42: Into The Night

Danika stood up slowly, her legs shaking. Pain shot through her knees and she winced. Something felt off, it was like her body wasn't fully her own. Dizzy and lightheaded, she touched her forehead. Had the witch fed her something or cast a spell on her?

She shook the thought away. "Now's not the time to think like that," she muttered. Because it truly wasn't. All that echoed in her mind was how she would find her way and return.

The thick bushes of the kingdom's border scratched her arms as she pushed forward. Her clothes were torn and her hair tangled with tiny sticks from the ground hasld rolled on before. But she kept moving with every step she took being a struggle.

Suddenly, her foot slipped, and with a yelp, she fell face-first into a puddle of thick mud. It sucked her in, heavy and sticky. She groaned, using all the strength she had left to pull herself out, coughing and gasping as she finally rolled onto solid ground.