CHAPTER SIX
Prince Daniel's POV
After the witch doctor told me about the Jungle of Witches, I noticed the fear in the eyes of the elders. None of them volunteered to go with me except my two palace guards, who vowed to accompany me no matter how dangerous the journey would be.
The witch doctor warned the elders to follow the instructions of the gods to avoid calamity, so they all agreed to accompany me to the Jungle of Witches. The ancient baobab tree was a mysterious tree guarded by the witches. All of their powerful charms came from its roots. Many humans had tried to locate that tree, but they all ended up dead, killed by the witches. I vowed to fight every stumbling block on my way, even if it meant fighting the king of all witches and wizards himself. I was not going to sit and watch the kingdom of my forefathers fall when there was a way to save it.
The day arrived for us to travel to the Jungle of Witches. I took all my weapons and wore my war regalia. My guards did the same, except for the elders, who prepared their charms to fight the witches.
When we entered the jungle, the wind was heavy and something felt wrong. My heart pounded. For the first time, fear struck me, but duty pushed me forward. The jungle carried an evil aura everywhere. We spent two days walking in the jungle without finding any trace of the baobab tree. My container of water was empty, and even the food we carried to sustain ourselves on the journey was finished.
Elder Michael, one of the chief elders, began to complain about tiredness, thirst, and hunger, but no one helped him. After roaming around for a long time, we found a beautiful stream in the middle of the jungle. Near that stream were many wild fruits. The elders and some of the palace guards quickly rushed to quench their thirst and fill their empty stomachs with the wild fruits.
I tried to stop them, but they shouted at me, saying that I wanted to kill them in the jungle with hunger.
Something in my heart told me that whatever was in the jungle was not normal. I noticed my personal bodyguard Jerry did not join the others to eat. He said he felt uneasy about everything, as if evil was hovering around us.
After the guards and elders fed themselves, they continued with the journey, and nothing happened to them. My heart was still unsettled even though I had not witnessed anything strange.
It was already dark, so we all agreed to build a small camp and rest. We planned to continue searching for the tree in the morning.
We all fell asleep.
At dawn, I woke up and tried to wake the guards and the elders. What I saw made me tremble. All of them who had eaten and drunk from the jungle were dead, with blood coming from their mouths and noses.
I shivered. Only two of us were left.
I felt tears trying to escape my eyes, but as a man I controlled myself.
I instructed my bodyguard Jerry to light a fire so we could cremate our people. If we managed to return to our kingdom, we would bury their ashes with their forefathers.
Jerry lit the fire, and we went back inside the camp to carry their dead bodies to the flames.
But when we entered the camp, the bodies were gone.
There was nothing.
Panic filled my chest.
Jerry and I ran away from the camp in fear. In the chaos, Jerry ran in a different direction from mine.
I was exhausted and finally stopped to rest. That was when I realized Jerry was not with me. My heart shattered. I did not know whether he was still alive or dead.
I could not take it anymore. I wanted to return to my kingdom.
When I lifted my eyes, I suddenly saw Jerry.
I almost shouted his name, but I stopped when I realized he was trying to attack one of the witches.
I moved silently toward them, stepping carefully so I could help him.
Then I saw her.
A beautiful girl with long hair and long black nails stood before him. She looked furious, as if she were possessed by all the demons in the world. Her beauty made me feel strangely weak.
I quickly pushed away the foolish thought when I saw more witches coming out from the bushes, surrounding the beautiful witch and Jerry.
Jerry stepped forward and tried to attack Tanya. The other witches watched silently.
Suddenly, Tanya roared with fury, her voice echoing through the forest like a lion's cry.
The guard froze in fear.
Whispers quickly spread among the witches.
"That's the Lion Princess," one of them murmured.
"The one who drinks human blood without mercy," another whispered.
"Don't look into her eyes," a third warned softly. "They say she can burn your soul."
Jerry's hand trembled as he held his sword. For the first time, he realized he might have made a terrible mistake by challenging her.
End of Chapter Six