One small step for a man, great leap for foxkind

Reaching the southern edge of the forest took us quite a while longer than I expected. But with how I only had Madam's hand-drawn map to get a sense of the size and directions in the forest, I only had myself to blame for expecting a shorter journey.

'At this rate, the portal will reopen by the late afternoon,' I thought, recalling the moment when I summoned the portal for a short moment to check the time. 'In other words, I only have a short window of time to check this place out!'

Jumping down Madam's fox-form's back, I dropped to the ground and took a deep breath, raising my eyes at the misty wonderland stretching out from the edge of the forest. 

Just like the light of the stairs at the plain to the north, the mist kept away from the shadow cast by the trees. And as I looked up…