The sun struck Epim’s eyes the moment he woke up. He was struck by the radiance, and for a moment thought he’d gone blind. Although he had seen the light in the cave, the unbridled power of the sun above struck him as unfathomable. The strain on his eyes made it seem as if it was the first time he was truly seeing anything.

He felt a hit on his head that made him wince in pain, and look down from the sky. “Don’t look at the sun you…” Prose had punched Epim with as much force as he could, and he was incredulous. The Shade behind him was up as well, and it had its eyes directly at the sun as well. “Ah who am I kidding, I did it as well.” He was clearly in good spirits.

Epim did not look back up towards the sky, but instead towards Prose. “But… Why can’t I?” To this Prose looked incredulous, but he took a deep sigh.

Prose flew up, taking a sitting position in the air. Mocking gravity was a hobby of his, and it reminded himself to be grounded at all times. “Because your eyes will burn, and you won’t be able to see its light ever again.”

Epim nodded, seemingly taking the words as profound truths. The Shade had begun an odd series of stretches, its limbs unfurling and performing in a countless odd amount of gestures and movements.

“Well this isn’t so bad.” Prose was looking at his position in the pond, readjusting his toga and slightly grooming his hair. Prose pondered for a moment, his hand on his chin. “Epim, what do you think makes a king, a king?”

Epim though for a moment. The breeze gently marked his face. “Well I’m not.. “

Prose blew air through his nose, annoyed. “Ignorance is no escape, think and answer.”

He furrowed his brow, and looked to the ring to his finger. “To lead others to be better.” He rubbed the rough part of his ring, and then the smooth part.

Prose clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “It’ll do. But I’m sure you haven’t thought of what better truly means, or how people are led. Your words don’t only have life when they’re said.”

Epim thought in great consideration over this. The meaning of better should have been simple, it was the opposite of worse and he could well enough describe that. Still, he couldn’t describe the idea on its own.

People would follow what was successful wouldn’t they? And that must be what was better. But the idea did not settle well in Epim’s head. So he pondered further.

Leading, to speak or to do? That bothered him as well, was there such a thing as speaking and not doing, or doing without speech? Sure, in a literal sense. But was there such a distinction, in truth?

Epim’s thoughts came to a culmination. At the very least, to lead was to do so without contradiction. That is not to say without mistake, or with absolute confidence. But conviction on decision, that was how it had to be. Thought and action must be unanimous and synchronous.

Yet while that did satiate his curiosity on what it meant to lead, he did not understand what it meant to be better, and he was unsure on where to start his ponderings. This led him to stare at the pond, letting his thoughts empty out completely.

The Shade, finishing its stretches, looked over to Epim and was about to gesture, until it noticed a gray figure pop up from the grass. It had long whiskers, beady black eyes and a long nose. A common field mouse.

The Shade stared at it, and nudged Epim with his left side retractable arm. Epim looked over, and saw the mouse. Their eyes locked, and he was utterly entranced by the thing’s appearance. Already, his day had proved to be quite interesting.

Prose looked over as well. The sight intrigued him as well. “Well, how int…” And then another gray figure popped up, and another, and another, and another, and quite a bit of others after that as well. They stood on their hind legs, and started at the Trio in unison. Prose flew just a bit higher in the air.

“Should we do something?” Epim asked aloud, but not breaking his stare. The look in the mice’s eyes reminded him of something, but it was fuzzy and unclear.

“Don’t stop staring.” Prose looked intently. “It’s a battle of wills, always.”

The Shade’s additional arms began to unfurl from its sides and shoulders.

This however was interrupted by the mass movement of the mice. In conjunction, the Mice coordinated into a symbol for the trio. A well coordinated maneuvering with no communication at all. The mice did not make a sound.

“Well I do believe that’s an arrow.” Prose said, plainly.

“It certainly looks like it.” Epim said, confused.

The Shade nodded, its antlers bobbing up and down.

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Epim took the first step, followed by the Shade, and then Prose positioning himself between the two, still in the air.

The mice moved in unison into the forest, retaining their shape. The trio followed, their curiosity certainly peaked.

The mice’s footsteps marked the ground with a rhythmic thump, vaguely silent individually, but an impressive thing in tandem.

“Do you think it’ll be a great big mouse they’re taking us to? Maybe it even has a crown!” Prose’s feigned excitement was lost on the Shade.

Epim hadn’t heard, he was entranced. Something about the mice felt familiar to him, and their consistency and structure impressed him an extraordinary amount. They were connected together, by some invisible thread.

The mice moved on, and separated away as the path ahead of them opened up.

The mice had disappeared completely, not a single one could be heard or seen running through the grass.

The trio came up on an open field, a wide grassland surrounded by the tree’s of the bewitching woods. It seemed picturesque, the grass shook gently and the sky shone down with no restriction from the canopies of the trees.

As the trio came through, four figures made themselves clear. Obscured for a moment by the more direct sunlight.

There was a tall, burly man. He stood towering over his companions, and his body was wide with muscle. He wore a helmet over his face, if it could be called that. It was a hunk of metal with two eye holes, it hugged his face tightly and his eyes certainly called attention. The rest of his body was covered by a combination of metal plates and connecting hides. On his back, a two handed ax with its blade fleshly polished.

Second was a lithe woman, her purple hair was tied back and her outfit was a black dress, the bottom of it draping the ground. In her right hand she held a wooden staff that curled at the top. She wore jewelry of all sorts of blues, on her ears, her hands and over her heart.

Third was a man that was of average build. Bandages wrapped the knuckles on both his hands, and his face was sharp. His brown hair was spiked forward, and he wore a simple red robe.

The fourth was in the third’s arms, the same size as an average human. From the bottom up, its legs were black and lanky, with fur sticking out in a sporadic way. Its stomach leads upwards, showing its elongated face, fangs, and eyes. Its arms were long and spindly, with a layer of flesh spreading from its arms to its sides. The thing was a humanoid bat.

Its eyes matched Epim’s for a moment. His lips had already parted and began to speak “What’s your-”

The batlike creature’s body was thrown against a tree with a heavy force. The red robed man opened his eyes widely, and a smile painted itself, clearly demonstrating an inane flexibility of his face.

The two trio’s had seen each other, and the red robe’s man words would begin the conflict.

“You’ll make a fine prize.” The red robed man snickered, and his companions did as well.

The Shade stood at Epim’s side, its head tilted in curiosity.

Prose sighed. “I suppose I must tell you they’re up to no good? Or can you tell yourself?” Prose looked over to Epim, who was strictly focused on the bat-like creature that was thrown at the tree.

A bang echoed out, earth shattering as the largest man of the new trio quickly unsheathed his silver ax and covered the distance between them in a moment. He gripped its simple handle with both hands, and swung with as much might as he could towards Epim’s neck.

A loud metal thud rang out, as the Shade’s fist slammed into the man’s helmet with explosive force. The man was sent flying back out of the plains and into the forest, and the Shade launched after him. The force it sent into every step clearly conveyed its anger at the man’s actions. And quickly the Shade was out of sight, deep into the forest.

The other two of the group looked shocked, their eyes open in disbelief. The red robed man stifled a chuckle, and that had made it clear that they had still not perceived anything occurring as a threat.

Prose looked at the two, gauging them for a moment and then looking at Epim again, who still hadn’t turned his head. “I’ll play my part too, then.”

Placing both his hands forwards and then overlapping his palms, Prose pointed them towards the woman. He pushed them forward, and before she could react she felt her body pushed by a great force. She flew backwards into the forest, breaking through several trees on her way.

Prose looked over to Epim, and before flying off after the woman he gave him some parting words. “There is no value in feeling without expression. Understand, and then execute.” And Prose shot off, deep into the forest.

The man in the red robe did not approach, the woman’s sudden removal from the scene was something he had not been able to understand, and so he assumed a natural combative stance. He raised his fists, keeping them close to his face.

Epim’s thought process as of now couldn’t be described. Not disarray, but not a complete order either. He felt a sadness wash over him, and a denial of some kind. He couldn’t finish his words, he couldn’t control the situation. His friends were now gone, and the sight in front of him struck him as repulsive. Blood trickled down the bat’s body as it laid against a tree. Its eyes were closed, and the thing's chest was barely oscillating up and down.

“I see” The words spilled from his lips without thought. Repulsive, Repulsive! The act in front of him had brought forth something from him unabashed and raw. Filled with anger, he turned to the robed man. Although the emotion within him was overwhelming, only a lifted eyebrow and a pair of brown annoyed eyes was on his face. And an arrogant tone spiked through him as he spoke to the man in the red robe. “There’s no value in asking your name.”

Epim thought of how fast the day had turned, and then he thought of the mice that led them here. He had many questions, but they were quickly burned away as tinder for his anger.

Now, the stage was set. The Shade, Prose, and Epim each stood against their own foe for the first time since their arrival. Each looked upon them with a different emotion, and each understood that it was kill or be killed.

In the Bewitching woods, the end of one’s life was not a rare thing. And each life taken, always had a reason.