Myra and the wolf stare at Velora, then Myra starts giggling at the bancing act that Velora has jumped into. Having each thing on top of each other like an impossible rock stack. Everything looking like its about to fall, only for Velora to make a movement that realigns it, all while making funny faces or acting scared. She floats over while still bancing the items and puts them down next to the wall, still stacked. She outstretches her arms to present her creation, "Tah-Dah!" Myra giggles a little more at the goofy dispy before it all falls over with a loud crash. "Awww man!" Velora says with a big dispy of sadness, partially sinking into the floor, causing Myra to burst into full on ughter.

  "Alright, I think that's enough joking around. Guardian! I need a cooking stove!" She says, while popping out of the ground with a twirl.

  [I don't have anything like that...] The wolf says in return.

  "Then make one! It can't be that hard!"

  [I, don't know, how...] The wolf says, putting its head down.

  "You just need something to contain the fire so it doesn't spread into the den, and it needs to be able to hold this grill... You probably also need some sort of hole to vent off the smoke."

  [Oh! I can do that!] The wolf stands up and walks forward, it stares at the ground next to the wall. It glows a deep orange for a second then the ground starts to rise up, creating a small box with 2 walls on the left and right, a low wall in the front, and the back being the wall of the den. It then looks to the roof above the new firepit, and the same glow occurs then a hole opens, revealing the sky.

  Velora floats over and pces the grill on top of the 2 high walls. "Perfect! Now I will go get some firewood! Be back faster than you can say 'Where is Velora with the firewood?'" She floats out through the new hole in the ceiling. After at most 10 seconds she comes back down and pces a bundle of sticks in the firepit and then turns to the wolf while gesturing to the sticks. "Now, wolf make fire!"

  [Really?] The wolf huffs and then looks at the sticks, a moment ter and they spark up into a fire.

  "Now, we put the pot on with a little bit of water." She turns and looks at the wolf once more with a wink.

  It rolls its eyes then looks at the pot, a big ball of water forms above it and then drops down into it.

  "Nice. Now we put all of our ingredients in, and wait!" Velora turns around to see the wolf watching her intently.

  Leon stares at his desk, stacks of paperwork and small desk toys trying to take away his attention. All unable to as he racks his brain trying to think of what could have caused what he had seen in the forest, and where that girl went.

  "What the hell is going on... First, we have to deal with a rogue merchant. Now, a missing child and a rge number of corpses with unknown deaths..."

  He rubs his eyes then wipes his face with his hands, letting out a sigh as he picks up the closest paper. The top reading 'Petition for Safer Roads'. He stares at it for a moment before putting it back down and leaning back in his chair. A knock on the door echoes through the room, taking him out of his thoughts.

  "Come in." He says.

  The door opens and the scout team member that he talked to at the hobgoblin attack site walks in.

  "Ah, Philip, what do you have to report?" Leon asks.

  "Sir, we have searched in a 3 quadrant area around the site. The only lead we have is the rge number of bodies separated from the main group near the carts. After inspect the ground during the day, we have found footprints leading further into the forest. They are very small, but we lose the trail after a short while, like they disappeared. No sign of a body, blood, or even a struggle." Philip says.

  "How could a small child just disappear in a forest like that?" Leon says, putting his elbows on his and his forehead on the back of his hands.

  "Sir, I know this is a stretch, but do you think the guardian could have got her?" Philip questions. "I have always heard stories that parents tell their children about it, but I thought it was just a story to keep kids running into the forest."

  "Philip, you know that the guardian has no proof of existence, and is only talked about through tall tales and bedtime stories." Lean says, picking his head up.

  "I know but-" Philip gets cut off.

  "No, we are not going to be chasing a fairy tale. It was probably some monster, we will look into it more." Leon says.

  "Yes sir!" Philip says, straightening himself up.

  "Anything else?"

  "We found a small group of dead bandits around a lit campfire about 1 quadrant away from where the tracks ended. Their faces were... twisted, almost like they were seeing the most terrifying thing of their life before passing. We couldn't find any traces of how they died." He says, then shakes his head and blinks a few times.

  "This is going to give me so many more headaches..." Lean says, rubbing his eyes again.

  Raul takes a good look at the wreckage. The cleanup has already started to get the road back to full functionality. He walks over to one of the cleanup members.

  "Has Wesker been found yet?" He asks the woman.

  "I don't know, let me go ask the inspector." She says, then walks over to a man holding a clipboard. She talks with him for a moment then walks back over.

  "No, he hasn't been accounted for. Though I either hope we find his body, or we never see him again." She says.

  "I agree with you there..." Ina says.

  "Thank you, we are about to go look for the missing girl, do you have any information on her?" Raul asks the woman.

  "We heard that a trail went cold that way," She points to the opening made by the hobgoblin. "apparently tracks were found but led to nothing, just stopping without a trace of anything further. We also haven't been able to get the bodies yet."

  "We'll look into it a little more, see if we might be able to find something. Be safe out here." Raul says.

  "We will, be safe." She says, before getting back to cleaning up the road.

  The three start to walk into the forest, hopping over the felled trees and trampled bushes. They make their way a little further in and find the group of dead bandits, the forest trying to cim them as some have been picked at by the wildlife. They inspect what bodies they can and then find the footprints. Looking out into the forest as many had before them.

  A big bowl of stew is pced in front of Myra, her stomach growls once more as she looks into it. She looks back up to the wolf and the ghost, both staring at her.

  "Well? Are you going to start eating?" Velora asks.

  "I-Is... it really OK for me to eat this?" Myra responds.

  [Of course, dig in.] The wolf says, as its eyes trail over to stare at the makeshift kitchen they have created.

  "Really?" Myra asks, her face bright with a mix of hope and confusion.

  "Yes, why would we make it otherwise? Neither of us need to eat." Velora says with a shrug.

  "Th-... Thank you!" Myra says, as she picks up the bowl and starts to eat by bringing the bowl up to her mouth. It's far from a clean experience as she spills some on her ragged clothes and almost chokes from eating too fast, coughing a little.

  [Woah, slow down there, it's not going anywhere.] The wolf says as it looks to her because of the coughing. It walks over to Myra and sits down next to her, using the blue light to clean what has spilled and making the spoon from the pot lift up and deliver her a little more.

  [Take your time, no one will take it from you.] The wolf says, as it licks her cheek, making her giggle.

  "O-OK..." She brings the bowl back up to her mouth but eats much slower this time, with only a small amount of spilge.

  Once she is done with the bowl she pces it down in front of her.

  [Are you full? There is plenty if you want more.] The wolf asks.

  "Yes, th-thank you..." Myra says.

  The blue light cleans the bowl and her clothes once more, a few moments ter an orb of water forms and is pced inside the newly spotless bowl. Myra looks at it for a moment then picks it up and drinks some, then pces the bowl back in front of her.

  [Velora... If you would go scare off the inspecting people for me, that would be great. I didn't invite them to my home and would like to keep it hidden from prying eyes as long as possible. Oh, and, no killing these ones, they seem to just be exploring.]

  "Of course!" She says, as she vanishes through the wall.

  Raul speaks up, "What do you think caused this?" He asks the other 2.

  "Maybe there was a goblin following the hobgoblin that found them?" Ina responds.

  "Don't make me think about that possibility... Then that girl is..." Marcus' voice trembles off as he looks at the trail.

  "You're right, sorry." Ina says, walking over and patting him on the back for comfort.

  "Let's just head into the forest and see what we can find, OK?" Raul says, walking over to them.

  "Alright." Marcus says with his head still looking to the floor.

  They journey further in. Following the footprints until they disappear, they all look down in confusion at the sudden vanishing of the tracks. They look around the area a little longer, finding no sign of anything. No damage to the trees, grass, bushes... nothing, except for the boot prints of previous people searching.

  "There is no way she just vanished... Lets go into the forest a little longer and see what we can find, the trail must pick up somewhere." Raul says, as he starts to walk further in. The others follow and a few minutes ter they are fully separated from the previous signs of human travel. They look around, finding no signs of even animals. The birds they once heard have faded, the sound of the forest subsided, and a feeling of loneliness creeps into their minds. They all look at each other, confused.

  "I think we should look a little longer." Ina says, her breath now visible as the temperature drops.

  "If you are sure, you are the one with the least yers." Marcus says.

  "A little cold can't hurt me!" Ina says proudly.

  "Alright, if it becomes too much we will turn back." Raul chimes in.

  They continue forward, fog lining the ground creeping up on their every step. The grass peeking through in patches where the tallest ones have grown. The trees seeming to echo their creeks in time with an unknown beat as they sway erratically. Their breaths become bored as they start to feel pressure like never before, like the arms of a vice are clenching down on their lungs and the air itself becoming more stale from each step. The world warping around them as figures can be seen in only their peripherals, causing their eyes to dart around to try to focus on the nothingness pguing their minds. As all of this reaches its crescendo, they keel over in short breaths. Feeling the weight lifted off of them, the sound of the birds comes back like a tidal wave. The air becoming warm once more, the staleness gone like it was never there.

  They find themselves back at the fading point of the footprints, confused, dazed, and anxious.