THE HUNGRY LONLINESS

The dense forest stretched endlessly in every direction, its shadows thickened by the canopy overhead. The air was damp, clinging to their skin like a second layer, and the faint rustle of unseen creatures provided an eerie soundtrack to their search. Acantha's group had been trudging through this labyrinth for three days with no sign of their quarry—the witch the queen so desperately wanted.

The tension within the group had reached its breaking point.

"This is pointless!" a young woman from the cult snapped, her voice cutting through the heavy silence. She was petite but fierce, her short-cropped hair plastered to her face with sweat. "We've found nothing so far. Why are we even here? The deeper we go into this cursed forest, the more likely it is we'll be someone else's dinner! Who knows if any of us will make it out alive?"

Her words hung in the air like a challenge, and several others shifted uneasily.