Night-Mare

Chapter 3

"It'll be necessary … What does that even mean?" Steven grumbled.

"Shut up and keep walking," Roman said, pushing past him. Zoe followed him.

Leo patted Steven on the shoulder, "Don't mind them. Like brother and sister, those two. Thick as thieves and always grumpy."

Steven hadn't noticed before, but Leo had a mild Scottish accent. He looked about two decades younger than Quinn, maybe late forties, but that was still old compared to Roman, Zoe, and Steven.

"Why aren't you leading this hunting trip?" Steven asked, stepping over branches as he walked with some distance behind Zoe.

Leo shrugged, "Roman knows what he's doing. He's an excellent tracker. And Zoe could spear a mouse moving at the speed of sound."

"And what do you do?"

"Me? Well, I just provide moral support," Leo said with a smile. Steven chuckled. Leo seemed like he could make the end of the world sound a little brighter.

"Did you always know them?" Steven said, pointing his spear towards the two in the lead. 

"Not before I got here. Why do you ask?"

"Your accents. Yours is Scottish, theirs is English. He paused, "What do you mean before you got here?"

Leo looked at him, "You remember how you got here?"

Steven shook his head slowly. Leo nodded, "No one does. We all wake up in the forest, little specks of memory, no idea where we are. Some of us get lucky like you and end up in the Survivor's Band. And others…" He gave a sigh.

"What happens to the others?" Steven dared to ask.

As Leo looked up to the thick tree line ahead his humorous eyes darkened. "The dark forest. There's a monster lurking inside. They call it the Night-Mare, a horse with skin as black and slick as oil, and eyes that glow orange like a fire. She crushes anything in her path and hunts those unfortunate souls of the forest.

"And if she doesn't get you, the forest itself will. People have gotten lost and gone mad in there. They've become mindless killers, some of them cannibals." Leo looked like he was lost in a dream. His voice had become a whisper. "We call them the Dead Band. Be glad we found you and not them."

"Shut it back there!" Roman shouted back."We've reached the tree line. Complete silence until we reach the hunting plains."

~CL1