Work Dammit

Panicked sweat glistened across her brow as limbs jerked wildly on the coarse blanket that had
been laid on the floor until she suddenly shot upright gasping for air. Looking around the terrible
fear began to depart, realising it had just been another dream, although recently there was no such
thing as just a dream. It was those terrible images that had driven her to this place almost a week ago
now, deep in the heart of Kalco forest a place still relatively unexplored and ever since she had
gotten close to the heart of it two days ago she knew why.

Leena was from a city in the north, she was an average girl training in the basics of magic when the
dreams first took hold, each one pulled her stronger and stronger to a place she didnt even know
existed and that is how she came to venture into this forest, she had managed to pass off any fear
on the dreams being just dreams until she ventured near the heart of the forest, it was then the place
had taken on a life of its own. The canopy had gotten so thick that light was a rareity only a few shafts
of golden or silvery light ever shone through like pillars, giving the only idea of time in this dank place.
Worse yet the feeling that she was not alone came over her, dark shadows swiftly glided between the
trees everywhere and the breeze bought quiet whispers with it. Despite the endless twisting trees all around
it made Leena feel more trapped than if the place was a prison cell.

Shaking her head Leena packed up her things and got ready to press on deeper into the foreboding
woods, the feeling she was getting close to whatever had been pulling her, at the same time she wished
that she had come more prepared. Instead all she had was her long and silken red student robes, tied
at the waist with two slithers of gold cord, this denoted she was in the second level of her training, sadly
this also meant the robes themselves were basic and had no special properties. The staff she carried
as with all of the more upper class users like herself was ornate, in the style of two seperate lengths
intertwining decorated with with a lightly glowing crimson gem fixed to the top. Most of this however
was just show, the magic she knew was basic at best, if something was waiting for her in these woods
Leena already knew in the back of her mind she could not face it, but she pushed on anyway, the
feeling of being pulled was already too strong for her to turn back.

Deeper she travelled and more fearful the surroundings became, what were only shadows racing
between trees were taking shape, sometimes Leena would turn to find one seeming standing and
watching, but then in a blink it would be gone. The whispers had also worsened, mumblings were
now audible voices but she could not comprehend them, as a student she had learned to hone
her senses so this troubled her deeply because she couldnt tell anything from the whispers, not
where they came from or what they said, even discerning how many there were was beyond her.
It was like the entire place had no substance to it, everything was there but could not be touched
in a sense, whispers that cant be heard, figures that cant be seen... it all began to press deeply
on her mind as she tried to make sense of it all. It occupied her thoughts so much that she almost
didnt see the small and decaying wood hut in front of her until it was five feet from her, or maybe
it wasn't there to begin with, she couldn't tell anymore or risk taking anything for granted.

Tentatively she pushed the crude door open, the criss cross of branches that it was made from were
green'ing with moss and was damp to the touch yet in some way it was oddly soothing, the cool
wetness felt good on her palm and not suprising. She had realised what this place had done to her,
her palm was red and enflamed with the intwined patterning of her staff where she had gripped it
so tightly on her trek. Inside the hut she quickly looked for signs of life letting her eyes scan the
interior while she held out her staff and muttered a brief incantation, the gem flickered then shone
a multitude of colours intending to scare of bewilder anything that may be hiding within but there
was nothing. Now she ravenously began to search through the moulding remains of the hut trying
to find something, anything she looked under the rotted straw mattress, through cracked and
degrading drawers just searching for anything to just tell her something about this place. In truth
this was her biggest concern, not anything that might be out there in the woods but simply the knowledge
of what's going on, why she has been pulled her, why why why? the questioned spiraled in her mind
endlessly. A mage is trained to want to know all and so this occasion where she knew nothing
frustrated her constantly, like it was not a desire to know but a need, a hunger even and by
now she was reaching starvation.

"Finally!" was the only word said, almost shrieked when Leena found it at the back of a small
set of drawers that nearly fell apart as they were opened, the damp had left the wood so soft
and fragile that her very touch was imprinted into the ancient oak handle on the top drawer.
At the back of it was something that made her eyes light up, a journal, but she viewed it with
deep suspicion at the same time because it looked to be in perfect condition when by all natural
laws it should have rotted to nothing but a mulch in such conditions. Taking it out delicately incase
its condition was worse than it appeared she placed it on the straw mattress and opened the
thick and hardened leather cover. Instantly she recognised why the book was so perfect still,
it had power of some kind, she felt it wash over her from the moment she opened the book as
a wave of energy rolled out over her fingertips engulfing her arm, warm and tingling followed by
a wave of darkness and then she found herself somewhere else.

She knew this well, it was a living diary and had seen such things in her training, more than words
a living diary showed the events that its owner wrote down in it from their own memory. Leena
could only guess at the age but she gathered the book must be at least fifty years old because
the memory was slowly fading, as she looked around the magic struggled to keep up with the
illusion and black voids appeared and disappeared like holes in a tapestry. She took note of her
surroundings, a stone room probably part of a larger building, looking out a window she saw
the forest surrounding the structure not noticing the two figures who had joined her in the room
until they began to speak. Turning suddenly reading her staff she began to recite a spell but
then remembered it was just a memory and turned her focus to the two characters, one dressed
in dirty brown shirt and bottoms looked quite out of place while the other seemed very much
part of the surroundings, high collared robes black with red trim but annoyingly thats all she could
discern due to several blurred and faded patches near their faces. Leena strained to hear the
conversation as the voices went in and out of synch with her own ears, the person in black
was angry, a phrase caught her ear "After all I gave you!" and the brown man's retort seemed
to be perfectly preserved still "None of this should be, you should not be and neither should this
place" confused Leena tried to hear more but the magic left in the diary was all but used.. as
she faded back to where she was she heard one last thread of speach "Won't walk away".

For a few moments Leena stood speachless, not able to decide whether she should feel glad
she found something or simply be more infuriated that all the old questions remained plus
many new ones. Although she knew two things now, there was another building out there
and it couldn't be too far.. because the man in brown had lived here, she recognised the clothes
immediately as there had been various pairs of similar shirts and bottoms in one of the rotted
cabinets. She spent the night in the hut, while it was rotting and dank it was certainly better than
the forest floor and for the first time in days she felt safe going to sleep.

Screaming she awoke to the sound of hammering on the door of the hut not even having had
time to sleep for more than an hour. Leena grabbed her staff and began muttering rapidly, the
gem pulsing brighter and brighter until it flickered wildly for a second and a beam of violet
light hit the door and sent it flying out into the darkness but there was no noise, the door was
still being hammered at the moment of impact, whatever was behind the door should have been
sent flying but there was no sign of anything. Cautiously Leena stepped to the doorway and let
out a small gasp of intruige as she spotted a neatly folded note on the ground just outside, without
hesistation she grabbed it and ran back inside to read it, written with extreme eloquence she
couldn't help but marvel at the penmanship of the writer as she read:

Greetings my dear
You've come rather far all by yourself in this dark place
I gather you have answered the call
So I'm offering you advice and a chance
Turn back now, this place is death
and death alone lives here
Magic, steel, arrows will do no good
and you only have one of the three