The Vanishing Forest by Jaysee Jewel

Author:Jaysee Jewel [Jewel, Jaysee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2023-07-31T23:00:00+00:00

Episode 16

When Lili entered the castle a few hours ago, she had been outfitted with only her normal clothes and a few leather pieces tied over her chest from Kingsley’s greenhouse. Now, as she reentered the forest with her friends and ten escorts, her entire body was protected by a black bulletproof shirt and a thick pair of pants, as well as a lightweight helmet and chest piece similar to that of the soldiers, though her clothes were lighter than the rest. Diego said most of them wouldn’t be able to move properly in the heavy armor since they didn’t have the strength. She’d also been given two pistols, which were now attached to her belt, and her knife from back home now sat in a holster on her leg, making it easier to reach.

The others wore similar outfits, though Leon had been equipped with swords rather than his single axe and the twins had crossbows and guns. They looked grateful for the extra protection and offensive tools but the new weapons were making Lili nervous. If they were being outfitted like this, it meant the area they were entering would be far more dangerous than anything they’d encountered before. That trio of monsters in the swamp had nearly killed one of them. Now they would be going up against an entire lab full of soldiers turned beasts.

“You don’t have to come,” Diego told her before they headed out. He had spent an hour training her while her friends readied themselves, but Lili felt just as unprepared as before.

“No. I have a feeling I need to be there,” she told him honestly. “That lab is where the hole to the next level is, right?”

Diego hesitated. “It’s the closest one. How did you know that?”

“Just a hunch,” she lied. Even if he hid it from them, her body kept pulling her toward the entrance—toward the lab.

Diego gave her a strange look when she answered but didn’t question her again.

Diego was part of their sixteen-person group and Anna saw them off, promising to lock up Jacques’ body if he turned so they could make the final decision upon their return. They had yet to choose an option and most of them didn’t want to even think about it, so the choice had been delayed.

“If none of you make it out alive,” Dr. Anna told them, stone-faced, “I will find what I can about the forest from his body, then behead him as we did to the rest.”

“Jacques would want his body to be used for research,” Kaidyn told her, stopping in the middle of the moat to address her. “But we’ll be back before he dies.”

“I dearly hope so,” the doctor said, speaking more to Diego than the rest of them.

Then, the groups parted. The doctor reentered the building and the rest of them approached the forest. The soldiers went first, some of them discussing what type of creatures might be encountered while others walked like robots, stiff with fear.

Lili’s group had the same rigid tension.

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