His foot limped while he was trying to run with his life for the remaining strength in his worn-out body, which was embroidered with thorns.

His blood fell like a heavy rain from those wounds caused by the one behind him, so he had nothing but groaning in pain and moving forward quickly, until he heard the sound of his body hitting the ground without his awareness.

That smoky body moved, flaming towards him in a swaying manner, he did not hear a sound from it or smell it, it only flared up and sent its smoke towards him.

A smoky haze clouded his exploding eyes in fear, making him panic even more.

So his body flopped on the wet ground like a lamb being slaughtered.

He felt death approaching when the picture drawn became clear of a woman tilting her head and smiling at him in joy, to know that he had become cursed so that he could ride on the coals side by side with her.

She moved closer to him and whispered in her velvety tone that sent successive shivers inside him:

_Men's hearts are really like a pendulum.

The other fell back in fear, almost crying, for the other to follow:

- Didn't they tell you before that good is a woman... and evil is a woman.

The other's tears fell while he was rubbing his hands against her, asking for forgiveness, but what was in response was a loud giggle that made him more terrified.

Seconds for everything to turn into ashes and every being released in that dark middle of the forest evaporates.

The last days of summer, cold drinks and light clothes. The end of the heat and the onset of the cold. Autumn came early this year, and the leaves of the trees were stripped, throwing their clothes on the cold ground and water, making a show of them.

Little Amalia listened closely to the sound of nature as she fell asleep quickly and prepared for the cold days of the coming winter, humming the song that was composed yesterday for the seasonal festival in her village.

The mist danced around her like spirits, the long strands of her chestnut hair flowing in natural tangled waves from her skull down her long back and swaying as she walked enjoying the morning breeze.

She made her way through a place that now seemed nothing but a dead pool of thousands of dead colored leaves. The pass was very familiar to Amalia, it had always guided and guarded her during her little walks on the steep mountain paths. Sticky stones on either side of the lines prevented her from getting lost on her way in the wilderness.

Amalia reached for the leather strap that slung around her neck and shoulder to adjust her tattered handbag, and tapped twice on the front of it just to make sure she had brought her father's lunch with her for real.

Today, the elders are gathered in groups in the treeless field below the village to pick berries for the "lagoon", a seasonal tradition usually formed the day after the Autumn Festival.

She took a deep breath and inhaled the scent of the wood and the wet leaves and the fresh scent of the morning. Autumn had already marked the end of the season of scorching sun and stinging bees.

The place that was once green, a forest full of verdure and life now is nothing but the half-dull and incongruous branches of a tree looming overhead entwined in a huge wooden pile like a haystack.

It's been days since Amalia shut herself up inside that little worn-out time when the weather hits a cottage she calls home. She's been taking care of her sick twin sister and helping her to bed all through the long summer days while her mom and dad take care of the rest. This prevented her from enjoying the fun that comes with this weather as she should have.

But being a poor family didn't help their situation at all. They didn't even have the money to treat her sick sister.

And a week after entering the beloved autumn, the sounds of sobs and crying came in that fragile little hut.

'Amalia' was embracing the dead body of her twin sister and the tears had dried on her face, while her father was embracing her mother tightly, hiding her head in his arms with red and tearful eyes, trying to calm his wife and reduce her sobs.

Three days after the tragic accident, the corpse was under the ground, and the sky rained tears for the parting of her innocent soul.

Amalia was still in shock from the loss of her sister, but she tried to accept it in a mature way and convinced herself that everyone coming to this world would leave one day and they would all meet in the same place and there was no point in crying now.

But what frightened her was the behavior of her parents, as they began to steal from merchants and re-sell, and when young "Amalia" asked them, they began to curse and blame their poor condition for the death of her sister and worse.

After the passage of days, here comes the day of the seasonal festival, and everyone is happy and participating in the competitions.

The lights and the voices of singers fill the surroundings while all the neighboring villages are watching. Specifically, the village of ( Western Arch ), which is unfortunately known for its bad location.

Amalia was looking for her parents around, but she couldn't find them anywhere.

She walked towards the mist coming from far away from the depths of darkness.

A boyish laugh echoed from afar, breaking Amalia's verses.

It seems to come from deep in the woods.

Amalia's head twitched to her left, her eyebrows raised in confusion.

There were two voices now. Both were males but one seemed more mature and hoarse than the other.

The voices and laughter seemed to come closer and closer from a distance but she could see nothing through the thick mist air.

Fearful, Amalia wrapped her arms around her trembling body. She had heard stories of flaming creatures looming large at night. Creatures born from the depths of hell. Rumor has it that they spit out blazing lava and that they would smash and burn their prey to ashes and bones before feeding on their remains.

Footsteps rushed towards her.

Amalia hardened on her floor.

Closer and closer, louder and louder.

Suddenly the laughter stopped.

Silence.

A bird flew over her head and let out a loud shriek that nestled hollow in the empty forest but apart from her surroundings it was dead silent.

While walking around, she encounters two figures who appear to be only a few centimeters taller than her.

Amelia opened her mouth to scream but restrained herself from doing so with her hands.

"Who's there?" A young man's voice called out from the mist.

Amelia stood still.

Running away wasn't the smartest choice to make in this situation. She didn't want to risk being pursued and her soul burned. So she remained calm and steady...an effective trick her father had taught her, a safety ding if she ever encountered a wild friend.

The figures approached her as she slowly backed away in response expected of her and moved her hand to reach for the dagger hidden under the layers of her dress.

"Hey!!....Talan, are you sure it's not a wild animal we're talking to?" Someone asked, in an unsure tone.

"Look at it, it stands like a human but doesn't move."

"You think it's one of those creatures... Wait what do they call them again?"

" flaming creatures , Adam..flaming creatures or witches, as our ancestors called them."

Amelia hardened. This name sounded familiar to her.

Adam... Adam.... Romah!

The only boy with the name Adam in his village!! Miracle child as it is told about. His mother gave birth to him in the forbidden forest, after her mother-in-law, whom hates her , threw her into the forest at night, wanting to devour her and her fetus by one of the witches or flaming creatures that live in the forest. That forbidden place surrounded by danger.

It is said that her husband then joined them as soon as he learned of his mother's act and hurried to save them all by getting them out of there and bringing them home safely before one of those creatures from hell found them.

Her eyes widened in shock!

What is the " West Arch "village's chief's son doing out here in the wilderness? Aren't they supposed to never pass through this forbidden forest at all? The villagers have always talked about the misfortune that befell their village after the division came and how the village is located among the worst areas, sandwiched between the great ocean and the forbidden forest.

How did we manage to enter it without being devoured by a flaming being or a witch? I wondered.

The boys took another step menacingly close to her, but before they could even tell the frightened girl who was looking at them with her glowing brown eyes, she turned on her heels and fell into nothingness in her long dress.

The sound of her emaciated body colliding with the ground began to fade away until nothing could be heard but silence.

One of the boys asked:

"What was that?"

The other added:

"I have no idea"

Then he added:

"But it is certainly not a flaming being".

These were the last words Amalia heard before the two figures and their voices were completely swallowed up in mist.

Amalia drifted through her thoughts until she heard a familiar voice calling her name:

"Amalia...Amalia"

She looked around, searching with her eyes for the source of the sound, until she saw two bodies standing near a giant tree, around which the heavy fog concealed their bodies.

Amalia, come here.

Again, she heard a familiar woman's voice calling to her, but this time she recognized the owner of the voice.

Her mother and father were standing next to the tree behind the mist.

She ran towards them and hugged her mother's feet tightly, as this is the length that her little body was able to reach.

The mother kneeled down to her level and looked into her sparkling brown eyes and said:

"Here we are, honey, and you won't believe what we found. We'll be rich and you won't have to put up with those threadbare clothes anymore."

Amalia said:

"But where were you two? I searched for you so long" .

Answered her father :

"We were collecting money from all over the place, and all of a sudden we stumbled upon this giant tree. It bears all kinds of expensive fruits, and if we sell it in the village market, we will reap great wealth and be freed from our extreme poverty" .

Little Amalia looked at the giant tree in astonishment.

The fog was covering her height and increasing her terror.

She felt negative energy and fear that she hid so as not to disturb her parents, as this tree was one of the strangest things her eyes had ever seen.

"How can one tree bear all kinds of fruits and fruits in it?" Amalia wondered to herself.

Amalia looked at her parents, who returned to picking fruits with eagerness and joy, and approached them anxiously to said:

_ "Shouldn't we touch or take anything from the trees of the Forbidden Forest? What if we were met by a flaming or witch of the night?"

The mother continued picking the fruits, while the father let out a sarcastic laugh and said:

_"We have not entered the forest yet to consider this tree as part of it or belong to it, so there is no reason to worry."

The mother turned to meet them and followed behind her husband's words:

_ "And there are no such beings or witches at all. This is just a myth to prevent us from enjoying these riches and bounties in the forest."

Amalia was surprised by the amount of greed and eagerness that overwhelmed her parents at that moment. Madness covered their features, which increased her fear even more. She took her steps back a little and swallowed her saliva when she saw them rushing to pick it and throw it in the basket at the bottom of their feet.

They continued like this for a few minutes before Amalia caught sight of the bird next to her whistling and flying towards the tree where her parents were.

He climbed between the branches where half of them became empty of fruits due to the speed of her parents in picking, and he began to shake between their leaves until they fell blue colored red, and Amalia rushed to pick them up.

She began to read what was written on it in a large and clear ornate font

"Don't touch anything from the tree of hell, or the curse of the "Flamethrower" will fall upon you."

Amalia's body shuddered and her hands trembled with fear.

She grabbed both of her parents by their legs, trying to get their attention, and when she succeeded in that, she handed them the paper in her hand and tried to warn them, saying:

_ "Mom, Dad, you have to stop now and let's go home. We'll all be cursed or the witch will kill us".

Her parents read what was written on the leaf of the fallen tree and started laughing at her and her thinking.

_"Child, this is a trick of the villagers, you needn't be afraid".

Her father said confidently, and her mother added:

_ "Yes, then this tree is ours now".

_ "But mom, dad... what about the "Flamethrower" ? This is her tree, and she's also a witch and she could kill us here".

The father furrowed his eyebrows angrily at the insignificance of his daughter's words, then said in a loud voice that sent chills and fear into her, as he had never raised his voice against her before under any circumstances:

_"Stop talking nonsense. Apparently we spoiled you a lot".

And she added:

_ "Help us or just sit there and shut up."

Despite Amalia's fear of the tone in which her parents spoke to her, she continued to insist on stopping them from picking more.

Her fear of the witch who was terrifying her in her young mind, and her concern for her parents was too great for her to pass by remaining still in her place alone.

She held on to both of their feet, moving them to stop until they did not pay any attention to her and continued as they were, and when it became annoying, her father pushed her so hard on the ground that she hit her head hard on a large rock that was attached to the ground.

Her vision became a bit blurry, and her chestnut hair was drenched in drops of blood from her forehead, as a result of the strong fall she had suffered.

She blinked her eyes several times to clarify her vision, until all she could see was her parents' back.

Both of them didn't stop taking with eagerness and greed painted all over their faces.

Amalia kept blinking as the haze around her vision increased.

This time she noticed the sparrow from earlier flying around her parents and little by little it started to turn into black smoke.

That smoke continued to materialize and incarnate in human form until it became in the form of a woman.

As for everything that happened after that that night, it messed up and changed the course of little Amalia's life forever.

She lost everything she once had, including her life, her parents, and that little hope left in life. And the most important thing anyone can lose is...

Her Soul.