They can see you. They know you're here. They're watching. Watching. Watching.

Whispers echoed darkly. It sent chills through Salaria's body, and she wondered what they meant by they and who's watching. Her shoes were pounding against the dark soil as she ran through the shadowy forest, dodging tree branches and hurdling over logs.

It either must've been a strong hallucination or it must've been real. The trees were moving, digging and spitting up the dirt as they were following Salaria as she constantly ran through the Forest of Dark Matter.  She suddenly tripped and then her body sprung forward on to the ground. Again.

"Gosh darnit." Salaria cursed out loud and she glared at her surroundings. Pulling out the twigs in her hair. She looked around. There was a woosh as the princess observed her surroundings. She assumed there was nothing there, but she kept alert. Her shortsword and shield were at the ready.

"Ohhhh, Salaria." The voice echoed in a haunting woman's voice. Another shadow rushed in front of the princess and she was slow to swipe her sword.

She looked around once more, but then suddenly got knocked back. The force of the impact felt as if it were a horse pushing you down at full speed. The pain was abrupt, and Salaria had a couple scratches across her legs. She panicked and reached out for her sword and then quickly recovered.

"S-Show yourself!" Salaria demanded. "D-d you know who your d-deaking with?!" She called out, her voice quivering and her hands were shaking.

"A.... Princess...." Echoed the same errie voice.  The shadow stepped in front of Salaria. It took form of a woman, one with a pale face and dark hair and dark empty eyes. Her body was dispersing and fuzzy as it faded in out through space and time, overall; it was creepy. However, she was also wearing dark clothes to darken the mood even more.

"Y-y-yes!" Salaria blurted out. She held her sword out facing the shadow woman. She didn't appear to be intimidated by the sword. Instead she moved closer. Close enough to touch the sword even.

"Destiny's.... Child...." She added.

"W-who-what-are you?" Salaria asked.

"The Woman.... Of... Shadows..." The voice replied.

The Woman of Shadows touched the tip of the blade and lowered it. Salaria was choking on thin air. Her throat felt tight. She coughed a bit to clear her throat. The Woman of Shadows. It was nothing more than a story; one that's been told for over thousands of years.

"Y-You-Y-You, said something a-about, Destiny's Child?" Salaria asked her voice still quavering with fear.

"Death.... Destruction.... Terror.... Chaos."

"What does it all mean?" The princess replied.

"Danger."

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S

he already knew she was in trouble. The woman of shadows didn't really help her much. Salaria wasn't stupid. Perhaps it was some different kind of message she was sending her, but she seemed to be a witch, and Salaria didn't like witches or secret messages. And she didn't like it when people were very vague when they told her something that could possibly help her. Advice that would be more guiding... which really wasn't. And now Salaria was on her own, again. Alone. She fallen down a hill and she wasn't able to climb back up, she figure that the least she could do now was just survive. To survive this forest and never ever return. She'll beg the Gods to tear it down if she could, but she wondered how much trouble she would have to get to first, before reaching them.

A path was revealed behind the woman. And the Woman of Shadows pointed it out to her and motioned her to follow it. Salaria hesitated, she looked back, and wondered if she'll see everyone else again. She concluded that the Great Boomba was definitely looking for her and he'll find her soon. She had the stones with her. Maybe they can help him track her, or something. Salaria wasn't too familiar with the anatomy behind magic. And the way it worked.

Salaria nodded to the woman. She was obedient, and knew that whatever the woman was trying to tell her; something good might come her way and if something good didn't. Then she hoped that she would still be alive and return home. Just because her parents died, and a duke was running her kingdom. She prayed that she'll make it back all in all and hopefully this will be all over. Her feet were heavy as they walked across the dirt path interwined with twigs, sticks, roots, etc... anything that nature would decorate the path with.

It was intimidating yet, beautiful and all so strange and mystifying.

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Hope you guys enjoy! I'm excited for the next few chapters get ready for them!