Chapter 190: The Rotten Pine Forest [3]

"Are you absolutely certain this is the same path we took inbound?" Selene asked grimly, her voice quivering slightly.

Moon’s expression was equally grim as he met her eyes directly. "Yes. I was certain, but this...is making me doubt it."

Silence took over once again, Moon and Selene lost to their own thoughts. Selene broke the silence first, "Then we need to verify that. Right now. Before we go any further."

Moon nodded slowly. "Agreed. We can’t trust our memories if the forest is doing... whatever this is."

"What do you suggest we use? Do you want to use physical markers?" Selene asked, looking at the dagger in Moon’s hands.

"Yes. Let’s mark our current position with a symbol on the trees. Then, we walk exactly one hundred paces, mark again, then turn back. If we return here in one hundred paces, we’re fine. If not..."

"If not, we know for certain something is actively working against us." Selene finished his sentence.

"Exactly."

Moon slowly walked towards the largest tree within the vicinity. Then, he began to carve out a deep, wide X sign on the rotten, gloomy bark of the tree. Moon ensured that the symbol was obvious, and unmistakable to the both of them.

Leaving no room, or doubt for error.

With the symbol carved into the largest tree within the vicinity, Moon and Selene picked a point where they would start walking from.

Moon began counting aloud as they moved forward. "One. Two. Three. Four..."

Each number fell into the silence like a stone into dark water, swallowed immediately by the forest’s unnatural quiet. Selene walked beside him, her eyes constantly scanning the shadows between the trees for any danger.

"...Fifteen. Sixteen. Seventeen..."

The torchlight pushed back the darkness in a small, flickering circle around them, but beyond that radius, the forest remained impenetrably black. Moon found his eyes drawn repeatedly to the edge of that light, to where the gnarled trunks seemed to twist just slightly differently each time he looked away and back.

"...Twenty-eight. Twenty-nine. Thirty..." He forced himself to focus on the counting. On placing one foot in front of the other. On maintaining the exact same stride length he’d established from the first step.

Moon’s concentration remained on his counting and steps. Breaking his concentration now could throw off the entire count. He trusted any dangers to be handled by Selene.

"...Forty-five. Forty-six. Forty-seven..."

The torches crackled. In the absolute silence of the Rotten Pine Forest, the sound seemed grotesquely loud, almost obscene. Moon became acutely aware of his own breathing, of Selene’s footfalls slightly out of sync with his own, of the faint whisper of cloth as they moved.

"...Sixty-two. Sixty-three..."

Something moved in Moon’s peripheral vision. But he didn’t turn his head. Didn’t break stride. Didn’t stop counting. Since Selene hadn’t made a move, he wouldn’t bother.

"Sixty-four. Sixty-five. Sixty-six..."

It was probably nothing. A shadow cast by their torchlight. A trick of the darkness. The forest playing with his nerves.

"...Eighty-nine. Ninety..."

Almost there. Selene’s breathing had changed, he noticed. Shallower. Faster. She felt it too—this mounting pressure, this sense of something gathering in the darkness just beyond their light.

"...Ninety-five. Ninety-six. Ninety-seven..."

Three more steps.

"Ninety-nine." One more. Moon took the final step, the word forming in his mouth—

"One hundred."

They stopped.

Moon immediately began examining the nearest but largest tree, looking for a suitable trunk to mark.

"Here," he said, selecting a large tree with a distinctive split in its bark. "This one is perfect. Completely unmistakable."

Selene nodded her head in agreement, "This is the one, let’s do it."

Moon walked towards the tree, and added the same *X* mark on the tree. Once that was done, They turned to face the direction they’d come from, back toward the first marker.

"Ready?" Moon asked quietly.

Selene gave a single, tight nod. "Let’s continue."

Moon took a breath and began. "One. Two. Three. Four..."

The numbers fell into rhythm with their footsteps.

Selene walked half a pace behind him, letting Moon set the tempo, her eyes constantly scanning their surroundings. Even thought nothing has happened so far, that didn’t meant she would not remain vigilant.

"...Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen..."

Something felt odd.

As they continued walking, Selene couldn’t quite place what it was at first. The trees looked the same as they always had, gloomy and rotten. The darkness covered them with the same suffocating cloth. The silence remained absolute except for Moon’s counting, their footfalls and the crackling of the fire on the torch.

"...Twenty-four. Twenty-five. Twenty-six..."

But something had changed.

’There!’ Selene snapped her head to the gnarled turn to her left, one that bent at an almost ninety-degree angle.

She remembered passing it on the way to the second mark. She was certain of it. But it had been on her left side then too. But that made no sense. After all, how could an obejct remain on the same side despite her changing directions by 180 degrees.

Selene’s fingers that were clutching her staff twitched but she forced herself to remain calm and collected. No danger was present, and Moon needed to concentrate. Interrupting Moon now, could possibly make him restart the count, and doing so simply because she thought a tree might be on the wrong side wasn’t the smartest thing to do.

’I will tell him w hen we reach the first mark. There is no rush.’ She thought internally, still scanning the surrounding area for any danger.

"...Thirty-seven. Thirty-eight. Thirty-nine..."

For the next few steps, Selene couldn’t stop thinking about the tree. Maybe when they’d stopped at the second marker, she’d gotten disoriented and was now confusing left and right.

"...Fifty-one. Fifty-two..."

The torch Moon carried illuminated his profile in flickering orange light. His jaw was set, his eyes fixed forward, his counting never wavering. He was completely focused on the task, trusting her to watch for threats. Which meant she couldn’t distract him with paranoia.

"...Sixty-four. Sixty-five. Sixty-six...Sixty-seven"