It had been several days since Alex had his episode. Darcy, had spent much of that time at his side waiting and praying for him to wake up.

About a week passed before Alex finally opened his eyes. His first words?

“Daddy I’m hungry!” Alex said as he sprang up from his slumber.

“Alex!” Darcy said warmly. He was relieved to see his son appeared okay. “Around you okay? How do you feel?” He questioned as he looked Alex up and down, spinning him from side to side.

Alex let out a laugh “I’m okay! But I sure am hungry! Do we have any food?” his stomach let out a loud gurgling.

“Hah, okay. Let’s get you fixed up with something.” His dad chuckled. He turned away from his son to head down stairs. Now that his back was to his son, his smile, turned into a perplexed expression, one mostly of concern.

How do you become unconscious for nearly a week and just spring back as if nothing happened? I mean, that’s Alex of course. Still…

Another day or so went by. Long enough for Darcy to ensure that Alex was indeed well enough and back on his feet.

The two were standing at the edge of the forest. Alex was kicking the ground as his father stood before him with his large pack on his back and his sword and shield beside him.

“Do you have to go daddy?” Alex muttered.

“Yes, my little one.” He said. Placing his hand on Alex’s messy head. “I need to go look for some information.”

“Where are you going?” Alex asked?

Darcy removed his hand and looked to the forest. “Beyond this forest is what many call The Great Library.”

“A library? Is that…a place where you sleep?” Alex had heard this word before but was struggling to remember what it was or its significance.

“Haha, I suppose some people might fall asleep there.” His father turned and raised a finger as he began speaking. “But usually it’s a place of research for scholars. Many books are kept in a library and the Great Library is said to have all the books in the world.” Darcy boasted as if he was the one who made that possible.

Alex looked up to the sky “The whole world? That must be a very big building!” He exclaimed. His father chuckled.

“Yes, it’s pretty large indeed.” He waited for Alex’s eyes to return his. “Now I shouldn’t be gone more than a week. There is plenty of food in the house. Make sure to tend to the crops and water them every day.” Darcy started explaining.

“Unless it rains!” Alex inserted as his hand shot up in the air.

Darcy let out a small laugh. “Yes, unless it rains.” He gave Alex one more hug and started walking into the woods.

“Be careful!” Alex shouted, putting his hands on the side of his mouth hoping to amplify his words.

His father waved his hand in the air as a sign of acknowledgement and he disappeared into the thickness of the woods.

This wasn’t the first time Darcy had to leave Alex at home in order to go to town. Alex never questioned why his father would leave him behind, but he assumed that it was due to the potential danger of the world outside their little cove.

Nothing all the exciting happened over the next couple of days. Alex spent his days taking care of the plants, cleaning the house, and finding ways to let his imagination stretch. He danced around the fields pretending to be a knight one day.

The next an evil dark lord shooting fireballs from his hand as he terrorized a city.

At night he’d lay on the tall grass and look at the endless stars in the sky. There was nothing to prevent their shine from reaching his eyes and the sky was so full of sparkling shimmering galaxies and stars.

But on the fifth day Alex began to grow restless and bored. He was uninterested reading the books they did have for the hundredth time. He had spent so much time in the water he lately pretended he was a fish that mutated feet and walked on land, and yes, he even made that silly face with wide eyes as he “explored the strange human house on the cliff”. But even that lost its fun. He was bored of crushing citizens beneath his feet, and, even bored of dying to them.

He stared at the forest for a long while. Just looking at t; watching. Hoping it would do something, hoping something interesting might happen. After what seemed like hours, but was maybe 15 minutes, he began approaching the tree line. Alex had spent plenty of time without his father in the past. Long trips to get cooking or baking ingredients often left his journey longer than he guessed. But as Alex was getting older, it grew more and more difficult for this 10-year-old boy to keep himself occupied.

When he reached the treeline his house was now distant behind him, he just back and forth across the tree line. Examining it carefully, but not with any worry, just looking. He had never really stood out here before, so this was a new sight for him. A little way down, on one of the trees, something caught his eye. Being a curious child, he did what any curious child would do. He ignored the directions of his father to never enter the wood alone.

Its only a couple steps in.

Alex thought to himself.

It’ll be okay, I just want to take a look.

What he had saw turned out to be a carving. Someone had carved letters into this tree. It read

DV + ML

These letters were inside a shape that he hadn’t really seen before. Not a square, but not really a circle either. To you and I this would be the common signature left by two lovers. But to Alex a perplexing code he couldn’t crack. He reached up to trace the deep markings left on this tree. His finger filled the carving line and he started to trace the heart shape. The roughness of the tree bark dragging against his finger. As Alex rounded the final curve to complete it, he felt his body temper rise. He stopped what he was doing, his attention locked onto the carving. Starring as if he just entered a day dream. His eyes widened, and just like last time, his vision began to blur.

The murky unclear edges of his vision returned, and in the center, he saw the tree he was standing before. A young man and a woman stood before the tree. The woman was carving into the tree. As she finished, she said “Darcy and Minerva.”

The man wrapped his arm around her shoulder as she laid her head against his.

“Together forever and always.” The man said.

Alex’s vision returned. “What was that?” He wondered.

He starred hard at the tree.

“Did I…see who did this? But when could I have done that?” Alex was confused, trying to process what was happening to him. He wondered for a moment and he suddenly turned around. His vision, blurring again, rushing forward quickly, however, he was able to see and follow along with it. The vision moved through a winding path in the trees eventually reaching a clearing where an old camp fire was. Suddenly his ears popped again. Blinking hard he was free to move once again, and he pulled his hand off the tree.

“What…was that?” Alex gasped as he gripped his right hand. He was speechless. Not quite sure what to make of what just happened. He turned around and investigated the woods.

He wasn’t sure how to process what had just happened to him. But as he looked deeper into the woods, he felt a feel of familiarity. Like he’d seen what in front of him before.

“Did I just…see this?” He said to himself. He cocked his head to the side as he starred at the path before.

“I’ve seen this before?” He questioned. “Did I just see this?”

He looked back to the tree he was touching.

Did this tree show something?

He tried placing his hand on the tree again hoping to repeat what just happened. But the tree remained cold and rough to the touch. He sighed and pulled his hand off the tree, brushing it on his pants. Whatever he “saw” a minute ago, wasn’t going to show itself again.

Alex’s stomach let out a large gurgle. He was hungry again.

He looked back into the deep thickness of the forest trying to solve its riddles and secrets. But he did his best thinking on a full stomach and decide it was best he head back home for now.

He felt almost as If he was starving. Which he thought was weird because he had breakfast not that long before heading to the tree line. But he didn’t think about it too much. Not one to turn an eye away from lunch he brought out bread, water, some jellies and cheese, and found some jerky as well. He gave himself quite the feast and once satisfied he returned to the door and looked back at the tree line.

He thought for a little while about what had just happened. What he had “saw” or didn’t see. The strange familiarity he suddenly had towards the woods, which he hadn’t had before touching that strange tree.

Well Alex was out of things to do and he was getting tired of sitting around. So, he went to the closet under the stairs. There he found a backpack that would fit him, they did have a few of varying sizes. He remembered the few times he had helped his father pack for his trips into the woods. He packed some extra clothes, took some bread and jerky, grabbed some flint, and his blanket. He also changed out his “farm boy” lounging attire into something more fit for rummaging through tall grass and the woods.

As he was preparing to leave, he looked around the house once more and took a deep breath. For some reason Alex felt like he might not see his home for quite a while. After saying his mental goodbyes, he left his home. As he made that first step off the porch onto the dirt, he was confident. But the confidence quickly turned into surprise as he tripped landing face flat into the dirt.

He just laid there for what seemed like an eternity. He thought someone would come running over to pick him up off the ground and brush away the dirt and the dust…but of course no one did. He let out a low sounding “Ow….”

He placed his hands under him and pushed himself back to his feet. He started brushing the dirt off his clothes, wondering what he could’ve possible tripped over. There near his feet he saw his wooden sword. A toy his Dad brought him a few birthdays ago. He remembered the sparring the two used to do for fun.

“Dad always leaves with a sword.” He said to himself. “I should too!” And thus Alex picked up his wooden short sword and slung it the drawstring he had on his waist that was holding his water jug to his pants.

Alex reached the tree line once again. He took one last long look at his house. “I shouldn’t be gone too long. No more…than a week!” He said. He wasn’t sure what to say here and felt it best to repeat what his father had said before he left.

Alex turned back to the woods and, with perfect recall, took the winding path through it with the camp fire he saw in mind.

Alex couldn’t put his finger on it but these forbidden woods, that he swore to his father he would never enter, seem as if they were calling to him. To his own recollection he had never once set food into these woods. But they continued to feel familiar the farther he walked through them. The woods seemed quite a bit quieter to the open field where he had spent all his life. He heard a lot more animals than insects. Squirrels running and jumping between branches. Apples and acorns liter the grassy forest but it was well shaded and cool. He could hear the pecking and knocking of wood peckers as well. The wild and lush grass reached up to Alex’s hips.

“I should’ve brought the swinging blades with me.” Alex grumbled. He was growing tired of holding his arms up to keep them out of the grass. The grass grew tall on the fields to be sure, but he and his father used the “swinging blades”, which was just a couple scythes, to trim the grass. After a few more steps he realized how pointless that would’ve been as the trees were in very close quarters. He wouldn’t have been to make use of them even if he had brought them.

Eventually Alex made it the place he had “saw” or recalled. He still wasn’t sure what it even was that directed him to this place, and he kept confusing himself trying to place a name to it. As he stepped out the wood, he entered a small clearing. The trees were dozens of feet tall and created a canopy high above. Only a small amount of light slipped through the leaves and branches. He examined the area and found a fire pit, but he didn’t know when it was used last. Some of the grass in this area was folded and laying unnaturally, but Alex wasn’t used to this sort of thing and he mostly thought it was “weird’. Had he been back home and thinking in his normal space, he would’ve put together something had been here. But with the recent activities and this new environment he was rather distracted. He took his pack off next to a tree trunk and decided to sit here. It looked more inviting than anywhere else and he was ready for a little break.

Alex dug in his pack and took out a few pieces of jerky, a small tear of bread, and had some water. He didn’t do much thinking but spent most his time here just taking in the new sites and sounds. He couldn’t recall how far exactly he had travelled. Since he was unable to see the position of the sun he wasn’t sure what time of day it was.

“So…now what?” He asked aloud. While he had made it here, there wasn’t exactly anything eye catching here. Just this stump, some disturbed grass, and a fire pit.

He fell back off the stump into the grass. The grass bending to his weight. He was stretched out long on the grass, his legs wrapped around the base of the stump. He tilted his head up, now effectively viewing the forest behind him, now upside down, and saw a small deer. Alex started to grin.

“Hello there!” He said excitedly. The deer just looked at him, ears turning towards him.

Alex rolled on his stomach and the two just starred at one another. “I think I was called here.” He said to the creature. Though it just continued to stare at him.

“My dad came through here I think.” He said and looked up at the canopy again. Alex returned his gaze to the deer. “But I don’t where to go from here, can you help me?” He asked genuinely. The deer dashed at Alex and jumped over him. The deer ran across the camp, but after reaching the other side stopped, and looked back at Alex as if he was waiting for him. Alex got his feet and quickly picked up his pack, throwing it over his shoulders as he ran after the deer.

The only sound Alex could hear now was the rushing wind as he chased behind this deer not sure of where he was going. The deer gracefully darted and jumped and sprung in between the forestry ahead of him. While Alex took a much less graceful approach to his following. He clunks into a tree here, tripped on a root there, every time returning to his run trying to keep up. Thankfully Alex was used to a life outdoors with hard work. Any average kid would be exhausted and would have probably given up after tripping into the first tree. But not Alex

It was starting to get dark in the forest, Alex could tell dusk was soon and as his mind started to wander for the first time since this chase began, he broke out into another clearing. There were no trees creating a canopy this time and the sky could be seen clearly here. Before him stood a tall stone structure. Pillars reaching tens of feet tall held the building up. Stone steps stretched up to the large archway and to the side of this structure was a small body of crystal-clear water.

“What is this?” Alex asked aloud. He had always felt that his home was on a very high cliff, again it was just a tall hill, and he could often see well into the forest, but he had never seen this place before. He looked around at the tree height and the building height trying to figure out how he couldn’t see something like this from his home.

“Maybe the trees are taller than the building?” He thought. He had no way of really knowing but was now interested in the idea of what other buildings this forest could be hiding from him.

Alex was often easily distracted by new things and just like that he was more captivated by the ideas in his head rather than the large stone structure he had just stumbled across.

“Maybe I can climb one of these trees and really see what’s out there!” Alex thought.

…Alex…

Alex was pretending to measure the distance between himself and the top of the tree. He was so lost in his own ideas that he wasn’t paying attention to anything around him.

Alex…

He head the voice this time. He quickly turned around trying to see who called his name.

“Hello?” Alex replied.

Come to me Alex.

The voice had grown quite a bit louder than when it first arrived.

“Where are you?” He called back.

Come. I am inside.

Alex turned to the large stone structure.

“In here?” He questioned, but no reply came. He slowly climbed the large stone steps leading to a massive door less doorway.

“I guess, this is where they want me to go.” Alex took a long look inside, but it was dark outside and dark inside and there was little in ways of light.

“Uh, excuse me? I can’t come in here. It’s dark! I can’t see.” Alex exclaimed.

After a small amount of silence Alex let out another “Helloo~!” and as soon as he did he jumped back with surprise as a torch came ablaze next to him.

Take this.

The voice echoed.

“Geeze!” Alex stated harshly. “Give a kid some warning next time! You almost started my head on fire!”

He grabbed the torch down from its holder. Alex was nervous, scared, but also excited. He had been so bored at home and now this was like a real adventure. Weird unexplained things, animals leading him places, and now weirdo voices calling him into an ancient dark building. This was just like the story books he would read at home.

“This is so awesome!” The excitement slipped from the boy in his words. Down into the building Alex began his descent.

Inside Alex could feel the temperature begin to drop with every step. Down and down some more the stairs went. Ten…twenty the stairs continued. Alex stopped counting after 50 and it was still some time before he finally made it to the bottom. He stepped off the stairs into a small room. In the center of the room was a large mark on the floor, but not one that Alex was familiar with.

“What’s this?” He said as he walked around the design. Small images could be made out next to it as if it was written in some old language.

“Nope. Can’t read it.” He said plainly. He stopped to take in the room. Dripping water was echoing throughout the space. A slow, inconsistent echo was the only noise this room had to offer. Shining the light around this stone room he saw weeds growing in between the stone slabs that made up the walls and the floor. Mushrooms grew in the ceiling and in the floor. There were little puddles here and there from the water dripping from above. It appeared that no one had been here in a very long time.

Realizing there wasn’t much here to see Alex pressed on in the only direction he had available to him, forward. The sound of his steps hitting the hard stone now echoed across the corridor. He walked and after a short time, he happened across a large stone door. The doors size was about the same as the entrance he used to get into this place. On the door it shared the same design as the floor did in the previous room. He tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. He tried leaning up against it to push with his body, but again, it didn’t budge. He put down the torch and took a running start at the door. The result was him crashing into the door with a loud thud, and soon after, a similar thud of him falling the ground was heard echoing throughout the hall.

“Ow…” He grumbled. Picking himself off the ground. Now rubbing his shoulder, that he just slammed into a stone wall. “That hurt more than I thought it might.”

He was at a loss of what to do. He took the torch again to examine the door and the rest of his surroundings, but nothing stood out to him.

“Hmm…maybe I can trigger that vision thingy again like before.” He thought. Alex began touching everything in the hallway. From the door to the floor, from a puddle to a large pile of moss, but nothing happened.

“Hey!” He called in frustration. “If you’re going to call me down here you could as least open the door!”

The moment his words ended the design on the door lit up a bright pale green and blue. The hallway shook and the loud grinding of sliding stone was heard as the doors began to open. Alex picked up his torch, but it wouldn’t be needed now, and as if triggered by the door the torch light went out. As Alex passed through the doors the room, he realized the room was fully lit. It was dry and there was no overrun moss or weeds about but instead there were many different colored plants. This room was large. At its center, a top a staircase, was a large statue that looked like a woman with long flowing hair. As the hair fell down the statues body it waved up near the ends almost like a curl. The statues eyes were closed, and its hands were cupped in front of its chest. At the base of the stairs was a small moat with a stone path leading to the stairs. The room felt warm and welcoming as Alex continued inside. Once in the stone doors began to close again and with a low rumble they were again sealed and the color that once lit them now faded.

Alex felt at peace in this room. The sound of running water was heard, even though there was no active stream. After the doors shut pale colored butterflies took to flight from the flowers and gently flew about the room. Alex was in awe at everything he was seeing. It was all so breathtaking to him.

Come my child.

The voice spoke gently.

Alex looked in the direction of the statue for it had started glowing the same color that once lit the stone doors. He made his way to the center of the room and ascended the stairs up to the statue. Warmth radiated from it and Alex began to reach his out but as he did a voice came from behind him.

“Hey! What are you doing gooman!”

The light of the statue faded, and Alex turned around. When he looked down the stairs, he saw a small translucent green blob.

“Huh? Who are you?” He called back. Alex had never seen a creature like this before.

“What!?” The blob said in shock. “I knew goomans were stooped, but this stoopid?!”

“Hey I’m not stupid!” Alex stated. “That’s really rude!”

The blob began bouncing in place in a mocking manner. “Stoopid! Gooman! Stoopid! Gooman!” The blob teased.

“I’m a Slime gooman!” It said as it started rolling itself left to right while laughing.

“A slime? Like a monster?” Alex asked.

“Yeah that’s right!” The Slime said. “And now you’re in for it! I’m gooing to eat yoou for touching my statue!” The Slime began bouncing towards Alex and up each stair with one bounce at a time.

Alex was shocked.

“Wait a minute!” He exclaimed. He was going to have to fight this Slime or else be eaten. He quickly reached to his side to get his sword, but he was anxious and scared. He fumbled it loose only for it fall out of his hands. It bounced off the top of the stairs and began falling down the stairs. Alex reached out for it, but it was gone. The Slime made another bounce up the stairs just as the falling sword fell into it. It made a wet slapping sound as the sword struck the Slime and in turn, mostly from shock, the slime fell backwards and made a big splash against the stone floor. The sword fell onto the stair that it struck the monster and remained lifeless.

“I did it? I won!” Alex exclaimed. He started jumping up and down and thrusting his fists in the air.

“I did it! Take that you “stoopid Slime”!” He laughed.

He went down the stairs, retrieved his sword and continued to where the Slime had splatted.

“Well not so tough now are you!” Alex mocked. The “win” going to his head.

“O~h Gooman.” The voice filled the room.

Alex froze while it began to speak.

“Don’t think I’ve lost yet. Everyone! Get this Gooman!” The puddle cried out. As it did dozens of Slimes began to fall from the ceiling and rose up from the floor. Some even splashed out of the moat onto the stone floor. As they did many of the slimes started merging together. What seemed like two dozen slimes merged to create on giant slime and in a great deep voice it said

“Stoopid Gooman. Your stick won’t work on me now!” And it began to approach.

Alex threw his arms into the air and began to shout as he sprinted across the room back to the door.

“Open! Open! OPEN!” He screamed. The door illuminated again and began to open. Alex forced himself through the opening door and as he did he started shouting “Close! Close! Close! CLOSE!”

The doors stopped and began to close just as they had opened. Unfortunately for Alex, he didn’t understand how Slimes worked. Even though the doors were closing the slimes pressed their way through the cracks and continued their pursuit of the boy.

Alex wished he still had that torch as the light faded from the hall and it soon fell very dark. But he continued running forward. All the while he heard echoing behind him and the sounds of suctioning and un-suctioning squishes. The corridor was also filled with giggles and the low chant of “Get the gooman! Eat him up! Get the gooman! Cook him up!”

There is much to be said about the motivation to not be eaten. As well as the determination of a child. Mixed together Alex sprinted through the darkness recalling all he had seen when he first arrived. He did, however, crash into the stone stairs first, and then he began ascending them on his hands and feet much like a cat or dog would run up the stairs.

At long last he broke back to the surface. But it was still the middle of the night and only the moonlight lit the way for Alex. The sound of the rampaging Slimes could still be heard. Alex ran to the other side of the stone building and waited. But when he saw the slimes were coming this way he broke into the woods.

“Woah! Company Halt!” The giant slime called out.

“Little Gooman! I wouldn’t go in there after dark!” The slime called out. While all the smaller ones started to bounce around and laugh.

“The spirits of the woods don’t like goomans any more than we dooo! Good luck!” The slime roared as he bounced in place.

Alex didn’t stop to even consider what this enormous Slime had just said. Instead he was focused on running for his life. Which grew more and more difficult as the moonlight didn’t break through the thickness of the trees very well. Much like with the deer Alex crashed and pushed his way from tree to tree. Pressing on into the woods hoping to get as far away from the Slimes as he could.

He stumbled into a small clearing. A small fire was lit but he didn’t see anyone nearby. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath. It didn’t appear like the Slimes were chasing him any longer. He didn’t hear any of the slurping or sloshing or jesting that seemed to accompany the slimes. At last, he was safe. He closed his eyes and threw his head back in relief as he pressed himself up against a tree.

“What do we have here?” A quiet, hollow voice said.

Alex paused slowly opening his eyes. When he looked down to see who was speaking in front of him he was met with two bright yellow colored eyes. In the light of the fire it appeared this short small figure was dressed in leaves and wood. Their face appeared to be made of wood as well and it wore a big, almost straw like, hat.

“We don’t get humans very often.” It said with a smile. Its eyes not blinking nor changing shape. The creature continued to stare into Alex.

“Are you…” Alex tried to say, but his voice broke and his words became a whisper, much like the creatures. “…the spirit of this forest?” He asked nervously.

“Ho ho ho!” The creature let out a playful sound. “Know about us you do human? And yet here you are in the sacred wood?” The creature teased. Its head shifting from side to side making an uneasy rustling sound as it did. A small laugh followed.

The creature turned its head to the top of the trees and extended a hand beside its mouth. A loud sound, like the clicking and clacking sound of wooden rods and blocks, could be heard coming from the creature. In the canopy many different colored eyes appeared. Some pale green, others neon purple, truly there was a pair of eyes for what seemed like every color imaginable. Suddenly loud wooden drums could be heard. Music began to fill the air. Wooden wind instruments joined in and before long a full wooden orchestra seemed to overtake the darkness of the night all while the heads above shook side to side.

Back at the stone building the giant slime let out a bubbley chuckle.

“Well it didn’t take long for the lignum creaturae to find him.”

All of the Slimes let out a roar of laughter.

All but one.

Alex rushed pass the first creature he had spoken with, the one with the yellow eyes. He pressed harder and faster than he did from the Slimes. The music filled the wood and made it difficult for Alex to hear where anything was or where it might be coming form. In the canopy above he saw the colored eyes of the creatures moving far ahead of him. Many stopping to watch him, heads shaking violently from side to side, as he continued. A chorus of voices joined in with the music in what can only be described as chanting and shouting in a tribal tone. The creatures were hunting Alex and they were making an event out of it.

As hard as he pushed Alex couldn’t shake these creatures. He looked behind to try to see where his pursuers were but as soon as he did his foot collided with a large tree root causing him to tumble forwards and roll out of control into the base of a tree. Quickly removing his face from the tree bark he turned over to see the sight of one of the creatures, with bright red eyes, in the air above him hastily descending upon him. He threw his hand up to brace for impact. In that very moment everything slowed down around him, and his vision blurred again.

This time he was seeing the creature descend upon himself. It landed over him and slapped away his hand. It then gripped him by the collar and started running back in the direction of the horde.

His vision snapped back to his current situation. As the creature came down towards him Alex rolled to the side avoiding the creature. His vision again blurred as he watched this scene of himself and the creatures from afar. Another creature came down on him and wrapped its arms around Alex. The other grabbing his feet, the two jumped back into the canopy with Alex in tow.

Alex’s vision returned to the present. As the other creature jumped down from the canopy Alex rolled the side again and this time he went back into a full sprint. The creatures smashed their hands against the ground in frustration as Alex had managed to elude them yet again. The two creatures jumped into the canopy while Alex ran as fast as he could. His vision blurred once more this time it charged forward past him darting into a row of trees it went north going straight until it emerged from the forest revealing a way out of the woods.

His vision returned and like before he headed what the vision was showing him. He darted to the north and there he was running in a row of trees. The creatures still pursuing him. The sounds of the instruments were starting to fade, and the sound of shaking trees and break branches could be heard in their place. The rushing wind was deafening to Alex at this point but there in the distant he could see the end of the tree line. He was running with such purpose that he wasn’t watching what was on the other side of the clearing. In an instant he burst from the woods and after a dozen feet or so turned to see if them had pursued him. He turned his head back, still running forward, he was greeted with what looked like a wall of multicolored eyes violently shaking as they watched him escape.

He was relieved to see they would not pursue him outside of the wood, but the relief soon turned to shock and fear. Alex wasn’t watching where he was running, and he had just run off a cliff and was plummeting into the icy river below. Alex let out a scream but shortly after he was enveloped in rushing water. Alex tried with all his might to get above water and swim to shore, but almost as soon as he was above water the rapids pulled him under again. As he grasped the water hoping to catch hold of something his head found the side of a large rock. The now unconscious Alex was swept up in the river’s rushing rapids as he was pulled downstream far far away from the forest.