The sun rose over the forest as Hunter laid in his hammock in a very deep sleep. The surrounding area around him was very peaceful and serene. The pleasant sound of the slight breeze gave a tranquil white noise, and the sun shined just enough through the canopy to give the vibrant green forest life, but not enough to wake up Hunter. However, he was awakened abruptly by the sound of a twig snapping. He jolted awake and hopped out of his hammock in an instant, reaching for his spear that was leaning beside the tree next to him. Hunter looked up and stopped, seeing Mark standing in front of him.

“Relax, it’s just me. I thought I would let you sleep in a bit while I prepared breakfast,” Mark told him in a peaceful tone. He gestured towards the basket that hung from a strap around his upper body containing a copious amount of various colorful fruits and berries he picked from the surrounding area. To the naked eye, most of these fruits are hidden within the lush greenery and bushes that lingered in the forest, but trained hunters and gathers such as themselves, Mark and Hunter are able to discern edible plants from inedible or poisonous ones.

“You picked all of this?” Hunter exclaimed in disbelief as he gawked at the kaleidoscopic fruit basket whose vibrant sheen stood out from all of the greenery.

“Well, we passed some bushes of raspberries on our way over here, so I went searching for them. I also found a variety of other fruits along the way,” Mark explained as he handed the basket over to Hunter.

“How long did it take you to do this?” Hunter asked with his eyes fixed on the basket as he started to pick through the plentiful fruits.

“Around an hour, I got up at dawn and immediately went to work gathering. I’m a little surprised you slept as long as you did,” Mark replied as he watched Hunter look through the basket with excitement.

Hunter sat down next to the now smoldering fire from the night before as he continued to pick through the basket. “Well thank you, I probably would have freaked out if you weren’t here when I woke up,” he exaggerated with a slight smirk. He took a handful of berries and started to eat them, trying different berries together to see how they tasted.

Mark sat down next to him and reached over for the basket Hunter was cradling within his lap. Hunter noticed this and fumbled a bit before putting the basket in between them. Mark giggled and proceeded to join him in eating from the basket. As the duo lounged in front of their suppressed flame they unconsciously competed against each other to find the best combination of fruits to eat to get the best flavor.

“We should get going shortly, we can probably make it to the Magical Kingdom by the end of the day if we don’t continue to make stops,” Mark said sarcastically to Hunter before he shoveled more berries into his mouth. He looked at Hunter with a slight grin as he chewed, watching the Hunter process what he just said.

Hunter swallowed a mouthful of berries before speaking facetiously, “Ha-ha, very funny. I’ll try to stay more focused this time.”

Mark laughed and they continued to eat from the basket as they sat in the peaceful clearing they set up camp in. After devouring the remainder of the fruit, Mark picked it up and collapsed it so he could fit it within his satchel better. Between him and Hunter, they collectively came up with very creative ways to make everything they would ever need fit within their run-of-the-mill satchels. They started to take down their camp, rolling up their hammocks and attaching the strings onto loops on the satchels. They finished packing up what little belongings they had left and started to continue their journey.

The second day of traveling was similar to the first. Mark navigated with the map as Hunter followed and continued to become distracted by picking colorful flowers, contrary to what he said previously. The first few hours of their journey were tranquil. Because Mark and Hunter resonate with the life element of the forest, they felt a deeper, more spiritual connection to the vegetation than others. They could feel the life flowing in patterns throughout the forest, giving them a sense of nirvana. The only sounds that surrounded them were the natural sounds of the forest and the sounds they were making themselves. The forest grew more dense the further away they were from the river. However, after a while, the surrounding area in the forest started to look the same to Mark and Hunter. Hunter then stopped when he saw a group of mushrooms he thought they passed already.

“Hey Mark, I think we’re going in circles,” he warned Mark in a condescending tone.

“It’s possible we may have taken a wrong turn, this map isn’t exactly the best when it comes to showing landmarks,” Mark replied, scratching his head as he examined the map.

Hunter walked over to Mark and yanked the map out of his hands, then proceeded to examine the map closely.

“Hey watch it! You don’t want to rip the map up more than it already is!” Mark exclaimed, reaching for the map back as the Hunter used his elbow to block him.

“I get that, but by the look of this it would be nearly impossible to navigate through this part of the forest, considering how dense it is,” Hunter said with concern, rolling up the map. “We need to get higher to see where we are.”

“And how exactly do you plan on…” Mark trailed off as he watched Hunter’s spontaneous actions.

Hunter clamped the map in his mouth and made a running leap onto one of the nearby trees, climbing it with an impressive speed. Mark wasn’t that surprised, however. He would do this often while they were hunting to get a better look at the area around them. He was by far the fastest tree climber out of anyone in the village. After not even a minute had passed Hunter had already reached the top of the tree. He locked his legs in between some branches and took the map out of his mouth. He examined the area around him, comparing it to the tattered map. However, the specific tree he climbed didn’t help him get a good scope of the massive forest.

Hunter sighed then rolled the map back up and clamped it into his mouth again for the descent down. The way down was much faster than the climb up. He jumped from the top of the tree into some vines from a neighboring tree and swung the rest of the way down. He landed on the ground and then walked back up to Mark shrugging as he grabbed the map from his mouth.

“I still don’t understand how you are able to do that so easily, but it comes in handy most of the time,” Mark said with enthusiasm to Hunter as he was handed back the map.

“Not this time, I wasn’t able to see any landmarks on the map. So they have either been buried within the forest or we have gone incredibly off-course,” the Hunter replied solemnly, staring blankly at the tree he had just climbed.

“So that means we’re…” Mark trailed off, dreading the next inevitable word.

“Lost,” they both said simultaneously.

The duo let out a groan and plopped down at the trunk of the tree the hunter had climbed, dropping their satchels to the ground in the process. They sat there in melancholy trying to think of what to do next.

“We can retrace our steps, we could probably make it back to the river and then go from there,” Hunter suggested, making circular gestures with his hands.

“No way, by the time we find our way back to the river it will be nightfall, and we would have wasted a day,” Mark pointed out somberly, looking at the Hunter with remorse in his eyes from the current predicament.

“We’re going to lose a day anyways if we continue to sit here trying to figure out what to do. The Elemental Wizard sent us on this quest because she knew we could work together to get the power tablets before the Soul Taker,” Hunter started to argue, using gestures to help convey his point.

“No, she sent us on this quest because we were the ones who started this whole ordeal,” Mark responded matter-of-factly.

“Oh… right,” Hunter paused, sinking further against the tree trunk. “We really screwed this one up didn’t we.”

“We sure did. Let’s take a break for a bit and try to come up with a plan on what to do next.” Mark suggested in a hopeful manner, sitting up a little bit.

Hunter smiled briefly before his face returned to the gloomy look he had previously. They proceeded to rest under the tree in silence for a little while. The gentle white noise of the wind hitting the trees was soothing and relaxing. Mark and Hunter had slowly become more relaxed and less stressed as they sat beneath the tree. Mark stared off into the depths of the forest, trying to think of a way to get back on course.

He considered climbing the tree himself to see if the Hunter had missed anything. Beside him, Hunter casually examined the area around them, thinking about the beautiful flowers and foliage in the vicinity, and embraced the connection he had to them. Out of the corner of his eye, Hunter saw something move. He looked over and saw a familiar sight flying toward them. It was another pixie, similar to the one they encountered before, except light blue and more sparkly. Hunter recognized this and sat back up.

“Hey Mark, look at that!” Hunter nudged him with his elbow and pointed towards the pixie. Mark looked up to see the pixie and his face enlightened as he had the same realization as the Hunter.

“It’s the pixie from earlier! Except… blue? That’s so bizarre, what is one doing out here?” Mark commented excitedly as they both stood up. They both approached the pixie, but it flew right by them and continued its journey further into the forest.

“We should follow it, come on!” Hunter exclaimed, throwing his satchel onto his back and already starting to follow it himself.

“Well, why the hell not,” Mark replied as he started to embrace the Hunter’s spontaneous way of life. He quickly got up and ran after Hunter while struggling to put his satchel over his shoulders. They sprinted after the pixie who was already gaining a lead pretty quickly. They traveled quite a distance before losing the pixie within the depths of the forest yet again. The duo stopped abruptly to catch their breath from running.

“Damnit! We lost the pixie again… Now we are probably more lost than we were before,” Hunter complained between breaths, looking around frivolously for the pixie.

“Maybe not…” Mark trailed off and continued to walk forward. Hunter followed close behind and they soon entered a large clearing, which in front of them stood a vast castle wall. They had reached the Magical Kingdom. Mark stopped to look up in awe at the massive stone wall, while managing to muster out, “We… made it?”

“The pixies, they’ve been guiding us to exactly where we needed to be,” Hunter pondered aloud inattentively, “I wonder what they are exactly, or where they came from.”

“I wouldn’t think too much into it Hunter,” Mark suggested as he walked toward the wall. “The more you think about it the more confused you will get. Trust me, I’m starting to give up on finding a reasonable response to everything we’ve been through thus far.”

“Yeah… but the more we wonder… the more open we are to the world around us,” Hunter argued, still spaced out as he stared at the castle.

“Hunter you know I hate philosophy, the more philosophical you get the more I want to…“ Mark tried to explain to him, not paying attention to the wall. An arrow struck the ground at their feet, surprising the duo. Mark yelped in fear, “Shit! What was that?”

He readied his bow as Hunter armed himself with his spear. Another arrow struck the ground but in front of Hunter this time. He dropped his spear and raised his hands in the air surrendering.

“We aren’t here to hurt you, we’re here for the Magic power tablet,” Hunter shouted up at the wall, trying to rationalize with the unwanted enemy. Mark looked at him like he was crazy, then his attention was turned back to the castle as they heard a menacing laugh from above.

“The Magic power tablet? And what exactly do you plan to do with that?” A shadowy wizard said as he jumped from the top of the wall, sliding down it on a wave of dark magic. His cloak almost shimmered against the purple magic being used to propel himself. When he reached the bottom he leaped from the wall and landed crouched on the ground. He stood back up, sweeping the dust off his robe, then looked at Mark and Hunter. His long gray beard contrasted with the fire in his eyes, as he was looking for a fight he seemingly hasn’t had in a very long time.

“The Elemental Wizard sent us from the Elemental Town. The Soul Taker has returned, and he’s after the power tablets.” Mark told the wizard boldly, stepping forward towards the wizard.

“Ha! The Soul Taker? Do you seriously think I will believe that? He’s ancient history now! The Elemental Wizard froze him and his lackeys in stone a couple thousand years ago. I suggest leaving while you still can, we don’t act kindly to outsiders.” The wizard told the two as he threatened them with a knife from within his robe sleeve. He slid the knife back into his sleeve and continued talking sarcastically, “Unless of course, you have proof of such an outrageous claim.”

Mark and Hunter looked at each other, with Mark gesturing towards Hunter’s pocket telling him that was his cue. Hunter then reached into his pocket and pulled out the Elemental Gem to show it to the wizard.

“Would this count as proof?” He asked, presenting the gem brazenly. At the sight of the gem the wizard grew silent, and his face dropped in terror. He snatched the gem abruptly from Hunter’s hand and examined it closely before kindly returning it back to him.

“Oh… you two weren’t kidding…” the wizard trailed off. He stood in silence trembling, trying to process the realization that had just come over him. The blood drained from his face slowly as the horrors of the many childhood stories became more and more apparent. He turned around towards the castle wall. “Open the gate! Now!” He yelled in a panicked tone, starting to walk back towards the wall.

Without missing a beat, the bricks in the wall started to fold inward, and a large opening formed in the castle wall. The wizard started racing towards the opening in the wall as Mark and Hunter followed. A young apprentice ran up to the wizard, “Sir, is everything alright?” she asked with concern, trying to catch her breath.

“Valin, the Soul Taker has escaped. Escort these two to the war room immediately. I need to round up the other elders,” the wizard told the young apprentice as he started to jog further into the castle.

“The… Soul Taker? But wasn’t that a children’s tale?” Valin quickly commented in confusion to the wizard that was getting further away.

“Just do what you’re told Valin, we’ll catch you up in the war room,” the wizard shouted back as he started to run towards the enormous castle.

Mark and Hunter had caught up and noticed Valin standing there looking towards the wizard in confusion. She then turned her attention to the duo, with a look of distrust. She reluctantly approached the two and introduced herself.

“Hi… I’m… uh… Valin, if you could follow me please,” she said nervously. She walked in the opposite direction of the wizard, and the duo followed.

“So… who was that guy?” Mark asked Valin, struggling to keep up with how fast she was walking.

“That’s the Mage of Darkness, and I am his apprentice. He is one of the more experienced wizards of the castle. He oversees the mages and wizards that guard the castle against outsiders, you being an exception apparently,” Valin explained in a snarky tone. She then stopped before entering the castle and turned to the two to ask them suspiciously, “Who are you two anyways?”

“I’m Mark, and that’s Hunter. He doesn’t actually know his name so we just call him ‘Hunter.’ We are from a small hunting village a few-“ Mark started to ramble nervously.

“I only asked who you are not an entire backstory,” Valin interrupted rudely, turning around suddenly. She stepped closer to Mark and threatened boldly, “Before I can trust you two I need to make this clear. Try anything to endanger us and I will not hesitate to kill.”

Valin walked through the doorway and left Hunter and Mark outside, who were stunned by what she had just told them. Mark stood in shock for a second, before proceeding to rip the bandages off his arm that Hunter had put on his arm the previous day. Hunter looked over at Mark and noticed he was blushing as he ripped off the bandages.

“Really?” Hunter joked to Mark, who had dropped his bandages on the ground.

“What? Don’t make fun of me,” Mark sputtered out as he started to blush more. Hunter chuckled and started to walk into the grand entrance of the towering castle.

They both walked inside and quickly caught up with Valin, who kept making glances back at Mark. The rest of the journey to the war room was dead silent, as they watched concerned and panicked wizards running past them holding scrolls and books. Eventually, they made it to the war room, which was in complete chaos. The wizards and mages in the room were gathered around a large table, already in complete clutter of maps, spell books, and scrolls. They were all shouting at each other, trying to make sense of the situation. Then, as the duo walked in, the room went dead silent, with all eyes pointed towards Mark and Hunter.

“How did everyone get here so fast?” Mark whispered to Valin, while his eyes bounced around the room.

“Word travels fast when you are in a dire state of emergency. It also helps when we have wizards who can use teleportation spells,” Valin responded solemnly as they walked to the back of the war room. The silence of the room screamed at them as they traveled through the crowd. Once they got to the back of the room they leaned against the wall and looked back at the dozens of eyes penetrating the duo’s innocent demeanor.

“Alright listen up!” The Mage of Darkness broke the silence as he gestured toward the duo. “These two here have arrived from the Elemental Province claiming the Soul Taker has escaped. Now while this would normally be disregarded, they wield the Elemental Gem.”

“The Elemental Gem? But how?” An older, wiser, wizard exclaimed loudly. A murmur began to rise between all of the mages.

“Quiet!” The Mage of Darkness shouted to gain their attention again. “I called you all here so they can explain their side of the story to us and so we can discuss what our next plan of action is.”

The Mage motioned the duo up to the front of the extremely cramped room. Mark and Hunter stood still for a few seconds until Valin shoved them to make them go. They walked back up to the front of the room in silence, with all eyes glaring down at them. Valin kept catching glances with Mark, who was also looking back. The Mage stepped out of the way to give Hunter and Mark the floor. They stopped and stood still, not knowing how or what to say to the restless crowd.

“Uhm, hi, I’m Mark, and this is Hunter…” Mark trailed off nervously, his eyes darting around the room at the many unsavory looks he was receiving.

Hunter then spoke up and stated clearly, “We are from a small hunting village very far from here. A couple of days ago, we were out hunting when we stumbled across the ruins of the Elemental Province. We unknowingly reversed the Elemental Wizards spell, releasing not only the Soul Taker but his army of corrupted well. He stole the Tome of the Forest from the Wizard amidst the chaos.”

“Are you kidding me? Why would you let that monster loose? You’ve doomed us all!” Another elder screamed at Hunter. The crowd started to argue and yell at Hunter.

“Quiet! Let them finish,” The Mage ordered sternly. He looked back at Hunter and calmly told him, “Go on.”

Hunter stood there in a dreadful silence for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and continuing. “We didn’t know much about the forest until we talked to the Elemental Wizard. She told us about the Soul Taker, and that he will be after the power tablets next. Luckily, we already have one.”

Hunter looked at Mark, who quickly pulled the tablet out of his bag for the crowd to see. The crowd gasped and started to murmur again.

Hunter then continued boldly, “The Wizard trusted us with the Elemental Gem so we can collect and protect the power tablets. We understand that you greatly protect yours, but we cannot let it fall into the Soul Taker’s hands.”

“Why should we trust you? Have you ever battled these things before? They possess powers that are very unknown to the forest, who knows what they could do!” Valin shouted from the back of the crowd.

“Quiet Valin, remember what we talked about,” The Mage told her. Valin leaned back against the wall and remained quiet grudgingly, still stealing looks from Mark. He then turned to the duo and explained, “Our ancestors have fought these creatures before, but we have not. It had been thousands of years since the initial attacks, and since then, we have been very protective of who goes in and who goes out of the Magic Kingdom.”

The door to the war room abruptly opened once again, and a tall wizard walked into the room. The atmosphere of the room instantly changed as he proceeded further. The entire war room went dead silent as the wizard slowly approached the front of the room, with sparks and static bolts following him as he walks.

“Ah, Lightning Wizard, you finally decided to join us.” The Mage of Darkness said smugly.

“I’m not in the mood. If what you said is true, then we have an incredibly serious matter on our hands. Rather than debriefing me, explain to me why they want our power tablet.” The Lightning Wizard demanded.

“We will protect the tablets from the Soul Taker. We have the Life power tablet already, as well as the Elemental Gem to help us if they try to take them back.” Mark spoke up.

“Okay. I’m done here,” The Lightning Wizard announced. He turned around and approached the door.

“Wait! What about the tablet?” Mark shouted quickly.

The Wizard stopped at the doorway and slowly turned around to speak, “What you are considering is a suicide mission. I am not giving you the tablet. End of discussion.”

The Wizard then left the room, slamming the door behind him. The room was left stunned at the exchange between them. The room sat in silence for a few long seconds before the Mage of Darkness spoke.

“That… was the Lightning Wizard. He is the guardian of the power tablet,” the Mage explained disappointingly. “He spends his time guarding the vault that we keep the tablet in, and rarely ever leaves his post. He’s also incredibly indecisive… I’m surprised he even came to this meeting,”

“Is there any convincing him?” Hunter asked hopefully.

“You can try, but I’m certain you will fail,” The Mage told Hunter, shattering his hopefulness. He cleared his throat and shouted to the back of the room, “Valin, please escort them to our guest rooms.”

“What about us? Shouldn’t we be here for this meeting?” Mark asked while waving his arms towards the crowd in the war room.

“No, you are outsiders. You don’t understand how things work around here. You have already given us the information we needed. We need to discuss what our next steps are going to be. Please show yourselves out.” The Mage said sternly.

Hunter and Mark walked to the door where Valin was waiting for them. The room stayed silent until they had left and shut the door. After they had shut the door they could hear the onslaught of yelling and shouting coming from the disgruntled crowd.

“He never lets me stay for these meetings, but granted most of them were boring anyways,” Valin complained to the duo as they started to walk, her disdain starting to dwindle. “And don’t worry about the guest rooms, they haven’t been used… probably ever. The beds might be a little dusty but nothing too shabby.”

“Probably beats sleeping in a hammock, considering how fancy this place is.” Mark joked, starting to blush a little.

“Yeah, we never really have much to do around here, so the time we don’t spend training is dedicated to our art and keeping the castle clean and tidy. I’m usually stuck doing the dirty work because I’m one of the younger apprentices,” Valin explained to them truthfully, starting to smile a little bit.

“How many people live here in the Magical Kingdom?” Mark asked, becoming invested in the conversation.

“It used to be quite a bit, apparently. The Magical Kingdom used to be divided between three castles around the forest, but because of the invasion, it took us down to just this one. Even during the time that I’ve lived here, our numbers have gone down. The Elders rule over this kingdom and usually call the shots. Every elder had multiple apprentices that they would train under their wing, but because there aren’t that many of us left I am currently the only apprentice to the Mage of Darkness.” Valin told them with a more upbeat tone.

Mark and Valin continued to walk and talk as they navigated through the castle. The intricate artwork and tapestries on the wall describe in great detail many events and fight the kingdom has been through. Hunter, who had become distant and silent, glanced deeply at each one they passed. He then stopped in front of one of them depicting a gruesome battle with the Soul Taker. Mark and Valin continued to chat and didn’t seem to notice him stop. They then stopped walking when they heard the footsteps of someone running up behind them. They turned around to see another young apprentice running towards them.

“Valin! I’m… so glad… I found you!” He mustered out as he tried to catch his breath. “The Lightning Wizard wants to speak with the outsiders.”

“What? I thought he didn’t want anything to do with us.” Hunter exclaimed, looking away from the tapestry.

“I guess he does. He’s curious about how you came into possession of the Elemental Gem and Life power tablet. He wants you to brief him because he missed that part of the meeting.” The apprentice told them, still exhausted from running.

“I’m not surprised honestly, that man can be so indecisive sometimes,” Valin replied facetiously. She turned around and started to walk back towards the apprentice. “Come on you two, I guess we’re going to the vault.”

“I’m Rudy, by the way, I’m the Lightning Wizard’s apprentice,” Rudy explained as the group started to walk in the direction he came from. “I apologize for the rush, the Lightning Wizard is… difficult to work with at times.”

“We understand, everything the past few days has been incredibly new for us,” Hunter responded. Rudy smiled and they all continued to walk to the vault. Hunter and Mark looked at each other with confusion, as they followed Valin and Rudy, unknown of what exactly the Lightning Wizard wanted from them.