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Night fell fast in the Forest once the sun had set Septiloo his co to see which way the quivering needle was pointing The light was nearly gone, and the Dragon ring was beginning to glow, but it didn&039;t help that Septi A fa over hiht in the Forest

"It&039;s the Forest twilight now, Nik," whispered Septiood ti"

Far away in the Castle, Silas and Sarah watched the sun set frooing to bring Jenna home In a state of panic, they set off for the Wizard Tower to see Marcia Theyto see Weasal Van Klampff

Deep in the Forest, at its very center, Septiether Septirow chill and the shift between day and night begin The Forest was changing into a nighttime creature as the darkness closed in, and, with a sense of foreboding, Septi of thickness in the atht with it

"I&039;m really sorry, Sep," Nicko mumbled desolately

"Shh," Septimus whispered "Don&039;t speak unless you have to"

Nicko sat quietly, trying to keep calht He hated the feeling it gave hi trapped in the le of tree trunks and branchesalthough as long as he kept , Nicko could just about stand it But not no that a thick blanket of blackness was beginning to surround the inside him, which made him want to scream out loud Nicko had only felt like that once before in his life, when he had been trapped in the Castle rubbish chute, but that time he had been with Marcia and she had quickly freed them This time he was on his own

"When you were here on a night exercise, what did they teach you? I mean, what did you have to do?" whispered Nicko

"Well, er, once in the unar a wolverine pit and spend the night waiting for a wolverine to drop in It didn&039;t thoughnot into our pit anyway But we lost three boys in the pit near us They put up a good fight but the wolverine won It was an awful noise Then so exercises they tied a boy to a tree and we had to try and find hiet there in time"

"Ah," said Nicko with a shudder "Shouldn&039;t have asked Thought they ht you some survival skills"

"They did," said Septi that runs faster than you and has more teeth than you Watch out for the carnivorous trees &039;cause you can never tell which ones they are until it&039;s too late Oh, yesand theof all"

"Yes?"

"Don&039;t stay out in the Forest after dark"

"Very funny," mumbled Nicko

"I think," Septimus whispered, "that we should try and tind soht Up a tree would be best"

"Up a carnivorous tree, you mean?"

"Nicko, just be quiet, will you?"

"Sorry, Sep"

"Like I said, we should climb up a treeand it&039;s just luck whether it&039;s carnivorous or not"

"What, you can&039;t tell?"

"Not at night You just take your chance That&039;s what the Night Forest is all about, Nik Anyway, like I said, if we can jet up a tree we should be safe froh of course we&039;ll have to keep watch for bloodsucking tree rats"

"Great"

"And some of the older trees are infested with leaf leeches I spent a night in a tree once with the Leader Cadet, and when I woke up in the e But he was covered froave a chuckle "Served hiht"

"Stop!" hissed Nicko "Just stop I don&039;t want to hear any ers"

Septi onto his shoulders and they set off; this ti was shining brightly in the dark, and he pushed his hand into his pocket to douse the glow He knew that a light would draw every creature to them for miles around and would particularly attract Forest Wraiths Septih the trees, and Nicko followed hiile than Septiht, every now and then his foot snapped a twig or rustled a leaf Septi would hear theet up into the safety of a tree fast Desperately he scanned every tree they passed to see if there were any low branches that ive them a handhold But there were none They were in the middle of the ancient part of the Forest, where all the trees grew tall and kept their branches high above the ground

Suddenly Septirip on his arm "Ouch!"

"Shh!"

Septi his ar wide-eyed into the darkness

"Sep, what&039;s thatover thereI saw so"

Septi sideways to see in the dark It was the sight he had been dreadingthey were surrounded by a sea of yellow eyes "Rats," muttered Septimus

"Rats?" whispered Nicko "Oh, that&039;s a relief For a ht it olverines"

"It is wolverines Loads of therieved

"Shut up, Nicko I&039;et ulped "Quickly"