The Blood Moon

<Warning ⚠: Contain some graphic descriptions not suitable for some readers. Please read at your own discretion.>

Even though it was night, the full moon's illumination of the landscape allowed one to detect the route of Enchanted Gateway Forest.

As its name suggests, the forest was bewitchingly beautiful, attractive enough to lure people and make them disappear. As the saying goes, "Beautiful things are the most dangerous," the enchanted gateway forest was filled with danger, poison, and mysteries beyond the scope of human comprehension.

Those who ventured into the wilderness were found dead with no intact bodies and a few vanished into thin air; unknown whether they were alive or not.

For tens of kilometers, no one lived; the closest human settlement, a group of hunters, was roughly fifteen kilometers away.

There were old tales about the forest claiming that it turns alive at night, that whispers of the unknown could be heard that put people under a spell and forced people to enter the forest, and that it was necessary to offer blood sacrifice on the full moon, that beside the barrier is a world of creepy creatures, monsters and witches lived deep inside the forest, and some other versions.

None dared to roam around the forest alone,

neither did anyone leave their residence after it was dark or particularly on a full moon night. No one knows what truth the forest holds or logics behind it, so it is wiser to be cautious. Even the hunter village would be vacant on the full moon night.

Hundreds of years ago, ancestors of Country Phoset built a few layers of barriers around the forest, preventing humans from accessing its deep interior. Since the forest used to be serene and peaceful, the reasons for abruptly constructing the barrier were unknown and considered taboo.

But in recent years, more precisely since two decades ago, a high number of people living close to the forest have vanished, dead animals and humans have been discovered outside the forest's borders, and on full moon nights, the shrill sounds of screams can be heard.

As a result, people have stayed a long way away from the forest.

Some folks were so intrigued by the tales and recent accidents that they approached the hunting village. Cats are killed by curiosity: The people who went into the enchanted gateway forest were shortly discovered dead. No one dared venture into the enchanted forest after that.

As a result, the Enchanted Gateway forest came to represent terror. Because of fear, no one wanted to mention its name either.

===

Today's full moon was a little unique because there will be a lunar eclipse just after midnight.

In the woods, not a single animal or bird could be found. The only sound in the forest was the wind rustling leaves.

As midnight drew near, the moon's shadow became larger before starting to reappear, covering it and making it darker. There was a sound of hurried footsteps interrupting the silence.

A little, petite figure was trying to approach the deeper part of the forbidden, enchanted forest by crossing barrier after barrier while running through the woods and panting intensely.

Her body was soaked in sweat, feet were bleeding from being bare, and the bushes had shredded the clothing and even scratched her. She was losing energy at a rapid rate and would soon pass out from her condition, as she was out of breath and had a rapid heartbeat.

Dragging her heavily injured body, she breached some barriers using brute force, while others simply opened as though to welcome her into the forest.

( The girl in her twenties had just arrived early in the morning at the settlement of hunters. She didn't appear here out of curiosity; rather, she was forced to go because of some circumstances. After her arrival, she was so drawn to the forest that she was inadvertently traveling in its direction while everyone else in the village was retreating as it was a full moon day.

No one noticed her absence since she was a stranger. )

Despite running wild, if one had looked closer, one could see her veins, which were so visible to the naked eye, changing color from dark red to black, and in addition, black veins like webs were forming and covering her entire body.

A mysterious, faint whisper calling her name from the other side of the barrier drove her insane—the whisper that she alone could hear. She was in immense pain, had a disheveled appearance, and had dark, black eyes—nothing like a human's.

Despite the discomfort, she couldn't stop her action because her mind was wandering and possibly in an illusion. It appeared as though someone else was attempting to control her body.

She continued moving forward until she reached the final obstruction. The final barrier was an unusual one that was protected through sages' and wizards' spells.

As she hurried to break the final barrier, with each stride she took, her vitality dwindled faster. It was as if hundreds of kilograms of weight were added to her body for every step she took.

At the moment, a reddish tinge or copper-red color had now completely covered the moon, which had first dimmed and become darker. It was the night of a blood moon.

As she touched the barrier with all of her remaining energy, a bloody crimson crescent moon emerged between her brows on the left side and glowed brightly in the blood moon, and an unseen force shoved her back.

When she touched the last barrier, the whole enchanted forest vibrated. All the barriers around the forest were weakened.

She didn't fall to the ground as she was suspended in the air while starting to lose consciousness.

The faint whisper calling her name was still audible until her consciousness slipped into darkness.

Unknown to her, the last chanted barrier collapsed and sucked her inside.

Once again, the forest turned silent as if nothing had ever happened.