The crackling of dirt follows us as we make our way down a small dirt road. On either side of us was a golden field of wheat. The rising sun only makes the wheat look even better as beams of light pierce the holes in the wheat. Dying the the sky in a soft shade of red like beautiful flower. A small stone fence is the only thing preventing our entry. Despite this a member of our party still walks atop it. Careful to maintain his balance the boy stuck out both arms making him look like a scarecrow.

"So Brea, what do you wanna wager today?"

The boy blurts out as he twists around on the rock to keep from falling over. The boy's name is Edward but I've only ever heard people call him Ed. His circular face is covered in a mix of freckles and small cuts. Clumps of brown hair shot of in every direction, highlighted by grease. A small nose hooks up to meet a pair of sunken brown eyes, giving him a somewhat sinister look.

His relatively small frame is covered mostly covered by the clothes he wore. A simple white cloth undershirt with an almost blue jacket that was tied down the front with two strings of leather. A belt held down his jacket and supported the pants before they were caught by a pair of leather boots tied around his legs.

When you combined his looks with his personality he hand an almost uncanny resemblance to a fox. Most people tended to avoid him, originally I had been one. However he refused to ever leave me alone. Eventually I decided that it would just be easier to be friends than to try and make him go away.

Thinking about his question I bring my left hand up to my chin to pretend like I'm thinking about what to say. In reality already know exactly what I want to say. It's something that I've been planing for a while now.

"Hmm. How about the loser has to give any money they have to the winner?"

Ed nearly falls off the fence upon hearing my demand. Stopping his balance act he looks directly down at me.

"Are you crazy!"

"I agree, I think that's a bit much."

Ignoring my compatriots I continue walking down the dirt path. Seeing I have no intention of stopping they quickly start jogging to catch up to me. I quickly make sure to get rid of any trace of a smile on my face before they catch up.

"Brea can't you do something more reasonable."

The person who asked this question is the other person traveling with Ed and I. Another young boy about the same age as us who goes by the name Myles. Looking over at him I have to angle my vision down to be able to actually see him. Compared to me and Ed who were both pretty small Myles was positively short.

Despite being brothers the only thing the two had in common was the hooked nose. Myle's hair was shot and a dark shad of black. Despite having a sharper face his brown eyes were not nearly as sunken as his brothers. He also lacked any scars or freckles on his face giving him a more babyish look. As for clothes the only difference between the two was the jacket they wore. Unlike Ed, Myles jacket was completely brown and stretched down to his hands.

"I don't know. Those are my terms. If you don't want to play you don't have to."

Myles looks over to his brother hoping that he would try to reason with me. Unfortunately Ed seemed to miss this sign due to the fact that he had his eyes closed and was in the process of scratching his head. While it might look like he was in the process of deliberating in reality I already knew his decision. 

A few moments later Ed gives up his answer.

"Fine we'll do it."

"ED!"

Myles sounds as though the verdict of his execution did not come back favorably. Hey I can get where he's coming from. By agreeing to this it basically means by the end of the day all the money hes saved up will be gone.

"Don't worry Myles! I have the perfect plan to win this time. Only one of us needs to win to get the money. Easiest money we've ever gotten!"

It looks as though Myles soul was in the process of leaving his body. To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if he had fainted on the spot. This was the main reason I made that demand. I knew that Myles had been saving some money but I guess it was more than I had originally thought.

I knew Ed didn't have much stored away in terms of money so him agreeing to the deal made sense. After all he probably thought that even if he lost he would only lose a couple coins and that's it. My master plan was all coming together, with this money I'll finally be able to go into town and get a sweet cake. I'll even give some to Myles and Ed as thanks. After all I'm not some heartless witch that would just steal my friends money.

"But Ed! We've never been able to win a single time!"

"Doesn't mean that we can't!"

Ed proudly proclaims to his pleading brother. I have to give him credit where credit is do once Ed gets his sights set on something he seemingly never quits. It's one of the few things that I actually like about him.

Myles continues to plead with a stubborn Ed for the rest of the walk. Eventually we reach the entrance to an oppressing forest. Due to this land originally being a forest before getting cleared out for farm land. It looked like wall of trees as far as you could see to both the right and left. The only opening was right in front of us.

A small dirt trail used by the travelers to get to and from the towns across the forest. The trail itself was just wide enough that a single cart at a time could get through. The trees were so closely packed together that even walking through them could prove to be a challenge at times.

"Well here we are, you guys ready!"

I proudly proclaim, turning my back to the forest to face Myles and Ed. The two boys couldn't be any more different. Ed has a fierce look of determination as he stares directly back at my eyes. Meanwhile Myles seems to be completely out of it as he stares abjectly into the forest.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"You guys know the rules. You can hide anywhere you want in the forest. If I find you before the sun reaches its peak you lose. You have until the sun fully rises to hide which is when I'll start looking for you. If I can't find you you guys win even if I only find one of you. Winner gets the losers money. Any questions?"

Both boys remain silent at my statement. Taking it as a sign of confirmation I raise a single hand into the air. With a quick downward chop I signal the start of the game.

"GO!"

Both boys shoot of into the woods. Neither stay on the trail for very long before they run into the actual forest. In just a few seconds they have completely disappeared. I guess even though he didn't seem to have much energy Myles was determined not to lose it. Or maybe he's just a competitive soul like Ed.

Looking at the hills behind me I can see that the sun isn't even half risen yet. It'll be while before I'm actually able to start. Walking over to the stone fence I place my hands down on it and gently hop on top to sit down. The stone is cold but It'll warm up with a little bit of patience.

Swinging my feet into the air I decide that I might as well get ready for when I can start searching. Opening up a small leather bag hung over my shoulder reveals a number of small dolls. Unlike normal dolls these ones are made of a variety of materials and designs. With a little searching I manage to pull out four straw dolls in the shape of dogs.

The dolls are rather simple just straw bent into the shape of a dog and tied together with pieces of twin. To be honest they could probably any number of four legged animals but I prefer to think of them as dogs.

Gently I toss them onto the dirt path one at time. As they leave my hand the straw seems to grow around the dolls increasing the size to that of a normal dog. By the time they hit the ground They're big enough that if I were to be standing they would be around the height of my waist.

It's as if the dolls themselves were given the gift of life. The only difference between them and a real dog was that they looked nothing like an actual dog. I mean I tried my best to make them look like a real dog but I've never been an artist. The dogs themselves just looked like they had when they were dolls only now they were bigger.

When they were just sitting there I'll be honest they looked pretty darn cute. They acted just like real dogs. Their featureless snouts sniffed around as wondered about the dirt path. One was even in the middle scratching what would have been an ear. Then again while they might be kinda cute right now once they head into the forest I can guarantee they will be anything but.

The reason I choose to bring out these doll was because of how great they were at scouting. In fact they were the only reason Myles and Ed have never been able to hide from me. Thanks to being made of straw these dolls are practically silent when they run, and they move far faster than any human can. With four of them I'm able to easily cover the majority of the forest and find those two before the time limit.

Shifting my body I lean back onto the the rock wall. With a little adjusting I'm finally able to find a spot that allows me to comfortably lie down. The strong of moss leaks out of the crack in the stones. A smell that I've become all to familiar with.

Maybe I'll take a quick nap just to speed things up. Even if I oversleep a bit I should still have plenty time to find them.

"Here."

With a soft tap to the back of my head one of the straw dogs jumps onto the wall. Using his body as a pillow I close my eyes for a quick power nap. The straw feels nice compared to the cold stone. However I'm not particularly fond of the new smell. A mix of leather and straw pound at my nose. Despite this I slowly start to drift off.

Dreaming of nothing but black I jolt awake lifting my body off the straw dogs back. Hanging my legs from the wall I carefully massage my temples.

It feels like I fell asleep but at the same time I was awake the whole time. Ugh... Such a weird feeling. I have no I idea how long I've been out but if I had to guess it couldn't have been more than thirty minutes.

Looking of to the horizon I spot the sun in a location I wasn't expecting. The sun wasn't a little over the horizon, it had risen fairly high into the sky.

Crap I must have been out for a couple hours. Well now I don't have any time to waste. It's entirely possible now that those two could win this time. If that happens I can kiss that sweet cake goodbye!

With a new sense of vigor I jump down from the wall. Shaking out my legs I shamble over to the entrance to the forest. Turning my head I can see the straw dogs still sitting by the area that I had just been lying down in.

"Find the people hiding in the forest, make sure you don't get seen at any cost. Once you find them let me know and keep watch over them till I get there. Go!"

At my command the dogs bolt into the forest. Unlike Ed and Myles they don't even bother using the trail instead electing to go straight into the trees. Almost instantly I'm left alone at the entrance. Taking in a deep breath of the damp forest air I start making my way down the trail.

Even though the dogs have run away I'm still able to tell exactly where they are. It's as if there's a marker in my head telling me exactly where each one is. The best way I can describe it is that it's like a dot appears in my head where the dog is. Then I just follow that dot till I reach the dog.

Unfortunately I cant tell how just far away they are so I just have to keep going till I see them. But the dolls can also send back little notices to me. Nothing like an actual sentence more like a soft dinging. A slow beat would mean that they accomplished the task. While a fast beat would mean either it was in danger or failed the task. 

Speak of the devil one of the dogs has already found something. Looking back I can still see the entrance. I've only gone in a little over a hundred meters. For one of the dogs to find them so quick is unusual. There's no way that Ed's master plan was to stick close to the forest entrance.

With twisted feelings I begin my trek over to the dog. If it really did find one of them I guess its going to be a quick game.

"Hmm."

The dogs beat just changed! It must have been spotted I'll to catch them before they start running. Taking off down the forest I try my hardest to be as quiet as possible. But before I'm able to reach the dog I completely lose its signal.  Out of sheer surprise I stop running and just stare blankly at where the dog once was.

I can feel anger rise up through out my body. The only reason I would lose signal is because the doll itself was destroyed. I swear if the damned Edward destroyed one of my dolls I'll kill him!

With anger coursing through my body I bolt to where the dog was destroyed, no longer worried about silence. I have no idea how far away the dog was but it couldn't have been that far. All of a sudden I hear the voice of someone talking.

Did they band together so that they could take down my dolls? Oh those little shits when I get my hands on them I'll wring their necks for their stupid little plan. Wait. That doesn't sound like Ed or Myles. In fact the voice sounds more like a grown mans voice.

Slowly down to a crawl I press a knee into the damp earth and cup one of my ears to hear what the person is saying. Thanks to a dense brush its impossible to actually see anything but I can just barely make out what they're saying.

"Just go find the person who made it. The sooner you find them the sooner we can leave."

"Mhm... Why can't you do it."

"Cause you'll find them quicker than I can."

"I don't know I think I need some motivation."

"Shut up you little creep! How about I'll do your next mission for you? Is that good enough?"

"OK! You got yourself a deal! What do you want me to do with them?"

"Bring em' back here so I can question em."

"You just wanna kill them."

"I just said I wanted to question em! Can't you listen!"

"Yeah, Yeah! Calm down. Give me um... Five minutes!"

"Tch! Cocky little shit. I'll hold you to it."

What the hell just happened? That sounded like a little kid but I've never heard that voice before so it cant be Ed or Myles. They were talking about killing was that directed at me? If they find me they're gonna kill me. I need to get out of this forest.

I feel like I can't breath, why is my heart beating so fast? Why wont it stop, please stop, oh God it's so loud please stop! I don't want to die! What do I do? If I move they'll hear me for sure. Oh my God... Is this really how I die?