The sun shone down from above, lighting up the wide canopy of tall trees that made up the vast forest.
Just outside the entrance of the woods, a large group of men and women had gathered and stood waiting.
With daggers strapped to their belts, leather armor covering their bodies, and bows and arrows slung across their backs, they were clearly hunters, all local to the region.
They stood perfectly still, not making a sound, listening with total respect as a massive man addressed them.
"Am I clear? Even if a bird decides to fly, it asks your permission first." Titus said, dressed in his usual casual clothes, his deep blue eyes fixed imposingly on the group in front of him.
The hunters weren’t entirely sure how they were supposed to pull that off, since none of them were Witches or Shadows capable of casting spells. Still, they all nodded at the same time, since refusing an order from Titus wasn’t something anyone here had the nerve to try.
"Good." Titus nodded, satisfied. "Now go."
At his command, the hunters moved quickly, spreading out into the forest to check for any danger that might threaten the children’s safety.
Titus watched their figures disappear into the trees for a moment before turning his attention back to the dirt road ahead, where the carriage was already approaching.
His brows furrowed slightly, as if an idea had just crossed his mind. "Should I use this as a chance to test his character?"
Of course, he was talking about Magna.
For the past week, Celeste’s sharp warning had kept him from doing anything to push the boy, and it had been driving him restless the whole time.
Every time he watched Magna playing with his adorable daughter, his fingers itched to march over and smack the kid upside the head.
Now that an opportunity had actually presented itself, he could finally let out an entire week’s worth of pent-up stress in one go.
Of course, teaching the boy a lesson wasn’t the only thing on his mind. He also genuinely wanted to teach him how to stay alert in the forest, and see just how effectively he could protect Faye if it came down to it.
After giving it a little more thought, he finally shook his head. "Guess this isn’t really the place for that. I don’t want to scare Faye either."
He conveniently left out the part about how terrified he was of what Celeste would do if she ever found out.
As the carriage drew closer, he turned and walked into the forest at a slow pace, disappearing from view.
—
Inside the carriage, things were unusually quiet. Even Faye hadn’t said a single word the entire ride, sitting stiffly upright the whole time.
Her lips were pressed tight, her expression clearly troubled.
Magna, though very fine by the silence, could tell something was off and finally asked.
"What’s wrong with you?"
Hearing his voice seemed to snap Faye out of her thoughts. She turned to look at him as she let out a sigh. "Just remembering the last time I traveled like this."
The last time she meant was the trip for her failed trial.
Failing that trial must have left a pretty deep scar on her.
Magna wasn’t exactly good with comforting people, but he said whatever came to mind anyway. "Relax, we’re not headed to any trial. Just try to enjoy the ride."
Surprisingly, that seemed to lift her spirits right away. Her voice rose cheerfully as she asked. "Right. So, can we catch a few rabbits?"
"Yeah, sure." This time Magna didn’t shoot the idea down, figuring Harlan was with them, so he could just handle that part of the job.
For the rest of the ride, with all her earlier tension gone, Faye barely stopped talking, chatting away about everything she spotted through the window, clearly showing off just how much she could talk given the chance.
Before long, the carriage slowed and rolled into the forest, following the dirt road ahead.
They continued traveling through the woods for a while, until the road eventually came to an end.
"This is as far as the carriage can go. We’ll continue on foot from here." Harlan informed them before stepping down from the carriage.
Magna climbed out first, then helped Faye down after him before taking a look around.
The dirt road really did stop right there, as if whoever built it had simply decided not to push any further, ending abruptly in the middle of nowhere.
Finding it worth asking about, Magna spoke up. "Why does the road only go this far?"
Harlan, still scanning their surroundings with sharp eyes and ears, answered. "Beyond this point, it gets too dangerous for a carriage to continue. Walking on foot isn’t much of an issue for us, but the noise from horses and wheels tends to draw the attention of beasts living deeper in the forest."
Magna nodded, finding that explanation reasonable enough.
He was genuinely curious about what kind of dangerous beasts lived out here and what they looked like, since he hadn’t had much of a chance to read up on the forest’s wildlife yet. Still, he set that curiosity aside for now.
"Let’s go. I’ll take you to where the sunberries grow." Harlan started to walk ahead.
Magna let Faye go first, then followed close behind her as they made their way through the dense trees and grassy ground.
A few minutes into the walk, already well away from the carriage, Magna suddenly stopped, catching a faint sound.
His eyes shifted toward a bush up ahead.
"Faye, look." He smiled, pointing toward whatever he had spotted.
"Where?" Faye’s eyes lit up with excitement as she followed his finger, finally spotting a small white shape moving among the bushes.
"Is that a white rabbit?" She bounced on the spot, ready to bolt after it, if Magna hadn’t grabbed her by the collar first.
Meanwhile, Harlan had stopped too, following the direction Magna was pointing as he felt a genuine jolt of shock.
’I didn’t even notice that...’ Even as an experienced hunter who knew this forest inside and out, he hadn’t managed to spot the rabbit himself, not until this child pointed it out for him.
’Was that just luck?’ He thought, not entirely convinced a child could have sharper eyes and ears than he did.
But a second later, he became certain this kid was anything but ordinary, watching Magna scoop up a stone from the ground, wind up, and throw it in one swift motion.
The rabbit never even got the chance to hop away. The stone struck it square in the head, and it collapsed on the spot, falling unconscious.
’You’ve got to be kidding me...’ Harlan finally understood there was no way this could be just luck.
Even he himself couldn’t pull off something like that, knocking out a rabbit with a single thrown stone.
For one thing, his arms weren’t strong enough to throw a stone that far with enough force to knock something out cold. For another, he didn’t know a single person with that kind of aim.
Thinking it through, he finally understood why the Winterborne family hadn’t seemed the least bit worried about sending these two kids off to play in the forest.
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