Chapter 13

Arestasia's team walked out of the inn. The sun was shining brightly as the birds and cicadas sung in their own little chorus. Dawnni squinted as he went outside. 

"Sheesh! It's so bright outside!" he exclaimed.  

The door opened behind them. It was the bartender. 

"Now remember, grab a good handful of Benben seeds and bring them back here. The Faded Woods is in that direction." 

The bartender pointed towards a rocky road that lead to a giant area of trees.  "Don't come back unless you got 'em!" 

The bartender went back inside and closed the door. The team began to walk down the road. 

"Why are we even helping that jerk anyway?" Arestasia asked. 

"As rude as he was, we still owe him for letting us stay the night for free." Lupin replied. 

"The only thing I owe him, is this heel in his a*s..." 

"Speaking of; how are you managing all this travel in heels?" Dawnni asked. 

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out!"  Arestasia winked.  

Several moments later, the team had reached the Faded Woods. The lush green trees stood 30 feet tall. The road didn't continue inside. 

"This must be it. Let's hurry and get those seeds so we can find the last two crystals." Dawnni said. 

The team entered the forest. The sunlight was lighting random spots on the ground due to the trees. Wildlife was heard left and right. Suddenly a giant spider with black and purple fur crawled down a tree. It eerily directed its head and looked at Dawnni before giving off a small grunt. The sight terrified Dawnni. Dawnni quickly directed his hands forward.  

"Divine Judg-!" Lupin quickly smacked Dawnni in the back of the head. 

"Seriously? It's not that big a deal Dawn. It's just a Reed Spider." 

"Yeah, they're herbivores." Arestasia added. 

"A spider is a spider! They all get the same treatment from me!" 

"A spell that could wipe out the whole forest? Because, knowing you, you might have been ready to release that much power at once for something like that." Lupin explained. 

Dawnni rolled his eyes and smiled. The team continued down the forest. The sound of nature was music to Arestasia and Lupin's ears. Dawnni was too busy swatting bugs flying around him to focus on it. 

"I don't see any Benben seeds anywhere..." Dawnni said. 

"This is taking up too much time." Arestasia complained.

"Hey what are you doing here?" a very deep masculine voice asked. 

The team quickly turned around and spotted a man with a dirty white shirt, black vest and pants, and black boots.  

"You say that like we aren't allowed to be here!" Arestasia retaliated. 

"You are not in a good mood today..." Dawnni mumbled. 

Bugs quickly began to swarm around his face again and he continued to swat at them. 

"My apologies, my name is Abraham, but you can call me Abe." 

"What's up? I'm Lupin." 

"And I'm Arestasia." 

Dawnni didn't say anything. He was too busy swatting at the bugs again. 

"And the martial arts master over here is Dawnni." Arestasia said sarcastically. 

Abe chuckled. 

"Well it's nice to finally meet someone. I've been in these woods for three years now." Arestasia's eyes grew wide. 

"Three years?!" 

"Why were you here for three years dude?" Lupin asked. 

"I was exiled into the forest."  

"Why did you get exiled?" 

"I'd rather not say..." 

Suddenly there was a white flash. Everyone looked towards Dawnni. The grass around him was gone; just a circle of dry earth. 

"Dawnni, really?" Arestasia exclaimed. 

"What? S**t was bothering me. I heard everything though." 

Dawnni walked towards Abe. 

"We're looking for Benben seeds. Do you know where we can find some?"

"Oh? I think I might have picked every single one in the outskirts of this forest." 

Abe pulled out a handful of old Benben seeds. 

"How come you have so many? They're useless unless you have a stone mill." 

Abe looked down in depression. Dawnni's eyes grew wide. 

"This can't be true..." 

"What Dawn?" Lupin asked. 

"Abe, you got these seeds for someone didn't you?" 

"Well, I was getting them for someone. Not anymore now." 

"That b*****d!" Arestasia yelled after she figured out what was going on. 

"Let's go back then!" Lupin yelled. 

"Oh no. There is no going back. Once you enter the forest, there's no getting out." 

"What do you mean?" Lupin asked. 

"This area is cursed." 

"Cursed?!" 

"Indeed. By an evil being known as Drowi the illusionist." 

"Tell me more about this illusionist." Dawnni said. 

"Legend says that he's a very psychotic being. He has a black and white striped face with eyes of a raccoon. His hat has a clock that can control time. He carries two red and black swords that constantly bleed and a scythe with a black blade on his back. He also has a very creepy obsession of hearts." 

"Hearts?" 

"Yes, human hearts. After his victim enters his area, he kills them and then takes their heart for who knows what." 

"How did you survive for so long then?" 

"I haven't traveled too deep the forest. My father gave me this map." 

Abe showed them the map. It showed the woods in a complete circle. The inside was a purple circle and in the middle was a black circle. Abe pointed at the purple area. 

"This area is where the illusions are so strong that it distorts nature itself, turning the trees purple and the grass into a neon orange color. Wandering into this region will alert Drowi and he will come for you. He never travels outside of his area for any other reason." 

"So, what if we were to kill him? If he's dead, the forest will go back to normal and the curse will be lifted right? We'll be able to leave?" Arestasia asked. 

"It's not that simple." 

Abe pointed at the black area. 

"The legend also states that an evil lich named Noirim lives here. Drowi is Noirim's apprentice. It is indeed true that the curse will be lifted, but Noirim will definitely notice. There was once a warrior who had killed Drowi before. I remember it like it was yesterday. He had a red poofy silk top with baggy white silk pants that grip on his ankles. His sword fighting style was very interesting. It looked almost as if he was dancing. He ventured off into the purple area while I stayed behind. After what seemed like hours, the trees turned back to their normal color. As happy as I wanted to be, I had no other choice but to run away and hide because I knew that if I were to be killed, I wouldn't be dead. It was such a scary encounter; after hiding, I suddenly heard his terrified screams. The sound of bones snapping and flesh being feasted upon sent blistering chills down my spine. As soon as it ended, the trees began to turn purple again. It had occurred to me that Drowi was resurrected. I quickly ran away into the more normal part of the area and stayed here ever since." 

"Okay, so we kill Drowi, then we kill Noirim. No problem!" Arestasia exclaimed confidently. 

"Yeah, can't be too hard." Lupin added. 

Dawnni was nowhere in sight. 

"Dawnni?" Arestasia called. 

Arestasia began walking around. "Dawn, where'd you-" 

Arestasia suddenly tripped and fell over and landed flat on her face. 

"What the hell?" 

Arestasia slowly got up and looked behind her. Dawnni suddenly appeared from thin air. He was curled into a ball on the ground. 

"Dawnni, are you seriously scared of that story? And since when could you make yourself invisible?!" 

"...I was invisible?" Dawnni replied slowly releasing his head. 

"Come on, it's the only way we'll be able to get out of this place. Plus, since it's a lich that we're going against after Drowi, I'm guessing holy power should really pack a punch." Lupin stated.

Dawnni got up and dusted the dirt and leaves off of him. 

"But...this...thing sounds so vicious." 

"You've fought against the undead before! You know how they attack their victims!" 

"But I've never fought a lich! A lich is a whole 'nother story!" 

"I'm sure you'll be fine." Abe said calmly. "Like your friend said, holy power should affect him heavily. This gives me hope. I want to come with you. If you cannot stop the lich, then there's no hope for me. I can't stand living in this lonely life anymore. Please, will you help me?" 

Helping people was Dawnni's weakness. He had no other choice but to accept the brutal task ahead of him. 

"Fine..." 

"Thank you so much." 

Abe showed them the map to Arestasia's team again, pointed in the direction where Drowi and Noirim resides, and started to travel deep into the depths of the woods.