Chapter 3

(Hope)

"In mythology, ogres are often depicted as inhumanly large and tall and having a disproportionately large head, abundant hair, unusually colored skin, a voracious appetite, and a strong body. Ogres are closely linked with giants and with human cannibals in mythology."

Staying out in the open made her nervous—she hadn't been able to shake the feeling of being watched since their encounter with the wailing phantom. So, when they finally reached a patch of forest, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Granted, the woods weren't particularly welcoming; the trees were dark and gnarled, their twisted branches crowned by dark swaths of leaves. It looked like something out of a children's fairytale. Indeed, she was reminded of the dark forest from Snow White, which she had watched with her Aunt Rebekah as a child.

She remembered asking why the witch was the villain of the story—the memory was bittersweet. She learned a long time ago that the world was neither black nor white, but a kaleidoscope of grey.

With her history, grey was the best she could ever hope to be.

Since Clarke still wasn't volunteering his assistance in locating Malivore, she decided to head towards the strange rock formations in the distance. When they had first arrived, they had seemed like a strange mirage, but the closer they got the more closely they resembled a misshapen castle—it completely dominated the landscape.

At least the woods seemed to run parallel to the most direct path—a small blessing in this forbidding landscape.

She began making her way towards the tree cover, praying that the benefits outweighed whatever could be lurking within in the woods.

Apparently, Agent Clarke wasn't on the same page—he had stopped a few paces behind her.

"I'm not following you in there," he said, a resolute expression on his face.

"Yes, you are," she said. "It's almost night, and I'm not making camp out here where we'd be sitting ducks."

It was true, the gloom of Malivore upon their arrival was nothing compared to the current sky. There was no sun to set on the horizon, just the steady blackening of the world around them. No moon, no stars, just a cloak of darkness.

He just stared at her, jaw clenched and posture rigid.

"Look," she sighed. "I don't like you, and you certainly don't like me, but there's safety in numbers."

"Why ask at all?" he asked. "Not up for a little more puppeteering?" His dark eyes narrowed at her.

"No," she said. If she was going to get him to reveal any information, she needed to get him to trust her. Or at least get comfortable enough to let something slip.

"How considerate of you," he said, skepticism clouding his features.

This was ridiculous, he was just being stubborn, and she so didn't have time for this.

"Come on," she said, reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder to guide him forward. She suddenly felt a burning heat in her palm, not unlike when she was using magic, but there was something else too—loneliness.

The emotion slammed into her with surprising force, the feeling of emptiness threatening to swallow her whole. It was as alien as it was sudden, this feeling wasn't hers.

She dropped her hand and took a hasty step back. Agent Clarke's eyes had gone wide, looking from his shoulder to her and back again. "What did you do?" he asked.

"I didn't do anything!" she insisted. She hadn't—had she?

"I felt…something," he said.

"You felt the heat too?" she asked, flushing slightly at her choice of words.

To his credit, Clarke didn't seem to notice. "Not that, something else…" he said, taking a step closer.

"Should we…try that again?" he asked, reaching out a tentative hand.

"No!" she answered, more forcefully than she intended. Truthfully, all she wanted to do was reach out again. The compulsion was as strong as it was bewildering. She was reminded of the strange feeling she experienced when they had been back to back.

Oh, God, what was this place doing to her?

"Okay," he said quietly, dropping his hand to his side.

"Please, just come with me," she said.

"Okay," he said again, all trace of resistance gone.

She spun on her heel, taking a steadying breath. This is just some weird side effect of this dimension.

She ducked under a low hanging branch as she made her way into the woods—Clarke followed closely behind; she could feel his eyes on her, but thankfully he remained quiet.

The canopy above made their surroundings even darker as they made their way deeper into the forest. The undergrowth was dense—her pants were covered in burrs and her ankles stung with irritating scratches. Unfortunately, the unhospitable terrain meant that they weren't making much progress.

It wouldn't be long before they would be forced to stop and get some rest, but she was already concerned that too much time had passed since their arrival. Back at Triad, Malivore's return had seemed imminent.

She saw that horrifically contorted face emerging from the pit every time she closed her eyes. A silent scream compelling her to continue pushing forward.

Should she take any comfort in the fact that they still remained in this realm? Or would this place continue to exist even once Malivore escaped? The uncertainty was tying her stomach in knots.

"We should make camp soon," Clarke said, distracting her from her thoughts.

"Yeah," she said.

"Here is probably as good as anywhere," he said, gesturing to a small patch of ground at the base of one of the dark trees.

"Fine," she said. She wished she had a bag with supplies, or anything besides the clothes on her back. When she jumped into Malivore she didn't expect a wilderness hike.

Clarke sat at the base of the tree, leaning against its trunk; she followed his example and sat against the tree across from him. They sat that way for a moment, just starring at one another.

"I'll take the first shift," he said. "Go ahead and get some sleep, I'll keep watch."

"Nice try," she said. "I know the second I let you out of my sight you'll be gone."

He smiled—a crooked sort of thing. "Maybe… Maybe not," he said.

Hope took a deep breath and stretched her hands out to either side—she envisioned her magic rippling around them, like concentric circles on the surface of water.

"All done," she said.

"What now?" he asked, eyeing her warily.

"Just a little barrier spell," she said. "You have about a twenty-foot radius before you'll find yourself stuck."

She knew she needed to earn his trust, but there was no way she was risking him finding Malivore without her. As much as she hated to admit it, she also didn't want to be left alone.

While she was certain Clarke wasn't pleased with her, he was doing his best not to show it.

"Goodnight, Hope," he said neutrally, adjusting his position to face the surrounding trees.

She laid down on her side, using her arm as a pillow. The ground was slightly damp beneath her and she could feel several stones cutting into her side. However, it wasn't the physical discomfort that bothered her, she was much more concerned with letting her guard down.

Every part of her body railed against falling asleep in such a compromising situation—she had no idea what was lurking in the woods and there was no guarantee Agent Clarke wouldn't try to kill her himself.

Fortunately, she had cast another spell earlier, just a little alarm bell of sorts that would alert her if Clarke tried to do her harm. She fingered the piece of thread she had tied around her finger—it had come from Clarke's jacket when she touched him earlier—it would tighten in warning if she was in imminent danger from him.

It wasn't much, but it was something.

With that thought, she felt exhaustion overtaking her—a few minutes later she was pulled into a dreamless sleep.

Hope awoke to the sound of branches breaking. She jumped to her feet, temporarily disoriented by her new surroundings. Dark trees stretching out in every direction with shadowy branches overhead.

Right, this is Malivore—Wait, where the hell was Agent Clarke?

"Clarke?" she called into the darkness. She had no idea how long she had been sleeping but the forest was still as dark as ever. He was nowhere in sight.

Crap.

She spared a glance down at the piece of thread around her finger, it was still comfortably tied. So, he wasn't waiting to ambush her, at least.

The sound of more branches snapping alerted her that whatever was happening wasn't far away. She proceeded cautiously towards the sound, taking care to keep her footsteps as quiet as possible.

Then she saw it—some kind of monster moved into view from behind a patch of trees. The creature was hideous; it was basically human shaped, but much taller and broader than an ordinary man. The creature had bumpy grey skin and an abnormally large head covered with coarse hair.

And oh, the smell—it was a putrid combination of swamp gas and rotting meat. She fought down a gag, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth.

The monster was currently vigorously shaking a tree, causing the trunk to make an ominous cracking sound.

"KILL! EAT!" the monster shouted. "I WILL CHEW YOUR BONES!" it cried towards the sky.

Hope followed its line of vision upwards, only to find Agent Clarke perched among the branches of the tree.

Oh, hell.

Suddenly, Clarke looked down and caught her eye.

"Remove the boundary spell!" he called. The creature quickly turned its attention from the treetop to her hiding place.

Thanks a lot, moron.

"I have a plan, just—" he began, but was cut off as the tree swayed violently.

"MORE FOOD!" the creature yelled, as it let go of the trunk and began to make its way towards her. "KILL TREE MAN LATER," it said.

"Hope!" Clarke called again, "Please remove the spell, I know what to do!"

There was no other choice.

She stretched out her arms and sent out her intention—the circles are breaking; the circles are broken.

Agent Clarke shimmied his way down through the branches with surprising ease. Once he hit the ground, he picked up a stone and threw it at the creature's large back.

"Hey, dumbass!" he called. "Don't forget about me!"

The creature turned in anger, rubbing the spot where the stone had struck him. "YOU DIE NOW!" the creature bellowed.

Then Clarke turned and ran. He skillfully made his way through the forest, but the creature was close behind, thanks to the sheer size of its stride.

She followed the pair, unwilling to let Clarke out of her sight.

The creature was relentless as it crashed its way through the forest with terrifying strength—trees were snapped like twigs and its footfalls left craters in its wake.

What the hell was his plan?

Suddenly, Clarke made a sharp right, the creature, unable to slow its momentum, careened forward—straight into a huge, rocky pit. The sound it made was deafening, a horrible roaring followed by the sound of cascading boulders.

Hope stopped short, grabbing a tree to steady herself—Holy crap, he did it!

There was no way anything could survive that fall.

Agent Clarke was clearly winded but smiling—genuinely smiling.

He actually looked like he was having fun.

"How did you know that was there?" she asked.

"I saw it when I climbed the tree," he said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "I knew if I could get that ogre riled up enough to chase me, it would be too distracted to pay attention to its surroundings."

So, it was an ogre…

"That was…actually pretty impressive," she said finally.

He smirked. "I know," he said, giving a little bow.

She couldn't help but let out a laugh.