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As I approached the forest that stood between me and the bandit's territory, I noticed a strange child with long pointy ears standing at the forest entrance beckoning me in. The closer I walked the more vivid the child became until he faded away once I stepped across the threshold of branches and roots. Suddenly a cold wind raced by me, giving me chills...in its passing I could almost hear the sound of children laughing. I wanted to go back but then I remembered my father and mother and even Kiel, who suffered wrongly at the bandits just beyond these trees... With their memories pressed deeply in my heart I found the courage I needed to continue on. The tree's rough branches snagged my shirt and caught on my hair while their tricky roots seemed to appear from nowhere right before my feet causing me to fall over and over again. Every time I fell I got back up again and kept walking...further and further away from the entrance until I couldn't see it's light anymore. With no sign of an exit way I decided to stop and take a break. I sat under a large tree, probably the same one whose roots tripped me and branches scratched me, now became my shelter as I dug through the bag Kiel gave to me.

Inside it was several small bags of the hibiscus powder used to make the toxic mist, a small knife in its sheath similar to the one I seen Kiel prepare fish and small animals with for cooking... At the bottom of the bag I found several vegetables from the backyard and also some fruit like apples and pears that Kiel would buy fresh from the market. A few small loafs of bread were also stuffed in for sandwiches and last a small book of matches, to make a fire to cook with, and scare off predators at night... I decided to eat an apple and save the rest for later. After all who knows how long I'd be out here, so I didn’t want to run out of food. "Moss grows on the north side of a tree...find it and you will know which way to go." One of Kiel's lessons came back to me as I finished the last bit of apple and packed up everything into the bag. I searched the nearest tree for moss and several others, but I found none. "Now what do I do?" I thought as I sat down looking around slowly at the scene trying to find where I was...a few feet away I saw another child motioning towards me. I followed the strange girl...every so often she would vanish and appear a few feet in front of me.

In the distance I could see some light...I ran towards it as fast as I could. I saw the girl smile as I ran through her into the bright sun. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust...once my eyes came into focus I noticed I was on the top of a hill overlooking a village in the valley below. Now I just had to find the bandit clan "Sabyo" and defeat them. I walked down to the village which seemed too normal to be a bandit's hang out. I asked the first person I came to about the cloth I had with Sabyo on it, and if they knew where I could find them. The person told me the bandits with the name Sabyo were challenged for the control of the land and lost so they moved up into the mountains to avoid being killed by the villagers. Then I asked about the kids with pointy ears I saw in the forest. "Oh they are said to be the children of the village that ran away long ago...You become spirits like that if you become lost, or stay in the forest too long...That’s why it's called "the forest of the lost"...if you become lost in there you lose yourself to it." Came his reply. I thanked him and I decided to remain in the village for awhile to rest before climbing the mountains.
{End of Chapter 4}