This choice: Leave and forget about the discussion • Go Back... The spy, William, left his lord's tower the next morning. He'd made up his mind to forget about the End of days, certainly Hawthorne was right. There were no demons. He would know, the story had been drilled into him - into them all - during his childhood.
"Black smoke." His caregiver had told him in an ominous tone. He had been nothing but a child of five when he'd heard the stories but he remembered them as though it were yesterday. "Black smoke with talons sharp enough to slice air itself. They had eyes but they had fire and they spewed brimstone from their mouths. They wielded magic, magic of the earth and magic of blood. To feed their magic, they lusted on the soul. The souls of men and that of their own, as well.
The reigned supreme over all the beings on the planet, even the dragons. Everyone feared the dark ones - the shadow walkers, they called them. Then arose the Great War. The benign beings of this realm objected to their vile, dark ways and rose up against the demons - only one thing could purge the earth of their bloodlusting existence and it was a sacrifice. A hundred warlocks sacrificed themselves - they did not die rather they were promised to the service of the realm. They called them the mal'akh and they wielded the only weapons that could destroy the demons. In one colossal battle the reign of the demons ended and the earth was purged of every one of them. The peace would last for a long time, it was promised, yet none knew how long it would last."
How promising, William thought as he headed into a forest grove. He wanted to get away from the city tonight. Tomorrow he would ride down to the neighbouring village and listen to more rumours. William sighed as he lead his horse to a stream. What had his life come to? He was reduced to being the ears of a noble man. Since when had he started being a hired rumour monger?
He remembered, of course. It had started the day his father died, he thought bitterly.
No. William thought, strongly. I refuse to go down that road again.
After his horse had drunk enough f the water, William threw down his saddle and decided to stay near the stream for a while. He loved getting lost in the woods and hearing the whisperings of leaves for a change. They were good company - they certainly didn't talk of sinister things like the end of the world, for starters.
The water rippled by softly and William took off his riding boots. He perched himself on a rock and let his toes touch the water beneath him. It felt cool and relieved his worries instantly. He sat there for a long time until the sun was overhead. It calmed him down, listening to the forest sounds - this wood had ferns, soft grasses and evergreen trees the towered over him and extended well into the sky. Occasionally, a bird would chirp in the constant hum of the grasshoppers. He sat there until the smell of fresh earth and wild grass filled his lungs and cleared his mind.
Slwoly reality set back in and he decided that he would have to head back soon, else ride in the forest at night - as comforting as the forest was during the day, the second option terrified him and rightly. The Wildswood still had it's wildness, only the beasts came to play after dusk.
He was just about to get up when he heard it. A telltale rustle of leaves, the kind that signalled the approach of a person. But it was so soft he wondered if it was a child or perhaps one of the birds flying down. William didn't stand up though, he merely looked around, his eyes sharp, his ears shaper still.
There - behind the tree.
William slowly got to his feet, careful not to make any noises.
He didn't bother with his boots, treading lightly to the tree, his dagger in his hand. Once he was close, he moved fast, quickly moving to the other side of the tree to see -
The most beautiful creature he'd ever laid eyes on.
The nymph held his gaze, her hazel eyes searching his face curiously. There considered good luck, the wood nymphs or dryads. It was very rare to see them in their work, while they weaved their forest magic. She didn't bother running away or vanishing, as they usually did. Instead she held his gaze for a long time.
William couldn't shake it off. The nymph was so beautiful. Her slender form was swathed in dark silks, her hair as red as a flame, her doe eyes deep and curious. Her tanned skin adorned gold flecks - sigils of sorts. She looked like a dream, so much so that William reached out to her without even realising it.
Word Count - 834    indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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