Things were going from bad to worse, Sebastian thought, as he crashed to the ground and was pinned down by large paws and heavy muscle.

Scraping his face against the dirt to look left, he felt moist, warm breath huffing against his skin. The monsters' breath smelt like decay, and it made his eyes water as he clocked onto the vicious fangs' inches from his face. Its snout crinkled into a snarl as it leaned closer.

Luckily, Laryssa was faring better than Sebastion, unable to move due to the giant beast on his back. It howled and slumped on top of him as warm blood trickled down to his shoulder and neck.

"Hurry, get up!" Laryssa harshly whispered as she pushed the beast off her brother and pulled her throwing knife from its neck. "Lycians hunt in packs, the others will be tailing us. We have to go, now!" She yanks him up as they darted for the trees, passing the other fallen beast that attacked Laryssa.

They flew through the forest as they attempted to outrun the Lycians, at least three others were swiftly taking chase. Lycians were large, wolf like creatures who have a preference for Elves, the main populous of Annale.

Laryssa pulled her bow from her back, and using her powers to guide her arrow she swivels round and aimed for the closest beast and shoots. The arrow whistles through the air as she pushes it forward with her magic, and hits the animal straight between the eyes as it comes crashing down behind them.

They continue running, with no clue in which direction they're heading or how far they've come since the stream. Sebastian rushes ahead while Laryssa guards behind them, shooting arrows when she can.

Five Lycians down and an hour worth of fleeing later, Sebastian and Laryssa are well and truly lost, albeit safe from beasts for now. Before the attack, they were only a days' trek away from Teigh to the southeast, and close to the edge of the forest.

However, they had fled deeper into the depths of the forest and were struggling to tell where they were. Sebastian decides to climb a tree in hopes to break through the canopy to see where they are. Scrambling up a large trunk he swings from branch to branch, leaving Laryssa to sit and inspect her nails.

When he submerges at the top of the tree, all he can see for miles are trees and dense vegetation from all directions. The lack of moonlight not helping the situation, he continues to try and peer at the dark landscape before him.

"For fuck sake. I'm not a praying man, but I'll start if I can get a sign. Anything." He mutters half-heartedly to himself. Down below he hears Laryssa's' bellowing laugh, no doubt hearing his declaration to the Gods on the winds. After a few moments of staring out into nothingness, he notices to his left a tall silhouette he originally mistook for another tree. But on further examination he noticed it didn't sway like the surrounding forest, the tip too sharply slanted to be natural, and a sliver of moonlight bouncing off the slate roof.

He quickly climbs down and finds Laryssa still sprawled out against the base of the tree, nestled between two thick roots. "I think there's some form of building a few miles to our left. If we head there, we might be able to get help, find someone that can point us in the right direction of Teigh at least." Laryssa jumps up from her resting place, smoothing down a crease in her jumper and they head off towards the building Sebastian had spotted.

"You're a liar." Laryssa growls at her brother, pulling twigs out of her hair and contemplates stabbing him as he laughs at her disheveled appearance.

"I did say I wasn't sure, you're the one who followed me without any questions." Sebastian gave her a dazzling grin that proved that he didn't care about her discomfort.

She jabbed him in the ribs and huffs out a puff of irritation. "We've been walking for miles, and not just a few. Bastard." Dawn was fast approaching as they continued on, deep violet sky poking through the thick canopy above the only indication of the time and how long they've been travelling for.

"Just be glad we haven't run into anymore Lycians, or worst." He said optimistically. Though that was a positive, she also would've happily murdered him to gain a warm bath and a soft bed in that moment. She was about to tell him exactly that when she felt a hum of power in the air and suddenly stopped.

Sebastian came to a halt and glanced back at her over his shoulder, lifting a thick brow in question. She raised a finger at him, requesting a moment to figure out what it was that she was sensing. The wind carried a residue of an odd, dark form of magic she had never experienced before. She explained her findings and pointed towards the direction they were heading. "It doesn't feel threatening, but something is definitely close." She told him matter-of-factly. "I can also hear the whisperings of a village not too far."

"Let's find out what it is then and head to the village after." A mischievous wiggle of the eyebrows had Laryssa rolling her eyes as they headed closer to the source of power.

After ten minutes walking closer towards the buzz and whirls of magic in the air, the pressure began feeling thicker and heavier. She could almost hear the magic whispering to go away, go back, leave this place. It almost became unbearable when they came to a small clearing in between the trees, and a large tower emerged.

"Well it seems that we've found that tower I spied in the distance." Sebastian whispered, given the strange magical barrier telling them to leave, they might not find the assistance they were hoping for here.

The circular tower was built of grey and beige stone, arched windows dotted around in a spiraled incline up to the top of the pointed slate roof. The top window was large enough for a person to walk through, and was met with a large balcony that looked out high behind them. Given the incredibly early hour, it wasn't surprising that no sign of inhabitance or light could be spotted from within.

Sebastian edged closer to the humming barrier, which even he could detect now, and felt the stinging sensation as he hovered his hand closer to the invisible wall.

"Look at the ground" Laryssa pointed to a palm sized rock at the base of the barrier, and then another, and another. They were spaciously placed in a giant circular around the tower where the barrier started, and all of them had intricate runes painted in dried, crimson blood. "Only hellwater will be able to wash away those runes" Laryssa states.

Hellwater is a very rare magical concoction. It's made of blessed water mixed with the blood of demons, demons that only a high leveled witch can summon. It's almost impossible to come by, unless you're a notorious pirate who likes to collect things that can help defeat an evil king and has a small vial in his belt.

Glancing back at Laryssa, he gave her a wicked grin that was all teeth and declared "I wonder what's valuable enough inside that requires security measures of this length." He muses.

Laryssa gives him an innocent smile in return and states "look at the crumbling walls and lack of sentries. They obviously don't care that much if no one's around to guard something so precious. We could go to the village and rest and make a plan, maybe learn more about the place."

"You're right my darling sister. It seems we must rescue whatever treasure lies within."