"How long until we reach the forest?" Marcos asked.
Lucy didn't slow down. "Ten minutes. Maybe less."
"Are you sure Tacca chantrieri grows there?" Liza asked. "Not just some story from a book?"
Lucy glanced back, annoyed. "I wouldn't bring you here if I wasn't sure."
Marcos studied her for a moment. "Then explain why."
She exhaled. "Long ago, during the Ura Era, this land was filled with Deumans. They avoided this forest completely because a flower grows here—Tacca chantrieri."
Sara leaned closer to Marcos and whispered, "But Kai said Deumans are rare."
"He was talking about now," Marcos murmured back. "Back in Ura era, I've heard there were as many Deumans as demons."
Sara frowned. "That sounds impossible."
"So does most history," Marcos replied.
The path narrowed as trees grew thicker.
Eris broke the silence. "Lucy… are you a weaponsmith like your uncle?"
Lucy laughed. "No. I don't do anything like that. But I love studying history."
"Oh! So you want to be a historian?" Eris asked.
Lucy shrugged. "I haven't decided yet."
"Okay," Eris said with a smile.
They walked a little farther.
"Then tell us more about the flower," Marcos said. "What does it look like?"
Lucy hesitated, then answered, "Black. Shaped like a bat with wings spread. People called it the Black Bat Flower… or the Deuman Flower. They believed Deumans feared it."
"Believed?" Liza caught that word.
Lucy stopped.
"There's another flower," she said quietly. "Tacca integrifolia."
Marcos stiffened. "What about it?"
"It attracts Deumans."
Liza's eyes narrowed. "You're telling me the forest has one flower that scares them… and one that calls them?"
"They need the same conditions to grow," Lucy said. "That's why both exist here."
"Then why don't Deumans attack Redscar?" Marcos asked.
Lucy turned fully toward them now.
"Because Tacca integrifolia grows at the center of the forest. Tacca chantrieri grows near the edges. According to Old Redscar, any Deuman that enters gets trapped. They can't leave."
Silence fell.
"So…" Liza said slowly, "if we go in—"
"There could be many Deumans," Lucy finished. "Hungry ones."
Liza forced a dry smile. Perfect. Absolutely perfect.
At the forest entrance, Lucy stopped.
"This is where I turn back."
"Thanks," Marcos said.
Lucy hesitated, then nodded and walked away.
The trees swallowed her figure almost instantly.
Marcos tightened his grip on his weapon. "Let's move."
Inside the forest, the light dimmed.
"She said the flower grows near the boundary," Marcos reminded them.
They searched.
Minutes passed.
"I don't like this," Eris whispered.
"I don't see anything," Sara said.
Marcos looked ahead—deeper, darker. "We may have to go further."
Sara swallowed. "And if she was right?"
Liza didn't hesitate. "We keep moving."
They stepped deeper.
The forest went quiet.
Then—
Grrr…
A low growl rolled through the trees.
Huge shadows shifted between the trunks.
No one spoke.
In Town — Lucy's House
Lucy paced her room.
"I feel like I forgot something…"
She grabbed Old Redscar and flipped pages rapidly.
Her breath caught.
"Oh… no."
The page read:
"The Deumans trapped within that forest are not normal."