A Great Threat!

Art was maneuvering his way through the Fudge Forest. He stepped over small puddles of fudge, and walked around the bigger streams. He looked up and noticed the pink sky was a dark shade of purple.

Art frowned, the atmosphere felt a little suspenseful. He continued walking forwards, trying to shake off the creepy feeling.

The deeper he went into the forest, the hotter it seemed to get.

He wiped the sweat of his forehead with bottom of his shirt, lifting it slightly.

The forest was eerily devoid of creatures. Only molten fudge and fudge trees surrounded him.

Suddenly, he spotted a small broken down hut a few meters in front of him. He walked up to the hut. It was very small, with the front completely missing and the walls in half.

Art stepped inside and saw a table in the corner with a chair. There was an old journal made from the same sheets of paper as the documents Ethel showed back in the castle. The cover was slightly wrinkled and moldy.

He sat down and opened up the journal

Today marks the first day of my expedition, and I, Great Remmy will travel across all of Sweeten and learn about every biome and every creature!

Art continued reading. He noticed there was no date to the journal pages. The Great Remmy, or whoever the guy was wrote about how he discovered the docile creatures of the Sugar Forest and the Gummy Forest.

There were a few biomes Remmy mentioned in his journal that Art hadn't even heard or seen in his time as a harvester. He mentioned a cinnamon desert and a mountain range made out of lollipops.

Art skimmed through the journal and noticed it stopped after only a few pages.

'I wonder what happened to that guy.'

He went back to the page he was reading and turned to the next.

It has been 14 suns since I first started my expedition. I have encountered many fascinating creatures. The Girby is a truly peculiar critter. I would even deem it a magical being. A triple candy hybrid creature that eats materials and spits out forged items. It almost seems like a blessing of a creature for humanity. Girbys seem to be completely harmless and a bit playful at times. It feeds off candy energy or candy alone.

"Woah, Girbys are cool!" Art expressed, as he turned to the next page.

It seems I've stumbled across a new biome, peculiar one unlike its siblings. This biome I shall call the Fudge Forest.

This biome is a bare molten wasteland, with nothing but Fudge trees and hot scalding liquid fudge everywhere. There are no creatures around. I theorize the living conditions are too unbearable for the creatures of Sweeten to adapt to.

Art was a bit disappointed. It seemed that he wouldn't see anything else besides trees and molten fudge in this area.

However when he turned the page, his disappointment remained for only a short moment, as the next page's contents intrigued him.

21 suns into my expedition and it seems, I was wrong about the Fudge Forest. As I explored deeper into the forest, I came across a large cavern. I dared not enter after only carrying a pen and a satchel with me. I shall make preparations to explore tomorrow.

Art was completely captured by the journal. He turned on to the next page, not wanting to stop reading.

* * *

King Dulcee was sitting in his dining table. He had 2 tables one he used for a grand amount of guests and a small one that could sit only one person. He enjoyed the comfort of silence, the table brought.

He was enjoying a fresh meal of sautéed Candy ribs, with an assortment of vegetables followed by a glass of one of his most prestigious wines.

There was a small window beside the table, where he could admire his people as he dined.

[BANG BANG BANG]

A booming knock was heard at the dining hall doorway. The door opened widely and young Sugar Knight Poq, stepped through.

The knock wasn't quiet but it also wasn't loud. The sound came out amplified greatly due to the massive room that was the dining hall. Adorned with mosaics of battles in history, portraits of previous kings, and paintings of the land. In the middle was a large table that elongated from one side of the hall to other. It had about 50 chairs all around it, all made from regal material.

"I apologize if I intruded your meal your majesty!" Poq hit the bottom of his spear on the ground, saluting his king.

King Dulcee smiled, and waved it off dismissively.

"Nonsense young man, company is always a gift."

Poq smiled at his king's words. He gave a brief nod and walked over to King Dulcee's singles table.

"I do hope you are enjoying your meal sir." Poq said, his demeanor not as tense and formal as before.

The king nodded and continued eating.

Poq cleared his throat feeling like he was intruding his king's dinner.

"Your majesty, I only came to ask you about the carnival."

"I've done my part in donating my creations as rewards for the carnival, the rest is up to the people and the village. They always love to make it a memorable event." King Dulcee informed as he chuckled.

* * *

For 22 suns now have I explored the vast wonders of Sweeten. As I've previously mentioned, I encountered a cavern in the Fudge Forest. It seemed so small from the outside but I was deceived!

Art gasped, reacting to the journal.

As large as a small village, the cavern was filled with nothing but darkness, or so I thought.

Art threw his legs on top of the tables and lifted the journal, to read more comfortably.

A ferocious creature i call the Black Licorice Basilisk resides within the depths of the cavern. I only saw it briefly due to the terror it radiated, nevertheless I saw enough of the creature. Grand in length and a thick neck. Hard black scales, that serve as a protective exoskeleton. Small bumps across what one would assume the neck would be.

Art started to sweat, feeling nervous for Remmy and continued reading.

The head was a demon. A black tongue split into 2 smaller ones at the end of it. Sharp fangs in its mouth with 2 top fangs at the end of each side bigger than the rest. It salivated a purple acidic substance that could burn through the ground. I thought it was surely a fragment of my imagination, but it seemed to be true. The Black Licorice Basilisk has highly poisonous properties.

"The Black Licorice Basilisk has highly posonious properties." Art read out loud.

I decided to enter the cavern once again for more research on the Black Licorice beasts. The sounds that they emit are horrific. I also studied a few from a far and realized how terrifying they truly are. They have incredible speeds and can use their tail as a ligament. They secrete poisonous substances.

Art's eyes widened in shock as he read the last part of the page.

"They're fast too?!"

The next thing I discovered is that the Black Licorice Basilisk, is a self sustaining, self dependent creature capable of asexual reproduction. It lays eggs once every 5 full moons. This thing has incredible speeds, formidable defense, and a venomous bite! It will pose a great threat to humanity!

[CRASH!!]

Art ducked down as a large shadow swung in the middle of the small hut and wrecked what was left of it.

He got up and turned around, but quickly froze in fear. He tightened his fists and started sweating. He felt his heartbeat increase its speed, once he laid eyes on what tried to hit him.

The creature's massive head was face to face with the young boy it recognized as food.

"Black tongue, black scales, and red eyes." Art listed, feeling a huge pressure on his chest.

He got out of his daze of fear, and snatched the journal which he had left on the table, and quickly left through the broken doorway. He bolted through the Fudge Forest, running as fast as he could.

He was moving quicker than he was used to, the trees seemed like a blur to him, he barely dodged them as he ran. He wondered if the monster was gaining up on him or if he had outran it.

He clenched his teeth as he ran trying to constantly fight his curiosity.

"Don't look back"

"Don't look back"

Art turned his head around to look behind him. The Black Licorice Basilisk slithered at tremendous speeds, the terrifying face getting closer and closer to Art.

"Why did I look back!!" Art yelled out in panic as he picked up speed.

The basilisk was now right behind him. It jerked its head back and lunged forwards with its sharp teeth on display.

Art was breathing heavily and sweating abundantly. His stamina and speed had grown greatly due to having to climb so many stairs everywhere in the village.

He managed to speed up and avoid the bite, then swung on a vine gaining even more speed. He used that momentum and when he let go, his speed increased by double the amount. He landed on the right side of the Fudge Forest.

He stopped running and hid behind a tree tucking his knees into his chest but keeping his hands on the ground.

"Did I lose it?"

[CRACK!]

The tree was split in half before Art could react. He looked up and saw the black tail coated in a poison tip.

"Why did I say anything?!" Art got up and started running as fast as possible, arms flailing around in fear.

He ran back from the direction he swung, and finally saw bright colored trees up ahead. Seeing the bright trees boosted his spirits and increased his speed finally outrunning the Black Licorice Basilisk and entering the green and yellow forest.

He looked back as the monster was slowly coming closer but once the land of the Fudge Forest ended it couldn't go any further.

It tried striking its tail at Art, but it looked like it was piercing an invisible wall that wouldn't break.

Art crouched holding his knees as he was struggling to breathe. He was still in shock and disbelief at the horrifying monster he had encountered.

When Art arrived at the village, he walked through the gate without waving at the Sugar Knight, then proceeded forwards, making his way to the harvester storage room.

He finally entered and Ryker was stood, talking to an adult, most likely another harvester. The man quickly nodded, finishing his discussion with Ryker and left, giving Art a smile and a light slap on the back as encouragement.

When he finally was in front of Ryker, he just gave a brief nod in silence and dug out 6 bottles filled with molten fudge.

Ryker smiled proudly and took the bottles from Art.

"Great work kid, you're incredible I knew it. A grown adult can only manage getting two bottles filled. You? You managed to fill six of them! Keep it up and you'll replace me in no time!" Ryker roared in laughter and ruffled Art's hair.

Art just nodded and waved goodbye, as he left the station.

He was still shaken up by the incident with The Black Licorice Basilisk. He couldn't forget the piercing fiery red eyes, or the venomous fangs. It was ingrained into his mind. Art had never felt fear like that ever before.

Strangely enough though, he clenched his fists as he grew excited at the thought of encountering that creature again.