He had never seen anything like it. He stood at the border of the forest. The trees before him were at least twice as wide as the biggest tree he had ever seen before, as well over twice as tall. The walk towards the forest had shown him how unnaturally large they were, and now that he was standing near them looking upwards he couldn’t see the top of them. So this is Ookami forest. It was evening. It was still light but it wouldn’t be for long. He had left his horse in a stable in the town, as the walk to the forest wasn’t too far, and he didn’t see the point of bringing his horse with him into the forest itself. He considered camping outside the forest until morning, but his caution was unfounded. He may as well make use of what light was left and journey into the forest before setting up camp. There was no reason to think it would be more dangerous at night, and if the monsters were real, and if for some reason they were more dangerous at night, he’d have to deal with that eventually anyway.

As he walked through the forest he found that other plants were also unnaturally large. He felt like a toddler walking through a normal sized forest. It was a strange feeling. He could hear sounds of birds and other creatures, and he caught a glimpse of a squirrel running up a tree….. a…. normal sized squirrel. Thank the gods. He also noticed various insects, also normal-sized. It didn’t seem likely that he’d be eaten by a giant deer or any such thing, which had ran through his mind.

Night came, and he carefully made a campfire. After eating some food from his bag of supplies, he leaned against a tree and wrapped himself in a blanket he’d brought with him. He kept his bag and his sword nearby and waited for sleep to come to him.

The sound of snapping twigs woke him. He could hear leaves rustling as something moved towards his camp. The fire was still glowing, so he knew he hadn’t been asleep for long. He slowly and quietly grabbed his sword and moved into the shadows on the opposite side of the campfire to where he could hear the movement.

It got closer and closer. It was definitely closing in on his camp. Then figure walked into view.

“David?” Kail asked. David jumped. Kail could see him trying to peer into the darkness, unable to see him. Kail walked over to him. “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked.

“Well…. I finished everything I had to do in Hombruck… and then I…. followed you here. I haven’t given up! I still want you to teach me how to fight!” he answered. If it hadn’t been dark Kail might’ve seen a solid determination in his eyes.

Kail sighed. “You’re not joining me on this job. You’re going back to the city.” He said. David looked around.

“Now?” he asked.

Kail sighed again. He couldn’t send him back in the dark. It would have to wait until morning. “You can stay here for the night.” He said. “But in the morning we’re going back. Do you have any camping supplies?” he asked.

Then a sound interrupted them. It was far away, but it pierced through the quiet night. A high-pitched shriek. It sounded inhuman. It set Kail’s hairs on end. It reminded him of the frightening shrieks bats would make as they flew around at night.

Kail automatically drifted into the strange blueish glowing world that he did when he talked to spirits. He looked around. He could see the trees and the plants and the ground beneath him, and David’s glowing soul. He couldn’t see far, his sight being limited to only a few metres, and beyond that being cloaked with mist. There was nothing near them. He realised that the sound had been far away. Of course he wouldn’t have been able to see it. He returned to the living world.

“What… was that?” David asked. Kail strapped his sheathed sword onto his back and left everything else. He grabbed David by the arm and led him away from the camp.

“We’re leaving now.” Kail said. Monsters.

Then they heard it again. Louder. Closer. They couldn’t help freezing when they heard it. Only when it finished did they start moving again.

“I don’t know what it is.” Kail said. “But something tells me it’s something we don’t want to meet.”

It came a third time. Very close that time. It sounded like a human screaming and a beast roaring at the same time. Kail unsheathed his sword. It was definitely closing in on them. Then he ran, pulling David along behind him. However, David stumbled. Kail turned around to help him when he saw a figure jumping towards them. Kail instinctively stepped forward and swung his sword at it. The collision sent them both to the ground. Whatever the creature was, it went over him. Kail quickly jumped back to his feet. David was behind him. He looked to the creature, as it screamed again. A blood-curdling scream that sounded too unnatural to be real.

It looked humanoid in shape, but as it stepped towards him more details came into view. It was hunched over, and its head ended in a snout. It was covered in fur, and its feet and hands ended in deadly claws. It was big, not just taller but also wider than Kail. It looked strong. Adorning its head were two, demonic looking horns. Behind it a large, thick tail dragged along the floor. Kail couldn’t help thinking that the woman, Lady Bennet, was right. There were monsters in this forest after all.

It jumped at him. He tried to position his sword between him and it, but it ignored the sword. It grated against its chest but didn’t go deep. The creature didn’t seem to notice, and it swiped straight for Kail’s chest. The impact sent him falling to the ground, and the creature stepped over him, moving towards David.

“Help!” David shouted, trying to back away. Kail tried to get back up but he couldn’t rise. He looked down to see that he had deep cuts across his chest. His leather armour hadn’t offered any protection at all. He managed to roll onto his front, blood pouring forth, but when he tried to push himself up no strength came forth. All he could do was watch as David turned to run. The creature caught up to him easily, swiping at him like it had at Kail, and David fell to the ground as well. Kail tried to shout out but no sound came forth. There was a loud ringing in his ears, getting more intense, blocking out all other sound. His vision swayed, and strange colours started to cloud it. He felt the cold floor meet his face as it became harder to breath. Then his sense left him.

Kail was trapped in a metal cage. He had no clothes. It was cold. There should have been marks on his body, but there were none. Somehow his body was in perfect condition. It was dark. He tried to peer into the darkness, and he thought he saw movement, and then…

Then the cage was gone. It wasn’t cold anymore. It was… hot. Too hot. He was in a town, and the buildings around him were on fire. He looked around. People were running past him in fear. In the distance he saw figures on horseback shouting excitedly.

Then the flames died down, and everything went dark. Pitch black. He could see nothing, hear nothing. Then there was a light. Am I… dreaming? Slowly and gently, symbols came to life before him. He was sitting in front of a stone wall. Behind him was a stone tunnel, extending into nothingness. He looked back to the wall with glowing symbols that he couldn’t even begin to understand what they meant.

Let me out.

The words resounded in his head, but they weren’t his own thoughts. There was nothing else around him, however. Unless… He looked back to the wall.

Kail’s eyes opened and he sat up. He was in a bed, a comfortable bed. The room he was in was bright, sunlight pouring in from a window. Am I still dreaming? He looked to see a girl looking at him. She had… two horns adorning her head. He froze. Monster? But there was no snout. She wasn’t hunched over like a beast. And her face looked human. She had long hair, her horns jutting up from beneath it, and she had dark skin. She didn’t look like a monster… except for the horns. And, Kail realised, she also had a tail, just like the creature that had attacked him.

“You’re awake!” she said joyfully. He calmed down. She had an innocent smile. He looked around the room to see someone else sitting in the far corner. The figure stood up. He didn’t have any horns. His skin was slightly tanned from the sun, but not the same dark shade as the girl. He had unruly black hair kept out of his face by a headband that was positioned to cover his left eye. He was tall.

“Kin?” Kail asked. Was it really him? The person smirked, a familiar mischievous glint in his eye.

“Kail.” he responded. It was Kin.

“Am I… alive?” Kail asked.

“You shouldn’t be.” Kin answered with a shrug, moving towards him. “But yeah, somehow you are alive.”

Kail sighed with relief. Then he recalled what had happened. He pulled down the blanket covering himself to look at his chest. There were scars there, but the wounds the monster had inflicted on him seemed to have healed.

“You’ve been asleep for three days Kail.” Kin said. Three days!? “Only three days, yet you’re all healed up. Strange, eh? When I found you I thought you were dead. The wounds on your chest…. The bleeding had stopped, as if something wanted to keep you alive.”

“The thing that attacked me…” Kail started.

“Oh aye, the wolf-like beast that tore chunks out of your chest? Don’t worry, I took care of it.” Kin said with a chuckle, puffing his chest out with pride as if to show off. “It’s a good job I found you when I did, or it might’ve finished you off. Dangerous beasts, they are.”

He… “took care” of it? No way… Kail felt a mixture of disbelief and admiration. They had fought and sparred in the past, and Kin had always been stronger than him, yet… that monster was something else. Had he really killed it by himself? Then he remembered…

“What about David? The boy that was with me” he asked. Kin looked down, shaking his head sadly.

“Sorry Kail, but by the time I got there he was already dead. It’s crazy that you survived.” Kin answered. Kail looked down. His hands turning to fists in frustration.

“Damnit.” he said. David… You weren’t really that bad were you? I’m sorry. Why did you have to follow me? He shook his head. If only I were stronger. An awkward silence followed.

“You should lie back down.” the girl said. “Your wounds might not be fully healed yet… and you must be hungry.” she said worriedly.

“Nonsense!” Kin said, moving to Kail and pulling the blanket completely off him. Shock froze Kail until he realised he was, thankfully, fully clothed underneath. “Get up, Kail, let me show you around!” he said happily. Kin grabbed him by the arm and Kail let him lead him to his feet. He felt exhausted, but he managed to stay on two feet. He looked around at the room in more detail. Something seemed strange. It was wooden but… It wasn’t made out of planks… There were no nails… It was as if the room had been carved out of a large chunk of wood. Kin led him to the doorway and moved aside the fabric hanging down like a door. He instinctively shielded his eyes from the sun as they adjusted, then looked around to see where exactly they were.

They were in a tree. The room was inside a tree, and seemed to grow in such a way that they left the room and onto a platform that extended all the way around the tree. All around him were similar sights. The trees had rooms and platforms integrated into them. It was an astonishing network of branches, platforms, and rooms made out of the trees themselves. Moving around this tree village were other people like the girl inside. They had dark skin, horns atop their head, and tails. He watched as one of them climbed up a tree almost effortlessly. He realised they wore no shoes, as both their feet and their hands were clawed, helping them to climb around.

Kin swept his arm out before them as if to dramatically present the sight to him.

“These are the tahke, Kail. That’s right, “tahke.” They aren’t human. A completely different race. They live here, in Ookami forest. Welcome!”