Four months ago, I found myself at the edge of a dark forest. Nothing too different from any tall tree’d woodland you’d come across in the central region. Though the steady slopes of the Western mountain range might make them more daunting than a forest in the plains. Regardless, I stood at the edge of the thicket contemplating the path I had found myself on.
We had just disbanded a makeshift party set up at the last village. A party that was clearly not meant to be as we had failed our first and only contract. Also, lets just say that this wasn’t my first disbanding. Keep in mind, it’s been about two or three months since I’d begun my “adventure”, so I was actually at a point where I was seriously considering giving up and returning to my village.
Sunset had begun by the time I stepped foot into the forest. Most people would’ve called me crazy for going in alone. Even a travelling caravan would definitely hire a handful of adventurers for protection. To be honest, I wasn’t feeling... the best at that moment. It’s difficult to put it into words now, but I was hoping something would happen if I entered that forest. Whatever that might’ve been.
As I walked down the winding pathways of the region, the darkness felt comforting in a weird way. I unconsciously put a protection charm on myself, clearly still at odds with what I wanted out of this journey. But the winds were warm, a rare phenomenon in the hills, and the chirping of insects from within the trees were soothing. An hour or so into the trek, an ox driven cart passed by.
“Are you heading inside now?” An older woman called out.
I turned back to see the cart had slowed to a halt.
“Yes, I have somewhere to be.” I replied.
“This forest runs deeper than most you know. You’ll probably have to walk till morning even without a break.”
I didn’t reply.
“If you wait for a day or two, my father here can take you with him on his next run.” She points to the man holding reigns to the cart. The other two on the cart must’ve been hired adventurers.
“Thank you for the offer, but I really need to get going.” I gave them a thankful wave.
The man nodded and snapped the reigns. The lady didn’t acknowledge what I had said, still looking at me while I turned away. Even now, I still wonder for how long she’d stared at me.
There were a handful of scares in the next few hours. I narrowly evaded a group of wolves, crawled past a small bandit encampment, and unfortunately ended up having to fight a wild mud golem before escaping. Honestly looking back, it was probably the worst day of my life; well, the second worst if I include today.
- Elara glares at me angrily, so I tell her I was joking. We laugh it off, but I can’t help but feel, there is some truth to it. -
Eventually I spot a clearing in the distance. The shrubs seem to have gotten shorter as well, allowing for some cooler winds to pass and grace my face. As the woods thinned out, I beheld a clearing push up to a gentle hill. If the directions I had received were right, I was almost halfway to the next post.
It was an hour or so to midnight by now. The sky was clear, and I’m sure I spotted at least a dozen or so stars without really looking all around, when a sudden sensation came over me. I still don’t know what it was. Maybe fear, surprise, or even calmness, but I just stood there looking at an empty patch of grass on the mound. I don’t remember seeing anything for a few long minutes.
I stood still, my body refusing to move, yet my heart was calm. The air smelt... nice, with a kind of citrus aroma. I eventually became aware of my blinking eyes. I blinked once, then once more, and then again, going on until, on a random blink of the eye, there it was.
A figure stood exactly where I had been looking the whole time. Absent one second, there the next. There was a creature unlike anything I’d ever seen or imagined. Tall and slender, its skin was pure darkness with a layer of shimmering, colourful light on top, much like this little one on my lap. It's eyes glowing with an unnerving... energy as it stared at me.
It’s form, vaguely human-like, but its limbs end in smooth, bird-like claws, and its head was adorned with a crown of feathers that seem to shift and change colour before my eyes. Speaking of eyes, it’s face had nothing but two bright eyes, roughly where a human’s would be. It doesn't move, doesn't seem to acknowledge my presence, yet its gaze feels like a boulder weighing down on me. There was some unseen energy in the air that was not Spirit. Actually, the protective Spirit around me seemed to flicker, almost dying, but I felt no malice directed at me.
- A sharp pop sends an ember spark up from the fireplace. The little one shifts it’s head, pushing it’s beak gently into my belly, and goes back to sleep. -
This was no ordinary forest creature; it was something far more powerful. I felt control over my body come back to me and I... well honestly, I still have no idea what came over me.
"Hello." I said. Ha-ha, can you believe it? And I kept on going too.
"Who might you be?"
I was trying to sound calm, but my heart finally started a frantic rhythm against my ribs. The creature remained motionless, its iridescent skin shimmering in the moonlight like captured starlight. Now I don’t know why, but the longer I stared it, the more I had this feeling that it was hurt... hmm... maybe that’s a bad way to put it. Weakened, might been a better word. But regardless, it felt almost pitiful to look at.
After what feels like an eternity, a single feather detached itself from its crown and drifted slowly towards me, settling at my feet. I bent down to pick it up, my eyes never moving from the creature. I get it in my hand, and it’s impossibly light, yet feels warm to touch. I feel that same radiating, pulsing energy from it.
Now I don’t know what came over me... again, but I decided to try cast a spell at it. Of course I’m not a maniac, so I chanted a Heal spell and kind of lobbed; instead of shooting, my Spirit at it. When I did, that was the first time I felt my Spirit connect to this Feather I held in my hand. It didn’t feel like I received any magic from it, but rather, it let me push out more Spirit from my body.
- Elara Looks at me clearly confused. I guess it’s a difficult idea for someone without magic to grasp intuitively. -
So the spell touches the figure, and its body starts glowing. The golden light from the spell might’ve been brighter than usual, but it’s hard to say for sure given the unique colour of the creature. It still looks the same, that feeling of weakness still lingering in it’s figure, but now I feel a sense of gratitude directed towards to me. Its eyes gaze happily, but still it looks unchanged.
I hear happy chirps fill the air, the sound seemed to emit directly into my head, so I start walking. The sound is melodious, almost like it wanted me to sing along with it. Getting right up to the creature, I lift a hand reaching for it, slowly making contact with the hard sheath of a talon.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
The chirping filled my head again, this time it sounded like a poem in a song. There was no echo. it’s timbre, completely unaffected by the empty grassland that surrounded us.
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“I guess I’ll have to come up with one myself.” I thought.
Sure, maybe it was a little presumptuous on my part, but I was alone with something I couldn’t converse with. You have to take certain liberties as an adventurer, so I got to thinking. It took a while but I managed to come up with something that I though, was quite decent.
“Lyric.” I named it.
“I’ll call you Lyric. What do you think?”
It never moved. But the chirping rang true, sounding more like tweeting by the end of the melody. I took it as a sign of acceptance.
I felt comfort. It had been a harrowing journey through the woods, but for the first time in a long while, I felt like I was safe from everything. I noticed a light shine from the corner of my eye. It was the path to the next town. The moonlight seemed to shine brighter on that road. I took one last up-close look of Lyric before I made my way to re-enter the forest.
Looking back one final time, I see it standing stationary, still turnt towards the way I’d come from. And with one last blink of my eye, it was gone.
I made my way down the path as the next six or seven hours went by. I did not encounter any more dangers in the path, or maybe it’s more accurate to say that danger didn’t find me. Eventually I escaped the forest, with the next town up ahead in the valley, the sunrise cast a light shadow over the sleeping buildings. I took a moment to get my head on straight, wondering if it had all just been a dream or a hallucination, and honestly sometimes I still assume it was all just that. But this feather, serves as a proof that it was real.
- Elara stokes the flame as a plank pops into embers. I expected her to be sceptical of my story, but surprisingly, she didn’t ask any questions. Honestly, I feel a little disappointed. -
About a month later, I found myself on the final stretch to Courage. The Feather had stayed in my bag, never having really showed any significant effect as of then. The western range slowly receded to the fertile plains of the central region. I was lucky enough to have been hired to guard a caravan till the outer Capital. The journey was peaceful, but at about an hour from the city, I started to feel this pair of eyes staring at me from a distance.
I passed it off as my anxiety getting the better of me, but the feeling just kept worsening the closer we got to the city. The weirdest part was that I could feel exactly where the eyes were. Not like something that was stalking me, but rather, a cardinal direction that was absolute. It’s gaze tying me down like rope to a fulcrum as the highway bent and looped around the riverside.
We entered the Capital without any issues, I collected my fees, and went on my way choosing to ignore the feeling; at least while I was in the city, as I did a bit of shopping and information gathering. Unfortunately for me, as I kept asking for directions to an adventurer’s tavern, the locals seemed to point me down exactly towards the source of my anxiety.
It was a difficult search as the streets were filled by roadside hawkers and solicitors trying to gain the attention of the busy adventurers. Passing a building without having a vendor jump in front of me with their merchandise was impossible. But finally, I spot the tavern’s sign a few buildings away and I make a dash for it.
About three steps away from the door, I felt a shiver run through my whole body. The source of the gaze that was constantly in front of me, suddenly loops around, and now stands right behind me. My feet stopped. My hands shivering as I tried so hard to force myself to turn around, the smell of the food stalls and exotic perfumes pass my face in turn. It took a few seconds but I finally turn to face the adversary.
- Gareth stirs in his sleep. The flames start to die down a little, but I guess it is better to be moderate with the fuel. -
It was an unusually tall... man... I think. His skin, a pale shade of brown, wearing a tattered, dusty, grey cloak that loosely covered his figure as well as his identity. The green pants and brown boots seemed mismatched to the condition of the cloak. I had not noticed him in the heat of the moment, but looking around, he barely stood out from any other wayfarer on the street; that is, apart from his height.
“Can... I help you?” I asked.
He doesn’t respond. His arms poking out of the cloak are calm.
“Have you been watching me?”
“Yes.” he replied. His voice is quite gruff. He doesn’t sound old, but there is a low raspiness to it. I start to feel the tension of the moment as his body towers over mine.
“W-Why? Do you need something?” I think I was trying to intimidate him.
His right arm moves back into the cloak as he rummages for an item. My body clenches for a second, I was considering making a sprint for the door. But before I could complete that decision, he pulls it back out seemingly empty.
“To give this to you.”
He opens up his fist to reveal a small wooden toy. Barely about half a finger’s length yet it’s form is intricately designed. Now I have realized that it looks much like this creature we’ve found in here. I call it a toy because the limbs move around the joints, but it is admittedly, more of a work of art. The minute details of the feathers, the firm yet smooth joints of it’s limbs, the curve of it’s tail around the side of it’s body and the tiny bumps of it’s crown are all so masterfully done, especially considering how small it is.
I spent a few seconds marveling at the item as the hustle and bustle of the street raged on around us. All the while he stared at me, not in a menacing way, but with what felt like more of a look of understanding. Although, what he understood exactly, I’m not so sure of myself, as my mind was steeped in confusion.
“Thank you.” Was all I could muster up. Asking question in my position felt strangely suicidal.
I tried to look him in the eyes to link a face to this gift, but the deep shadows of his cowl made it impossible. His head shook with a nod as he takes a step backwards, away from me.
“Be safe.” Was the last thing he said.
Curiously, he kept walking backwards, never turning nor lifting his stare away from me. I considered calling out to him to be careful, but he seemed to avoid the chaos around him with ease, narrowly avoiding the flowing traffic of the street. Eventually he disappeared behind the stream of people.
I stood there with the gift in hand. It seemed too good to be a coincidence so I put it into my bag, and there they have remained together, the trinket and the feather.