Creepy Old Woman

The carriage came to a halt at the forest's edge.

Adonis stepped out first, his boots sinking softly into the mossy earth. Elora followed, adjusting her cloak. The air had turned cooler, laced with the scent of pine and damp leaves. The sun had dipped below the horizon, and twilight painted the forest in hues of violet and blue.

"It's already halfway through the day," Adonis said, checking the fading light. "If we keep walking through the night, we'll reach the village by morning."

"Let's do that," Elora replied. "I don't want to waste time… especially if people's lives are on the line."

Despite the creeping darkness, the forest was strangely enchanting. Glowing fireflies hovered between branches, their gentle light illuminating patches of the path. Some glowed green, others blue, and a few flickered like tiny embers.

"So beautiful," Elora whispered, her eyes wide with wonder as she looked up at the star-speckled sky framed by trees.

Adonis nodded, momentarily mesmerized. For a cursed forest… it sure knows how to fake being magical, he thought.

But the illusion of peace shattered the moment he felt it — a chill crawling down his spine, like a breath on the back of his neck.

His instincts flared.

With a flick of his hand, a golden sword shimmered into existence. Elora, sensing his tension, raised her guard and pulled out a wand from her sleeve, prepared to cast at a moment's notice.

From the shadows ahead, an old woman emerged.

She hunched so deeply that her form looked like a question mark, her bones almost creaking as she moved. Her skin was pale and wrinkled like crumpled parchment, and her yellow eyes glowed faintly in the dim light, hollow and haunting. She leaned heavily on a twisted stick as she shuffled toward them.

Elora hesitated, then asked with forced politeness, "Excuse me… could you tell us the way to Darknot Village?"

The old woman paused. Her voice rasped like wind against dead leaves.

"Darknot village… why… go there?"

"We're adventurers," Adonis said cautiously. "We heard about the disappearances and came to investigate."

The woman's mouth twisted into a crooked smile. Then she began to hum — and sing:

"he he he…

when you go there remember this

Blowing wind, carrying tales,Of love and joy, of sorrow and wails…

Blinding light covers the skies…And that is where true darkness lies…

What you see, what you see,might not be truth — may not be real remember that.he he …"

Her voice grew more shrill as she sang, her hunched body swaying, stick tapping the earth rhythmically.

Adonis took a step back, his sword glowing slightly with his tightened grip. Elora looked around, unsure whether to attack or run.

But in the blink of an eye — the moment they both turned their eyes toward each other, just for a second — the woman vanished.

No footstep. No sound. No trace.Only the empty path ahead.

A deep silence returned to the forest.

Elora clutched her chest, beads of sweat glistening on her forehead. "W-What was that?" she stammered.

"I… I don't know," Adonis replied, eyes scanning the trees. "But it wasn't human. Or at least… not anymore."

They stood there for a moment longer, both shaken.

Then, without a word, Adonis moved forward — sword still in hand — and Elora followed close behind.

Behind them, the forest seemed to breathe. And far off in the wind, the faint echo of creepy laugh could still be heard.