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Growing up in a part of the Appalachia’s, we had all heard the stories of creatures that scour the lands at night, and even during the day. Often, we forget that they are there, and we live our days as if normal, and dread the nights that slowly creep upon us. As the wind howled throughout the barren trees, the old branches creaked and snapped in protest. Once vibrant, the leaves now withered and sad, clung desperately to the now dormant trees. Tyler walked upon a narrow path that wandered through his hometown in Harpers Ferry, each turn he took led him further and further away from his town and into the untamed wilderness of the Appalachians. His footsteps echoed through the silence of the dense woodlands, and as the crisp autumn air hit his lungs, he paused for a moment to take in his surroundings. The silence was eventually broken as Devon, Taylor, and Akshay caught up to him in excitement.
“Tyler! You gotta see this!” Akshay exclaimed.
Tyler’s interests were peaked, because usually nothing gets Akshay excited. He began to follow behind the three and he eventually ended up next to them. As they trekked further into the wilderness, he couldn’t help but marvel over the land that was in front of him.The four were an odd crew for an area. They were in their late teens and they all met when they were in middle school. They met during the meetings of the weekly Dungeons and Dragons meet ups. Devon, being black, and living in the deep part of the Appalachia’s, would always make him stick out like a sore thumb. Akshay, being of Indian descent, moved here when his family found a plot of land, and it being quiet and secluded, gave them time to work on home schooling their children. Then there was Taylor who is half Hispanic and half white and is filled with tattoos that were done at home, in his basement.
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The warm sunlight filtered through the canopy of ancient trees, creating thick tapestry of exposed roots on the forest floor. Wildflowers, butterflies, and song of happy birds filled the air as they ventured further into the forest. The rustling of leaves whispered silently, coaxing the friends to move forward with their journey. Their laughter echoed through the trees as they followed the path.
“It’s interesting.” Tyler says.
“What?” questioned Devon.
“I’ve never known any other black guy to ever go into the woods.”
Devon laughed, as he was scrolling on his phone.
“Yeah, most black people don’t like practicing being homeless.”
Their laughter again filled the air with happiness and vibrance. Unknown to them, an ethereal melody can be heard that seemed to emanate nearby, luring them further and further into the deep wood line. Tyler let out a large sigh as what seem an hour had passed since they started this adventure.
“Akshay, where are we going?” seemed annoyed.
“We are almost there, and it’s pretty cool. We found this abandoned house out here and had all these weird books.” Akshay said.
“How did you convince Devon to come out here and do this?” Tyler said jokingly.
“We thought we could play quick event out here on our campaign, and the house seemed pretty cool to do it in. I have all the stuff in my bag.” Akshay said excitedly.
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As the sun dipped behind the towering trees, the casting of eerie shadows danced at their feet. The four had always been adventurous and didn’t let this faulter them and they continued.
“Where are we going?” Tyler asked.
“Further into the woods, duh” Akshay smirked.
Tyler let out a long sigh, as he is accustomed to Akshays smart ass remarks.
“Wow, thank you, Akshay for the obvious, I don’t know what I would do without you.” Tyler said.
Akshay just laughed. As they ventured further, the atmosphere of the area grew thick with oppressive stillness. The chirping birds ceased, and the gentle rustling of leaves transformed into an unsettling silence. Tyler’s dad always told him, if there is an immediate silence over everything, that means a predator is nearby. Devon noticed an odd marking on a tree, its surfaced etched with a strange symbol that they had seen before but couldn’t place it. The symbol was a circle, with what looked like mini constellations within it. Devon ran his finger over it, and it started to glow blue. Devons eyes widened and slowly stepped back.
“Uhhh… I think I may have fucked up.” Devon said quietly.
“Wha-“Tyler happened to glance over and began to speak.
Suddenly the sound of a distant howl echoed through the trees, piercing the air. The fours eyes widened, muscles tensing. Their instincts screamed at them to turn around run. The noise grew louder, and louder until was unbearable. They clenched their ears in pain
and fell to their knees writhing in pain. The fours vision begins to turn dark, and they collapse.
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As dusk settled, a mist began to rise from the forest floor, and the four began to wake.They all woke at the same time, and Tyler was laid across Akshay in an awkward position. Akshay shoved Tyler off and his body flops onto the ground and he lands on small rock. He lets out a grunt from the pain.
“What the hell, dude?” Tyler yelled.
“Dude, you were laying across my chest with your dick, and it felt awkwardly hard, what do you want me to do? Give you a high five?”
“Well, you could have just been gentle and slid me off you.” Tyler says as he rolls his eyes. As Tyler and Akshay are bickering, Devon and Taylor slowly pick themselves up and begin to look around. They’ve noticed they are not in the same area as they were before, but the tree with the symbol is still in the same spot. Devon rubs the back of his neck in confusion as Taylor tries to get an understanding of what’s happening, as Tyler and Akshay can be faintly heard in the background yelling like an old married couple.
“Look, all I’m saying is, maybe you should take that as a compliment!”
“YOUR HARD DICK?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”
Devon attempts to interrupt them by calling out for them.
“Guys.” The arguing continues.
“Guys…” Devon notices something lurking in the distant wood line.
“WELL MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, I THOUGHT YOU WOULD LIKE SOMETHING LIKE THAT” Tyler yells.
“IN WHAT WORLD WOULD ANY STRAIGHT MAN LIKE THAT?!” Akshay rebuttals.
Devon had finally had enough of it, and the hairs on the back of his neck were already standing up.
“GUYS WOULD YOU JUST FUCKING TURN AROUND?!”
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The remaining three quickly turn around notice the figure in the wood line. Immediately all of the hairs on the back of their necks stand up. A faint blue glow begins to encompass the mist. As it spread across the ground, it was like as if the mist was coming alive, it rises slowly like steam in front of them, obscuring their view of the distant figure in the woods. A whistle fills the air as a slow chant can be heard in the distant forest. Devon takes a in a deep breath.
“Yeah, fuck all this. Nope.” As if Devon has given up.
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“What in the fucking is happening?! Why the fuck is Gandalf over there being a fucking weirdo?!” Akshay screams.
“Man fuck this.” Devon says in anger. He hastily picks up a rock and launches towards what he thinks is the figure in the dense mist. The rock flies about ten feet, before hurdling back towards Devon, as Akshay, Tyler and Taylor watched what was like slow motion as it nailed him directly in the forehead. Devon’s head flung back, just like one of the anime characters in their favorite show “Demon Slayer”. And he went hurdling back into the ground. Tyler, Taylor, and Akshay slowly look back towards the figure as the blue mist still surrounds them and begins to swirl around them. Devon slowly stands up, as blood is dripping from his forehead.
“I am pretty sure I have a concussion now from Gandalf.” Devon says as he wipes away the blood from his forehead. The four continue to freak out and attempt to run out of the mist. As they begin to run, all four of them slam into an invisible wall, and they fly backwards on their backs. To them it felt like a current of electricity jolted through their body caused them to be stunned for a short moment. Tyler groans as he rolls over and pushes himself up like the push up exercise and the other three follow suit and get up. The four look around and begin to weigh their options about what to do.
“See, I just knew if I brought myself into the woods, I was going to die first.” Devon said.
Tyler sighs and attempts to think of a plan that would get them out. It seemed that the barrier didn’t have a top, and there was a low hanging branch. Tyler thought to himself, if he could jump up high enough, he could hold on to the branch and swing himself out, and the others could as well. As he was thinking of this, a voice rang through their heads.
“Don’t do that, the branch is going to snap.” The voice sounded old, and sarcastic.
A chill ran down their spines and as they all looked at one another, they all asked.
“Did you hear that?” they said in unison.
Tyler didn’t care, he squatted down and jumped as hard he could. He did it, he jumped high enough and grabbed held of the branch. He smiled. CRRRRRRRRRRRRRRACKKKKKKK. The tree branch snapped, and Tyler went plummeting in the ground and he landed dead center on his back. The voice echoed again.
“I told you not to do it.”
Tyler groaned and slowly rolled himself over and picked himself up.
“Man shut the fuck up, Gandalf, or whoever the hell you are.” Tyler said annoyed.
As Tyler stood up all the way, and he lifted his head and there appeared a man in front of them in a dark blue robe. The man was older, and he held a long metal staff in his left hand a book in the other. The white and black hair that covered his head and face resembled that of a dalmatian. His dark blue robe exuded a glow. It was a warm and captivating light that seemed to defy logic to them. It shimmered with intricate patterns, and what seemed to be star constellations. The constellations were gold in color on his robe and they had a faint white luminance around them. The four were in complete shock, except for one. Taylor was not shocked; he was madder than anything. Out of instinct, Taylor cocked back his hand and attempted to punch the mysterious individual in the face. The Wizards’ reflexes were so fast, that it seemed like he was moving in slow motion. The Wizard slammed the front of his staff into the side of Taylor’s head, and he fell to the ground. The Wizard laughed.
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“Woah there, little buddy, there is no need to result to violence, I just wanted to say hello.” He smiled.
“You say no violence, but you smack a metal staff into my head.” Taylor says as he’s on the ground in pain. He rubs the side of his head, and he feels a welt that is already growing. The Wizard smiles at all of them.
“I see you all found my home, which is strange to me, because only ones The Sight can see that home. I guess that is my fault for putting such a low-level incantation on it. I didn’t think people of this area were that smart. It takes a lot of intelligence to have The Sight.” The four of them look at him with an annoyed expression. Taylor gets up, as he’s rubbing his head.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have hit you that hard. You looked pretty strong, I thought you could take it.” The Wizard smiled.
“Can you explain to us why you trapped us in this makeshift hell hole?” Tyler said.
As the Wizard was leaning on his staff, he looked over at Akshay, and threw his book towards him. Akshay instinctively caught the book and looked at The Wizard.
“Interesting, very interesting.” The Wizard said.
“What?” said Akshay.
“Is it not burning your hands, Akshay?” The Wizard said.
“How… did you know my name? Also no. Why would it?” Akshay replied.
“I know everything. I am Ecrosetis. The book burns the hands of individuals that don’t have The Sight. There are multiple tests to see if a person has all attributes of The Sight. ” Ecrosetis replied.
As if Ecrosetis was waiting for an applause, the four looked at him and just stood there as an awkward silence overtook the surrounding area.
“Are we supposed to be shocked an awed by that?” Devon replied.
“There is no impressing you is there?” Ecrosetis signed.
The group looked at him with an annoyed expression. Tyler shift towards the front of the group to speak to Ecrosetis.
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“What do you expect us to be? Happy? You have us held against our wills inside of some knock off Dungeons and Dragons spell. I am also quite hungry.” Tyler replied.
Ecrosetis rolls his wrist in a 180 degree turn and begins to whisper a soft incantation under his breath. As the spell activates causing an assortment of ingredients form midair, swirling and dancing harmoniously. As the fruits, vegetables and grains began to fuse together their energies create the foundation of each dish for the four. The basic ingredients solidify midair, and a shimmering mist begins to form the plates. With the final flourish of Ecrosetis’ hand, the final meal materializes together and begins to slowly float down to the hands of the four. Tyler, Devon, Taylor, and Akshay gently grasp the plates, and look at one another and nod their heads to one another. Akshay drops the book on the ground as he takes grasp of the plate with two hands.
“I see that you’re impressed with what I hav-“ Before Ecrosetis could finish his sentence
the four launch their plates at the head of Ecrosetis.
“If you don’t let us the fuck outta this damn bubble, Gandalf, and stop giving us magical food that you pulled outta your ass.” Devon exclaimed. The other three join in with the insults towards Ecrosetis.
“You have about three seconds to let us out.” Taylor replied.
“Now boys, you have to understand-“ The four attack him simultaneously and all throw a punch at his head. Ecrosetis repeats the same tactic that he did on Taylor, as he steps to the side, he yanks Tyler’s pants to the ground causing Tyler to trip over himself, whilst flicking his hand to send Devon flying into the air and flipping him upside down. The two others thinking they have the advantage while he is distracted with Tyler and Devon attempt to jump on top of him. Ecrosetis sends his foot directly into the groin of Taylor, slams the staff into Akshay’s face.
“If it didn’t work the first time, why did you think it would work the second time?” Ercosetis chuckled.
After all the dust settled and the frantic energy of battle subsided, the four were filled with mixed emotions of how they were bested by an old man with a staff and book. They believed in their minds, that his magic was all a parlor trick and magic didn’t
really exist. As the three looked up at Devon, and Devon looked down at them, they couldn’t believe what just happened. As Taylor rolls over and groans he struggles to put out a sentence.
“Did you…really…have to kick me in the dick?” Taylor groans.
“Seemed like a good idea?” Ecrosetis chuckles.
Akshay rubs his face and wipes the blood from his nose and Tyler stands back up and everyone turns towards Tyler, while Devon is still hanging in the air.
“OH JESUS CHRIST" Akshay yells.
Tyler, why do you not have any underwear on?” Akshay exclaimed loudly.
“I told y’all, I don’t like wearing underwear.” As Tyler picks up his pants the four of them look at him disgusted.
“I could have lived my whole life without seeing your dick.” Taylor said in a disappointed tone.
“Honestly, buddy, I too, could have lived without seeing that.” As Ecrosetis makes a disgusted face.
Ecrosetis let Devon down gently and flipped himself back to the upright position and helped the remaining three back to their feet.
“You guys have a lot of spunk, I like y’all. Are you guys interested in an adventure?” Ecrosetis replied. The four looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.
“What do we have to lose? All four agreed with eachother.
Ecrosetis leans over and picks up his book, and gives them a quick smirk. He waves his hand the book slowly starts to shimmer and then in a blink of an eye, the book disappears.
“Nothing to lose, all to gain.” Ecrosetis replied.
As they venture forth into the uncharted woodlines, the quarter finds themselves in awe of Ecrosetis’ abilities. With each step, the wizard seems to have an innate connection with the woods, as if the trees whispered secrets to him. The wizard moves with a grace that mirrors the swaying branches and the gentle dance of the leaves. The four-follow next to Ecrosetis and ask him a multitude of questions of how he came to be and how magic exists in the world. As the conversation continues, they notice a slight sparkle within his eyes. It seems he has a deep understanding of the arcane. He speaks of eloquence and his words weaving the tapestry of an enchanting story of the world he’s from. Throughout the conversation the four didn’t notice that the world they once knew was gone. They were no longer in the Appalachians. They were in Theghist