Once they had recovered, they continued through the forest. After walking for hours, tired and thirsty, they heard the sound of a river in the distance.
“We should follow the sound of the river,” Mike recommended.
None of the others objected. When they arrived, they knelt down on the riverbank and drank directly from it.
Soon they quenched their thirst and filled their skins. Alejandra thought she might as well wash her clothes and take a bath, it seemed a long time since she had done so.
Suddenly, the hairs on the back of Aexandra's neck stood up, something wasn't right.
“Do you feel the same?” asked Alexandra.
“I really think we need a bath,” Jason joked.
Mike put a finger to his lips to indicate silence.
All sound had ceased. The birds, the wind rustling through the leaves. The silence was deafening and disturbing. A dying stench enveloped them.
Mimicked in the undergrowth, strange beasts stalked the adventurers.
“Don't make any sudden moves,” Mike whispered.
Alexandra glanced around and fixed her gaze between the gaps in the undergrowth; the gleam of bloodthirsty eyes returned her gaze.
Quick as lightning, Alexandra drew one of her arrows and aimed into the forest.
A herd of wild beasts jumped out of the branches towards them. The arrow accurately hit one of them, and it fell prone on the ground. However, the others, full of fury, roared even louder.
Mike cut down two more who tried to throw themselves against them with his great axe.
“There are too many of them. Let's go into the river!” shouted Mike.
The three of them jumped into the river. Immediately, the strong current swept them inward and drove them straight toward a waterfall.
Mike tried to grab Alexandra, but every time he tried, she sank. Alexandra kicked as hard as she could to stay afloat. What she hated to do most, besides catching worms with her hands, was swim. She never learned to swim as a child and Mike knew it.
The three fell down the waterfall and the river dragged them deep into the forest.
Mike again caught Alexandra and kept her afloat. Jason managed to grab hold of a vine, reaching out, and catching Mike's arm. Soon the three of them managed to reach the shore.
Tired and coughing up water from their lungs, they lay there.
“We almost didn't count it,” Mike said.
“What the hell were those creatures?” yelled Jason.
“Whatever they were, they weren't friendly at all,” Mike added.
“Are you feeling okay, Alex?”
She nodded as she took gulps of fresh air and coughed the water from her lungs.
Mike piled up a branch; Alexandra hurried to start a fire but her hands were still shaking with cold. Fortunately, it was still daylight, so she didn't worry about a surprise attack of carnivorous insects.
“We'd better dry our clothes, that way we'll avoid getting sick,” Alexandra recommended
“Or freeze to death,” replied Jason, who was also freezing.
As they laid out their clothes near the campfire, Mike realized that they had come farther than anyone else.
The landscape was completely different, not as scary as the forest. It was a meadow stretching to the horizon, where butterflies fluttered over multicolored flowers.
In the distance there was a large tree, about 20 meters high.
To Mike and Alexandra's surprise, Jason was still carrying his backpack. He took out some pieces of dried meat and some pieces of stale bread that had been softened by the water.
He divided the rations among the three of them. After satisfying their appetites and making sure their clothes had dried, they decided to make their way to where the big tree stood.
“If we climb that tree, we're sure to get a better view of the valley and we might even be able to see where the flowers we're looking for are,” said Mike.
As they walked through the meadow, butterflies flew around them. Jason tied a handkerchief over his mouth and nose.
“What!” he asked toward both of them.
“I'm allergic to pollen.”
Alexandra and Mike ignored Jason's comment and continued towards the big tree.
The walk took forever, no matter how far they walked, the tree was still at the same distance.
Suddenly the silence was broken when Jason asked.
“How will we recognize the rattlesnake flowers?”
“Flowers?” asked Mike
“Sure, the flowers the princess needs,” Jason completed.
Mike paused and stood in thought.
Alexandra, tried to remember, still, watched as her thoughts drifted away from her.
She found herself lost. She looked both ways and suddenly found herself alone and out of place. She knew she had something very important to do, but she could not remember it.
She heard a name that sounded familiar.
“Alexandra!”, ‘Mike!’ shouted Jason.
“Can't you hear me?” sounded a voice fading into oblivion.
“Your efforts are futile, they will suffer the same fate as the king's daughter, as will you and anyone else who tries to save her. It's what that selfish king deserves.”
Jason watched the strange figure stalking them from the tree. She wore a mysterious black robe that covered her face, yet revealed the gray, withered skin of her skeletal arms, giving away how old she was.
“Who are you?” threatened Jason removing the handkerchief from his mouth and drawing his dagger.
The old woman laughed mockingly and replied.
“Does it matter?”
Finally, Jason fell to his knees with a blank memory, wondering where the frantic laughter was coming from.
Thus, the three adventurers were lost in thought. Unaware of what they were doing.
“Poor men! Poor men who don't know what they're up against. Blinded by their delusions of getting rich.”
“Mmmmm... I see a girl came too. What could a helpless girl do in the face of the dangers of the forbidden forest?”
“Tell me girl, do you also want the king's fortune?”
Alexandra, kneeling and unable to see, did not answer. She was still immersed in her thoughts. The old witch caressed the girl's head and took her chin lifting her head. She watched her for a moment and envied how smooth her complexion was.
“Don't worry little one, soon it will all pass and you will be food for my pets.”
Again frantic, chilling laughter filled the meadow.
In the darkness, an unknown voice struggled from deep within. A formless being wondered at its existence. A stubborn one struggled with herself. A dream, without beginning or end. A life searching for lost meaning. A reason for being. A scream flooded the plain, a name that echoed filling deaf ears, dulling the witch's laughter.
“Alexandra!” the redhead finally cried out.
“My name is Alexandra,” she repeated again.
“Impossible!” the old woman replied in astonishment.
The witch kicked Alejandra's body and it fell limp on the ground.
“You are stubborn, you little vermin” spat the witch.
“Now we'll see if you still remember.”
The witch reached into a small leather pouch she had tied to her tunic and took a handful of pollen.
Alexandra, still blind, could feel her hands under her body. Something was bothering her chest, it wasn't the earth and it wasn't the stones either. She stretched out her fingers and felt the sharp point of an arrow under her.
The old woman moved even closer to blow the pollen directly onto the girl's face.
“Don't you know that no man has ever made it out of this forest alive?” asked the witch.
“Well, I'm thankful I'm not a man,” Alejandra answered furiously still with her eyes closed.
She held the arrow tightly and hit the witch's chest. A warm liquid ran down her hands and choked gasps followed.
She heard the dry sound of the witch's body falling. She still couldn't see, but she was sure she had ended her life.
She took a deep breath and remembered her friends.
“Mike!” ‘Jason!’ she shouted, but got no response.
She fell silent and suddenly, heard a sound brought by the wind. It was hundreds of rattles clicking not far away.
She stood up and walked towards where the sound was getting louder until she came upon a sweet scent that accompanied the rhythm of the bells. She felt one of the flowers and ate it despite its bitter taste. Soon, she fell back into a deep sleep.
Mike and Jason opened their eyes and recognized a familiar figure.
“Are you all right?” she asked them.
“Do you remember who you are?” she asked again
“What kind of question is that? I obviously know who I am, Alexandra. How could I forget,” Jason replied
“It's impossible to forget you my friend,” Mike replied.
“I'm glad you guys are okay. We should get back, I already have the flowers. On the way I'll tell you what happened.”
“How the hell will we get back?”, asked Jason
“By boat,” replied Alexandra.
After a long boat ride through the forest river and following a map kept by the old woman, the three adventurers finally made it safely back to the palace.
Life returned once again to Erica's eyes and she was once again the kind lady she had always been.
The king gladly rewarded the three adventurers generously for restoring his daughter to health.
Alexandra did not want to receive any reward. Erica's health was enough for her.
However, the king's daughter offered Alexandra a well-paid job to work with her to fight injustice in the kingdom and bring welfare to the subjects.
Alexandra gladly accepted Erica's proposal.
The End
