The Mage/Witch Regrets

Chapter 2: THE CURSED FOREST

Valleria's POV

"Are you this desperate?!"

The fine prince shouted behind me as the third bomb exploded behind us. I heard his little moan when the aggressive wind mixed with dust and stones filled the surroundings.

We rode the white horse together, trying to escape the explosions and flames. The palace was burning behind us, and warriors were chasing us with swords.

Even with all of the noises, the bomb exploding, and the warriors desperate shouting, all I can hear is the ragged breathing of the prince behind me. His gaze is focused in front, his eyebrows furrowed, and his veiny arm wrap on my waist as he gripped the horse's lease tightly.

"You're insane! You're slaughtering your own people!" he shouted, he sound so stressed out. "This is an act of treason, Princess! We'll never be able to set foot in this land again!"

I smirked. This prince had no idea. Ever since I woke up in this second life, this was all I ever wanted. The total of five carriages infront of us that the prince men are riding, suddenly veered sharply to left direction. It is where the residents resides.

There's a lot of houses and people everywhere. The moment they saw us approaching, they immediately grab their children's playing on the streets, many of them are panicking, running to get off the way.

"Hey, you don't plant any bombs around here, right?" The prince worriedly asked.

"Of course not! I might look like a crazy lady to you right now, but I’m not some freak who kills innocent people for no reason."

Even if I don't want these people to see this kind of scene, I don't have any choice though. It's the only way to get us through the main gate of the walls.

"You're giving all of these little kids trauma, princess."

"Giving them a little bit of trauma, won't be a bad thing. It's essential for survival anyways." I said. I heard him sighed.

I glanced back and saw my brother chasing us, a swarm of warriors behind him. His horse thundered forward, wild-eyed and relentless. Valld’s gaze locked onto the prince, cold fury burning in his eyes, teeth clenched with the determination to drag us back.

"Sir! we're closed to the main gate!" One of the prince's men infront shouted.

"What's the plan now, Princess?" he yelled, urging the horse to go even faster. "You're not going to make us smash through that gate, are you?" His voice was tight with fear and worry, his eyes fixed on the gate ahead.

"That gate is made of thick metal, sir. Your strength alone is not enough to break it." I yelled back. "Just keep running straight."

"What are you talking about? The gate is closed!"

"Just do what I said, keep running straight!" I shouted. "Have faith in me, my life here is on the line too."

"Listen princess, I'll kill you first if anything goes wrong" He threatened.

"Keep running straight, boys! Don't stop!" He shouted. I heard how his men infront argued, but they keep their speed maintained.

The palace warriors were closing in, their armor glinting like gold and steel in the sunset, their shouts growing louder and hungrier.

The only thing that I am thankful of being reborn is that my power in the past is still active in this body. For 18 years of training, I can now control half of my power in the past. Creating a little portal won't hurt.

The carriages infront of us is ten step away from the gate.

As the prince’s men shouted to brace for impact, a four-foot-tall, three-meter-wide portal suddenly opened. I felt the prince’s body twitch in shock, but despite his fear and doubt, he kept riding until we passed through.

A quite and thick forest welcomed us. There's no animals in sight. Only big trees everywhere. Its thick leaves blocks any sunlight in the sky, it's still around 5pm when we left the palace but it's so dark in here. My portal is calculated, we should be teleported in the Arcana Kingdom right now. But I didn't see even a single wall on sight.

I turned my gaze around as I get off the horse slowly. A familiar pain is filling my chest.

I know this forest.

"Sir, are you okay?!" the prince’s men rushed off the carriages toward us. "Why is there a portal there?!" he shouted.

"The portal’s not the worst part, Nate," said the red-haired guard, his voice shaking. "We’re inside the cursed forest."

This is the curse I fought so hard to stop in my past life. A hundred years ago, my battle ended in a draw—I killed the witch queen but failed to stop her from releasing this curse. I failed many people, their sacrifices are wasted. I regret it all—this curse will destroy the continent, and it’s because of me. If only...

"Hey, are you okay?" the prince asked, wiping tears from my cheeks. He looked puzzled, his thick eyebrows furrowed. I hadn’t even realized I was crying.

"Are you scared?" One of his men asked. That snapped me back into the reality.

"Of course not!" I shouted defensively.

"Oh, now you look pissed."

"Are you really trying to get into my nerves? do you want to die?!" I scream.

"Hey, stop that, you’re attracting monsters. Keep your voices down," the prince warned, unsheathing his sword. "Stay sharp. I sense a dark aura all around. Our top priority is the carriages—protect them with your lives. Our people depend on it."

"Yes sir!"

"Let’s find our way out. We’ll rest once we reach the main road," he said. "I know you’re scared—there’s a chance we won’t make it out of this vast forest, and this place could be our grave. But whatever happens, I’m with all of you."

"Oh Arcana, guide us. Let us live for one more day."

It stung my chest to hear that. I couldn’t bear how much they’d suffered because of me, I failed to protect them, and I can’t forgive myself.

I took a deep breath, clenched my fists, and vowed to protect these people this time, even if it costs me my life.

"Hey, ride your horses immediately." I get the red high heels on my feet and started walking barefooted. "And follow me quietly." I toss my heels at the prince, and he catch it clumsily.

"What are you doing, princess? Stay behind us!" The prince ordered.

“You’ll get yourself killed for nothing, Your Highness,” another guard warned.

“I know you see me as weaker than all of you right now, but believe me, I’m far more capable than you think,” I said, eyes fixed on the ground as I tried to sense the roots beneath my feet.

I don’t know where this power comes from, but I was born with it in my past life. I can feel the roots below and sense everything above the ground—as if the earth is part of me. I can smell it, taste it, and see through it when I close my eyes. I once sensed half the continent, but in this life, I can only sense a few miles. Hopefully, it will be enough to get us out of here.

I knelt on my left knee, closed my eyes, and pressed my right palm to the ground, reaching out with my senses. A bead of sweat trickled down my cheek.

“Hey, what are you doing?” the prince’s voice echoed, distant and muffled.

I saw nothing but trees—I felt the leaves shiver and sensed their pain. Then it hit me: monsters and hideous creatures lurked everywhere. This curse was truly terrifying.

I needed to find a road. I pushed myself harder, exhausted from earlier using my portal.

Just as I was about to give up and open my eyes, a vivid image appeared—dark, with patches of gray that looked like… humans? Were they lying on the ground? The stench of blood was overwhelming. It was happening just five kilometers away.

"A human!" I scream. "I saw people in here!"

I saw how their eyebrows furrowed and how the lines in their forehead curled.

"There's no time! They're in danger, they will die!" I shouted and started running as fast as I can.

"Hey, princess wait!" I heard how they immediately run the horses to chase me.

My heart is beating so fast. What I sense earlier that those people are fighting is not a joke. That familiar thick red mana. I just hope it's not what I'm thinking. It can't be it.

If it will turned out that I'm right, those remaining people and all of this men behind me will die.

I run barefooted. After a few kilometers of running, it started to hurt my feet, it felt like they were on fire. My legs are aching with every step. I was sweating and out of breath, but I kept running. My heart was racing so fast. I stumbled, but I didn't stop. I kept going, even though my body hurt.

I gasp and my heart skip a beat when I saw a light with color white shining so bright on the top of the 3 feet volcano. My biggest fear is happening, my hand are trembling while I keep running.

I know this volcano, after the white light, the next volcano would have a yellow light on it, and then red, and brown. It will keep getting darker and darker, the last color would be black and that's the end of it. That's the last view you can see before you die.

I run as fast as I can, until I saw the brown light. I stop and chase my breath, then turned around and saw the prince and his men a few steps away from me.

"Stop!" I shouted. "Wait for me here" I am still chasing my breath.

"No! You can’t go alone!" the prince shouted, jumping off his horse and storming toward me. I even heard him curse under his breath at how fast I ran. "I know you’re not ordinary, but if you go any farther, you’ll face a powerful, hideous creature."

"I know what I'm doing, just stay here and protect your men." I am about to walk away when he grab my arm.

"One of the things you promised in that letter was to keep you safe outside the wall," he argued. "I’m coming with you." The determination in his eyes was impossible to ignore.

I sighed. "Fine, if you’re that eager to die." I gave in. "Tell your men to wait at the volcano’s base, they’ll be safe there. The monsters won’t go near the light."

His men immediately headed near the light. "Wait for us there, guys!" I shouted. "Whatever happens, whatever you saw, don't go away from the volcano."

"Yes, your highness. Please be safe."

"Please be safe, sir!" They shouted.

"Just sit still and protect the carriages." The prince commanded. "See you later!" Oh, I love the confidence.

We started running to the last volcano. A couple of minutes have past while we keep running nonstop, and every step, the stench of blood became stronger. It started to hurt my nose.

"Stop" I spread my right arm to stop him. "We're here. Don't you ever let your guard down even for a second."

"H-help... help m-me..." someone groan.

"Where are you!" I shouted. "Speak again"

"Princess lower your voice!" He whispered. "The aura is so thick right here, the monster is close"

"What's in there is cannot be compared from a monster, sir. It's a dragon that we're talking about anyway." I said, as my mind is racing with the worst-case scenarios that may happen to us.