The dark forest outpost was surprisingly lively for its location.  The hardest part for its people was in the beginning several months earlier setting up its walls. They had easy access to wood but all kinds of monsters kept getting close in these last few days though they had not seen many of the forest's denizens. A pink haired young lady was gathering some mushrooms just outside the gates of this small town. She was dreaming of the future because one of the royal princes would bestow her father a nobility title for his work on the town. They were so surprised when the 3rd prince assigned her father to oversee this task. She walked through town greeting people as she passed them. The farms would soon be ready for the first harvest and the prince would visit tomorrow to celebrate the success. soon she'd have a noble title. She used to adore the knights in the stories she read but now she looked forward to nobility. Suddenly a girl spooked her a bit. “paula! Are you daydreaming of your family's rise to nobility?”

“Hey Penny. I can't help it. I wonder if I can have a personal knight? Can I take up sword practice as a lady?” 

Penny pondered and said, “I think so. Most female sword wielders came from high families. Maybe you can still become a knight. you always said you wanted to become one.”

Paula blushed a bit. “I said that when I was 10!”

 Penny and Paula were inseparable childhood friends. They talked about the future of the town. Penny wanted to organize an adventurer competition. Since the town was surrounded by the dark forest it would help the town to clear monsters from the surrounding area and slowly they could make the road to town a safer passage. 

“When you make your house a mansion can I still visit?” said Penny when they arrived at Paula's house.

“Of course penny. you might be a noble soon too. the town will have plenty of opportunities to grow.”

The advantage to the dangerous forest was that the first ones there would hold the highest positions once the forest was safer. Paula said her goodbye to Penny and entered her house where her mother was sewing her fathers suit for tomorrow.  

“Welcome home. Did you pick mushrooms again? You know I get nervous when you leave the village borders.”

Paula’s mother had always been careful ever since moving . for good reason. 

“I know. it feels like the forest stares at me. but it's worth it these mushrooms make for the best soup ingredient. Where's dad?” she asked as she placed the mushroom bag on the table.

“Farmer John had trouble with his shed. Someone stole his key as a prank. oh! Paula, can you visit the guard tower again? I know you just passed it when you came from…”

“It's ok mom. what do you need me to bring?”

her mother pointed to a basket. “There's some bread I had left over. the night guards must be nervous for tomorrow too.”

“I think they would prefer some booze." Paula chuckled a bit, picked up the basket and headed out. heading back to the gate leading to st baals. When she arrived there she noticed the gates had closed early but no guard seemed to be on duty. She opened the guard house only to find it empty. 

on the table was a note saying - we're heading to st baals to pick up the prince. Just keep the gate closed and everything should be fine. we'll return soon with the prince.- 

This seemed strange but maybe her father had arranged something . She felt she should check with him but he was on the other side of town. She could not shake this uneasiness as she walked across the town for the 3rd time this evening. While approaching the small farm she could already see her father and farmer John trying to open the shed without damaging it. John was cursing the entire time Paula was approaching “I swear Tony, if I get my hands on the brat that thinks this is funny. I'll lock him in there for the night.”

“Calm down John, we'll find a way to open it without breaking the door.” Paula's father was trying to pick the lock “if a thief can do this it shouldn't be that hard”

“those bastards train for that instead of a decent job.”

Paula interrupted him “at least the adventurers avoid stealing from the common people.”

John looked back “oh hello paula. you look pretty as always.”

 Paula's father quickly looked back, gave a nod and returned to the lock. “Hey sweety. Can it wait? I almost have this.” 

“I'm not sure dad. Did you plan some sort of night arrival with the prince?”

Antony froze “no. why?”

Before Paula could explain anything the shed her father was working on went up in a blaze. Antony jumped back to avoid the flames. 

Paula dropped the basket in surprise. “What just happened?”

Farmer John was devastated “my shed just went up in flames!”

“That looked like a timed, rune spell. Wait! Did you keep meat in that shed?” Hearing her father say that Paula smelled the meat roasting in the flames.

John shook his head “not at all just tools and…” his face went white before he could finish his sentence as behind the shed 2 trunks of the wall fell down followed by a howling. 

Paula's father shouted “how did those things fall? Now there's a hole in the wall. The fire is the only thing keeping direwolves out and that won't last long. go get the guards.” 

Paula's face went white “That's what I came here about. the guards left a note saying they've gone to pick up the prince.” 

They had no time to ponder the situation as the flames from the rune trap started going out. 

“alert everyone. tell them to barricade their doors and windows in one room.” 

Paula and John nodded and ran. Paula headed towards the back gate of town to warn the people living near there. When she approached it she noticed the gate was still open.

 *Why is that gate open? it's never open. there's only some mountain path to the desert that way.* she thought. 

standing in the gate she heard growling behind her. A pack of direwolves had already made their way inside; they were tossing themselves at doors and windows trying to get the villagers inside. One direwolf had noticed paula. There was only one way for her to run. Out into the forest. The wolf chased Paula through the forest. Luckily she was a bit more nimble than the wolf expected. she kept running as she saw the border of the dark forest the wolf closed in on her. 

Just then there was a loud noise that Paula could not describe. The earth shook heavily and a massive figure could be seen moving in the distance. as it moved rocks and dirt flew everywhere. One particularly big boulder nearly hit Paula. The direwolf behind her was less lucky. Paula ran out of the forest into a savanna that separated the mountains from the forest. before her she saw what she could only describe as a massive building. she could not see the mountain range behind it anymore. it had hit the pathway and had blocked off the passage to the desert. only gods could create something this big. Hoping to find rescue for the town, she mustered the last of her strength and ran up the pathway. Everything hurts. She had  gotten a few wounds from the direwolf, her muscles cramped and her lungs felt like they were filled with needles. Soon she saw lights coming from the sky just as her legs gave out. as the lights grew brighter she saw human figures approach her. “Please gods, help the town”. Soon everything went dark for her. Soon she didn't feel any pain anymore.