Chapter 12 Lost In The Woods Gracefully the sun was setting, disappearing behind the trees and the horizon. What was once bright blue skies with travelling clouds turned into a mixture of orange-yellow skies with few clouds voyaging the atmosphere. The woods had become dim though visibility was acceptable. Merna’s head would abruptly turn to the left or right because she would hear a sound that had caught her attention. Strolling through the woods, the group stayed close to each other. Sounding tired and disheartened, “What time do you think it is now?” Emma asked no one in particular. “It gets darker sooner the further up north you go; I would guess it is a bit past five.” It was Steve who answered Emma’s question. “This gives us roughly three hours to find a way out of this hell hole!” Huffing out, "It should take us that long to get out of here though!" Emma whined. Pierre yelled, “Bronks!” Hoping to get his dog’s awareness. Merna rubbed the sides of her head, “I am not sure but I am starting to think that the master of the land has Bronks!” Closing her eyes she placed both hands on the side of her head. “What?” Pierre stopped moving, “if he kills my dog I will …” Merna also stopped walking, “what are you going to do to an entity that is billions of years old and has never been human?” She started to chuckle sarcastically. Pierre’s nose flared, “I don’t know, but … I will think of something!” Camile caught up to Pierre and Merna, “how much longer do you think it will take before we make it to the road?” “This is what happened last time we tried to get to the road!” Pierre told Camile. Muttering, "I am starting to get a headache!" Merna said to no one in particular. Steve added to Pierre and Camile's conversation, “Just when we thought we were getting close to the road, we found ourselves going in circles.” Merna confirmed what Pierre and Steve had gone through, “That is because you were!” Her eyes were closed as she massaged her temples. “What?” Both Pierre and Steve said at the same time.“Someone casted a spell on you so that you would continue to walk in a circle but think that you were going straight. It would not surprize me if we are going that now!” "Could they be causing your headache?" Pierre thought for a split second, “Is there a way to tell if a spell has been cast on us?” "Yes!" Merna thought about it for a second, “We will have to take a break, I will need to talk to the land and see if they are willing to help us!” Camile was excited at the thought of having a break. “That sounds great, I want to get this bag off my back!” “Wait …” Merna yelled as she watched Camile’s gear disappear. “Shit!” Camile was confused at Merna’s sudden outburst. “What?” Merna displayed signs of frustration by letting the air out of her lungs. “I was going to tell you not to put the gear on the ground or there is a chance it would disappear!” Merna rubbed her forehead with the tips of her fingers. “It was ... is a feeling I have in my gut.” Merna glanced up at the canopy. “I can see shadows hiding low to the ground behind all the trees. One was waiting and dashed out of its hiding place as you placed the bag on the ground.” "That is impossible!" Camile looked behind herself to see that the bag was no longer there. “And that is what just happened!” "Seriously! What is going on here?" Emma yelled, "This is bull shit!" Merna looked down at her feet, “yes Camile!” She confirmed the obvious. “If you take your gear off do not take your hands off your bag … or there is a good chance it will disappear just like Camile’s bag did,” Merna informed the group. “They work for the master of the land!” Closing the gap between himself and the others, "Who is the Master?" Steve inquired. Pierre had his hands on his hips, “at least there were no military rations in there!” He patted the bottom of his bag, letting the group realize he still had nourishment. "To be honest Steve ..." Merna huffed out, "I have no idea who the master is! I only know that he has claimed this land as his own. I think ... I believe the master of the land is equivalent to that of a god!" Camile looked at Pierre with dismay, “I am sorry … when we get back I can replace everything that was lost!” "There is only one God!" Emma remarked to Merna's comment. “Camile ..." Pierre brought his full attention to Camile."How about we work on getting out of this place first!” Merna knew that the items in the bag were old and easily replaceable. "Emma ... one religion does not speak for all of the other beliefs and practices. Many numerous entities have the strength of a god and leadership as well! Just because we can't see them or there are no stories written about them doesn't mean they don't exist!" Merna snapped. Pierre directed his question towards Merna, “do you need me to get you anything?” Huffing, Merna kneeled on the ground, “I just need fifteen minutes of quiet!” She said as she closed her eyes and placed her hands on the ground. "I will see what the land has to say to me! If I am lucky Gaea will be able to help me get us out of this unpleasant situation." Pierre walked away from Merna, “consider it done!” Steve nodded his head in understanding what was needed. Emma was the only one who did not understand the assignment, “why?” Slightly irritated, “So that Merna can concentrate or something like that!” Camile was making assumptions. "Oh!" Emma muttered as she mimicked what the other had done.