"The Grey cave?" Will says with a scrunched nose. "Don't you think it all sounds a little weird?" Lottie nods in agreement. The poor girl looked as though she wanted to throw herself off the Pegasus to avoid going to this Grey cave. Sapphire shrugs and combs her hands through her Pegasus hair.
"Its the only lead we have to go on at the moment" She states. " If it's a trap, then we just scratch it off our list of clues" Will and Lottie look at Sapphire as though she just grew a new head. "What?"
"If it's a trap, we will all be dead" Lottie stutters out. Her face had gone slightly green. Sapphire shakes her head and gestures her hand towards Lottie.
"Such a pessimist" Sapphire makes a tsk sound and wiggle her index finger at her. "For this quest you have to be all in and have your wits about you"
The woods were below them now and the sight of it makes Sapphire pause. The area was huge. It was not just a wood, the area stretched so far that calling it a forest would not do it justice. It was big enough to build a whole city on, and then maybe a large village. Will and Lottie both look over at Sapphire at the same time with matching expressions. It was clear that they were on the same page as her. How on earth was she going to be able to find the cave? It would take them a long time and that would involve getting lost, and perhaps starving in the process.
"Well, I don't suppose either of you have a map?" Sapphire asks sarcastically. She is responded to with a grunt and a gulp. She had such fine company. "Great"
"We could ask some of the tree nymphs" Lottie points out "They might of seen something" Sapphire turns to her and grins. Will mirrors her. Perhaps her company was not so bad after all.
The three of them swoop down and prepare to land somewhere in the woodland. The trees stand tightly next to each other, which made things difficult for landing. It takes them about ten minutes to find a good sized opening for them to land without any difficulty. When they land the Pegasuses go quiet and look a little startled. The woodland surrounding them is dark and little light gets through the trees. It was going to prove a challenge to get through this place safely. For such a large area of just nature, there wasn't much noise. There should be birds chirping and the branches on the trees should be clicking and clacking in the slight breeze, but there was nothing. Not a single sound could be heard. It made Sapphire's blood go cold. It made her want to jump back on her Pegasus and fly as far away as she could.
"Do you guys feel odd?" Sapphire asks. Lottie and Will hop of their Pegasus and look around with wary expressions. Will nods and turns to Sapphire.
"This place gives me the shivers" He states. Lottie fold her arms and turns her head upwards to scout the skies. Sapphire hops off her Pegasus too and then pulls out her weapons to strap to her sides. She had no intention of keeping them packed away. Sapphire walks forward and stops to turn to her companions.
"Let's get going then" She says. The other two hesitate before following her into the trees.
It's like no wildlife lives here. No birds, deers, insects or even the odd feral cat. There sure was monsters though. Sapphire discovered that after only walking a few metres and being pounced on by some weird cat demon thing. Lottie had screamed and Will had hid behind a tree. That was only the first monster though. There was more after that. Boy was there more. There had been a few flying ones and a lot of running ones. Sapphire had managed to fend them off, and Will and Lottie had collected enough courage to stand at her side fighting them too. They had also passed a few satyrs, who had taken in their weapons before running in the opposite direction. The tree nymphs that Lottie had suggested talking to watched from a safe distance, as the three of them battled their way through the endless monsters.
"This is ridiculous!" Sapphire shouts as she whacks a sharp fanged monster over the head with Wills shoe. She had no idea how she had come into possession of it, and Will looked just as confused when he caught sight of her holding it. "How on earth could Jake of gotten through all this?"
"You have a sword. Use it" Will grumbles as he storms up to Sapphire and snatches back his shoe.
"I was improvising!" She barks back. Her sword lay on the ground a few metres away. It had fallen out her hand when the monster had kicked at her arm. Will rolls his eyes as he slides his shoe back on. He picks up her sword and throws it at her. In a matter of seconds the monster meets Sapphire's sword and becomes dust. "This is just wasting time" She puffs out and leans against a tree.
"Should we go ask about now?" Lottie pipes in "It's finally clear" Will nods and looks to Sapphire for approval. She shoves away from the tree and walks forward to stand near the other two.
"We mean no harm" Sapphire calls out "A friend of ours is missing and we could use some help finding him"
The three of them stand there looking around at the trees, waiting for something to happen. Their weapons are now put away and all that could be heard as they stood there waiting was a gentle rustle of the leaves above them. Lottie is the first to notice and looks up to frown. Will then frowns at her and Sapphire just stares on ahead, while frowning at absolutely nothing. The branches click away and some leaves fall at their feet. There is no sign of movement that could be from nymphs. The breeze has picked up a bit and it makes a whistle sound as it travels through the brittle branches. Thats when Will notices too and joins Lottie in frowning upwards. Sapphire sighs and begins tapping her foot. She could barely see anything in the darkness around them. The only source of light was shining down through the trees on the area they stood in. It made the fallen leaves glow a burning red. It felt like they were standing under a spotlight in the darkness and the trees were their audience.
"I hate the waiting game" Sapphire grumbles. Lottie smirks and turns to Sapphire. Will shakes his head and his frown changes into an amused expression.
"Why wait? They are already listening" Lottie state. Sapphire turns to her and gives her a pained expression.
"You have lost me" Sapphire waves her hands about "We are the only ones here" Will laughs a little and lottie shakes her head slightly.
"Listen" She says and point up. Sapphire raises her eyebrows at the girl and then to the amused Will. The birds chatter above and the branches continue to chitter about. Thats when it hits Sapphire. How long had she been hearing it for? How long had the silence been gone? Sapphire takes a step forward and frowns when the lighting follows her from though the leaves.

"His name is Jake. He is an idiot, but he is our idiot and we need him back" Sapphire says to the darkness in front of her. A bird whistles above and a leaf falls on Sapphires shoe.
"Then tell me, daughter of Poseidon. How can I help?" A small girl says as she steps out of the darkness. She has the most beautiful green hair and ivy green eyes. She had seen plenty of nymphs in her life, with them being around camp, but they always took Sapphires breath away.
"He apparently is at the Grey cave and I worry for his safety" Sapphire explains and the nymph frowns and takes another step forward. "Do you know where it is?"
"I do, but I warn you, that place is not a place you want to venture into" The nymphs response give Sapphire the chills. Will clears his throat and steps up next to Sapphire. "Son of Apollo. Do you have something to say?"
"What is in this cave?" Will asks with a concerned look on his face. "Could our friend still be alive?"
Sapphire's head falls a bit and her mind goes elsewhere. What if Jake actually was dead? What happens if she can't save him? She had spent most of her camp life with him always around. For him to not be there anymore, it would be empty place. In that moment she regretted spending such a long time away from him in the past year.
"The monsters that occupy the woodland come from that cave. This used to be a peaceful place until a group of humans came and decided to use the cave for experimentations" The nymph explains "I will tell you how to get there if you make me a promise" Sapphire tunes in and raises an eyebrow.
"What would that be?" She asks.
"Destroy all that is in that cave. Save your friend, but nothing else" Sapphire looks at the nymph for a moment before nodding.

"I can do that for you" The nymph smiles kindly and tells them the way. For Jake, Sapphire would destroy the world to save him. Without her friends the world meant nothing.

Notes