The small path that supposedly led to Shanus was narrow and weed covered. They walked on the two dirt strips that were worn down from the occasional cart.

They had only been traveling for about four hours and already Breece's feet were sore from the small rocks poking through his thin leather shoes.

They mainly walked in silence though sometimes trading a few complaints.

Breece kept staring into the forest surrounding him, although he didn't know whether it was in hope to see some animals or plants he had never seen before or to see if a large beast was going to leap out and rip him into tiny little pieces of minced meat.
Breece shook off the thought.

Linda gasped, and pointed up ahead.

There were several four legged, brown shapes ahead, grazing on the luscious green grass that grew in the middle of the track. They were close enough that Breece could see small circles of white on there backs.
"Deer." Ava whispered, "How beautiful."

There was a small spiky with them but no large stag with the three hinds. As the friends walked a little closer a doe lifted its head and looked at them.
In no hurry they wandered off the path and into the brush.
The friends said nothing and continued on there way but as they crossed the spot where the deer once stood, Breece peered into the forest in hopes to see the deer again. All he saw was green, they were gone.
..........

"Can we have a rest now?" Davis groaned, "I think I'm getting blisters."

Breece looked up at the sky which was a few shades darker than before, he couldn't see the sun through the tall trees, but if he could, he guessed it would be just kissing the horizon.

They all shared an exhausted look and sat down on the soft overgrown grass along the side of the trail.
Breece opened his bag and sorted through the contents; several material bags of dried meat, sacks of nuts, bread, cheese, a scratchy blanket, some old worn rope, his favourite knife, and his water sack.

"We can't stop for long." Ava sighed and opened her bag, pulling out her water sack and taking a small sip.

Linda chewed on a tiny piece of dried meat while Davis, who had removed his thin shoes, wriggled his aching toes in the dirt.

Breece looked into the darkness between the trees as he took a sip of his water.
He couldn't help but shake of the feeling that somewhere in the trees, amongst the ferns and creepers, hundreds of eyes were watching.
------------
The sun had set about an hour ago and they were left to walk in almost complete darkness. The moonlight rained down through the narrow strip of open sky above them, just enough to ensure they can see the track ahead.

The temperature had dropped many degrees and the friends had wrapped thin blankets around their shoulders.
They didn't seem to keen on sleeping the night out here just yet, where strange noises seemed to drift from the forest around them, which was now pitch black.
Linda made a whimpering noise when a long, distant wail came from somewhere in the darkness.
Davis walked up front with Breece and the two girls followed close behind, side by side, the one in the middle having to step through grass in the middle of the track.

Ava wondered if they should call out to Oliver and see if he was close enough to hear them. They didn't know if he was 100 metres up the track or a mile away. It was hard to tell in the dark.

She wanted to call out, but there was something that kept them walking in silence, and if they did speak, it was in a hushed whisper.

Ava didn't know how long they had been walking but her feet were killing her. The uneven but smooth cobblestone streets of Sculven were nothing compared to these tiny sharp rocks and the prickles that jabbed at her ankles.

The silence was broken by Davis who whispered, "We didn't even say bye, you think they'll come looking?"

"No, we're just getting Oliver then being back by tomorrow night, right?"

Ava, Breece and Davis shared a look.
"Yeah, sure." Ava said.

After about twenty minutes of more walking, exhausted, they decided to stop for the night. But they would continue early in the morning.
So they walked to the side of the track, into the soft overgrown grass and made nest-like places by flattening the grass. They placed their hard bags as pillows, wrapped themselves in the cheap blankets and made an attempted to get to sleep.
Ava lay back to back with Linda and eventually fell into darkness from the exhaustion.
Breece lay next to Davis, who was snoring quite loudly. After what felt like years of staring at the stars through small gaps in the foliage, eventually fell asleep.
-.-.--..-
K, well, yep
Thanks for reading this far. Keep going though, it'll get better and it's going to get intense real soon. Okay... bye hanks again