[Child of the 7th Age]

“Strange?” Bingo’s voice trailed off as he echoed the central query that Sondo had put to him. “ I’d say there are plenty of strange things about this place. I don’t know if it’s the trees or the land but something is pushing us northward. It’s almost as if we were a herd of sheep, with a herder that’s prodding and pulling us exactly where he wants to go. To be truthful, I don’t like this place. I’d rather veer west and walk down by the river, but there doesn’t seem to be a way of doing that.”

In the last few minutes of their trek, the trees bordering the path had gotten taller and more dense. Bingo wasn’t sure if they were actually in the Old Forest or still on the outskirts. The trunks of the trees looming over them were of varying sizes and shapes; some even had branches hanging low over the trail that seemed to thrust out a limb directly in the path of the unwary traveler. Bingo suddenly remembered stories he’d heard about the Old Forest and how it had goblins and trees that attacked the unsuspecting. He’d never believe any of those till now.

At the very moment when Bingo was thinking how much he disliked being in the forest, a large tree root jutted upward from nowhere and sent him sprawling on the ground, much to his embarrassment and discomfort. Sondo reached out a hand to help pull him up. Once he regained his footing, Bingo noted with a sigh, “Wherever and whatever this place is, I think we’d better hurry along and find a way out. I wouldn’t want to be here after nightfall.” Bingo glanced at his companions and wondered how they were feeling about all this. At least there hadn’t been too much grumbling so far. But he thought he saw shadows of unease mirrored on several of their faces, and Falco looked to be especially tired and wary.