I wanna cry.
I really wanna cry.
A small fires crackles next to us. For being so small and flickering like it’s going to go out any minute, it’s illuminating a huge area. On the edge of the fire’s illumination, Alisson set up a circle of light spells, further increasing our radius of perception. It’s not like all this light is reassuring though, no matter how much light there is there’s no guarantee something won’t just walk into our field of vision. Since we’ve lost the horses, we just have to wait.
Ha…I wanna sleep already…I wanna go back to the Capital, where it’s all nice and secure, and sleep…
This past month of my life…I don’t like it, not one bit.
I mean, come on!
On my literal second assignment in Foksly, I get surrounded in the streets, I thought I was gonna die, but thank Sidonia, we fought our way out. Just that night did Alisson get abducted and I had to go looking for him, running me up against that psycho Davy!
And now, I’m here, in the middle of this forest that holds god-knows-what.
My stupid pride doesn’t let me voice my concern, or my objection, or my fear, pride really sucks! Alisson’s so nice too, he’d probably reassure me if I just asked…
I’m sitting against Alisson’s back right now, so I can’t see him. Man, it’s really comfy to push up against someone…
“Hey, Alisson…Why do you think that monster attacked us back there…”
After a moment of silence, Alisson’s voice replied behind me,
“You.”
!?
“H-huh?!”
“You were talking too loudly, and it heard you.”
Ah, ha. So it’s my fault again…
“Why didn’t we fight it? We wouldn’t of lost the horses if we won…”
“We wouldn’t be able to beat it. Our magic hardly put a dent in it and our weapons are too small to deal damnage to a creature of that size.”
“What about Enhérejär? Isn’t it a legendary weapon?”
Alisson sighed.
“The sharpest blades created by modern smiths are just as sharp as legendary weapons. Legendary weapons are special because of their attributes and unique abilities.”
After a moment, Alisson continued on.
“Enhérejär can act as a magical conduit for example, meaning it can reflect and direct mana.”
I’m guessing any mage’s who have fought Alisson with Enhérejär didn’t have good time, having their spells shot back at them and all.
“That’s incredible…”
“Impressed already? That’s only one of Enhérejär’s powers.”
Only one!? I’ve said it before, but I’m really curious to meet something that can beat Alisson…not including that massive creature.
“Well enough about me, what about you? Stilettos aren’t exactly a common weapon.”
Alisson is asking me a question?
“Umm…I picked them up when I was escaping my Keep off of a dead assassin…I wasn’t planning to use them but the blacksmith who I gave them to said they were good quality. So I just never bothered to get any other weapon.”
“How quaint.”
A few minutes of silence pass between us. Thinking to myself, I can’t get one thought out of my head: How Alisson said his older sister would take him here for ‘training’. She must be crazy, taking an apprentice to place like this for training. Well, Alisson’s sister is Serendipity, the strongest Nekomata, I guess she would have extreme measures for training.
“Hey Alisson?”
“Hm?”
“How is your sister like?”
Alisson didn’t respond for a few seconds.
“She’s quite…unsettling. A great fighter to be sure but, she has no manners, no respect for social norms or for most people.”
Jeez, you’d think someone who hangs around Sidonia the most wouldn’t be such a polar opposite of her.
“There were a few times where she’s done…unreasonable things…”
“Like…what?"
I hesitantly ask. Alisson sounded pretty uncomfortable, maybe I shouldn’t have asked.
“Back when I was her apprentice…whenever she got back from her missions to wherever, she’d come to my room, my mind would just black, and the next thing I know…I was restrained in some dark room, and she’d do what she liked with me.”
W-w-what. What kind of sister-
“Er. I’m sorry, I…don’t know why I just told you that…”
“No i-it’s fine. How long did she act like that?”
“Well it got to the point where whenever I’d see her, I’d almost have a heart attack, so Sidonia scolded her and that was the end of it. I guess I should be thankful, my scars have healed over since then, and I’ve still been pretty resilient to pain ever since.”
I…don’t know how to respond to that. I really wish I could see his facial expression right now; it sounds like he’d either be melancholically smiling or defeatedly frowning, Alisson isn’t the most expressive person though.
More minutes pass in silence between us. Hearing what Alisson said really left a bad taste in my mouth. I would try to consult him, but even if I gathered up the will to, I wouldn’t know what to say. As my mind ponders over this new information, something moves in my field of vision.
That’s not supposed to happen.
That’s really not supposed to happen in a place like this!
My eyes lock on to the motion, and a humanoid figure soundlessly stumbles into the light. It was wearing some extremely dirty clothes and clumsily walking straight toward me. The figure quickly looked up, showing a broken and rotting senior man’s face.
“U-u-u-Alisson!”
I whisper loudly.
Alisson promptly rises, and I almost fall backward from the abruptness of no longer sitting against something.
“Don’t. Move.”
Alisson whispers quickly. Both of our sights are locked on to this thing.
“My daughter! Oh! Has anyone, has anyone seen my daughter!?”
The man thankfully veered away from us, instead choosing to drop to his knee’s and plead beneath a tree; holding his arms up towards it.
“Who is that?”
I ask quietly.
“Not who. What. It might have been someone at some point, but not anymore.”
I guess this is what Alisson was talking about when we entered the forest about the whole ‘Who not applicable’ thing. But still, if it’s not just some crazy guy who was lucky enough to wander all the way in here, then what the hell is it? The man, apparently finished with begging the tree if it’d seen his daughter, locked his head, on us.
“Say, you wouldn’t happen to see, see a, an adorable little lady anywhere here have you?”
No. I would not. See. A little girl. In this hellscape.
I raise my hand, and yellow blots form at my fingers. Before I can follow through with my impulse, a gauntlet grabs my wrist from behind. Understanding the gesture, I cancel my spells.
“…”
Both of us do not reply.
The man’s crazed smile breaks, and in moments he starts crying. Tears roll across his cracked and decrepit face as his bellows roar throughout the area. The old man rises from his kneel. With his face in his hands, he stumble’s away, back into the darkness, somewhere.
Despite the thing’s disappearance, Alisson and I stay tense. Finally, the sobbing and yelling die down, and we slowly relax our tight muscles. After a few more minutes, Alisson sighs and collapses next to me with his legs crossed and his brow furrowed. He’s sitting by my side toward the fire, so I can’t sit against him again…darn.
“I know you’d want explanation for that thing, but believe me when I say I know just as much as you do. As much as I’d like to shower every abomination in this forest with fire like you, that thing wouldn’t have been affected; you would’ve only pissed it off.”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Does it have a name?”
“No. Nothing in this forest has a name. I’m not one to give names to creatures and humans rarely enter much less exit this forest enough for shared naming.”
So everything it just ‘thing’? That’s annoying. Names are useful.
“Do you think anything in this forest is intelligent?”
After a moment of fire crackling, Alisson replied.
“Not on the same level as sentients like Humans, Kitsune, Orcs or even Slimes, but yes…I’d imagine at least something in this forest has a modicum of knowledge.”
Scary.
I feel bad for asking so many questions like a dumb brat; Alisson doesn’t seem to mind though. Whenever I don’t speak, he’s usually the one having a one sided conversation, I guess asking questions is better.
“You mentioned the Kitsune, what’s your take on them?”
Alisson glanced at me with a raised eyebrow and a small smile.
“They’re our sole true racial allies. They’re playful, annoying, and equally cunning. If you ever meet one, they’d probably most resemble Lady Salchyon.”
Poor, poor Kitsune, their land was already occupied by the Principality years ago, but they’ve never truly submitted, and they’ve still kept on being good friends with Sidonia. Just thinking about them makes me feel less alone against the humans. On the flipside, thinking about the people who’ve kept them chained up in their own damn territory, the Principality…it enrages me.
“My turn then,”
Alisson speaks out first, physically startling me.
“What do you think about humans?”
I furrow my brow.
“I guess I don’t hate them outright but…”
As I’m about to say I’m not prejudiced against them, thoughts of Davy, Sophia, the Inquisitors, those mage summoners, all of them pour into my mind; and my stomach goes bleak with how all of them nearly killed me even though I did nothing to them.
“…I think they’re bad news.”
Alisson chuckles.
“ ‘Bad news’…I think you’re letting them off a little easy, apprentice.”
My face turns red for whatever reason.
“It’s not like I’d try to befriend one…”
Alisson smiles smugly at me. Hey.
After a few moments, Alisson spoke once more.
“You know, Rickard was always making little friends in every town we were in, by the time we had to leave, he’d always be begging me to bring along a human, like he’d found a pet dog.”
Alisson smiled, staring into the campfire.
“My brother talked about you too.”
“I hope he didn’t say anything embarrassing?”
Alisson said, condescending but still smirking. I shook my head.
“No, he didn’t talk about his work much, and he wasn’t home very often to begin with…”
Alisson exhaled, his smile fading.
“He was my partner, one of the founding members of the 51st along with me and Daventdale back when we only had a few people. Did he, show you any of your swordplay?”
Alisson asked, an eyebrow raised.
“No, he didn’t train me at all. He probably wouldn’t even look at me if I didn’t get his attention…”
Alisson lowly hummed, intrigued. We sat, and more minutes unfolded in silence, however this time, with a good mood in the air.
Alisson stood in a blur.
“Did you hear that?”
He spoke quickly. I stumble to my feet, far slower than Alisson, who’d already drawn Enhérejär. As I was about to say, ‘No I didn’t hear that.’ A ear piercingly loud screech slams into my body. My legs quake and quiver from it’s proximity, it felt like it’d came from inches away.
“Get ready.”
Well, thats it. combat. How the hell did such a good mood turn to crap so quickly? My heart, my poor heart.
More roars.
This time though, they’re not as close and not as strong in power; it seems like someone’s having a tussle for prey. Alisson and I stand, our heads on a swivel and our eye’s frantic, with roars surrounding us on all sides now. Every few seconds the initial, powerful roar would sound and the small ones would die down for a second.
Then, it all came to a head.
The powerful screech roared once more, completely silencing the chorus of other voices. But, it consisted, picking up pitch over the course of a minute, searing into my ears. The now high-pitched screech came closer, alarmingly close and extremely quickly. Then, my frantic vision picked up a wave of black, speeding across our radius of light. It swooshed across the fire and across me, the roar with it. The fire died momentarily- but thank Sidonia, after a few seconds it re-lit and light was brought forth. The screech was in the distance, and the roars hadn’t picked up. I let out a sigh. I kept my gaze glued against the area where the wave of black came from, my back toward Alisson.
“Hey, Alisson, you good?”
“Yeah, I’m here.”
My muscles relax and I turn my body with a relieved smile.
“A-!? Alisson!”
He isn’t there! I just heard his voice! I look around in his presumed direction, and out of desperation I turn back to where I was staring.
My heart jumps. What’s in front of me, mere centimeters from my face, is the white elongated head of a creature. It had large, black eyes and a circular mouth with rows upon rows of teeth that could fit my torso inside of it. It stood on a cushion of a dozen tentacles for legs, it explained it’s agility.
I screamed, in pure terror. I don’t think I’ve ever feared for my own life more-Alisson was gone, and I was about to become this thing’s breakfast; or desert, whatever the time was.
The creature screeched in return and leapt at me, circular mouth brimming with teeth aimed for my head. I shut my eyes, slammed my hands against my face and fell backward attempting to put my legs in between me and the beast. It’s not like I think I’m gonna do more than delay my death…
My mind imagined those tentacles creeping and curling around my legs, then eventually engulfing my body as that thing’s mouth tore my head off.
“Celis! Snap out of it!”
Instead of tentacles meeting me on the ground, two hands squeeze on my body.
“Celis, calm down, you’re shaking.”
My eyes peer open, and Alisson is leaning over me, concerned. Uwa…I’m in his lap.
“You just started looking around suddenly and screaming, you thought I wasn’t here?”
“Uah…it was…an illusion?”
“Hmph. I suppose so, but a hallucination would be a more apt, since only you saw it. This forest is prone to such things.”
Alisson took a moment to unclip a gauntlet, he then bit the middle finger and pulled the gauntlet off. Alisson, moving my hair out of the way, placed his hand bare on my forehead. His hand is so smooth and cooling…
“Something wrong?”
“No. I’m just checking; I’ve seen this forest implant physical deformities with it’s visions.”
Some foreign-maybe living- object implanted into my body!? Disgusting!
Realizing the situation I was in, on Alisson’s lap and being touched by him, a wave of embarrassment flooded over me. I sat up and quickly inched away.
“Are you okay, Celis?”
“Yes! I’m fine!”
I shook my head up and down. Alisson sighed, and opened his mouth.
“I’m not sure what that whole thing was, some battle perhaps, whatever it was, it’s gone now.”
Alisson says whilst clipping his gauntlet back on.
“On the topic of hallucinations, there might be a chance that’d you’d hallucinate me as being one of the monsters, and kill me. So, try to restrain yourself.”
Me? Killing Alisson? Actually, I could see that happening-just as I’m stabbing my stiletto through an abomination does Alisson fade back in, and the horrible realization of- yeah, I’m just gonna stop myself right there.
More minutes pass, I’m starting to think that we’ve been waiting for more than an hour.
“How long are we supposed to wait?”
“However long it takes. We won’t live on the move without the horses. It’s a very low chance that something’s killed them; this forest to seems far more lethal to humans than wild animals.”
Then Alisson raises his fingers to his mouth, and whistles once more.
“Hrrgh…”
My eyes droop lazily across the ground.
You know, the ground here is pretty weird now that I look at it, there’s no detritus like how it was earlier- with all the dead leaves and such. It’s just soft, green, grass. How the hell is there no leaves here, and why does the grass even exist much less seem healthy and green given the light?
Well, whatever. There’s no point in trying to discern this damned forest.
…
Eh? A noise? And not a roar? It’s like staccato thumping. Alisson’s head perked up.
“The horses.”
Huh. Huh!? It’s over? We can move! We’re freeeeeee!
Sure enough, after a minute, the thumping can be discernable as stomping hooves.
“Alright, get to ready move and douse the fire.”
We both blur into action, getting rid of any traces of us being here. Alisson takes out the fire with his wind spell and we go about getting the embers out. The horses arrive, greeted by two very happy riders. As I’m about to mount my horse after giving lots of pets, I see something, off in the distance by Alisson’s still burning ring of light spells.
“Alisson? What’s that rock thing that just moved into view?”
“Rock thing!?”
Alisson’s head shot toward where I was pointing.
“It’s here. Good thing I didn’t extinguish my spells or we would’ve been goners.”
As he speaks more of this grayish thing slowly slide into view, the surface of is contorting outward slowly; it soon takes up a massive area.
“What is it?”
“It’s a large biomass, I don’t know how big exactly, might be a few kilometers big for all I know. You can’t see most of it thanks to the light. It’s slow moving, and devours anything in it’s way, dead leaves, small animals, it’s skin is like quicksand-don’t touch it, you’ll get sucked in with no chance of escape.”
W-what the hell? What a weird decomposer-! That’s why the grass is so clean here! And why Alisson insisted so much on having a large radius of light- he knew we’d be gobbled up if we couldn’t see!
Phew. I’m glad to be on a horse and not sitting down.
“Alright, let’s move.”
Alisson, having retrieved his compass from the his horse’s pouch, clamped his hand into a fist, extinguishing the light spells all at once.
…
Hah…so many things to think about. Well, at least we have our horses now.
The canopy was clearing up as they progressed more north, and the dim blue of morning shone through the cracks. But they weren’t out of the literal or metaphorical woods yet, something could still come, Alisson had to keep his guard up. More and more Alisson had gotten used to having this apprentice - Celis – next to him, he needed to protect her. He’d actually been able to converse with her a lot in the forest, for which he was pleased. Although…
Gah! I’m so stupid! I wanna sew my stupid mouth shut!
Alisson had accidently spoke of Apophria- and how she’d toyed with him. Deep embarrassment rose in Alisson every time he thought that his apprentice now knew that.
She probably thinks I’m nothing but a creep! Every time my apprentice looks at me she’ll think of what I said! Stupid! Stupid!
“Alisson. There’s more noise.”
“It’s fine, we’re pretty close to leaving this hell hole.”
Celis seemed to take every little noise in the distance as an inclination of their attack. The forest has definitely given her a fair does of paranoia. That’s also leaving out the hallucination thing, Alisson had no idea what she’d seen, he couldn’t even guess.
“Alisson! There it is again!”
Celis said in a hushed whisper.
“Honestly, stop-”
Then he heard it. Something like scampering. Small paws on the ground, scampering very nearby.
He kicked the side of his horse, and both steeds increased their pace to a fast gallop.
“What are they? Goblins?”
A fine guess, admirable even, only discerning it with noise.
“Worse.”
Goblins were beast-like yes, but they still had some intelligence; they made nests, clothes and tools, and could set traps and ambushes. The ones under Davy’s protection were probably quite dull because they hadn’t been exposed to the wild.
I need to thank Celis for pestering me so much.
“If I’m right, then that was a scout for a massive swarm of cannibals.”
“Cannibals? Here?”
“They’re not human of course, but they probably were at some point and got lost in the forest. Generation after generation devolved them into horrid things. At least, that’s my take.”
Alisson was not an easy opponent to defeat. But this was a massive number of opponents; they were not small, and they were not slow. Alisson might be able to survive, but he doubted he could protect Celis at the same time. She’d be ripped apart by them. The cannibals were probably salivating at the thought of so much meat, horses, and two complementary humanoids for dessert.
At present, they were running from a phantom threat, one that existed by Alisson’s word only; but soon, this threat would catch up, and it’d be much louder and less ‘phantom’. Alisson had once a swarm run right over him in favor of one of those spider things that’d attacked him and Celis earlier. They swung across tree’s and scampered across the ground with insane speed, not much could run from a vertical and horizontal wall of flesh.
After about five minutes, Alisson started hearing them. Almost inaudible at first, the staccato beating. The noise intensified slowly, as they were progressively getting closer. It was a testament to their speed, that they could outrun horses was stupendous, if only by a little.
Thanks to their head start, they’d managed to keep out of earshot radius, but now, it sounded like they were right behind them. A massive number of scampering and clawing decrepit creatures. Just as the sound seemed to overtake all around them, and Alisson thought for sure that they were done for, it stopped. All at once the noises stopped.
That’s because of course, they’d just exited the forest.
The canopy, shone with sunlight, and the trees could be seen in every direction. Behind them, a void of black lay.
***