Once Betrayed Never Forgotten

Chapter 30: Forest of Horrors

As the heavy bente door of the castle wings closed behind me, my heart skips a beat. Panic bubbles up inside, and I can’t help but turn back race upon the fortress I’ve just left. It’s a moment of realisation, of understanding that theres no turning back, even if I wanted to. The

castles or door embled with a hear, the giden door with the lion, and the silver door

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with the wolf — they ve all vanished into this air be their place, a worn old stone wall crusted with

ancient grey lichen and dusted with show, in traf an méryway in sight

Theers a sense of finallity in this moment. I have no choice but to move forward, to push onward into the night, into the unknown. The only guth has abeat, leading me down the snowy slope toward the vallary bellow: Three, in the distance, I ogeot a small cluster of golden lights – the village.

myho a place where I can dry people, humans like me who can offer

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ka 1 back dinon qe the village, thonights sacs Swings my mind. I stuld tell them about the horrors Để thựe canthe can the mountain, the prior in than gumpons, and my mother, trapped in a kind of tatianand Sackhadim syndrome, manuend and unduring by a beautiful momitium Ox perhapu; 19

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between me and that distant village stretchare a dags froest, an comimunu sarget of toren shrouded

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The shaad mona kuna overheal casting an wette grimson guw upon the snowy landscape. My

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Chapter 30: Forest of Horrors

As I walk downhill, the world around me becomes even more foreboding. The trees seem to press in on me, their skeletal limbs reaching out like gnarled fingers. My own footsteps are the only sound, muffled by the thick blanket of snow. It’s so quiet that the sound of my heartbeat fills my ears, a rapid, rhythmic reminder of my fear.

From time to time, I look back over my shoulder, in the direction from which I came – the direction of the castle. Eventually, the fortress’s dark spires disappear behind the treeline.

There’s a sudden sound, so quiet it’s almost imperceptible.

I pause, straining my ears, and that’s when I hear it – the hoot of an owl somewhere in the thick canopy

above me, low and mournful. It sends a shiver down my spine, and I quicken my pace. But then, another sound joins the chorus of the night the eerie howling of wolves. Closer now, much

The hair on my neck stands on end, and I force myself to keep moving.

“Stay calm, Arianna,” I whisper to myself, scolding myself for being such a scaredy cat. Sound travels weirdly in vallies, so for all I know, the wolves are miles away, and their howls are bouncing off the cliff faces or something.

Still, I quicken my place, moving quickly between the trees as I descend the mountain.

The moonlight casts long, twisted shadows on the ground, creating shapes that seem to dance and beckon. My mind plays tricks on me, conjuring images of unseen horrors lurking just beyond my vision. I can’t help but wonder if there are spirits or monsters that roam these woods, hungry for the souls of those who dare to enter.

I push on, the dread in my chest growing heavier with each step. My heart races, and my breath comes in short, shallow gasps.

I have to keep going. I have to get to the village. There’s no turning back.

But the path seems endless, and the forest seems determined to keep me ensnared in its dark But

embrace.

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Then, as I round a bend in the path, I see it strange silver lights dancing through the trees. They flicker and sway, their ethereal glow casting an eerie pallor on the snow. My heart seizes in my chest as I realise that they’re not the lights of the village in the valley below. No, these lights are something else entirely, something unnatural.

I take a hesitant step closer, my fear warring with my curiosity. The lights seem to beckon me, draw me closer, as if they have a sinister agenda of their own. I can’t tear my eyes away from them, even as my instincts scream at me to run.

to

Chapter 30: Forest of Horrors

And then, just as I’m on the verge of succumbing to their strange allure, I hear it again – the hooting of owls and the howling of wolves, closer this time, and all around me. I’m surrounded, and the lights in the forest seem to pulse with malevolent energy.

With a surge of panic, I flee, breaking into a run, crashing through the snow, stumbling over roots and rocks. The forest closes in around me, a living, breathing nightmare. My heart pounds in chest, and the red moon casts its ominous light on my desperate flight.

I can only hope that I reach the safety of the village before whatever lurks in the dark forest

claims me as its own.

my

Chapter Comments

EJ

wonder what those lights are?

POST

Wouldn’t it be great if she ran into some werewolves that actually took her in and wanted to protect her from the so called monsters.

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