Chapter 2: Forest
of Luna
The surrounding
seemed to loom over her. She felt as if she was trapped in a black vortex and
everything seemed to be spinning. A few eternities later, she realized that she
was actually on solid ground. She must have hit her head pretty bad when she
fell from her father’s horse. As expected, the horse was long gone. The girl
inwardly cursed when her rucksack cushioned the wrong part of her body rather
than her head.
Slowly standing up
and regaining her composure, she made her way through the dark forest. She knew
of this forest as it was forbidden for the villagers to enter unless one is trained
to survive through it. The total of people who made it out alive is
around five. But that was centuries ago. Nowadays the villagers tend to avoid
the Forest of Luna.
The forest is so
dense that sunlight barely made it through to its floor. This helped little
with the temperature since she felt it continuously dropped every passing
second. She knew venturing into the forest was risky but she needed to start
moving or she will freeze to death. The forest was eerily quiet, the only
sounds was the gust of cold wind that passed through the trees.
The girl started
walking towards what she assumed was north, although she didn’t know where this
direction will lead her. She used to hear travel stories that travelers tend to
head north, she was unsure why. But this was her best shot.
After walking for
what seemed like hours, the surroundings of the forest changed little. The girl
was tired and she did not pack any food. She did not imagine freedom would be
this…difficult. She looked around for any indication of food but the plants around
her were foreign. None of them were anything like she was used to. She found a nearby bush bearing fruits, they
looked like apples but something was different about them. There were sparkling
like crystals, their bright color contrasted with the dull background of the
forest.
“Pretty.” The girl
smiled and was about to pick one when a voice stopped her.
“Touch them and
you’ll die.” She turned to the direction of the voice. Standing in front of her
was a child.
“Humans aren’t
supposed to be here. Are you lost, human?”
The child asked, slowly walking towards the girl. As the child got
closer, the girl could finally see the true features of the child. First off,
the child appeared not to be human. Not full human that is. Her skin is green
with scales that lightly glimmer from the reflection of the crystal fruits. Red
wavy hair was slicked back to reveal no ears, only narrow holes that stretched
backwards. Aside from her skin and earless feature, the girl has all the human
features.
“Are you done
analyzing me?” The child raised an eyebrow, her tone snarky. “You’re definitely
lost since you obviously have not seen my kind before.”
“Your…kind?”
“The great serpent
race of course! We are the strongest clan in this forest! Our Raja has power
over this land…and beyond!” The girl boasted. She put both hands on her hips
and gave an obnoxious laugh.
Upon realizing
that she received the unexpected response from the human, who just make a
silent O with her lips and a careful nod, the serpent child ended her laugh
with a cough.
“Human, you are in
the presence of Seraphina and—
“Nice to meet you.
My name is Marie.” Marie did not actually mean to cut Seraphina off but she was
excited to meet another person after all those years trapped under her father’s
control. Not one person dared to befriend her, let alone to tell her their
name, because of the curse.
She offered a hand
to Seraphina as a sign of friendship but was slapped away by the child.
Seraphina was not amused with being cut off.
“How dare you cut
me off human! You are in the presence of a superior race. And I don’t need to
know your name, Marie. It is not of
importance for me to know your name for you will be my prince’s food.” The
surprised look on Marie’s face widened Seraphina’s smirk.
“I’m sure…I’m not
that tasty. I barely have any flesh on my body.”
The child
dismissed Marie’s statement by grabbing her wrist and pulled her down. Until
Marie’s eyes were leveled with hers.
Seraphina’s yellow eyes scanned her face before disappointment dawned.
She brushed back the blonde hair that covered Marie’s left eye and cheek for
further confirmation.
“You won’t do.
Man, this is a waste.” Seraphina sighed.
“Why?”
“Because you’re
ugly. The prince doesn’t eat ugly
girls.” Her matter-of-fact tone did not
offend Marie a bit. She was used to that description. All her life she was
called ugly. The left side of her face carries an old scar from her childhood.
Her once beautiful face was submitted to hot coals as part of her father’s
temperaments. It was the reason why the skin looked as if it melted from her
face.
Marie went back to
cover her exposed face with her hair. This does not mean she was ashamed with
her scar. She had wholly accepted this as part of herself. She knew the scar
would make people uncomfortable and that is why she covered it.
I mean really, why would I be ashamed of it when
people avoid me since I was born?
She once reasoned
with herself when she first got the scar all those years ago.
The only thing
that bothered Marie was that no one tried to get to know her in the first place.
And that is why she is happy regardless the obvious insults that seemed to roll
off from Seraphina. All those years of loneliness made her desperate for social
interaction.
“Well thank
goodness for that! I don’t want to be snake food!” Marie laughed out loud.
Clearly her laughter was not amusing since Seraphina only glared.
Several seconds
passed and Marie was getting uncomfortable. What
should I say next? Should I apologize?
Seraphina sighed
again and started to walk back wherever she came from. Marie wasted her time.
The prince needed his hundredth sacrifice soon. Her Raja is growing impatient.
She could not fail him.
“W-wait! Where are
you going?”
“I’m going to look
for another beautiful girl. Goodbye.”
“Wait Seraphina!
You have to help me! I need food and a place to stay.” Marie begged her new
friend. “We’re friends aren’t we?”
“Haaah?!”
Seraphina was shocked by the notion. Clearly this girl is crazy.
“You… stay away
from me. I’ve got work to do.” She took a step back, motioning for the human
girl to stay put. But as she took a step back, the girl took a step forward.
This was definitely not going to work.
“Pleaaase don’t
leave me. I’m hungry and I need a place to rest.”
“You should’ve
thought about that before entering this forest! There is nothing for you here!
You can’t eat anything from this forest because it will only kill you.
Goodbye.” Seraphina ran.
“Seraphina wait!
Aren’t there any humans in this forest?!” Marie chased the serpent girl. She
was unexpectedly fast…especially for a hungry girl. Seraphina knew she needed
to deal with Marie before she could continue with her search. She could not
possibly bring Marie to the Serpent lair unless she’s food.
After what seemed
like hours of running, Seraphina finally faced Marie head on.
“Alright, I’ll
help you.”
Marie tried to
calm her beating heart and gasped out a thank you.
“I’ll take you to
Leo’s place. After that I’m done and don’t look for me again. Got it?” Marie
nodded obligingly.
“Who’s Leo?”
“The only human in
this goddamned forest.” Seraphina sighed.
