Soon after, they could see the shallow river where they fought against the TT’s group. From afar, the place seemed slightly different. The evil aura was emitting from the place. The fog had covered the water itself so she could see its beautiful lucidity. As they approached the place, she noticed many scars on the trees, and some traces of fighting on the ground. The giant tree, with its main body ripped apart, was still lying where they left it.

  “I know we fought here, but why is it looking like this place was wrecked more than the way we left it?” Liz was confused. It was possible that someone also fought there after them, but it didn’t look like a fight. It looked like a massacre.

  “That’s because it wasn’t us.”

  Liz swallowed hard.

  Close to the water, the fog couldn’t hide its contents anymore. In the middle of the current, there was a red line, stretching and waving like a long ribbon. Liz looked right, the opposite way of the current flow. She couldn’t believe what she saw: a headless body. The muscular man’s upper body was lying in the water, while his legs were still on the ground. The lengthy red line lingered from the hole, where his head used to be.

  Blood…

  The images of the decapitated, limbless, pierced, dead bodies bombarded her mind. All the things she had locked away in her brain were released. Liz fell on her knees. Her body was shaking. Liz lost all of her senses. She felt like her body was stuck in the void, while her mind was forced to remind her of all the horrors of the past. This time, she couldn’t escape this by herself.

  The Hat Man walked up to her, took out his waterskin, and poured the cold water onto her face. It momentarily snapped her out of the loop. The water got into her nose and down her throat. It made her cough. Then she realized that her panic attack was over, and she needed to do something.

  Liz wiped her face with her sleeves, shook her head, and smacked her cheeks a couple of times, then said:

  “We should look closer.”

  They went to the body. When they were closer, they could see that the man also lost his right hand. He had cuts and stubs all over his body. His badge was repeating the message, but it was submerged underwater, so it made a muffled, obscure sound.

  “Who would do that? And more importantly, why?!” Liz said.

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  “Demon,” he said, while his hat was turning in every direction, looking for the missing parts.

  “Demon, what do you mean? There can’t be demons in the Forbidden Forest!” Her head was spinning, and she felt weak in her legs.

  “There is no head, and no hand anywhere. Who would cut his head off, and then take it with them?” The Hat Man squatted down and closely examined the poor man.

  “They must have found the way to navigate through the forest,” he got up and continued, “That must be why they suspended the exam for the first time.”

  Liz wasn’t freaking out as much now, but the decapitated man had her stomach twirling. The body had already begun to smell, and the odor was way too much for her to handle. The moisture accelerated decay. It was in the water for a significant amount of time - that was given.

  She turned toward the water and puked rainbows. Yesterday's dinner was sailing down the stream.

  “Poor river.”

  “Shut it!”

  While Liz was busy, her companion pulled the victim's body out of the water by his wrecked leg, right before she could smear him. He placed him leaning against the fallen tree. When he returned, Liz finished coloring the river.

  “Let’s keep moving.” The Hat Man said.

  “What about the body?” Liz asked.

  “What do you want me to do? When we reach the guild, we’ll tell them about him. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  But it wasn’t okay, nothing was. This man shouldn’t have died here. He should've passed the exam, or failed, but kept living his life. And what about the demons? How are they in the Forbidden Forest? I got it and could enter it and get lost, but why now? Is it a coincidence, or was there something else?

  Liz's brain had gone spiraling with the disturbing thoughts. She wanted to find this demon and make it pay. Now, instead of feeling scared or anxious, she felt angry. Ready to reap the demon apart when she sees it. She was imagining killing this demon, fulfilling her purpose.

  It took about ten minutes to walk up the stream before they found more bodies. There were six more people: four men and two women. Their limbs intact, instead they were cut, sliced, and pierced, sitting in the puddle of blood. Their bodies were pale, and the wounds didn’t ooze, as they had already coagulated.

  They were scattered around the rocky land and the tall trees. The Hat Man was gathering them in one place while Liz was trying not to look. Now she understood the scale of what was happening. This demon had to be rampaging for quite some time, and he was near them the whole time.

  “Is there a chance the demon is somewhere close?” Liz asked.

  Because there were even more badges screaming at the same time, it was hard to hear each other. So she used that excuse to come closer to her companion and follow him while he was dealing with deceased bodies.

  “It seems to be, it was here about ten to twelve hours ago,” he sighed, “so I think it might be far enough to be easily found.”

  Then he asked: “Are you scared?”

  “–Yes.” She took a deep breath, “But more so, I’m angry. I want to kill this thing!”

  After bodies were sorted in one place, they returned heading up the river. Soon they reached a small cave on the riverbank. It had a wide opening. In the darkness, Liz could see more bodies lying against the rock walls. She could make out four silhouettes covered in the cave's shadow.