The stranger showed up in the middle of the grove as eerie as the Forgotten Land of Lordôm.

Shimmering moonlight cast a bluish tint across the glade, blending in with the veils of white fog that swirled in the air like glitter or a thousand azure fireflies flapping around aimlessly.

Time had left its mark on the trees; their wrinkly, hard trunks were riddled with hollows, whereas the olive-green bushes were thorny and full of beautiful wintry flowers in all kinds of morose colours and shapes.

Kiano came to a halt.

His mouth gaped open in surprise at the peculiar spectacle of swarming orbs of mist, ghastly trees, bushes, and the porcelain moon hovering above and painting his surroundings sapphire.

He blinked, baffled, before taking the first of several steps into the heart of the groove.

He spied everything that moved in the denseness, tracing the shadows and the mist that flitted around without direction.

His eyes were on the verge of popping out.

With each step he took through the groove, it became clearer what was entrancing his thoughts and causing his feet to scuff across the wet grass on their own.

It was, as one might have guessed, the mist!

His face froze with terror, twitching and quivering as the dancing mist drew him closer to the centre and enchanted his thoughts, leaving him with no choice but to follow blindly as if he were nothing more than a shell devoid of a soul or will of his own.

His heart pounded with such force that he was convinced it would stop any second unless he broke free from the spell that drew him closer to the bizarre hunchback.

The man vanished into the largest tree in the glade out of nowhere.

The tree’s monstrous crown hid in the night sky, and it was casting its dire shadow over the entire vicinity so that the moon went to great pains to illuminate the grove.

It opened its hollow mouth, which resembled two plump and dark lips pressed together, and allowed the hunchback to jump right into the murk flooded with saliva.

It then smacked its lips with such an appetite that even Kiano’s belly rumbled out of hunger!

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He held his breath and stumbled away from the glade, breaking free from the bewitching spells while staring at the chewing tree with eyes as big and as fearful as a deer’s in the presence of a hunter.

That was when he finally locked eyes with the chewing tree, which directed all its attention to him as if it had not taken notice of him until then.

He almost lost his footing. The enticing mist floated down from the heavens and tugged at his sleeves with great speed to bewitch him a second time.

It certainly worked!

He kept advancing without meaning to, even struggling to free himself from their magical grip, but nothing he did was enough to disperse the mist!

The tree snarled and stretched out its arms, clearly enraged by his refusal to be enchanted by the sly mist as it grew in size with each breath Kiano drew.

It stooped over him and gaped wide, causing its hideous green and slimy saliva to trip him from all sides as its wooden arms yanked him closer at the same time.

“Let me go! Let me—” The birds sang in the background, mocking and scoffing; their gloomy chants were full of malice.

They warned him to leave quickly and never look back, as if taunting him. It was too late now.

His legs wouldn’t listen, and it became increasingly difficult to control his frail body, which moved on command and brought him closer to the massive tree surrounded by bluish moonlight in the middle of the spooky glade.

His fingertips merely touched the bark when a gust of wind blew his black curls to the right, making them dance and whirl in the breeze, while he clutched to the trunk and screamed for mercy at the top of his lungs.

The sound of his galloping heart drowned out all other noises, and his shallow breath became heavier at the same time.

That was when the tree wrapped its brittle and stumpy arms around his waist and tossed him right into the air like he was made of feathers!

The twinkling stars and glimmering moon looked at him with a speck of concern as he flew through the clouds and joined them, and the birds all followed him to ridicule him, telling him he should have heeded their belated warnings.

His thin arms fumbled and danced wildly in the air, with nowhere to hide or clutch to, just as the thick branch-like arms cut into his flesh from all sides and made him shut his eyes with a painful grimace.

But not for long.

A growl from below startled him awake, causing his already shallow breathing to become frantic and all his thoughts to come to a halt as he flew open his eyes in a heartbeat and gasped.

Hissing, slithering snakes, snarling, red-eyed squirrels, and cawing, malevolent ravens hid in the tree’s ugly mouth!

The vile animals stared at him with devious eyes, ready to eat him whole should the tree fail to do so against all odds!

They sneered at him and showed their sharp teeth and wriggling tongues, causing him to fall faster than ever as he struggled even more out of fear, screaming out of control and losing his wits at the sight waiting for him down below.

The howling wind, which had come to visit and watch him die, drowned out his cries for help as he hit the darkness and was hurled in all directions.

He plunged into the hollow mouth like a rusty wheel rolling down a steep hill.

Bump! Bump! Bump!

His screams echoed endlessly throughout the cavity, but no one heard the terror in his desperate cries except himself and the sneering animals, which, as sure as eggs is eggs, made a fool out of his suffering.