Davion could scarcely believe what he just heard.

  Did she say what he thought she said?

  "Excuse me?" he asked, his voice cracking.

  "Oh, did I say something wrong?" she asked innocently.

  "I think I misheard you."

  "Oh, I said I'll act as a distraction if that scary man ever shows up."

  I was wrong. She's not calm or brave. She's just crazy!

  All this time he had been worried about her safety, but she didn't bat an eye—no pun intended—at the idea of meeting the huntsman despite his warnings. No one sane would act so calmly at the idea of acting as bait, especially for a stranger they just met.

  "Oh, and if you do encounter the scary man yourself, you can just lead him back to me so I can slow him down and give you time to escape," the old woman said, tapping her cane on the ground.

  Her words just fully cemented the idea that she was completely insane.

  How was she able to say it was a calm expression?

  He took a huge step back, afraid she might snap and swing her cane at him.

  Davion didn't want to take the risk that she would go wild and attack him in a frenzy. Even though she hadn't shown any signs of being violent, it might have just been hidden under her innocent fa?ade.

  "Oh, are you going now?" she asked innocently.

  How did she know I was walking away? I thought I didn't make a sound. Is her hearing that good? So scary.

  Unaware of his thoughts, she continued, "Oh, take care. Let's meet again."

  He didn't spare her a second glance or speak a single word to her as he hurried away. Every couple of steps, he would look back and check to see if the old woman had moved from her spot. Fortunately, she stayed put and continued to wave. Her figure slowly became distant and blurry until her figure was enveloped by the fog. Davion didn't stop until his feet ached, and he was forced to take a break.

  His feet throbbed as he sat down. "Ugh. My feet."

  This was probably the first time he had walked so much in one day. His P.E. teacher would be so proud of him.

  Davion took a moment to take off his shoes and socks and rub his sore feet. He sighed as his feet felt slightly better from his massage. After several minutes of rubbing his feet, he begrudgingly put his shoes and socks back on.

  He had to keep going.

  With great reluctance, he got back onto his feet. Davion grimaced as pain shot through his feet. Ignoring his aching feet, he marched forward through the dense fog.

  It was only after some time that he realized that the fog had gotten even thicker, making it harder to see anything. Originally, he could at least see silhouettes even at a distance. Now he could barely even see his feet. If he wasn't moving and couldn't feel the pain from each step he took, he could easily believe that he somehow lost his legs.

  What's with this fog? How am I supposed to see where I'm going?

  Davion came to a complete stop and squinted his eyes, hoping to see something.

  Unfortunately, all he could see was fog everywhere. He seriously wanted to turn back, but it was now impossible to know which way he had come from. Even though he was certain he had walked in a straight line, he couldn't be sure now.

  Suddenly, a gust of wind hit him, causing him to stumble back. The hood of his red cloak fell off. Davion raised his arms to shield his face as the wind swirled around him. His basket bounced against his body several times, spilling candy. Then, just as quickly as it appeared, the wind stopped. He took a moment to catch his breath before opening his eyes. His jaw dropped at the sight.

  "How is this possible?" he blurted out as he found himself standing in a forest.

  Just to be sure he wasn't seeing things, he rubbed his eyes, but the scene didn't change.

  Even with the fog, which had strangely lightened up—it was almost back to how it was when the fog first appeared—he couldn't miss the obvious silhouettes of numerous trees surrounding him in the darkness. Well, he was pretty sure they were the silhouettes of trees. With the moon being blocked by the clouds and the slightly present fog, he couldn't see clearly.

  "What's going on?" he muttered to himself, looking around.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  The town was next to a forest, but the path he had been taking shouldn't have led him right to it.

  Had he somehow traveled across town and ended up there?

  He found that hard to believe. Not too long ago he had been sitting in the middle of a street, or at least he thought he had. If he were to enter the forest, he would have to pass through several places and a gate, which he would have noticed. Then again, the fog had been particularly dense earlier, so it had been difficult to see, and after everything he had experienced so far, magically ending up in the forest wasn't that unbelievable.

  Well, it could be worse. I could have bumped into the huntsman again.

  The thought sent shivers down her spine, and he frantically scanned his surroundings. Fortunately, he didn't seem to jinx himself and breathed a sigh of relief.

  The last thing he wanted was for the huntsman to really appear. Being in the forest wouldn't save him from the huntsman, who would obviously know more about the forest than Davion did.

  After some hesitation, he picked a direction and walked. His head swiveled back and forth, his eyes scrutinizing every inch of the forest so as not to miss a single thing. He strained his ears listening for any noises, but the only sounds he heard were his footsteps and breathing. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shadowy figure move. Davion instantly spun around.

  However, there was nothing there.

  What was that?

  Davion bit down on his lip, his eyes bouncing around madly.

  He didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but the darkness of the night and fog made it difficult to be sure. For all he knew, someone or something could be lurking in the shadows waiting to pounce. If only the fog cleared up or it got brighter so he could see better.

  His eyes widened as the clouds abruptly parted, allowing the moon to peek through. The moon shined down on him, enveloping him in bright light.

  It was almost like it was answering his prayers. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said about the fog, but Davion didn't mind. Despite how it was nighttime, with the moon acting like the sun, it was almost like it was daytime. Almost.

  Not wanting to waste this chance, he quickly scanned his surroundings. His eyes swept over the rows of trees and bushes surrounding him on all sides.

  I don't see anything. Am I just overthinking things?

  After looking over the entire area, he started walking down the brightest path.

  While he didn't notice anything unusual, he didn't want to take any risks and chose what he thought was the safest path. Taking the brightest path was obviously the best option.

  As Davion walked, he noticed how the clouds were slowly covering up the moon again. With a curse, he hurried down the path while keeping an eye on his surroundings. The shadows crept in, nipping at his heels as he searched for the exit, but all he could see was more trees and bushes. Suddenly, he tripped and fell flat on his stomach. He wheezed.

  What happened? Why did he fall?

  Davion took a moment to catch his bearings before looking over his shoulder. Even with the shadows covering his feet, he could sort of make out something sticking out of the ground after lifting his feet. He rolled onto his back and sat up. Davion squinted at the strange protrusion. Pulling his feet away, he confirmed it wasn't anything living and guessed it was a protruding tree root.

  "Just my luck," he muttered, getting to his feet.

  He winced and glanced down at the foot that had tripped over the tree root. Even though he couldn't see anything wrong, a burst of pain shot through his leg every time he put pressure on it.

  "You've got to be kidding me," he muttered.

  It was already bad enough that he was lost alone in the fog-covered forest in the dead of the night with a crazy huntsman on the prowl. Now he had a sprained ankle to deal with.

  Davion sighed. Then he dusted his clothes and checked his basket.

  Despite the fall, the basket remained in good condition. It really was a sturdy basket, leaving him to wonder where his grandmother had found it. He couldn't remember his parents buying it.

  A sound pulled him out of his thoughts, and he spun around to see an animal in the distance.

  At least he thought it was an animal. Since it was far off, he couldn't be sure what it was, but it looked like a four-legged animal. In fact, the silhouette looked very familiar.

  It took him a moment to connect the dots, and his face broke into a relieved smile. Without hesitation, he dashed forward. His feet and ankle throbbed in pain, but he didn't let that stop him. Davion pressed on, closing the distance between him and the animal. The animal didn't move from its spot, as if waiting for him, spurring Davion to hurry.

  It really came back. I thought it abandoned me, but it came back.

  He didn't question how it had found him after all this time. He was just glad to see a familiar face, or rather, figure.

  When he was only a few feet away, his smile faltered. He slowed to a crawl, staring at the dog. The dog stared blankly back with its yellow eyes without a trace of excitement at seeing Davion.

  Was it still mad about before?

  Davion stopped at arm's length from the dog, unsure of what to do next.

  After several minutes of awkward silence, he finally said, "Hi."

  As soon as the words left his mouth, he wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.

  Hi? Really? I can't believe I said that. Why did I say something so stupid?

  Surprisingly, the dog bowed its head as it said, "Hello."

  He blinked. "Oh, uh...hello."

  If he had been embarrassed before, he was simply mortified now. His only saving grace was that it was just the two of them. Otherwise, he would never be able to show his face in public ever again.

  "Do you need something?" the dog asked.

  Davion's brows furrowed in bewilderment. "Didn't you come here to find me?"

  Silence.

  Had he been mistaken?

  He had been so sure that the dog appeared in the forest to find him.

  If it wasn't there for him, then why was it there? Was it just a coincidence?

  "Right," the dog said, breaking him out of spiraling thoughts. "You're lost, aren't you?"

  Ignoring the strangeness of its words, Davion said, "Yeah. Do you know the way out of this forest?"

  "Follow me."

  Without hesitation, he trailed after the dog. As the duo traveled down the path, Davion found his eyes glued to the dog's back.

  Davion felt like there was something off. The dog was acting strange, but he quickly waved it off as the dog still being upset from before. He was just grateful that the dog really hadn't abandoned him and came back to help him despite their earlier dispute.

  After some time passed without an end in sight, Davion asked, "Are we almost at the exit?" When the dog didn't respond, a sense of unease crept up his spine. "Uh, are we almost there?"

  There was still no response.

  He was about to speak again when a sound from up ahead drew his attention. His eyes darted away from the dog to the path up ahead, and he noticed a shadowy figure in the fog.