It got worse. Much worse. 

The light rain descended into a heavy fog that heavily obscured their vision. The forest grew thickly around them as they walked further away from the road. The fog cast shadows and strange shapes, most of which seemed to fade just out of sight, and others that just turned out to be another tree. 

The forest was deathly quiet. And, yet, every now and again, strange sounds came from all around them. 

They quickly became hopelessly disoriented. Neither of them were seasoned woodsmen, or survivalists. The deep wilds of the forest were beyond their ability to navigate in the best of conditions. And, swallowed them entirely in the disorienting bad weather. 

"The road should be here", Phil grumbled. "We didn't walk that deeply into the forest."

"We can't see anything through this fog. We could've walked straight into an inquisition and not realized it."

"I suppose."

An uncomfortable feeling grew in between the two. Although, neither one of the men wanted to say it, they both had realized that they were hopelessly lost. 

Phil rubbed the back of his neck. He felt like they were being watched. 

"Let's…", He paused for a moment and glanced behind his back. "Find shelter and wait for the weather to clear out."

"Yeah. We'll be in real trouble when it gets dark."

Ted was tired. He hadn't had a moment to rest. The little amount of stamina that he had recovered was lost from carrying Karen. And, to make things worse, he was wet and starting to get cold. 

They continued to wander.

The trees loomed over them. The branches reached out almost as if to ensnare them. And, the ground became harder to traverse as the roots broke free and intertwined with one another.

"Maybe, we should stop and ask for directions…", Ted tiredly grumbled without thinking. 

Phil stared at the bard.

"Who do you want me to ask? The trees? There isn't anyone here!"

"But, we have to face it, Phil. We're lost. We have absolutely no idea where we are, where we're going, or how to get back. We can't even find shelter. 

We're cold. And, wet. And, Karen is likely only getting worse."

"I know, I know… You don't have to remind me. I know." Phil replied without even a spark of a fight. He wasn't as exhausted as Ted. But, he was tired and confused just like his friend. 

Phil took a deep breath, "And, I know that I messed up. I'm sorry."

"We can figure that out when we're safe and dry…" Ted replied curtly. He barely even registered what the warrior had said. 

"Yeah. Ted, I'm going to climb one of these tree's. I doubt it'll be out of the fog, but if we are lucky, it'll be better than wandering aimlessly."

"Alright. I could use a quick rest anyway. Just five minutes. Just a quick… breather."

Phil scurried up the closest tree as quickly as he could. Which was slow and arduous at best. The moss that grew on the trees around them was slick and wet. It was incredibly difficult to get a solid grip on it. 

Nevertheless, he managed to make some progress and edged his way to the canopy of the forest, while Ted sat down on the damp dirt floor. 

When Phil finally broke through to the top, he was dismayed to find that the fog still covered everything around them. However, it was a little bit clearer and he could see a short distance away. It was far enough to tell that there seemed to be a man-made structure fairly close to them. 

At least, that's what he hoped was the shape veiled in the mist. It didn't look like any of the other shapes of the trees. And, it remained stationary, even as the fog swirled around it.

He climbed back down to the ground. Which was considerably faster than climbing up. And, likely left several nasty bruises as he slipped a few times. 

"There's a building of some sort", Phil reported as soon as his feet met the ground.

"Alright…", Ted answered without budging an inch. 

"We should get going. It'll be a good chance to dry off and rest."

"Yeah. I'm coming", but, it still took him several moments to stagger back to his feet and get Karen ready. 

Then, they walked toward the mysterious structure. They felt moderately invigorated by the promise of shelter, food, rest, and possibly a hot fire. They quickly approached the area that Phil had seen.

But, as they approached, their enthusiasm dimmed. It was a building and a structure of sorts. However, they had a very good reason to pause and reconsider. 

They had discovered a dilapidated ruin.