In which Oaf, James, and Monique encounter ogres, and James gets added to the menu.

Oaf hopped over the ring of mud. The enchanted sack slung over faes narrow shoulder. Monique and James followed, stepping over the mud with care. Oaf noticed that a small ribbon of mud pulled away from the rest and reached for Monique's shoes. A thrill of fear ran through Oaf. If the mud had started moving, they were all in more danger than they knew. Oaf glanced at Vates, but the old mushroom only waved to them before retreating into the clearing. Good, Oaf thought. Vates hadn't seen the mud move. Knowing would only worry him more.

"Ready?" James asked. His gaze searched Oaf's face but found only soft cherub cheeks and dancing eyes.

Oaf nodded and led them into the woods.

They walked for what James and Monique guessed must have been an hour. Deeper and deeper, they went following no real path. They climbed over fallen trees, scrambled up hills littered with pine needles, their fingers digging into the soft, damp earth. After what felt like an eternity, Monique stopped, huffing from her latest effort in making it up through a vast patch of thick ferns.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" she asked Oaf. Her hands were covered in dirt, her pajamas muddy and wet. She sighed, trying to rub some of the dirt off her hand on a nearby fern with little luck.

"Of course," Oaf replied. Fae stood poised to climb over yet another fallen tree, this one much larger than any that came before it. Oaf stopped and turned to examine the children. Both trailed far behind, and James was only just now making his way up the last hill. "We should stop and rest." Oaf took the bag from his shoulder and opened it.

"A snack sounds amazing," Monique said, closing the distance between Oaf and herself.

James hung back, catching his breath, relieved he didn't have to deal with his glasses. He hated how they fogged up and slid down his nose when he got sweaty, and right now, he was sweaty.

He surveyed the area, his magically improved sight lighting the Dark Woods when something crunched in the underbrush behind him. Something large. James turned to peer down the fern-covered slope he'd just climbed and saw nothing. He turned back to Oaf and Monique but saw only the bag. They were gone. Then something large and robust grabbed James around his middle and picked him up.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" grumbled a deep voice.

James struggled against the massive hand to no avail. The creature's skin was as rough as sandpaper. Its breath smelled rotten and fetid. James coughed at the rank odor and yelled for Oaf and Monique, but they didn't come.

"Is it human? It smells sweet like a human," came another gruff voice. "I haven't eaten human in ages." A large nose sniffed the top of James's struggling head. "Can we eat it now?" A massive rivulet of salvia landed on James, soaking the side of his face and shoulder.

"Raw? So barbaric," said the creature that held James. "I say we roast it."

"Oh, with potatoes and squirrels," sang the second. "Maybe some walnuts."

The first sniffed the air. "I smell more," it bellowed. "Over there." It lifted its large chin in the direction the abandoned bag lay. "Go check it out," it ordered the second.

"Why me?" the ogre complained but started toward the bad despite its complaints. "Why do I always have to do the dirty work?"

The second ogre approached the small bag and poked it. "It is empty," it said and sniffed the air. "But it smells of human. Perhaps there is another hiding in the trees?" It tilted its massive green head. "Oh, little human. Come out, come out wherever you are!" it sang.

"Oh, stop being stupid," shouted the first. "Leave the bag and let us get back and enjoy a warm dinner."

The ogres laughed as they carried James away.

(680 Words)

What happened to Oaf and Monique? Will they be able to save James? What will happen next?!? 

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