, buzzing, scratching. Yurei led Simon on over rocky ground, around trees, down small inclines, through mud and bramble. She was blind: she never needed to see where she was going. To Simon, however, all of it was darkness.

Something moved near his right arm. It was only a faint brushing sound, but in the darkness Simon might sense that something big and alive was walking just behind him.

A warm breath tickled the back of Simon's neck. It smelled like rotting flesh.