Chapter 2

Just as she was about to fall into the depths of despair, the whole forest lightened up once again, but this time it wasn't the daylight.

She quickly looked up and saw a beam of moonlight, piercing through the darkness, concentrate at the center of the pond.

A small blue bud appeared under it which illuminated the forest with its luminescence. The bud shone brightly before starting to bloom.

Little fireflies from the woods accompanied it, adding more charm to its beauty. A shiny royal-blue flower with a bright transparent diamond- like gem embedded in its core, bloomed perfectly.

Instinctively, she got up to take a look at this magically bloomed flower. "This- Am I dreaming?"

She was astonished by the majestic appearance of the mysterious flower and was completely captivated by its beauty. Her beautiful emerald eyes were shining as she stared at the scene before her.

.......

.........

...........

Initially, she came to the forest because she had stumbled upon this mysterious book which suddenly appeared before the entrance of her tent last week. She asked around but no one claimed that book, so she had no choice but to keep it.

That night she couldn't fall asleep and decided to read the book. Its pages had turned a shade of brown and were ripped from various points, indicating the fact that the book had been around for a very, very long time.

............

The book recorded a tale about a girl whose mother was terminally ill and in order to gather herbs for her treatment the girl had no choice but to enter a nearby forest.

There was a rumor in the village that the forest contained a mysterious flower which had such profound healing abilities that it could bring dead back to life. Thus, the girl took it upon herself to find this rare flower.

She searched for a long time, roaming around the depths of the forest in search for the flower that could cure her mother.

And just like that 3 months passed. The villagers heard no news of the girl and her mother was nearing her end. Everyone thought that the girl had probably died in there, becoming the prey of some wild beast.

Just as all hope was lost, the girl suddenly came back. She carried with herself a single petal. Its color dull, indicating that it had withered a long time ago.

The girl fed that petal to her mother and the old woman who was on the brink of death just a moment ago, miraculously recovered.

When she was asked how and where she obtained that petal or which flower did it belong to, the girl had no memories of it. But since then the rumors spread far and wide like wildfire and countless people entered the forest but no one succeeded in finding the flower they desired.

In fact, everyone who entered that forest disappeared and never came out. Eventually, people stopped entering the forest and everything regarding the flower became nothing more than just another tale, out of many others, with no witness.

...........

By the time she finished the book, it was almost 3 in the morning and without much thought she turned off the lamp and drifted off to sleep.

The next day when she woke up, she found that the book was gone. Disappeared as mysteriously as it had appeared.

Although the book was gone, her curiosity didn't fade. Instead, it only intensified with each passing day.

And today when everyone was busy preparing for the surprise birthday party for their teacher, she sneaked off.

Tomorrow was the last day of their camping trip and she really wanted to go into the forest and see for herself whether the story about the mysterious flower was true or just some rumor, at least once before leaving for the city.

.......

.........

...........

The soft glow emanating from the beautiful flower seemed hypnotic and before long she found her senses completely gone.

Having her attention fixated solely on the flower she began to advance towards the pond. She suddenly felt a cool, trickling and rippling sensation on her feet.

She immediately looked down, only to realize that she had subconsciously entered the pond.

She frowned a little, startled by how absent-minded she had been as she didn't even notice when she entered the pond. But then, she simply shrugged and turned her gaze back onto the flower.

The powerful aura radiating from it made her unconsciously want to touch it. She extended her hand but before she could make any contact with it, a giant golden snake suddenly emerged from behind the flower and hissed at her.

She was startled by its appearance and quickly jumped back."Aaa!" The moment the snake appeared, she couldn't help but yell out loud. The giant serpent sized snake had scared the living daylights out of her.

She instinctively retreated back quite a few steps before coming to a halt. Her heart was in a turmoil and breathing unstable, due to the earlier shock.

"What the hell! Where did this snake come from?" She patted her chest to calm down and ended up cursing the snake.

But then as if realizing something she looked up and saw the snake emitting a bright glow. She abruptly closed her eyes but when she opened them again she couldn't believe what she saw.

"The- The snake- turned into a statue?" Just as she was staring at it, feeling nothing but cluelessness, helplessness, and complete confusion; the statues' bloody red eyes suddenly shone and absolute darkness took over the forest.

Before she could decide what to do next, a mist filled her mind causing her awareness to slowly drift away. Her eyelids grew heavy and her vision blurred.

"What's happening?" She tried shaking it off but her legs began to sway and she fell down as she lost her consciousness completely.

.

.....

.............

The world seemed to be shaking and moving upside down as she slowly gained her awareness. A strangely unique but mesmerizing scent surrounded her, filling her nostrils.

She felt a tight grip on her waist. Gradually, she opened her eyes and her blurry vision cleared. Although it was dark everywhere but tiny fireflies, twinkling and shining brightly, illuminated the atmosphere.

One after another trees passed by, before her half opened eyes. She felt warm air occasionally brushing through her neck. Her whole body felt weak and powerless.

With much effort she lifted her heavy gaze and saw pink rosy lips, followed by a sharp jawline, a straight; pointed nose and a beautiful pair of crystal blue eyes, with long lashes.

More than half of his forehead was covered with bangs. She could feel his broad, wide chest pressed against her back, supporting her body.

"Wh- who are you?" Her weak, soft voice sounded as she managed to utter these words in a state of subconsciousness. She couldn't help but stare at this handsome man before her.

"What is going on here? Wasn't I just standing in front of that mysterious pond? And-that flower, that snake." Her thoughts were scattered and she couldn't think straight, as if she was awake but not fully awake, a state of subconscious.

"Who is he? Where is he taking me?" She blankly stared at the handsome, cold and godly man before her.

Despite hearing her weak and feeble voice, the guy didn't move even a single muscle on his handsome face, much less respond to her question.

She frowned, trying hard to gather her strength and wake herself from her daze.

They were riding on a horse, which galloped against the air, within the depths of the forest. The blue-eyed man was holding her with one of his hands while his other hand held the horse rein.

In the dark, his face that illuminated under the tiny short-lived glows from those thousand fireflies that surrounded them, looked ethereal; like that of a high immortals' cold, unapproachable yet extremely attractive.

As she stared at him in a daze, she wanted to ask who he was, where were they, and many such questions, but her mind was filled with haze, her thoughts unclear, body weak and felt powerless.

She couldn't feel any strength in her limbs and just like that her eyes once again grew heavy and her long lashes fell, causing her to lose her awareness.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***