"The place we all fear."

Sharp pine needles tore at Aldwin's face, seeking his blood as he pushed through the dark pines behind Gwen. He could hear her laughter up ahead, as the sky up above became the two Lekki children grew darker and darker with every passing footstep and the reality of what they had done began to sink in. 

They were in the Wild Woods, the place of no sunrises and the land without hope. The place where no Lekki could survive, yet here they were, Aldwin chasing after Gwen like it was some silly game. Perhaps it would be best if they thought of it like a game.

It didn't take long for Aldwin to catch up with Gwen, as she wasn't all that fast especially in the long, baby blue dress that brushed against her ankles that she was wearing. Gwen was hunched over, her hands on her knees, gasping for breath, when Aldwin finally caught up to her. 

Unlike Aldwin, she had simply dashed into the woods without so much as looking where she was going and the blood dripping from the scratches on her cheek was proof enough for that. To Aldwin, it looked like she must have cut her cheek on an, especially sharp branch.

"This is why you should've stayed," Aldwin grumbled, cupping his hands around Gwen's face to inspect her wound. It wasn't deep, thankfully, but it still caused Aldwin to worry. If Gwen had gotten injured just heartbeats after they had entered the woods, then what dangers lay ahead?

 At least Gwen hadn't injured her foot, or else they'd have to turn back before they even began. However, fresh blood was still something to worry about, as who knew what types of creatures it might attract.

"I'm...fine..." Gwen said in between gasps for breath. "It's not...like it matters much...anyways," she said, standing back up and looking deeper into the woods. However, all she saw was shadows, in every direction she looked. "Looks like there's no going back now, is there?" Gwen asked the faint smile on her lips fading away at the realization of her choice sank in. 

Then again, even if she did go back, she knew what was waiting for her there. And there were some things that were far worse than the Wild Woods. Especially for someone like Gwen.

"It seems so," Aldwin said, looking around.

"Not that I want to go back, mind you," Gwen added, straightening her posture.

"Of course."

"Because all that's waiting for me back at home is marriage, to some man from one of the southern cities, who is probably, twice my age," she said.

"You talk a lot," Aldwin grumbled, although he wasn't really listening to what she had said. Instead, he was trying to figure out which way to go.

Gwen giggled at Aldwin's comment before turning her back to him, so he wouldn't see her sly smile. "So I've been told," she said. "Do you know where we're going to go now, Aldwin?" Gwen looking around, but just as last time she only saw darkness and shadow that seemed to grow thicker every passing moment. "Or should I just point in a direction and we see what we can find there?" she suggested.

Gwen turned back around to face Aldwin, hoping that he'd have some form of a plan, but he was just as lost as she. There was no sense of direction in these woods at all. Only shadow and dark trees in every direction, no matter how hard Aldwin looked.

"Let's just keep heading west," Aldwin said, as he began walking in the direction they had entered in, hoping it was west. "Once we find a water source then we can follow that to wherever it leads," he continued, as they began to walk. 

The pace was slow, even though both Aldwin and Gwen had plenty of energy, they thought it would be best to save it for more dire times and the cool air of the Wild Woods felt good on their faces. In a strange way, the woods were peaceful. If not unnaturally silent, besides the howling of the wind.

"Do you think we'll run into any Mutare?" Gwen asked, after a particularly long stretch of silence. "I mean, I know this is the Wild Woods and everything, but wouldn't most Mutare fight on the front lines, just like us?" she asked, hoping that Aldwin might have some answers to put her uneasy mind at rest. 

However, Aldwin didn't say anything, allowing Gwen to ramble on.

"You don't suppose they might have, like villages, or something, do you?" Gwen asked trying to picture the dark creatures of the night sitting around a fire in a small cottage just like the Lekki. "That would be so weird."

"They might," Aldwin said, not looking back to face Gwen, but instead keeping his eyes fixed on what lay ahead. "No one has really ever gone very far into the Wild Woods, before," he said, although he had to admit he was curious about this too.

"And what about Golden Eyes? Do you think he's real?" Gwen asked, trying to calm her nerves. "I mean, of course, I don't, because that's just a stupid legend some drunk old man made up a long time ago, but I was just curious if you thought he was real or..." Gwen trailed off, not sure what else to say.

Aldwin stayed silent for a moment more, his mind turning over Gwen's question. They walked in silence for a very long time, as Aldwin thought about Gwen's question, trying to decide what he did think about it. Did he think that Golden Eyes was real?

"Well, all legends hold some truth in them," he said, finally finding his answer, "and I doubt the tale of Golden Eyes is any different," he said, and Gwen felt her blood run cold at his words. So he did believe in Golden Eyes. "Although, I doubt that it's really some five-hundred-year-old beast," he added, upon seeing the fear that flashed through Gwen's eyes. 

The last thing he wanted was for her to be afraid. 

"It's most likely just some Mutare with golden eyes, nothing out of the ordinary," Aldwin said, firmly, and Gwen felt herself sighing in relief at Aldwin's words, as they somehow comforted her.

"I sure hope so," Gwen said, although she was beginning to feel the fear of leaving her home in trade for this dark and strange world around her now. 

A decision that she had made and was now planning to stick with it. "

"I mean, it's impossible for Golden Eyes to be some twelve-foot giant, capable of leveling an army with just a single glance, right?" Gwen asked, with a nervous chuckle, repeating her favorite tale of Golden Eyes as a child. The one that her parents had told her every night, beside the fireside. However, in Astrakane, it seemed like every family told a different story.

Aldwin snorted in amusement. "Or that he takes the form of a little kid, and lures unexpecting Lekki to their deaths?" Aldwin asked, repeating the story his sister had told him all those years ago when he had begged her for a story.

"Now that's one I've not heard before," Gwen said, giving an actual smile. "Perhaps you could tell it to me sometime," she suggested, and Aldwin nodded as if making note of it for later.

"Maybe I will," he said, giving her a playful grin.

"Promise?" Gwen asked, still smiling.

"Promise," Aldwin said, with a nod, "but for now let's keep moving," he suggested, hoping to put as much distance between them and Astrakane as possible, just in case someone from the army did come in search of them. However, it was unlikely that anyone but them was foolish enough to enter the Wild Woods.

As the two Lekki children began to move once more, they remained oblivious to that they were being watched by a creature hidden just out of sight, and that the strange song that the wind always seemed to carry had become as silent as death, as if a warning call to the Wild Woods. 

"How strange," a voice said, bearing a strange accent, "to think of a creature in the form of a child, luring Lekki to their deaths," it whispered to itself, and it shook its head before it continued to silently follow the two Lekki children, it's golden eyes glowing as brightly as the moon.

A U T H O R ' S N O T E

I'm screaming right now.

I know you can't hear me.

But trust me.

I am.

(I always am)

Thanks for reading and please vote/comment!

Until next time!