Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 95: The forest of the lost souls

Through the shrubs and tufts of green, Arabella heavily relied on Silas’ figure in order to advance.

From then on, a suitable outfit for such occasions was a must, indeed.

From her twisting ankles to the thrashed up tender skin of her legs, the young woman worked hard on curbing any wincing or flinching her body might have wanted to act upon.

"Only a few feet ahead and the sun shall greet us again," Silas had commented without even glancing in her direction once.

Although Arabella dwelled neither on his expression nor the tone in which he spoke since his words alone offered enough to keep one’s mind busy.

Glaring at the path ahead as though it’d convince the trees to move out of their way, the furrowed eyebrows on her prompted the vampire to explain further.

"You will only see the valley once we’re through and out of the woods entirely. You won’t spot it from here,"

"Is it some sort of charm or spell to repel any unwanted visitors?" she asked, eyes back on the ground to ensure her feet stepped on nothing that would cause her more pain.

"Not quite," he started, "This particularly is exclusively encountered in this type of forests. Any soul that would venture through them without proper directions might end up lost for hours if not days,"

A figurative star ignited in an isolated corner of Arabella’s head, sparking a chain reaction that lit the rest of her brain in a flash, one neuron at a time, "Oh! I believe I may have read something about these forests! Is this one of them? The forests of the lost souls?"

"Yes, it is," he gave one nod, "What do you know about them then?"

Silas never said a thing on it, but the little squeeze around his arm as well as the many twinkling glints in her eyes unleashed waves of warm tingles through him.

"They were only ever mentioned in older editions, dating back to the great war. I concluded that humans were more susceptible to the effects of these woods,"

"Why would that be the case?" he enquired.

"Well,..." Arabella seemed to be searching for the words, "Despite the many similarities in our appearances, our senses do not operate in the same ranges," she shook her head, "If I remember what the map looks like correctly, there’s a running stream coming from the nearest hill and curving right down the valley," she half asked.

"Correct,"

"And I imagine, you are able to hear it from here," her intonation again suggested a question.

"I can, yes," he took a moment and before speaking again, Silas tuned her way without the discretion he’d been exercising up until then, "Our senses, do bring us closer with nature, thus the woods aren’t as harsh on us as they would be on you should you venture here on your own,"

"Understood," she muttered.

There was a silent gap during which only the chirping of varied birds, crunching of grass beneath their feet as well as the squealing of winds that threaded through trees and their leaves sang, but then Silas chimed in to contribute with his own piece, "Although, I am curious as to what sort of books you were referring to,"

"History books," she said, "Ones that included testimonies of many soldiers that had lost their way through forests like these. Our people tell the past differently and I understand how that can come to be. Other species would never have the need to dub these forests "the forests of the lost souls" as only humans run the risk of getting lost, for they are less in tune with nature and... Oh dear!" frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

The words hitched in her throat... The instant they crossed the threshold of the valley, they’d completely evaporated, leaving her round eyed and stunned in place.

Silas instinctively stopped to allow her the necessary time in order to take everything in as it all seemed to hit her at once.

The lighter shade of green, the sparkling water and the beaming sun came forward, pushing any other thought towards the background.

"This is... This is absolutely stunning!" she whispered in multiple breaths, "The water is so sheer, the bottom of the river is as clear as day," feeling a tad safer, Arabella slowly unwrapped her arm from Silas’ and walked forward ever so carefully.

The zimmerlarks had long since stopped singing for they were far out of reach, their melody replaced by that of smaller birds.

The young woman bent down and dipped her fingers into the cool sheet of liquid running its course.

Those same doused digits then softly ran through the thin blades of grass peeking upwards.

All the while Silas merely stood watching the smile on her grow brighter with each second that passed, with each new element that claimed her attention.

"We still can’t see the fairy nests just yet, but it is a short walk from here," he said.

Without ever looking at him, Arabella replied, "And I am perfectly alright with that,"

Silas walked over and stopped by her side, "Shall we go then?"

The young woman cleared her throat a little, sprung back into a standing position before readjusting the skirt of her dress.

Not that her smile dimmed, but it seemed as if Arabella had caught herself getting more comfortable than she should in his presence.

"Right! Of course,"

She took his arm again and down the valley they went, stopping from time to time for the squirrels, fluffy and somewhat fat fur balls that zoomed through heedlessly.

The first few times it had happened, Arabella only gawked and smiled at them, but as it kept on occurring, she finally found the voice to ask, "Are they not afraid of us?"

A faint and composed chuckle escaped him, "They have no reason to be," his irises tracked a smaller clump of fur that ruffled the grass before them as it dashed, "No creature in Umbraria has gone after their kind in decades. Not even witches use them for spells anymore,"