Rotten Flesh

Esmeralda went to the land of the Faerie, which are small winged creatures who are full of mischief and trickery. They are tiny creatures often just a foot in size.

She didn't bother to inform their leader of her presence since she was already in her invisible form. She can roam freely around the land without alerting anyone of her presence.

If Kate was indeed brought here by her abductors then they shouldn't be aware of her. It will make them act careless and she can locate Kate's whereabouts faster.

It's hard to believe that Kate was brought here by her abductors! These creatures living here didn't even know about the existence of that girl.

She's doubting it, but she's already here, she might as well continue her investigation.

Her nostrils detected Kate's human scent. But the more she gets farther away from the entrance of the Faerie's territory, the more the scent was getting nonexistent.

Kate's scent was only getting more profound in the entrance, not inside.

This smells fishy...

Hmm...

Just to be sure, she checked every nook and cranny of the land, from trees to caves, and everywhere.

She can't find Kate!

The leaves are not lying!

Kate is not here, only her smell!

Time to leave!

She wastes no time and went to the land of the Dwarfs... just a few miles from where the Faerie's lived.

In the entrance of the Dwarfs territory Kate's human scent was strong, but when she began to explore the whole area, the same thing occurred, the farther she went away from the entrance, the more the scent was fading away.

After investigating the whole area, it's clear that Kate was not in this area, only her scent.

Esmeralda left the land of the Dwarfs and went to the land of the Moonfolk.

The Moonfolk, are creatures with slim bodies, the colors of their skin sometimes differ from blue to gray and they have long ears that look like that of the rabbit.

She hovered above the entrance of the village, she doesn't see any Moonfolk walking around. They usually are active during the daytime and resting during nighttime. The Moonfolk's houses were made of wood just like hers.

The night is getting late, but it's a good time to spy on everyone since the majority of the creatures are mostly on resting mode.

She floated in the air, looking left and right, hoping to see something suspicious that would warrant her interest and worth investigating.

She finally reached the end of the Moonfolk's land and yet she failed to see Kate in person. The scent was no longer present in the air.

She decided to go back to the entrance of the village where Kate's human scent was stronger.

She was back in the entrance in seconds. She began investigating, sniffing around on trees, bushes, and houses yet no matter how hard she tried she can't locate where the scent comes from.

Kate's scent hangs in the air yet she can't find the location.

She could spend the whole night here, looking for something that isn't here in the first place, all her efforts will go in vain.

She decided to proceed to the monsters' pit. That would be her last stop for tonight. If she still can't locate Kate then she will return home and rest for the night, then continue searching the next day.

She flew in the air going to the pit where the hungry monsters were located.

When she arrived there, the monsters were still looking up hungrily above the net, expecting there will be humans falling from it soon.

Esmeralda was shaking her head at the horrific sight below her. If these types of monsters will be released into the human world, the human population will go extinct because their appetite is huge.

They will kill and devour anyone who will cross their path.

They are a serious threat to human beings and other creatures.

She released a deep sigh and continue exploring the pit. The smell was horrible in this area. Yet, she can still detect Kate's human scent, but it's getting hazy. The awful stink radiating from the monsters' territory was nauseous poisoning the atmosphere, suffocating her in the process!

It's revolting that she can't take it anymore!

If Kate was brought her, she won't survive the smell. The smell alone is so horrible, it can kill, she likens it to rotting flesh.

She explored further ...and there...in the clearing are corpses of orcs and goblin...some creatures were already feasting on the rotten flesh. They are indeed killing one another due to hunger.

So...this is the source of that horrible smell!

Esmeralda can no longer bear the horrid stench, she zoomed out of the monster pit and burst into the open air, gasping for breath.

She inhales and exhales fresh air into her lungs, pushing out the horrible smell of rotten flesh out of her system.

Sighing, she decided to return to her house and rest for the night.

She shut off her eyes and the next time she opened them, she

landed on the ground of her floating piece of land.

She glanced at the tree and waved her hand summoning a few leaves, she will assign a task for them.

The leaves detached from the branches and floats in the air awaiting further instruction.

Esmeralda addressed them.

"I want you to continue spying on the vampires' territory, day in and day out! I suspected that they are hiding Kate somewhere. If you detected even a tiny smell of her scent, report to me right away!" she rolled out her command.

"Yes, Esmeralda!" the leaves replied in unison.

Esmeralda watched as the leaves flew away and they were gone from her vision in seconds.

"Are you not tired yet?" the tree suddenly spoke.

Esmeralda sighed and replied, "I am. That's why I'm already here."

One of the branches of the tree reached out and patted Esmeralda's shoulder, consoling her.

"That girl is so lucky, you care so much of her safety. I wish you will find her soon so that you can continue focusing on your experiment and not spend so much of your time-wasting it outside," the tree commented.

"Don't worry, after I find Kate. I will make sure that she will stay here with us, safe. Then, I will continue with my experiment," Esmeralda said in a tired voice.

"Alright, go now to your room. Rest well, I'm sure my leaves will have good news tomorrow!" the tree was optimistic.

Esmeralda smiled at the tree. "Night night!"

"Sweet dreams," the tree responded.

She walked towards the door and disappeared inside.