The air in the Sharlet Woods tasted of iron and rot. It clung to the back of my throat, heavy and almost sticky, making my cough.
''There's something seriously wrong in these woods,'' I told the others, who didn't have my senses.
''What do you mean?'' Tanjin asked, as Valja gripped her axe over her shoulder.
''There's something almost dead or poisonous here. Whatever's taken your friend has a strong aura of death.''
There couple exchanged a look of worry, and I felt guilty, maybe I should have kept that to myself.
''I'm sorry.''
''Don't be,'' Valja said as we continued to walk deeper into the woods. ''At least now we have some idea of what we're up against.''
As the trees closed ranks behind us, I started to get a strange feeling of death, and it was around Valja.
''Wait, stop.'' I
