Beginning of a Legend Chapter 5
The forest seemed like any other forest, but it did have a hint of fog that covered the ground. It didn't appear that any creatures lived there, at least not that close to the edge. There were some strange sounds coming from a distance, but it was something that the three children didn't want to worry about. They were hoping that finding their way back to Hogsmeade would not be hard, but they learned quickly that it was going to be a difficult and time consuming task. There was no clear path to follow and it was an unfamiliar area. They were pretty sure that they were already lost, though none of them wanted to admit it. After what seemed like an hour of walking, they still seemed to be getting no where.
"Do either of you have any idea where we are going?" Helga finally asked.
Salazar and Godric looked at each other.
"Not really," said Godric.
"This isn't exactly familiar territory," Salazar added.
"That doesn't make me feel any better," said Helga, clearly worried.
"We'll find our way back," Salazar reassured her. "It just may take a bit longer than we thought."
"I don't mean to be the one to bring us down, but what happens if we don't find our way back?" Helga asked.
"We get eaten by whatever is in this forest," said Godric.
"Godric," said Salazar. "That's not helping."
"I was kidding," said Godric, defending himself. "I'm not even sure there is anything in this forest."
They all suddenly heard a loud crack behind them. They wheeled around, but nothing could be seen. The three of the tried to look through the trees to see if anything was coming toward them, but still nothing was visible. They heard the loud crack again and noticed a tree branch laying near them broke. Helga was the first to back away. All of them were terrified since they could not see what broke the branch.
The three of them began to run through the forest, dodging the many trees. None of them could tell if whatever was there was following them, but they didn't want to take a chance. After about ten minutes of running, Salazar stopped to catch his breath. Helga stopped next to him and leaned against a nearby tree. When Salazar looked up at her he noticed a scared look on her face.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Where's Godric?" she replied.
The two of them looked in every direction, but there friend was no where to be found. Helga began to call for him, but Salazar put his hand over her mouth.
"I'm not sure that is a good idea," he said, taking his hand off her mouth.
"We can't just leave him alone in here," Helga replied.
"I agree, but we can't go shouting either," Salazar explained. "We don't know what else is in here and I don't think it is a good idea to draw attention to ourselves."
"So what do we do about Godric?" she asked.
"We wander through the woods and hope we run into him," Salazar suggested.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Helga asked. "We could get lost."
"More lost than we already are?"
"That's a good point," Helga replied. "So what happens if we don't find him?"
"We'll worry about that if it comes up," Salazar answered. "Right now lets get going and hope we can find him."
The two of them continued to walk back in the direction they came hoping to run into their friend. It was getting dark and neither of them wanted to be stuck out in the open in an unfamiliar forest. However, they knew that they were going to have to get some rest some time. Salazar figured that all of their parents were going to be out looking for them by now. At least Helga and Godric's parents. He figured his father would have given up and gone home by now.
The moon could be seen in the open areas and there was still no sign of Godric. Salazar didn't want to give up, but he was getting to tired to go on. He could tell that Helga was feeling the same way. It didn't appear that there was any safe place for them to sleep for the night, so they were going to have to stay in the forest. Salazar sat with a large tree to his back and Helga sat next to him. They didn't know what they were going to do to find Godric and they didn't want to give up hope.
The forest got abnormally dark as it got later into the night. There were strange sounds all around them and Salazar was pretty sure that he heard horses galloping near them. It didn't seem like a normal forest, so Salazar wouldn't be surprised if their were horses around. Salazar stayed awake much longer than Helga, listening to the sounds around him. He was beginning to doze off when he noticed something white gallop past them. He immediately stood up looking all around the area. Whatever it was seemed to disappear, but there was no way he could sleep now.
Salazar stood next to the tree watching for anything that would come near them. He began to hear the galloping again and he stared into the forest when a horse stopped in front of him. He was taken aback by the sudden appearance of the horse, but as he examined it he noticed something strange. In the middle of it's head there was a single horn. Salazar realized this was no horse, it was a unicorn. It began to walk away, but looked back at him. It appeared to want him to follow it.
"Helga," said Salazar, his voice shaken.
She stirred, but did not wake up. He knelt down next to her, not taking his eyes off the unicorn. Salazar nudged her slightly, getting her to look up. She jumped back when she saw the unicorn staring at the two of them.
"What is that?" she asked, quietly.
"It's a unicorn," Salazar answered. "I think it wants us to follow it."
"Should we follow it?" Helga asked, frightened.
"I don't think it will hurt," said Salazar. "We are already lost. Maybe it can lead us out of here."
"I suppose that's true," said Helga, standing up.
As they both walked toward it, it began walking. It was going slow enough for them to follow, but it appeared to be trying to get away from something as well. It kept looking back at them to make sure they were there and then out into the woods as if looking for something. They were walking for several minutes when the unicorn suddenly began walking faster. Helga and Salazar were having to run to keep up. Their hearts began to race, afraid of whatever was making the unicorn uneasy. After another few minutes of running the unicorn led them out of the forest, and back to where they started.