The scholar had spent the rest of the day in almost dead silence. The woman kept making jokes and japes, but he could tell she wasn’t doing particularly well. They had left the mountains at morning and had hit flat land. In the distance Vincent could see the foreboding edge of the Red Forest, its massive trees towering in defiance to the horizon. Their leaves were a mottled mix of crimson and brown, the curse slowly fading and allowing nature to take its course.

The sun was overhead as they hit the edge of the foreboding forest, the leaves obscuring the sun. The scholar stretched for a moment and sighed. “Welcome to hell, this last mile will be the most dangerous yet.” The scholar turned to the two Vikings and chewed his lips. “Everything in this forest is built to kill, it’s where the wolves were born.” Vince gestured to the hounds. “They’ll be running around keeping the wildlife busy with the rest of their pack, but we still need to keep an eye out for vines, evil soul sucking flowers, and deadly butterflies…” The scholar began to stretch, limbering up for their upcoming ordeal.

“I’m thinking one of us should carry Freja, there’s no way she’s going to be able to make this trip unassisted.”