199: Ending & Conclusions

She continued, "It smiled at me terrifyingly. And then, before I knew it, I was struck by a terrible pain. My divination was forcefully ended and my mortal flesh was destroyed. Do you understand what that means? It is so powerful that its future self can kill me in the present! So how could you have escaped after coming across it?"

A terrifying realization struck me, and a shiver went down my spine. 

"Don't tell me..." I said, my word trailing off.

She picked up where I left off, completing the conclusion I was too terrified to say out loud, "It was all an act to fool you into stepping out of the forest."

"But if that's the case," I said, my voice trembling with a mix of fear and confusion, "why didn't it just kill me as soon as I stepped out of the forest? Why play this prolonged game?"

She looked at me with a heavy sadness in her eyes.