25
I’m not sure what exactly I had expected to find on the other side of the mountain, but the woods I stepped into were beyond my ability to imagine.
Trees, whose trunks were as big around as a wagon, dripped with leaves the size of my head. In the dull light of dusk, the rich colors of the flowers surrounding my feet seemed thick and dense, like something out of a painting. A stream ran down the mountainside behind us, filling a pool with water so clear it reflected the gray hue of the sky.
We had stepped into a forest created for a fairy story.
The growl came again.
I spun toward the sound and caught a glimpse of a black tail swishing between the branches of a berry-laden bush.
“He won’t attack,” Liam said. “The animals know people aren’t food.”
“What a relief,” I said.
The grea
