Since they had begun to travel in the Fallen Forest, they still didn't see any way out. They had to carry Skyler as they walked along through the trees. In the shadowy grove, they could not discern whether it was night or day.         Skyler's conditioned continued to worsen as they kept on and Arianna became increasingly worried. With the dark clouds hanging over them like the plague, Arianna and Caleb lost track of time.
       They halted for a minute to try and get their bearings, but it didn't help much.  Everything looked the same.
         Arianna laid Skyler's pale limp body on the ground and rolled up the pant leg. The blue veins now trailed over halfway up her leg. Carefully removing the makeshift bandage, Arianna saw that black blood had cemented itself over the wounds. The sight of Skyler's leg brought tears to Arianna's eyes.
        Caleb trotted up to her and glanced down at Skyler, wincing at the sight. He placed a comforting hand on Arianna's shoulder as a sob escaped her. They stayed there for a few minutes, gazes transfixed on Skyler.
Caleb rose first and reported that the way seemed clear of creatures, for now.
        Taking a deep breath, Arianna rose and then stooped to pick up Skyler.
With his weapon drawn, Caleb led the way. They walked for several minutes in silence.
        Arianna carried Skyler in her arms, hugging her slack body close.
They paused for a moment and Arianna gently laid Skyler on the ground. Draping her cloak over Skyler, Arianna offered to take first watch for the night, if it really was night.
When everyone awoke perhaps the next morning, something in the forest seemed off.      Unable to pinpoint what it was, they disregarded it.
         Arianna continued to carry Skyler and as the day wore on, she lost feeling in her arms and begged Caleb to stop.
        Reluctant to cease progress, Caleb hesitated before agreeing.
         Laying Skyler on the ground, with Caleb watching her, Arianna leaned back against a tree head resting against the rough black bark.         Instantly, the tree sprang to life, branches coiling tightly around Arianna's torso. The tree limbs crept towards her neck.
        Caleb struggled to unsheathe his sword. Two more trees arose. Caleb ran to protect Skyler, as five branches that looked vaguely like a hand reached for her. He caused them to retreat by slicing them off.
         Arianna screamed, or tried to scream, as several coils of branches twisted around her neck.
        Caleb raced towards her but was cut short by a wall of black branches. As he tried to cut his way through, the wall would reform itself, replacing every branch he cut with three more.     Quiet giggling resounded from the surrounding trees, causing Caleb to turn his attention away from the wall.
          Three beautiful women emerged from the trees. Their skin was like black bark, their faces were hidden by their pitch black disheveled hair, and their eyes were completely black, glimmering with a mischievous light. Their ash-grey gowns flowed as if underwater despite the lack of wind.
        With the sudden distraction, Caleb was soon entrapped in the clutches of the fallen dryads. He watched in horror as the fallen dryad approached Skyler's limp body and began to strangle Arianna.
         Wrapping tightly around him, the branches crept towards his neck. With the branches so tight, Caleb realized that if he changed form he could break his bounds. So he transformed into a dragon and the branches cracked and snapped as he expanded.
         One of the women shrieked and fell to her knees.
          Once free, Caleb sprayed the dark dryads with his breath, paralyzing them. When the dryads froze so did their trees and Caleb darted over to cut Arianna loose of the branches that bound her. He shifted forms and held his sword ready to cut the branches loose, but stopped short as the branches holding her burst into a shower of splinters. Caleb gasped as he saw Arianna sitting on the ground gasping for breath with a large pair of elegant feathered wings on her back.
"How did you...What," Caleb stammered, "How long have you been able to do that?"
After catching her breath, Arianna replied, "I always could. My mother was an emo-shifter." Her irises flashed red. "I'm able to shape-shift, usually based on emotion."
"Why haven't you?" Caleb asked.
"I haven't had a worthwhile reason to." Arianna's wings disappeared. "We should keep moving."
"Right, right," Caleb remembered the pale limp body of Skyler still lying on the ground nearby. He sheathed his sword and hoisted Skyler into his arms.
A few hours later they decided to rest. Now, they were huddled around Skyler trying to help the wound heal.
        Arianna pulled Skyler's shirt up to reveal the blue veins creeping up her torso.
       Caleb stood, drew his sword, and scanned the perimeter stopping when a flash of light caught his interest.
"There," he pointed out, "a light!"
"Finally!" Arianna picked up Skyler
"Let's go!" Caleb was excited.
"Wait! I don't know about this, Caleb." Arianna cautioned. "That light seems unnatural."
"Either way we need to find out what it is." Caleb reasoned.
"Alright." Arianna conceded uncertainly.
          They grabbed their gear and set out toward the light.
Carefully shoving through the dark brush, they never seemed to gain any ground. The light always seemed the same distance away. Now, it appeared to be widening the distance between itself and the travelers.
         Suddenly, they were right on top of it.       Caleb took the lead sword drawn.
When they reached the spot from which the light was emanating, it disappeared, revealing a small animal with two tails, feathered ears, and dark brown fur. It stood upright on a stone in front of them. It ran over, jumped onto Arianna's arm near Skyler, and placed its front paws against Skyler's wound. It ran off without another look at the others.
"Wait!" Arianna called after the strange cat-like creature.
          Light glinted off her iron bracers. Looking up, she saw the sunlight seeping through the trees. Nearly dropping Skyler, Arianna made a break for the light, Caleb following close behind.
Within a few moments the group burst through the trees onto a lush green lawn of long grass somewhere in the southeastern plains of Muria. With a rush of relief, Arianna hugged Caleb as he knelt on the ground panting, Skyler next to him.
————
Skyler awoke on the ground in a nest of grass with a clear blue sky above her. Propping herself up on her arms, Skyler observed Arianna and Caleb on their knees in the grass embracing one another.
Arianna looked up. "Skyler!" She stumbled through the grass over to her and flung her arms around her. "You're awake!"
"What happened?" Skyler eyed the cloth wrapped around her leg.
"Well," Caleb began, "after you were injured by the imps, we tried to find our way out of the forest. We were doing fine until we accidentally awakened fallen dryads."
"Yeah if you call being lost fine. We almost died!" Arianna pointed out.
          "Darn!" Skyler slapped the ground.
"What?" Caleb asked, completely confused.
"I missed all the fun," she clarified.      
         Arianna snickered.
"I wouldn't call it fun." Caleb looked at her skeptically. "Anyway, after the attack by the fallen dryads, we noticed a weird light. So we followed it and found a creature that basically grabbed your wound and then ran off. Then, we saw sunlight and came out here." Gesturing to the scenery around them.
"What are you doing?" Skyler asked Arianna. She was looking at Skyler's leg.
"I'm just looking," Arianna explained. She looked at Caleb. "It's healed."
"What!" he dropped down beside her. "But how?"
Arianna pondered the question, thinking back to everything that happened within that dark wood. "That creature!" she exclaimed, "It must have done something to heal the injury."
Caleb's brow furrowed. "I guess it's possible."
"What did the creature look like?" Skyler asked.
"Sort of like a cat, only it had two tails and feathers instead of ears. It stood on its hind legs," Arianna described, "Any ideas on what it is?"
"Nope," Skyler responded.
"We should keep moving." Caleb decided, "I'd rather not sleep so near to this place. It freaks me out." They all stood and set off towards the East, following the trail of the monster that took so much from them.
————
Traveling as long as the light would allow, the group made camp in a cluster of trees.   
         Skyler sat on the ground looking back at the swirling cloud of darkness above the sickly forest. It was barely visible in the deepening darkness.
         Caleb made a fire and they ate and talked for a few minutes before they all lay down to sleep for the night.
          As they drifted off, a shower of sparks shot up from the fire. Something had fallen or jumped into the flames!
         All of a sudden, a small creature with two tails leaped from the crumbling ashes. It looked like a cat with feathers for ears and two tails. It could've been the creature from the Fallen Forest but instead of fur, it had scales. After looking at each of the travelers in turn, its scales flipped on its body, revealing fur hidden underneath.
"How?" Skyler stared at the creature. Suddenly, she screamed and put both of her hands to her head, tumbling backwards.
"Skyler! What's wrong?" Arianna asked in surprise.
"That thing's voice is in my head!" she exclaimed, pointing at the creature that had hurled itself into the fire.
"What do you mean?" Caleb asked in confusion.
"It speaks telepathically," she answered in realization, "that's how it communicates."
"Then why doesn't it speak to us," Arianna reached for the creature but it scurried away.
"It only speaks to the people or creatures that it trusts." Skyler explained, her voice growing less panicked.
"So, it trusts you?" Caleb teased.
"Yes, she does," Skyler, said it as if she were rubbing it in his face.
"Do you know why she trusts you?" Arianna spoke up to keep Caleb from continuing the argument.
"Nope," Skyler replied.
"Well, what is it?" Caleb stared suspiciously at the little creature.
"For starters," Skyler explained, "SHE is not an it." Skyler was clearly offended; at least she acted like she was.
"Okay, fine. What is SHE?" he corrected.
"She's a Helix," she said
"A what?" Arianna asked.
"A Helix," Skyler explained, "It's a creature that can shape-shift parts of its body. None of them look the same."
"Interesting," Arianna, never having gone more then a ten miles walk from the village, hadn't seen that many kinds of creatures in her lifetime.
Skyler giggled. "What did she say?" Caleb inquired.
"She told me that you're an idiot," Skyler replied, giggling.
         Caleb gave a low growl.
"Okay," Arianna interrupted, "that's enough, from both of you." She glared at the others until they gave in.
"Fine," Skyler spoke up, "she actually said that she would like to join me on our mission."
"Just you," Caleb egged on.
"Yes," Skyler took the bait, "she doesn't trust you two yet." Skyler made a face at him.  
         Caleb eyed her with a death glare.
"Guys," Arianna interrupted, "less fighting more concentrating. We need some sleep."
"She's right," Skyler, admitted, "this is pointless. Sorry." With that she lay down with the Helix curled up next to her.
         Caleb made a face then lay down too.
        Arianna shook her head then did the same.
————
When they awoke the next morning, Skyler pointed out the mountains in the not-so-far distance. They traveled through thick bushes, tall trees, and endless foliage. An hour following that, they noticed the trees thinned, the foliage disappeared, and the bushes grew scarce.
        As they crested the nearest foothill, they saw Faldron's Keep guarded by swarms of Shadewing surrounded by the ruins of the once great human kingdom of Faringhine.

A/N
Header is the Helix.