The western part of the Korcari Wilds they entered was oak-brown and primitive. The grasses they stepped on were crackly beneath their feet because of the recent dry spell. They were in awe of the size and majesty of the trees. Their knotted arms rose ever upwards, as far as my head could lift. They were hoary fortresses and stood proudly. The orchestra of birdsong they could hear from them suddenly stopped. A pair of jays was screeching high up in the canopy of the trees. Jays are the scavengers of the bird world. Their cruel, corvid eyes are always on the lookout for a feathered meal. In the winter, they raid squirrel stores for their nuts, often damning them to starvation. The creatures drifted across their vision in a flash of flesh-pink and warlock-black, trying to size the humans up. That was the last they saw of those flying creatures, as they were a furtive bird, full of suspicion.

The morning stars peeped down at them like silver asters, glinting and shimmering. The stars looked happy in their solar-silver isolation. The humans could see wild basil growing freely on the clumpy, mossy mattress of the floor. The simpering wind carried a fragrance with it. It was spirit refreshing to smell the mulchy mix of the forest’s perfume. 

There was only a man in the group. His height was above average with very short black hair and brown skin. On his left, a slim girl with golden twintailed hair. On his right, a busty girl with loose apricot hair which was tousled, beachy waves that sit close to the head, with a little volume. 

Based on their physiques, both girls seemed not familiar with fighting. The busty girl had a bow and arrows at her back. 

"Suzy. Don't be too carefree." 

The golden haired girl scolded the busty girl.

"Shut up, Farnese. It's not my thing to walk in the wilds....Hiro is cruel.." The busty girl sighed and complained. 

"Suzy. If you are let alone, you will sleep with random men again!"

The golden haired Farnese yelled.

The girl with longsword at her hip behind them only smiled. Her tortilla coloured hair loosely rested on her shoulders, chest and nape. That straight tortilla hair had soft bends. The medium length hair was the one most likely to hold a curl and is loose in texture.

"Lyla. What's so funny!" Suzy chided at the female knight behind her.

"Please be silent, girls. We must concentrate."

A fair girl with long ears scolded the others. Her olive coloured hair was completely straight and tends to be extremely flat, thin, with little to no body, but with a noticeable shine to it. 

"Yes, lady elf!"

"Yes, Selene."

The girls responded to the elven girl nonchalantly.

A cautious looking girl was walking a bit further from the group. She had a slender figure with fair skin, coral eyes and dark carrot coloured hair that was tied to a ponytail with a red string.

"Tina. Don't walk too far!"

That girl with revealing outfit glanced at the girls who called her but ignored them nonetheless.

Her revealing outfit consisted of a black half-breastplate over a sleeveless mesh bodysuit, a black and red striped headband, light orange scarf with red flower pattern, black arm gloves with metal bracers.

Another quiet girl strode between the group and Tina. 

She had untidy ruby coloured hair trimmed short for easy movement. Although her features weren’t bad and her eyes were sharp, she didn't wear makeup and her skin is tanned after long exposure to the sun. Her arms had solid muscles and her palms were full of calluses from wielding a sword.

"Don't worry. I am near Tina."

The girl with a nest-like hairstyle finally broke her silence. 

"Any peculiarity, Brita?"

The man asked her.

The tanned girl, Brita shook her head.

"Haaa. So looong!" Suzy lamented.

"Be quiet!" Farnese scolded her.

The man, Hiro clapped his hands to calm the girls,

"Girls. Let's walk further and enjoy!"

They decided to venture deeper into the tangled heart of this primeval forest. They hoped that it would reveal its dark secrets to them.

The further they went, the more mystical and spellbinding it became. Huge roots spread-eagled the ground, twisting like the great backs of sea dinosaurs. The foliage became thick and lush, forming an arch of fairytale-green above our heads. Arthritic boughs, gnarled with age, dripped their bounty of nuts onto the path. Briars, brambles and berry trees flanked the trail, making it impenetrable on either side. Shuffling noises came from deep in the interior, deadened by the cunningly woven web of leaves. A troupe of shambling badgers crossed the winding trail in front of them at one point. They were finishing up their early morning foraging and looked startled to see the humans.

They group arrived at a wide glade, where the trees fell away, revealing the bespeckled sky. The last of the morning’s stars were glinting like silver pin pricks, luminous and bright. An ore orange sun hung quietly in the distance, casting a honeyed sheen over the trees. They sat down with our backs against a lightning blasted tree trunk and watched it fade away. As if on cue, an avian aria erupted from the knot of trees. The solitary songbird was soon joined by his beaked companions, creating a symphony of song. The heart haunting melody was an elixir for the soul. The sap sweet fragrance of the forest washed over them and they were seduced by its comforting goodness. They placed some stinging nettle leaves into the broth they were brewing and it added a tingling, chlorophyll flavour. When they were leaving, the only man risked a glance over his shoulder. The forest glade looked freeze frame perfect in the enhanced light of the full dawn.

***

The enchanted forest beckoned Farnese into its pulsing heart. How could she resist such a lush Garden of Eden? The deep, haunting ballad of its ancient song called out to the rich heiress. The forest was still steeped in plushness and opulence.

With a light heart, she plunged into the over-arching vault of leaf and limb. It was not what she had expected. The exquisiteness of the dawn’s light had not yet lanced to the lush, green sward. Because of this, hoods of black shadow hung in the groves.

Coils of vaporous mist enwrapped the shaggy heads of the oak trees. They writhed around them like a conjuror’s milky smoke, sensuous and illusory. Sieves of mist caressed the lichen-encrusted bark. Adding its phantasmal gas to the damp breath of the forest, it glided with deadly intent. It deadened sound, haunted glades and poured into empty spaces. A sepulchral silence overhung the hallowed ground where the trees dared not grow. Nothing stirred, nothing shone, nothing sang. A hollow echoing, like the hushed tones of a great, slabbed cathedral, entombed the wood.

Then a finger of supernal light poked through the misty mesh. It was followed by a whole loom of light, filtering down in seams of gold. Like the luminal glow of the gods, it chased the shadows, banished the gloom and spilled into spaces where the mist once stalked. The fluty piping of a songbird split the silence just as the forest became flooded with light. A fusillade of trilling and warbling detonated all around her group as the primordial forest came alive with the troubadours of the trees. She darted between shafts of lustrous-gold light as she went, admiring the butterflies. They pirouetted in the air, their wings a-whirr like little ripples of silk.

The glory of the forest was revealed in the birthstone-bright light. Almond-brown trees stood serenely, awash with a tender glow. Their bark looked like riffled toast and gems of amber clasped their crusty exterior. The first blush of the morn gave the leafy bower a green-going-to-gold complexion.

Idling past suede-soft flowers, Farnese caressed them softly, getting tingles in her fingers. Her ears perked up at the metallic, tinkling sound of a stream. It flashed with a tinsel tint through the lace of leaves. When the trees parted, she could see it was sliding into an infinity-pool. The pool looked like a polished mirror of silver, with skeins of swirl-white twisting slowly on the surface. A shiny spillway led to a choppier pond. Boulders colonized the edges of the pond, buffed with pillows of moss. They caused a rocky gurgling as water met stone; a swish, a clunk, a swell and a clop. Sweet fragrances, alluvial and palliative, seemed to flit in and out of her awareness. Sight and smell vied for attention in this soul-enriching dream world.

"Farnese. Stop dreaming. We are going to leave you behind!" A playful female voice called her.

"Shut up, Suzy!" The slim girl yelled back at the curvaceous girl.