Hey again guys! Merry (early) Christmas! Check out my new story, Gabriel's Very Merry Christmas, if you're feeling like getting into the holiday spirit! Not done yet, but getting there. Anyways, first, you probably want to read this chapter (hopefully o.o). Enjoy!

Savannah's P.O.V

It certainly was not easy!

Clues...Clues...Where are the clues?! After searching the clearing repeatedly - seven and a half times to be exact - I still had found nothing. It was getting ridiculous!

Staring at a dew-berry bush, depressed and frustrated, I squinted. What was that?

As most bushes are, it was covered in leaves. But...one leaf stood out from the rest. Instead of being green, it was a faint red. How had I not noticed that before?

I walked closer to the bush, and crouched down, holding the leaf in my hands. I made sure not to pull it out because for some strange reason, I had a feeling whatever made it red or special at all would stop working if I did so.

Gently turning the leaf to show it's underside, I saw an inscription the exact same handwriting (except very, very tiny) as the one early. I looked closer, and read;

"...In the forest where the fire flies,

Look for a sight to open your eyes..."

Just after I finished reading it, the writing disappeared, and the leave crumbled to ashes!

Curses! I thought angrily at myself. I should have called the other's before I read it!

"Well, that's interesting…" a voice stated behind me.
"AH!" I nearly jumped ten feet in the air!

Destiny leaped back, as well. "Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!"

"Uh...It's okay...You saw it, though?" I asked, glad I wasn't crazy.

"Yeah… It's definitely a clue from Annie," she reaffirmed. "Hmm… Fire… Forest… Flies…...open eyes..." she repeated, trying to piece them together.

"Hmm…" I mumbled, thinking. "Flying fire in a forest? Like forest fires?! Couldn't be a Fire Elf village, we already found that in the village of the Wyrd!"

Destiny's eyes widened. "Wait. You read fire flies. Isn't it fireflies - like the bug?!"

I shook my head. "Riddles are never that easy! It has to be something more...complicated... "

Destiny shook her head as well. "I don't know… Maybe she's making you think outside the box when the obvious answer is right in front of you."

Now, confused, I just raised my eyebrows. "Uh...How about we just go look in the forest?"

All of a sudden, something tapped my shoulder. "Ah!" I screamed again. Behind me was a guilty-looking Olivia.

"Sorry if I scared you," she mumbled.

"Just like everyone else today! At least we're not in that creepy castle…"

Olivia nodded. "Yeah. But - uh - did you say 'look in the forest'? That's my specialty!"

"Okay, you can come," Destiny allowed. "So we'll just leave the others to keep looking for more clues on the shore in case Annie's tricking us and the rest are actually out here?"

"Sounds good. Let's go!" I agreed.

"Hold on. Let's just tell the others where we're going," Destiny planned.

After doing so, the three of us headed in search for whatever we were looking for.

Destiny's P.O.V.

I still think we're overlooking the obvious answer, I stubbornly grumbled in my head. But I wasn't the pushy type that insists on following my ideas. I just went with whatever others wanted to do first.

"Savannah," I called, as she went ahead. Olivia was cutting down branches in the way with her Obsidian sword.

Why isn't it obvious to them?! I thought, frustrated. I noticed in certain parts of the forest there were more fireflies than in others. "Can't we just follow the fireflies?"

"Why? There are fireflies are everywhere! How would we follow them? And, on top of that, if there's a fire, it's only logical that they'd stay away from it! Typical survival instincts," reasoned Savannah.

I rolled my eyes. In a magical forest like this, anything could happen…

I felt like the fireflies were trying to tell me something… Secretly sneaking away from the others, I listened my heart; I went after the fireflies.

They unfortunately noticed I was gone a few seconds after I left, and chased after me as I swiftly followed the fireflies' light, avoiding every root, branch, and stone. It was as if they were making a path. Once I passed them, the glowing insects followed, making my surroundings brighter and brighter.

Unexpectedly, the fireflies stopped in the middle of nowhere.

"This can't be it..." I looked around. Everything was too bright for me to see.

The trillions of fireflies gathered together, and in doing so, they merged together and seemed to be moving in unison!

I slowly backed away so I could see the whole picture. They positioned themselves like a roaring fire, flickering as a flame would; right in front of me!

"Whoa!" Savannah cried, staring at the sight before us. "What does it say?"

"What do you mea-?" I started to ask, but then I saw what she was talking about. In the center of the fire, the fireflies shifted to create letters, and before my very eyes.

Olivia read it out.

"...Log and leaf, light and vine

Bind them together to intertwine

This will be the only way

For all you 'heroes' to 'save the day'..."

I looked around me. Everything that she listed was right here! But how are we gonna put it all together? I wondered. And more importantly, how are we gonna bring whatever this 'intertwines' to the others?

Suddenly, I heard a rustle in the bushes. What was that? Curiously and fearfully, I turned around and saw many pairs of eyes staring at us.

"Who's there?!" Olivia threatened, taking her sword out. She held onto it defensively, walking in a little circle to stop things from being behind her too long.

I calmed her tense muscles by lowering her arm gently.

"Please come out!" I insisted. "We won't hurt you!"

"We won't?" Olivia questioned, lowering her sword all the same.

Slowly but surely, we found out who those eyes belonged to. There were owls, bats, a family of hawks, small song birds, a herd of deer, a bear, foxes, rabbits, and Moonstone.

"What are they all doing here?" Savannah whispered in our ears. "Wouldn't the predatorial animals be killing the prey? This is unnatural..."

"Why are you all here?" I asked them all, though it was probably pointless since they were all animals. Or so I thought.

We can't stand Annie anymore. We need to join forces so you can get to her and remove her permanently, thought one of the animals.

Was I losing my mind? I can read the minds of animals, too?! I hid behind Savannah and Olivia, hoping the distance might block their thoughts, but they continued.

We will help you build what you need with what we have! sang a songbird, taking a vine and pulling it off the tree.

The other animals also did their part. The bear knocked down a tree about the size of me, the foxes and rabbits collected moss, branches, and twigs, the bats brought flowers, while the birds collected more vines.

Moonstone walked up to me, carrying a mouthful of red leaves that seemed to be glowing.

"Those are the ones we saw earlier, remember, Destiny?!" Savannah cried.

I nodded intently. "They are! There's no words on them, though…"

I still couldn't believe how and why these wild animals were helping us like this. Do they do this a lot? I wondered. Or is it just with us?

Savannah's P.O.V

The birds knotted some strong vines from the tree the bear had knocked down earlier to connect it with the smaller branches the other mammals collected. They even connected some vines onto the herd of deer to pull. I simply couldn't believe what I was seeing!

After another minute of work, it was finished.

I gasped.

It was a huge raft! Flowers, moss, vines, and the leaves dangled from the sides, holding the log together and branches. The fireflies surrounded it, and I wondered what they were possibly doing.

"In all my years…" I heard Olivia mumbled. "...Never seen anything like this…"

Destiny and I stared in awe. All of a sudden, Moonstone tapped the ground impatiently, as if to say: "Well?"

All of a sudden, I shook my head to get myself back to normal. "Time to carry this thing - raft, I mean! - back to the others!"

"Looks a little heavy," Destiny stated. "It's gonna be hard…"

"Well, what are we waiting fo-?" Before I could finish speaking, something even more amazing occured. The whole group of forest animals worked together to push, pull, and carry the raft!

The fireflies who used to be just floating next to the raft did something I didn't expect; they went underneath. The contraption lifted up until it was flying at the same height as my head, hovering above the rays of fireflies.

"Wh-wh-what?" Olivia stuttered.

I opened my mouth to say something, closed it, then opened it again. Nothing would come out!

"We should make their effort worth it," Destiny finally spoke. "Maybe I could give them each some food next chance I get. Too bad I don't have any now though…"

Every animal seemed a bit disappointed not to have a reward.

"Oh! I know!" she went up to every furry animal to hug them once (including the bear, who looked a bit baffled), every bird to ruffle their feathers underneath their heads a bit, and every firefly seemed to be blinking in thanks as she gave them a kiss in the air.

It took her awhile to do all this, but it was definitely a sight to see. It's amazing how much love she has in her to pass around, I inspected. But I felt like she was kind of overdoing it.

"What if they're forced under Annie's control to do all this?" questioned Olivia, as the wild creatures pulled, pushed, and carried the raft to the clearing. "You shouldn't be thanking them Destiny if that's the case."

Destiny stopped walking for a moment, as did all the animals. They seemed to be shaking at the mentioning of Black Annie's name.

"Well, if you ask me, it looks like they only want to help because they're scared of her," observed Destiny.

"But how do they know what we're up to and all?" I further tried Destiny.

She thought for a moment, then shrugged for an answer.

Once we got to the clearing, everyone spotted us with a huge parade of animals.

"Whoa! What's going on here?!" exclaimed Fiona.

"Well, I think we figured out Annie's riddles and got some help," I declared proudly.

The animals of the Wyrd dropped the raft in a river connected to the polluted pool. Destiny carefully cut off the vined reigns off the deer with her sword.

"How did you guys do this?" Christina asked Destiny, as she cut off the vine of the last deer still connected to the raft.

All the animals immediately sheltered themselves in the forest once their job was done.

"I-I honestly don't know...the animals of the Wyrd did all the work," answered Destiny, seeming as shocked and puzzled as Christina. "All I do know is that now we have a way to get to Black Annie's place and back on solid ground."

"All aboard!" invited Olivia.

Unsteadily and unsure, we climbed into the raft. And instead of floating in the poison liquid, we flew in the air!

"Woah! What's going on?!" exclaimed Justin.

Destiny looked under the raft. "The fireflies are back! And they're carrying the raft!"

"How is that even possible?!" I cried. Everything going on around here seemed so illogical.

"I don't know, but it's amazing!" Destiny spread her arms out wide, enjoying the wind against her.

First time I've seen her this carefree... I noted.

"Whoo!" Christina squealed happily, enjoying the ride as much as Destiny was.

Cassandra flew in circles around us. "Now you all know what it feels like to fly!"

"...And I'm not liking it!" wailed Evelyn, lunging over the side, green-faced.

As we went steadily floated towards Annie's hut, I had the worst case of 'fireflies' in my stomach...I had a feeling something bad was going to happen.

I had absolutely no idea.