Climb to the top

Relcutantly, you look upward. The thorn hedge towered high into the air, but climbing up them would not be out of the question. You take in a deep breath.

"I'm going to try scaling it." You say.

"How are you at climbing?" Doe asks.

"I'll find out." You reply, approaching the nearest thorn branch. It was far too large for you to put your arms around, so the only real choice would be to use the thorns like the rungs of a ladder. You tenatively grab one of the thorns, happily finding out that it's only sharp at its point. Putting your foot on one thorn and your hand on another, you slowly begin to climb up the green pole.

After about fifteen minutes of climbing, you unwisely decide to look down. Your horse looks like an ant now and you don't even see Doe anymore. Your hands begin to shake when you realize how high you are. Slowly and more cautiously, you continue scaling the plant. Finally, you reach the top and immediatly lay down to catch your breath.

From the top, the hedge of thorns looks like a huge, weaving trellis. There were gaps large enough to fall through, but you can walk across them easily enough with very little need for jumping.

You feel something light land on your shoulder and you look over to see Doe perched there. "About time." She says. "It took you long enough."

"Shut it." You growl, looking away. "I don't have wings." You can hear the sound of wings flapping and that only makes you angrier. "You don't need to show off!"

"That's not me, John!" Doe says. You turn your head and follow the bird's beady eyes. A conspiracy of jet-black ravens, maybe 5, were flying toward you. There eyes were blood-red and they didn't look happy.

"Ravens?" You ask. "Was that in the original story?"

"No." Doe looked worried. "They don't look natural either. I think...I think someone else is in these books. I think someone else is messing with the stories."

"Well, they don't look like they want breadcrumbs." You stand up and try to clear your head. It's fight or flight time.