The Ozoth Forest

"Ok, we're here." Kale spoke.

In front of us, a wall of forestry stood. It was like a completely separate piece of world that was stitched in with the one we stood on. From where we stood, it was all grass plain. Smooth light greenery that stretched on. And just across from us, it dramatically changed. Slowly it transitioned into a darker greenery and more luscious plant life that made me wonder how this was even a part of Anos. The trees were tall, taller than the ones in Prusha's forest and the shrubs that were more lavish. Sunlight seemed to beam from the open spots from above, giving this place a much more ethereal look. This forest almost seemed like the ones you'd see in the northwest of the United States…Hm, this place is giving me memories of my past life.

Both me and Kale stood at what I'd consider a line of sorts that enters the Ozoth territory. We left the wagon, with Lilith still snoozing a bit at the front.

"Woah…It's very Lavish." I said, gazing around. "How long does this stretch?"

Kale rubbed his chin, going into deep thought. "Hm…Mostly from the west to the east. This is Ozoth's territory, This whole forest basically wraps around the kingdom." He stretched his arms out to emphasize the forest's largeness. "Must be sort of an eye opener for you to see how big it is, huh?"

Majority of my life here was basically seeing just grass plains and whatever was on the outskirts of Prusha. So seeing this large and Lavish looking forest was a huge change of pace for me. But looking more closely at how the trees were lined…It kinda seemed like it was a literal wall of sorts. Like someone stitched a completely different piece of land to another one. It made me curious of what else this world had to offer…If Ithryll was similar, then it too most likely had a striking difference with its land.

"Hey…How was this…World made?" I asked. There's gotta be something that created this world, right? I'm sure there's some sort of religious reasoning of how the world was created by some god or something…Actually with how some spells need to have some sort of god's name included with the spell, I'm pretty sure there IS a god that created this world. I could see there being a religion similar to Christianity or something similar to it.

Kale gave me a intrigued look. "You're asking me?" He pondered for a moment, trying to remember. "Hm…Growing up, I went to a school in my town. In class, we'd learn about the God of Creation."

"God of creation?"

"A being who existed before this whole world even started. They created this world by patching and stitching pieces they made into continents. Like the one we're standing on now."

Hm, maybe that's why Ozoth and The Cascadia plains look so different from each other. Also, God of creation? Sounds too far-fetched…but considering magic is in this world and there's other monsters here…I could see it. I don't believe Duvul or Arael spoke of this god of creation, so maybe it is even beyond their time. I shouldn't really look into this too much, I wouldn't want to try to figure out something like this as it's above my pay grade.

But all things considered, If there is a god for everything in this world…Why haven't I heard much about them? I know of Teher, The god of earth. Nebus, The god of Life. Then there's Duvul, the god of Magic. Why don't the other elementals have names to them? I'm considering going to the libraries in Ozoth to figure this out.

Actually, Should I even consider Arael a goddess? I mean she technically is the goddess of death, but I just see her as a tormentor.

"Hey, Lilith! Time to get up!" Kale shouted. He turned his gaze back to the wagon. Shortly after he said that, Lilith awoke.

"Wha-huh?" She rubbed her eyes before looking at the forest that stood behind me and Kale. "…Woah!" And judging by her voice, she was more energized and motivated. "This whole place looks so pretty!"

Lilith soon Hopped off the wagon, looking around curiously at the Forest walls. Awe and intrigue was written all over her face as she went onward to touch one of the tall trees ahead of us.

"Look at how huge this tree is!" She yelled back at us. If I had to guess…These trees were about 60 feet tall? The trees in Prusha paled in comparison as those trees stood at around 40 feet at least…

"Yes, we can see." Kale said. "Now get back here, I need to fill you two in on what's in this forest."

"Ok!" Lilith said, she gave the tree one hug before racing back towards us.

I looked at Kale. "So, how many times have you passed through this forest?"

"Mmm…About over twenty. Most of it was when I was adventuring, I've come here on royal duties with Lucian only twice."

"Anything bad happen?"

As I said that, Kale raised his hand and pointed at me. "Ah, that's what I was going to talk about." He kept his finger pointed at me and Lilith as he continued. "Ozoth's forest is dangerous, even for King ranked adventurers. There's only one major trail here that we will use, it's the one that most people use. Outside of that, there are multiple smaller trails that lead to dungeons or Nest for monsters."

"So we just stay on the trail, easy peasy." Lilith commented, But Kale pointed his finger at her sternly.

"Not easy peasy. Monsters are more bold here than on these grassy plains, there's a lot of incidents involving Goblins or bandits on these trails. So let's be on our best guard and focus on our surroundings when we travel through here."

"Are there any other monsters here?" I asked.

"Trolls, Dead spirits, and…Bears. I've only encountered these things maybe once on each trip. So we'll most likely see one of these."

Hm? Dead sprints? Does he mean like a ghost? That sounds kinda troublesome, I don't think any of us know how to fight against that…I'm not much of a ghost person either. Trolls and bears sound more welcoming than a being you can't hit.

"We need to hit the road again. We'll talk more along the way. We don't want to be out here when it's dark." Kale said, turning back to the wagon. "You don't want to be out here at night…"

I felt a tap on my shoulder as I watched him move to the wagon, I turned to see Lilith. Her eyes beaming with excitement.

"Sounds like we'll have a fight on our hands!" She said, excited. She had one of her hands on her sword, eagerly holding it. "What do you think we'll be fighting?!"

I quickly put my hands on her shoulder, trying to hold her in place. "Erm…how about we don't get into any fights? Let's try to keep this trip as safe as possible. Remember, we have Chris, Amelia and Claire to keep safe." As I said that, I saw Liliths face begin to sadden. Seems Lilith is really eager to just fight, but I think fighting should be at the bottom of our priority at the moment. Still…

"How about this, If we do end up having to fight, just make sure it isn't near the Wagon. Let's try to lead them away from it."

"Of course! I was thinking that!" Lilith said. she then quickly looked away and just under her breath, I heard her whisper. "Just need to get my one off things…"

"Hm?" I looked at her. Something was clearly on her mind now, she wanted to use fighting as a distraction. Maybe it's best if I pry her a little bit on what happened…

"Lilith, are you alright?" I asked. She quickly turned her head towards me again. "Something bothering you?"

"I…" Lilith looked like she wanted to tell me, but something was stopping her. She had her eyes closed for a moment before taking a deep breath and opening them. "…I'll tell you when we get to Ozoth. And when Kale isn't around."

"That's fine. I'm just worried." I grabbed her shoulder and gave her a reassuring nod. "Let's head back to the wagon and get ready."

"Got it…Lets be prepared for a fight!" Lilith pumped her fist, getting back into her more amped up energy. She began to walk to the wagon before stopping to look at something. "Hm? What's that on your hand?"

Before I could say anything, she grabbed my wrist and held it up. She eyed with intrigue the ring that I had on, using her hand to trail my own.

"Oh, This? It was a gift from Synthia and Gerald. Just a ring that helps me use Magic." I answered her, watching as she examined the ring.

"Looks pretty! I wish I got one!" Lilith looked at her own hand, a frown formed on her face. "I guess I'll just buy one in Ozoth…"

Just hearing that, I remembered what I said to Gerald. Maybe it's a good time to give her the ring…

"Hurry it up!" I heard Kale call to us. I guess it can wait…

"Coming!" Both me and Lilith said as we walked back to the wagon.

Hopping onto the wagon, the horses began to trot into the forest. Benjamin neighing and snorting in a manner I haven't heard him do before.

"Hm…He doesn't like it." Kale said, narrowing his eyes. "Then again…He always hates going through here…Kids, keep your eyes peeled and if you see anything weird, let me know."

And thus, we've entered Ozoth territory…

***

About an hour into the trail, nothing happened. Me and Lilith stayed alert for the most part, eyeing every tree and sudden movement. Most of the time, it was just an animal who was crossing by. Most of the animals in this forest seemed to be more diverse than what was also in Prusha's forest; there were deers and foxes that roamed here, But then I also saw what I assumed was a beaver who was crossing a small river we needed to cross.

Then, there were the Moving trees. Whether they were stumps or full blown trees, I noticed one that moved and trotted away from us. When I asked Kale about them, he said that they were called dryads. Dryads were spirits who died in the forest, their mana being used by the trees and converted into their seed…where they would one day be turned into a living tree. Kale did say that these dryads did not have memories of their past, nor could they speak. Which was good to me, since seeing moving trees kinda spooked me.

After another hour passed, we soon found ourselves deep within the forest. There was still daylight here, but the trees gave us some pretty good shade from it. Albeit, at the moment, These trees were giving us an issue.

In front of us now, was a tree that seemingly fell on our trail, blocking us from continuing. The tree itself seemed to have been hit or some animal crashed into it, causing it to fall.

Kale got out of the front seat and walked cautiously to the scene. Me and Lilith watched with concern from our seats. That was when we heard Claire and Amelia speak through the wagon's carriage.

"Kota? What's going on out there?" I heard Claire.

"Don't tell me something is blocking us!" Amelia exclaimed.

"Erm…I got bad news." I sadly brought the news to her. I heard Amelia groan in discomfort as I also heard Claire give out a sigh.

"There's a tree blocking us. And Kale is looking at it, I think we can use the route on our right to continue?" Lilith said, she then pointed at the trail that led to the right. It went downhill and looked less used than the normal trail. It probably was a back up trail for when this sort of occasion happens. I guess we'll need to ask Kale and see what he thinks.

"This is concerning…" I heard Claire say. "There was where I was kidnapped, when I was heading to Prusha…That won't happen again, would it?"

"No worry, sis! I won't let them get us! I'll make sure they get Chris first!" Amelia said.

"H-hey! Why me? I'm the Prince, I should be the priority!" Chris said in a panicked manner. "A-Anyways, hurry it up out there! Please!"

I looked at Lilith. "You think we'll be attacked here?" Lilith was still eyeing the surroundings before she looked at me.

"It's possible…Kale said that sometimes these sorts of things could be set ups for one. There's a lot of points where someone could attack us." Lilith paused. "Actually…Look over there."

I looked at where she pointed. On our left, I could see in the distance what was a strange formation. Its crumbled and broken state made it hard to figure out, But with more studying and looking…I found out what it was.

It was a broken down wagon. Seemingly burnt or blackened by something, it was like something that split it in half and burnt whatever was inside afterwards. Actually…This wagon looked a bit familiar, underneath the blackened wood and tattered sheets…I could see that the coloring of it was Brown. Just like that other carriage we ran into not long ago.

"Kids!" Kale said, jogging to us. He had just finished his observation. "Bad news. We-Ah? Looking at something?"

"Erm…That wagon over there." I pointed. Kale looked towards it. "We've seen that one before."

"Oh…Oh! Yeah!" Lilith finally noticed. "That's the one that I almost killed the Dwarf guy!"

"You what?" Kale asked, looking at her with confusion. "Was this when I was asleep in the carriage?"

"I-uh…if it makes you happier, I didn't kill them?" Lilith awkwardly said. "Still, I recognize the wagon's colors. What happened to them?"

Kale thought for a moment. "…Could be possible that the tree log and the wagon are related. Could be possible that that wagon just looks similar with its coloring. But seeing how rundown it looks…I doubt it's the group you two talked of. It also does seem like the log was purposely made to fall right on the trail. Leaving us with…The right trail."

"Where does that one lead?" I asked.

"It's a much longer way to Ozoth. It passes by a river that flows down the hill. We'll need to cross its bridge and head even more downhill so we can head to the gate. It'll just be a bit longer."

"I kinda thought Ozoth was all flatland…" I commented.

"No, towards the west there are cliffs and mountains. They just aren't as prominent as Prusha's. There's also marshlands in the west and more swampy areas."

"I see…"

"Anyways, we need to take that right trail." Kale looked at the downhill trail. "It's our best bet."

"I suppose…" Lilith said. "I'm still unsure, that wagon looks like the one we met…where would the two dudes go?"

"Not sure, and it aint our concern." Kale said as he hopped onto the front seats. "They could be dead for all we know…Let's just focus on the trail and let's be ready for a fight."

With quick succession, Kale had the horses trailing down the right trail and we found ourselves at the forces of gravity. I could hear Amelia and Claire complaining as they found themselves having to sit next to Chris, who sat at the back end of the carriage. After the battle with going down, we found flat land and continued to go down the trail.

Along the right side of us was a small cliff that showed us how vast the west side of this forest was. Endless forest and what I assumed to be what kale said was a swamp, water from the flowing rivers crossed through them. And ever so slowly, I could hear the sounds of a river getting closer to us. Which meant that we were getting close to the cross we needed to pass.

As I gazed around us, I noticed one thing that kept me on my nerves. The quietness in the forest, there were no animals that made sounds. There were no sounds of any sort of wagons or humans even near us, it was like we were the only ones going through the forest at the moment. What's with this eerie silence? I turned to Lilith and noticed that she was alert as well, most likely thinking the same as me.

Something isn't right.

"Hm?" I heard kale grunt out a confused noise. "Over there." He lifted his hand and pointed across from us. "The river."

In front of us was a river that flowed to the right and down the small cliff, the sound of the water falling being the only noise out here. Rocks and boulders surrounded this river, alongside the trees opening up to let the sunlight in. It was quite a beautiful sight.

Ah, well besides one thing.

To where Kale was pointing, was across the river itself. On that side of the river, I saw what appeared to be a bunch of wood sticking out from the ground, holding up clothing that made it resemble a person...no, it was a person. Their bodies drained in some way, looking like a shrewd and frail body. They wore a ripped up shirt and pants alongside one shoe that laid in front of them.

"Is that a person?" Lilith asked. She panned the river, looking for anyone. "It's like someone set it up."

"Someone did." Kale said, his tone serious and cold. "Someone's expecting us."

"But who?"

Kale looked at me, knowing full well who was doing this. It's not like we didn't know anyone who could drain people. I mean, I saw it first hand.

Suddenly, we all heard a giggle. Appearing from the shadows across the river, someone appeared from the trees.

"Hehehe…Boy, did it take me a bit to make this for ya." The voice sounded all so feminine. As the sunlight began to hit them, I could see the black boots and thigh-high socks before I saw their bandaged hands. Their skin tight black clothing wrapped around them as their cloak hung along their left side. As they fully came into view, they casually leaned against the makeshift wooden stand. Their bright pink hair stood out the most, their smile grew wide and sinister.

It was Mandy Creshawn.

"You know how long I sat out here for? Like two days!" They said, irritated. "Talk about being late to the party!"

"You!" Kale shouted. "How'd you know we were coming through here?!"

Mandy laughed, pushing themselves off the makeshift stand and playfully skipped towards the edge of their side of the river. They kicked the one shoe across the river, having it sink into the waters. "Oh, me? I got my ways, and I ain't telling you! Maybe you should take me on a date first before I give you the info!"

Lilith leaned next to me, whispering. "Why is she trying to flirt?"

I looked back at her. "I don't know. And it's a guy too."

"…oh…" Lilith awkwardly said. "I guess guys really like Kale…"

"Shut it…" Kale said to her, listening to our conversation. He drew one of his swords out and held it, focusing on Mandy. "Listen, don't make this hard for yourself! Leave us be and you won't need to handle the pressure of both Ozoth and Prusha's guards on you!"

"Hahaha!" Mandy laughed, slapping his knee. "You gotta be kidding me! Do you know how many times I've been through each kingdom?! I've lost count!" As Mandy stopped laughing, his face grew serious and cold. "And I've lost count how many I've taken from them." He tilted his head, slowly pointing his finger to us. "I know the blue haired girl is in that carriage with you. Hand her over."

I could hear Lilith slowly drawing her short sword out of its holster, so I began to tightly hold onto my staff. I also began to hear the trees rumble and the branches on them move, seemingly the forest came to life.

"You're not getting the girls." Kale said, coldy. "I'm bringing them back home, either you leave and give up your search or you get that head sliced off."

"Ooh, scary!" Mandy mocked him. "Not the first time I heard that. Got the same sort of heroic lines from a dwarf the other day, and well he ended up as a meal for my boys."

That caught Liliths attention. "D-dwarf? You killed a dwarf?" She stood up from her seat and stared at Mandy. "…Did you kill those merchants?"

Mandy looked at Lilith, confused. "Uh…Maybe?" He began to scratch his pink hair. "I don't really notice what they are, they were just strolling by and I decided that my boys needed something to eat. And boy, did they eat!"

I saw Lilith gritting her teeth, her hand tightening around her short sword. I could see disgust in her eyes. "You're cruel And disgusting!"

"And who the hell are you supposed to be?" Mandy eyed her, but soon his eyes drifted to me. "Oh I know who you are. Mister silent caster."

"Don't call me that." I said, narrowing my eyes. I'm not sure what Mandy's plan is right now…why's he by himself? Shouldn't he have those monster things with him? He's just standing there…menacingly. "Where's your monster?"

Mandy smiled, jumping in one spot at the river. "Haha! Straight to the point! Guess you noticed that I'm alone, huh? Well…takes a bit of time for them to do what I want them to do!"

"Eh?" I thought for a moment. The monsters are taking time to do what? What are they doing?

Then it clicked to me…Mandy was stalling for something, and the forest above began to stir even more. The branches breaking and cracking at what seemed to be the weight of something on them.

"Oh no…"I said, slowly looking up. Kale and Lilith noticed as well, and they too looked up.

Above us now, I saw what looked to be three humanoid looking creatures looming above us. Their bulky features and stitched up bodies made them stand out, they clung to the branches and eerily looked at us.

"Oh shit, Everyone out of the damn carriage!" Kale immediately yelled, quickly bolting off the front seats and running to the doors of the carriage.

Me and Lilith tried our best to hop off the front seats quickly, but we were too late. One of the humanoid creatures flew right down onto the front seats, nearly hitting us. Me and Lilith tumbled to the side as we tried to recover. We saw the Creature landed imperfectly, hitting two of the horses we had as well. The horses neighed and screamed as they were seemingly crushed by the creature's weight.. the wagon bounced and had its front wheels broken off.

"Aah! What's going on?!" I heard Amelia scream inside the carriage. The carriage stood idly, unable to move.

"Trouble, now get out of the carriage or you'll get crushed!" I heard Kale yell.

"I got plenty more for you guys, don't worry!" I heard Mandy yell. "You haven't seen most of it!"

As he said that, the other creature began to fall from the trees. It was aiming for the wagon itself this time, but this time I saw it coming. I aimed at my staff, trying to predict where I'd be able to hit it. Then I imagined a large air ball, feeling the mana course through me. My staff hummed and quickly shot out a large air ball. The ball sped its way to the wagon and managed to hit the falling creature with such force and momentum, that it spiraled and flew right into the trees.

"Kota, look out!" I heard Lilith yell. As I turned to see what she was talking about, I saw what I assumed to be a dog. But it was modified and had its arms bulked up, looking like a dog on steroids or something! It snarled as it tried to bite me. Luckily Lilith was quick enough and already pulled her blade at the dog, her blade cutting right through its neck and slicing its head off. The head of the dog landed right onto my lap, all bloody.

"Haaah! Gross!" I immediately yelled, pushing the head right off me. "I didn't know he could do that with animals too?!"

You telling me Mandy can use necromancy on animals?!

"Kids?! You alright?" I heard kale yell. I turned to see that he had Amelia, Chris and Claire alongside him. Chris looked absolutely frightened, with Amelia and Claire looking around in a panicked manner. Amelia seemed to have grabbed her staff, which was good in case she needed to fight.

"Yeah, what do we do?!" Lilith said. "Can't just stand here!"

"Oh yes, you will!" We heard Mandy yell.

Suddenly, the floor beneath us rumbled. I started to see that walls were beginning to emerge around us, enclosing us into this river area. These walls stood as tall as the trees and looked over us.

We were stuck.

"Atta boys! Got them right in our trap!" As I got up, I saw that behind Mandy was the humanoid looking creature that looked like the ones I've fought before. It had its hand planted onto the floor, casting the earth spell that now surrounded us.

"Haha…Now you can't escape." Mandy said menacingly. He then pulled out his bo staff and extended it. "What'll you do now?"

I looked at Kale, who was grimacing and sweating. Behind him stood the other three, Amelia gripping her staff intensely as Claire looked on with fear at her kidnapper. Chris as well looked with horror and fear.

Actually…I might have an idea.

I looked at Lilith, who was ready to fight. Her eyes narrowed with anticipation, her hand gripping her sword with eagerness. "Lilith, I got an idea."

"Hm?" She looked at me. "What is it?"

It was something that usually people in emergencies do, a light of any sorts would be used to signal the need of assistance. I planned on doing something like that. "I'm going to blast a fire ball into the air, and hopefully someone will notice it. You think we can stall these guys?"

Lilith thought for a moment, her eyes closed. behind her I could see Mandy was advancing towards us. Behind Mandy were now four humanoid monsters that stumbled and wobbled behind him.

After a moment of thought, Lilith opened her eyes. A familiar red glow pulsed in her left eye.

"I can stall."

A/N: Whoops, forgot the Initial Author notes for this chapter lol. Next chapter should be out 7/13 or 7/14! (Hi all! You may notice that the pace of this Volume is different, with things flying by to get to the action. This volume is suppose to be full of action scenes and more straight forward story telling. I spent 4 volumes building up Kota and Lilith, now it's times to progress the actual story and really focus on what I intended to do the last Volume. More Action, and I want to deliver that as fast as possible! So I hope your geared up for the next chapter because it all action!)