Chapter 2: A Possible Bonding with an Unknown Sorcerer

So... my journey started and probably would end forever, following her. This mare was oddly strong. Her arm definitely gave me the sense not to play around with her.

Well... I guess it was just my assumption after all. Even though that monster was the only proof I needed, that could still just be luck.

"Careful, we must move quickly through this area if we are to make it out of this forest," the mare said as she hastened her hoofsteps.

The area of the forest we were in had trees that looked fleshy. It were as though they were alive. The pulse it gave were as though it were flowing from a live and massive creature. Blood fell from the branches as raindrops.

I guess that explained the crimson color to her dark cloak. Although, I really wanted to know why it had never stained her beige coat. My puffy white mane was being soaked in blood.

We ran a great distance, but it seemed as though the area we were in was not a small space at all. It made me question how big was this forest in the first place?

"Hey, do you know how long does this forest go on for?"

"This forest is very wide, so I would say we're about a few miles off from exiting this place," the mare said as we both kept on running.

We kept on running. We ran for miles. At first, I was convinced we were going to reach the end of it in a day of travel, but I was very wrong. The more we had traveled the darker the area had become. I guess that signified the night was near.

The pulsing trees of flesh started glowing. It made the forest more scarier than one could imagine. It was like you're in some creature’s body. I heard the pulsing sounds as it pulsed in harmony with the forest. I even felt the ground pulse as though it were alive...

I was so deep in thought at that point. I didn't even notice the mare was calling out to me. I never thought one could be kept so far from reality just by thinking.

"Hey! We could get a move on before a wild monster comes and kills us!"

"What monsters? I don't see any monsters."

"Ugh…” the mare said as she put her face in the curve of her hoof. “Well here you gonna learn that there are those you can't see for they lurk underground and roam across the land seeking whom they may devour. I just don’t want neither you nor me to learn that the hard way."

My heart skipped a beat. I started to tremble upon hearing such words. I gazed down at the ground and started to make babies steps hoping that one wasn’t under him now. Could she possibly speaking the truth? Is it possible that one could be lying in wait for our blood beneath us at this very moment?

"Hurry, I don't want fight any monsters. My cabin is just ahead. And you could definitely use a bath to wash off all that blood," the mare said as she trotted off further into the forest.

The first that came to my mind was how did she live in such a damned forest as this? How was she not dead yet?

When I had reached her cabin, my face cringed as I looked at the house. Its roof was covered in heaps of flesh, the sides had skins and furs that were sewn together, and appeared to be windows were covered with tissues leaving a few small holes for air to seep in. Even the door was flesh and had a large eye in it. We had walked up to the door, and I was without words to not see the eye could move but had the ability to talk. It was freakish on all levels for me to put it simple.

"I see you brought a visitor today. Luckily, there's a spare room for you stranger. Or else I would had no other choice but to unfortunately eat you."

I wasn't so surprise that it was capable of doing such things. I mean, this mare that was next to me must have live here before, and she did call it her house.

But I felt she wanted me dead from the start. It was very easy to silence a sorcerer of my status, especially being of first level user of the 'Dark Arm'.

The door opened its mouth, and we walked right in. I didn’t know the reason why I walked in, I just did. It felt as though I had stepped through a magical illusion. It was a nice house having the walls painted with a beautiful green, the ceiling painted with the color of pillow, and the tiles were the color of sapphire blue. It also didn’t smell as I expected. It smelt clean and fresh.

Everything looked nice, but I couldn’t tell for sure if what I was seeing was all real or a lie.

She lead me into the room I was supposed to sleep in for the night. I went in and gave the ok to leave. The room felt gloomy and dark. It felt as though something watching me, but I couldn’t see what it was through the bright colors that presented all around me. The ceiling was painted gray, the walls were painted with pink, and the floor was red.

My eyes narrowed, and my lips were slightly folded. I only was staying here for a night anyhow, but these colors were absolutely terrible. I put my head in the pillow and found a little comfort.

I slept that night, and I had quite the sleep. I had opened my eyes. I shot up from my lying position, raced backwards and fell off the other side of the bed. My left hoof grabbed hold of the side of the bed, and I was panting madly.

“Why would you do that?”

“I came to wake you up. I didn’t think you were gonna freak out like that. Anyhow let’s get a move on. If we want to get out of this forest, we’re gonna have to start moving now,” the mare said as she walked out of the room.

I slowly got up onto my hooves and walked out of the room. I closed the door shut and followed the mare out of the house. We then started gaining grounds at the break of dawn. No arch fiends were roaming around, but the forest still pulsed as though it were living. My suspicions were too high not to have asked a question.

“Excuse me, are we running on something alive?”

“Yes, but if you want to hear more, you must keep up with me.”

“This place is called Galacon. It was said in an old tale that a stallion farmer used to work the lands of some area. One day, the farmer came across an old witch who gave him a plant that didn’t seem to grow like other plants.

The farmer tried all he knew on the plant as far as he knew agriculture but nothing worked until an idea flashed across his mind.”

“What was that idea?”

“Giving it blood.”

There was a bit of a pause, but she broke the silence by continuing on.

“That was the idea. When he went on with the idea, it had succeeded and the plant was said to grow into a tree. But after some time, it stopped growing. No matter how much blood he gave it just wouldn’t grow.

I forgot the rest of the story, but it went kind of like him sacrificing himself and that tree grew larger thus brung about all of this.”

“Oh, alright.” I hastened my steps. We traveled many miles, and I finally saw a change of scenery. I wasn’t being dapped in the color of blood. There was not much flesh like trees. The ground had lumps of what appeared to be hearts.

I wanted to touch a few to how they would respond, but I was afraid I might lose her.

We kept on running and running. My patience started to dry up like a desert. All I was thinking was, How long will it be before we are on the other side?

*****

We traveled for two days without any food. Our arms were slowly eating at all the nutrients and blood we had left. We had to feed our arms. It was sad fact that those who had a dark arm had to constantly feed their arm or else they would take the place in being its food.

I watched my partner, limping as she struggled to push onward. I too started to walk slower and felt lighter. My arm was hungry, and I needed to feed it.

We kept onward. We didn’t stop until a group of Rabbits came our way. They were all skinless, just flesh and bone and roared like lions. We both stood and the mare dropped her book.

We started off forming up rock spears and hurled them at the the ravening rabbits. They swiftly flowed through our wave of spears and were ready to render us completely with their sharply extended claws.

I quickly pulled up a earth wall in front of us. Then I made armor out of the earth and charged through the wall into one of the rabbit fiends. I pulled myself out of the ground and watched down at the pile of flesh in front of me. I backed up and turned back at the others who were charging at me.

I pounced the ground with my hoof and out came fist of earth, and it had the other rabbit fiend propel backwards into a tree. I raced as best I could to the mare who laid on the ground severely wounded. In trying to make it to her, I was tackled to the ground by the last rabbit.

The fiend and I exchanged blows. It bit at my side, and I returned the pain with the fluttering of my hooves to the jaw. After struggling with the fiend for quite some time, I was able to bring down on its back.

The rabbit roared, and I came down with both my hooves and smashed its brains in completely. I afterwards completely sacrificed the beast, and it had satisfied my arm. I rushed over to the mare. Her bones were clearly seen through her beige coat. I took off her cloak and used the earth to drag her over to a pile of fiend flesh.

“Here take in the beast, so that you may be well.”

“Why… save me?” the mare said sacrificing the beast. She stood stronger than ever facing me.

“I could watch you just die there. And plus... we’re friends right?”

“Friends?”

“Yeah. Friends.”

The mare turned and walked over to the book that had fallen from her. She picked it up and placed it in her saddle bag. I sat on the ground and waited for us to continue on.

She slowly tied her cloak around her neck and stood for a moment. She then looked up at the trees then back down as she passed a hoof across her eyes.

“What is your name sorcerer?”

“Umm…” I thought for a moment as I placed my hoof under my chin. “You could call me umm… Cake”

“Cake...”

“Yeah… weird isn’t it?” I said with smiled adorned on my face.

“No, it isn’t… I thank you for saving me,” the mare said as she started to gallop away, ever more deeper into the forest.

“Let’s go. We have quite some miles left to cover.”

“Right,” I said as I followed behind her.