It had been four days since we left the cottage. Fer told me that the gate between the Human and Gods realm was about a few days hike from her home. Since the forest was enchanted and the gateway to many realms, it was bigger than what it looked like.

Fer and I had travelled in silence for the last three days, only speaking when necessary, as the part of the forest we were travelling was quite dangerous and Fer didn’t feel like dealing with any monsters. Or anyone for that matter, including me.

The silence, however had an upside. I was able to take in the forest and all its magic. This forest was the only place in the Human realm that was filled with magic from other realms that wasn’t placed by anyone.

On the first day, we passed a herd of unicorns and pegasus. It reminded me of when I once met a merchant who sold these creatures at the famous desert market of the Criste Kingdom.   

He explained to me how the colour of their coat told a person their magical power. White being the weakest and only one that humans could easily control, brown next, grey the second strongest and finally black being the strongest. The black pegasus and unicorns were also the rarest. Only one was born every fifty or so years.

The magical powers of these creatures ranged from healing to travelling between realms to being able to create emotional connections with other creatures. In the herd, I saw a few foals and unexpectedly at black pegasus that walked up to Fer and greeted her with a nudge to the shoulder.

Fer smiled and patted the pegasus. Pulling out a golden apple from her hunting bag, she handed to him before bidding farewell. Fer later told me that the pegasus’s name was Gora and that he was an old friend of hers. He had helped her many times and that she’d tell me all their adventures one day.

By the time day two ended, I had seen many woodland animals and people, both magical and not, two Tiki monsters, slimy black creatures with no proper body, and a monster Fer called a Nosena.

The monster was three metres tall with the body of a red snake, legs and claws of an eagle and head of lizard. Fer told me they were super aggressive and would make great gatekeepers if you could control it properly. Even better than a dragon.

Killing it was the only way for us to get pass it as this one was wild. Fer had to slice it into pieces and burn it as the creature body’s regenerated faster than a hydra. The only difference was it didn’t grow more heads, the body just got bigger and it becomes more aggressive.

After Fer killed the Nosena, it was pretty quiet for the rest of the trip. I saw nothing much on the third day, expect for the usual forest creatures – deer, rabbits, birds and so on. I think all the magical creatures hid away after feeling the annoyance and anger that radiated off Fer after having to kill the Nosena.

It was only at midday on the fourth day that we finally reached the gateway to the gods realm.