I squirmed uncomfortably on the saddle, and looked at Kristen with pleading eyes. "Kristen... I can't ride. Can I get down now?"

Kristen touched her chin as though she was seriously considering it – I doubted it.

"Uh, no."

"I'm sorry for laughing!" I surrendered. "I don't know how to ride this thing."

"This 'thing' is a horse and this horse is called Jasper." Kristen patted Jasper by the neck, and Jasper nodded, the bells jingling on his bridle.

I laughed nervously, "sorry about that too, but – ah – I gotta get back to the ground."

Sensing my nervousness, Kristen actually nodded and agreed. "I think you learned your lesson."

"I didn't know Practical involved horse-" as I was dismounting, my foot slipped into the stirrup. I fell straight on my butt.

Kristen barked a laugh. "Cassie, you clumsy pants!" She bent down, holding the reins, but I sensed Jasper's discomfort before he decided to jog.

I let out a panicked cry as the horse dragged me across the floor, sending dirt flying behind me. "Kristen!!!"

The horse ran faster. I swished by a corner, knocking into a root, stirring commotion in the pile of leaves. Jasper rounded a sharp corner and I was thrown into a tree.

"Ek!"

"I'm coming, girl! Hold on!"

"Hold on? I want to let go!"

I unsheathed my sword, swung it in the air, seeing the sharp blade cut through the reins. Once I was free from the bounds, I slumped to the floor as I helplessly watched Jasper gallop away into the woods.

"Cassie! Cassandra?" Kristen's cries were not far behind me.

I sat up and waved. "Yo!"

"Are you hurt?" Kristen looked absolutely frantic. She grabbed my shoulder and checked me over.

"Hit a tree, otherwise, good as new."

Kristen sighed in relief, then looked guilt-struck. "Sorry."

"Is this some sort of pay-back?" I asked, a sly grin on my face. She mimicked, pulling me up from the ground.

"Weeeeee should go and find Jasper."

"Agreed."

The next few minutes were a series of cooing and yelling Jasper's name across the forest until our throats grew dry and our legs wobbly sore. The weather was really getting to us.

We made out of the woods to a little hill and outstretched before us was another unending forest. Kristen threw herself to the ground with an exasperated sigh.

"I shouldn't have let you ride Jasper, it was all my fault," she said breathlessly.

"I'm thirsty," I added.

Kristen fanned herself down, "yeah, me too! We better end this quickly before dehydration really becomes a thing."

I pointed at the forest. "It doesn't look too bad in there. The trees are dense enough so it should cover the sun."

"You're right. Let's go a bit further," Kristen stood up. I noticed that she carried a weapon behind her back, but it wasn't a sword.

"What's that?"

"Huh? Oh, my ribbon sword. More like a whip." Kristen grinned, pulling it from her back. She gripped her handle and the ribbon blade collapsed to the ground, emitting a green hue. "That's why I didn't understand why my crest is pink. Green is mostly my colour."

"Wow," I gasped, watching as the sword moved with the flexibility of a snake. Kristen flicked her wrist and the ribbon shortened. She slid it back behind her back.

"Alright, let's go. One last try and then I give up."

"Same thoughts here," I grinned. "Jasper, you're as free as a mustang if we don't find you."

Kristen giggled.

We slid down the hill with a trained sleekness, both able to catch up onto each other with a smooth momentum.

"Should we tell someone about our location?" I said, suddenly feeling the need to look back. We had traveled a distance away from campus, but surely we were still within school grounds.

"We'll be back pretty soon," Kristen waved me off. I shrugged. Yeah, we'll be quick.

And we were quick and unstoppable. The slippery slopes and rocky paths didn't falter us. We leaped and flipped over them with a deadly quietness, soaring over streams like a barn owl in flight. It almost seemed like the forest would never sense our presence if it were human.

Soon, the sunlight began to dim, the trees towered over us and covered our heads. The temperature had dipped, chilly against my sizzling skin.

I slowed down to wary steps, eyeing the slits of sunlight that managed to escape through. Kristen kept walking and I had no reason to question her judgements. I followed her, with an irksome uneasiness, though.

There was an almost invisible layer of mist that came to my waist, but it didn't affect my vision so I simply waved them apart. "Kristen," I hissed. "We've gone far enough."

Kristen stopped and observed her surroundings quickly. "Hm, you're right. I didn't even realise we've come this far."

"Let's head back," I urged. My instincts probing me at an alarming rate.

As we turned, Kristen suddenly spun back. "Wait, do you hear that?"

At this point, I knew I was no risk-taker. Despite hearing that faint noise, I said "no, I didn't."

But Kristen didn't hear me. In the distance, there was a faint, almost inaudible sound. A clear jingle of a bell.

"Jasper?" Kristen didn't wait for me to reply, she sprung into a jog.

"Kristen!" I hissed, "wait!"

Any movement here was a risky move. If there was anything in the shadows, then we were their practice targets; glaringly obvious in the open while they hid behind the trees and mist.

I picked up my pace. I didn't want to go any deeper, but I was never going to abandon Kristen here on her own.

"I heard it somewhere," Kristen muttered to herself. Just as I slowed down, we hear the bell ring again.

"That way!" Kristen made a sharp turn and I was right on her heels.

Alright, just get the horse and we're outta here.

For a brief moment, I felt fear clench my throat. I could barely make out Kristen's figure as we sprinted through looming shadows of darkness.

The bell jingled again, except much quicker. I hopped and jumped over some leaves and roots and ducked down to avoid hitting the branches. Finally, I broke free of the shadows, meeting trunks and Kristen standing in the centre. No undergrowth could survive in a place as shrouded as this.

"Kristen?" I said, approaching her slowly. She had her head down, staring intently at something. My glance followed her, and as I neared, I saw a spark of gold, lines of light flitting past it's surface.

When I got to Kristen I realised to my horror what it was.

The bell.

Kristen groaned in frustration, giving a childish stomp. "Damn. How are we going to find Jasper without the bell?"

"I'm sorry, Kristen..." I said, but my voice was weak, my sentence trailing off to merely a distracted mumble. There was something I feared more than losing Jasper. It was how the bell managed to get off his bridle.

"Jasper had been with me for five years now," Kristen muttered and shook her head. "Let's go, Cassie, we've tried-"

I cut her off, my voice threatening to quiver, "Kristen, look." I pointed to the bell and her glance followed.

Blood.

Kristen leaped away from it quickly, as horrified as I was. "Oh my god, Cassie..."

"We really need to go," I breathed. "No more lingering."

I turned on my heels and Kristen followed closely. We ran for a while before we both slowed down.

"Darn," Kristen cursed, "we have no idea where we are."

She took out her phone, dialed a quick number, and waited.

"Marty?"

I breathed a sigh of relief. I gave Kristen a wave and we both kept moving. Again, the same rules of survival, never be a fallen prey (or a standing prey).

I scanned the trees again, the trees shivered, the minimal light I could see faded into the colour of orange.

"We're lost in this forest." Kristen puffed. "Can you track us down?"

I halted to a stop, hand on my hilt as I spun to the side. Waiting... listening...

Kristen was alarmed at my action. She held her breath.

My head grew numb as I heard whispers in the distance. Whispers that grew into shuffling, and shuffling that grew into stomping. The ground gave a subtle shake, I could hear leaves crunching in the distance.

"Kristen..." I whispered weakly. Kristen lowered her phone, staring with me into the shadows.

A pair of red eyes appeared in the distance, and then another, and another and another... A deep rumble came from within, and the sound of shuffling grew close. There was an unearthly shriek.

Fun riding lesson, indeed.







***

A/N

Well, that turned dark quickly. And yes, you can run away from this forest first and then give a vote or a comment.

Till next chapter, friends!

L