Chapter Two.
The Forbidden Forest!

The four came to the edge of the forbidden forest which they would have to entire and cross before they could reach the snowy mountains.

Amber looked and said "This forest is so prosperous but filled with evil because the growth is done by the evil one herself so it is fill of thorns and thistles."
“I hate to have to go into it but it must be done in order to achieve what must be done.

The prince looked into the forest and said with a slight shiver “I can feel the cold evil radiating from the forest I hear it is full of dark creatures that love to eat fairies and elves they distaste humans and only feed on magical creatures when they stray into the forest the rest of the time they feed of each others children”.

Grendle shivered but put on a determined face and said “Well let’s do it I am ready”.

Denfares expression did not change he didn’t even shiver and nodded in agreement “I’ll go first” he said and stepped into the forbidden forest.

The others following slowly behind.

The forest was indeed evil even if you were not magic you could tell tall twisted trees reached into the sky but nothing was straight everything was black and twisted as if in pain the bushes were all black thorn bushes the river which ran through was black as pitch the soil was black with dark brown moss and rotting leaves for a carpet full of poisonous mushrooms and fungi and the forest was covered in a veil of darkness.

Amber and Jasper looked around with pained faces as they said together almost poetically“Once this forest was known as heaven on earth the most lovely things grew hear and Unicorns Reindeer Moose and many other magic creatures lived in this place. Now since her return she has poisoned it turned all thing good into evil now it is full of two horned monsters called vamptures they have a horses body horns curled like a goat and a face of a horse but monstrous with two long teeth it sucks life out of whatever it touches. The Reindeer turned into a more hideous version of a monster deer who instead of turning things they touch into joyful happy things they turn them into fungi and dark thorns.The Moose are the most frightening instead of gold they turn things into stone anything. So if you see one do not touch it or you will be turned to stone. Besides that there are Werewolf’s,Trolls, Vampires and Goblins in this forest as well. So the sooner we leave the better”.

Grendle looked visibly shaken as he looked around him his hazel eyes growing wider with every sound bow strung and ready in his hand.

Denfare looked at the two little fairies and nodded then he two scouted the forest but he did not look shaken he did not jump at every noise but he two strung his bow and kept his sharp eyes looking out.

The only visible sign that he was a little afraid was when Amber mentioned Vampires then he flinched but only for a second and Werewolves as well but that was only for a few seconds then he composed himself strung his bow and said in a whisper “I will go first Jasper and Amber follow and Grendle follow behind” .

The other three nodded not in the least surprised that he was taking charge.

Only Grendle who frowned at this sudden change of leadership but said nothing as he followed from behind certain that the fairies knew what they were doing.

He even smiled a second as he watched Amber from behind when he first saw her he thought of her as no more than a child but after this he thought of her as more of an older girl a very pretty one at that even if she reached only to his knee.“Stop that!”He said to himself. “You are supposed to be guarding her back and you can’t very well do that if your mind begins to wander now can you”?“And you have to guard your own back as well what if something jumps on you from behind then everyone is dead”.

So he shook off the daydream and watched and listened as they all made their way through the forbidden forest.

The forest was indeed a very creepy place with thorns bushes no leaves and eerie noises coming from the trees and no light it was darker then dark and no light anywhere Amber's eyes glowed with a blue light which looked like two headlights and so did Jasper's and for some strange reason so did Danfare but his glowed a bright yellow.

Grendle followed behind to nervous to notice that his friends eyes were strange as they moved on the black swamp was the source of a stench that the people said was death to any human who breathed it so as they passed it he held his breath and went on he noticed the others were doing the same so he knew he was right suddenly a stench worse than rotting meat filled the air and he almost tripped over something he dared not look down as he saw Amber she her head and Jasper looked as if he would puke .

Danfare did not change his expression but looked around with intense yellow eyes as if something was hiding !

Amber suddenly said in a low but urgent voice get away from the swamp now!

That was the only warning he got as a tentacle arm reached out of the swamp and rapped its arm around Grendles leg and pulled him into the black swamp before anything could be done he tried not to breath as the swamp monster pulled him under and began to squeeze him the breath was also being squeezed out of him and he gasped and that was the last he remembered.

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A hand was pressed over Amber mouth as she was going to let out a scream and was pulled back into darkness away from the swamp she turned angrily onto Danfare her eye glowing with anger ,"Why”? She gasped as he took his hand away from her mouth “Why didn’t you help”?

His golden eyes glowed with a fierce intensity as he said in his husky low voice

“Because then we would have both gone under and there would be nothing you two could do to help that swamp is death itself and no one who go in comes out alive”.

“No”! She gasped “We elves all have the power in us deep in us to perform miracles but us little ones hold it the most."“If there was some way to get him out then I could try to heal him you have a plain right?”

She looked at both of them her eyes glowing with hope.

Then Danfare smiled a wry smile and said “I do have one it is dangerous but I do.” “I have done a study on this monster and it seems the thing that draws him is dead meat he loves that more than fresh caught so here is what we will do” .

The other two listened grimaced but nodded in agreement .
They headed back to the pound and saw it the black rotting corps of a man who had breathed the air taking from a pouch at his side Danfare retrieved a pair of deerskin gloves his eyes glowing with a fierce determination as he walked toward the corps holding his breath one hand on his knife.

The two fairies watched and grimaced as he touched the corps he must have been very strong or the corps was extremely light because he picked it up with one hand and swung it over the pool suddenly without warning two monstrous tentacles shot out of the water flinging something or someone out as Danfare dropped the corps and caught the body of Grendle who looked half dead.

But Danfare hurried back away from the pound and into the darkness where the others were.

Amber knelt by the half drowned bloody body and she put her tiny hands on the place where his heart was then she shut her eyes and began slowly moving her mouth but not making a sound .

The others watched in silence heads bowed as she began the healing process .

Time went by an hour and nothing happened Amber was all sweat and tears but had a determined look on her face a look that told you she would go on no matter what until she had completed what she started .

Suddenly a gasp came out of Grendles mouth!

Both men looked up and watched in amazement,when he spouted out black water his face pale but he opened his eyes and Amber now in tears of happiness stood up and smiled stepping back a few paces.

He stood up on wobbly legs and looked around with a dazed expression on his face.

Danfare went up to him and supported him as he toppled forward he looked about him and said“What happened to me”?

“You almost got eaten by the Kracken” said Jasper“But thanks to Danfare and Amber you are alive."

“And we should continue on” said Amber “This forest is not a place to linger and is almost night the time in which this forest awakes and the strange creatures emerge let us try to get as far away from this place as we can”.

The others nodded in agreement and they once again set off down the path that led them out of the forest.

Darkness came all to quickly it was not safe to travel by night as dark as it was during the day during the night It was black as pitch and the only light to be seen was the light of their own eyes.

They continued on deeper and deeper.

The sounds of night in this place well let’s just say were nether animal nor man but had the feeling of dead tortured souls And they all wanted to get out of this place as fast as they could for it was said in legend that the son of Giliad Price of all the kingdoms and ruler of every province was held captive here and that the evil queen was using his power to keep the forest and everything around it evil.

All the creatures knew whatever could be strong enough to make even he the most powerful creature on the planet bend to evil.They wanted no part of. Some say he had done it willingly others say he was forced into doing it.

Amber and the others did not care. Anything evil they wanted no part of. So they hurried to find the end of the forest.

They suddenly found themselves in front of a cave that went deep into a cliff hear the sound of tortured screaming could be heard and the cackle of evil laughter which sent shivers down their spines was heard deep in it .

Danfare looked at Amber and Jasper “Someone is being tortured up there” he growled “I cannot allow it we must stop it.”

“But how”? Said Amber “How can we get up there and even if we can we don’t know what is torturing him or if we can even defeat it”!

Both Jasper and Danfare looked at her with shocked eyes and she knew if she could see his Grendles would look the same.

She blushed in the darkness and sighed “Well what can we do”?

Danfare looked up and said “I have a plain but first we have to get up there I think I can make the jump”.“just wait a moment”.

He suddenly disappeared as moonlight shone into the place where he stood and in his place was a large black wolf with shinning golden eyes!

Amber hide behind an astonished Grendle and Jasper also peaked behind his shoulder the wolf looked at them all rolled his eyes and came up to them Grendle put his hand on his sword hilt and the wolf showed his teeth in what looked like a grin.

Then Amber heard in her head a voice that shocked her Danfares voice and he said,“It is rare to find someone and even rarer that a fairy would be able to communicate with a ware wolf but you are one such. It even surprised me.
You do not need to be afraid I will not hurt any of you a wolf protects his pack and I will not let anyone get hurt. Tell Grendle to get on my back and hold on.
You get on two .
I can make the jump now that I am a wolf” .

Amber told the others what he said Jasper seemed shaken that she could talk with him and Grendle speechless but they both got onto his back a bite gingerly but soon they were holding onto his fur and he made the jump and landed on the edge with a noiseless thump and they quickly got off his back.

"He wants you to scout out the area"said Amber to Jasper,“Since you are the smallest and can fly.”

Jasper pouted but flew off into the cave hiding behind anything whenever he had a chance .

The wolf then turned to look at the others and Amber looked at Grendle and said“Your kind are experienced trackers and hunters so you can sneak without noise follow us into the cave as silently as possible”.

Grendle nodded and Amber climbed onto Dnefare back and hide in his fur as he crept silently into the cave.

The cave went deep into darkness they soon came to a ledge were they saw a sight that they would never forget Sitting on a chair of a glowing substance was a dark hooded figure next to him sat a Goblin holding a whip and kneeling on the ground cut with whip lashes was a young man cloths torn and bloody.

They could not see his face but they could tell he was in pain .

Amber flinched Jasper shook with anger and Danfare growled silently in his throat while Grendle looked on with disgust.

Then the hooded figure spoke it was a woman’s voice and she said “Will you yield now or must I force you again I can no longer control a will as strong as yours so you must yield now or I shall be forced to place you into the pit until I break you which would be a shame you have such a strong will which I could use it would be a shame to break it but if you do not yield I may have no choice.”

The young man got painfully to his feet and stood looking at her in the eye and said in a deep voice with all the strength he could muster “I will never yield”.

He shook but his voice did not falter.

The woman shook with rage and said "Then you will rot in hell!"Take him away."

The Goblin sneered and grabbed him by the arm pushing him roughly as he dragged him out of the room.

“Follow”whispered Amber to Jasper who only hesitated for a moment then flew after the Goblin.

Then they waited until the room emptied and Jasper returned and went the way the Goblin had gone.