Elara pushed her way through the field of long grass outside the village until she came upon the entrance to the forest.

Approaching the entrance to the forest, Elara felt a chill run down her spine. The air seemed to grow colder, and a sense of foreboding hung heavily around her. The entrance itself was marked by a gnarled archway of twisted branches, draped with hanging vines and veiled in shadow.

As she stepped beneath the archway, the shifted, enveloping her in a cocoon of darkness. The forest welcomed her with a symphony of whispers, the rustle of leaves and the creaking of branches echoing through the ancient trees. Shafts of golden sunlight pierced through the dense canopy above, casting dappled patterns of light on the forest floor. Shadows danced along the winding path ahead, beckoning her further into the heart of the unknown. With a mixture of trepidation and determination, she pressed onwards, acutely aware of the dangers lurking in the forest and the vast darkness stretching out before her.

The path was dirty and slightly muddy as Elara stomped down the path with the trees looming over her like giant adversaries, casting a menacing shadow over her every step. The temperature dropped as she came upon a grove filled with tree stumps and toadstools. As she sat on one of the tree stumps, she heard a loud roar coming from the tree line. Holding her breath, she peered through the empty space between the trees, void of light.

There were heavy footfalls against the forest floor, shaking the trees all around the glen, with trees being felled in the distance. Elara’s heart quickened as she started to shiver in anticipation of what was coming through the forest towards her. With a loud crash, the monster emerged through the gap whilst pushing at least ten trees either side of it onto the forest floor.

Breathing heavily, Elara fell backwards from the tree stump and crawled backwards while keeping her eyes on the creature.

The monster was nine foot tall with its massive bear like paws, each tipped with razor sharp claws poking out from the mist of blackness. Its mantis like head was adorned with razor sharp mandibles and piercing red eyes that seemed to glow with malevolence.

The monster and Elara stared into each others eyes, not daring to move, Elara saw the fire encircling the iris’ of the monster with a warmth that she could almost mistake for kindness or sorrow.

A bright light suddenly hit the monster in the side of the head with a whooshing sound causing an other earthly roar to emit from the creature. Elara could see from behind the dark whisps of the monster’s body, a hooded figure running towards them, a long wooden staff outstretched with a blinding light emitting from the top of it.

“Asta Macrata,” the person shouted an incantation as another bolt of white light shot from the top of his staff.

The creature roared in pain as the light careered into the mist of dark covering its body. It turned to the man with its mandibles clacking in earnest.

“I’ve got you now!” he proclaimed as he skidded in front of the monster.

“I recognise that voice,” thought Elara as the monster lashed out at the wizard with it’s bear like claws. The man rolled out of the way and the creature’s claws felled a nearby tree. The wizard stepped around the creature as he put down a crystal. The creature roared and protruded a whip of darkness towards the wizard, which he blocked with a shield, causing the barrier to vibrate enthusiastically.

“Sword!” the wizard shouted behind him as three soldiers came through the trees towards them.

“No?” one of them panted to him. “What do you want a sword for wizard? You’re mad!”

“You’re fighting the air!” chuckled the second one,

“We’re just here to stop you from getting hurt,” cajoled the third.

“You’re useless!” The man shouted exasperated.

The three men had not noticed however, that the monster had turned towards them and was making its way in their direction.

“Run!” the man started towards the men, staff lighting up ready to shoot a bolt towards the creature, his hood falling down over his blue hair.

“Arion!” Elara exclaimed, pleased to see someone she knew in this cacophony. His face was covered in mud and blood, with his features obscured, making him look like a monster himself however, Elara was relieved that he was on their side against the creature in front of them.

“What are you doing? You’re mad!” retorted one of the soldiers. All the three of them could see, was a wizard approaching them with an equipped staff about to attack them. The three men unsheathed their weapons and turned side on in a fighting stance. With a swift wind, the creature grabbed one of the men with its claws and closed its paw, crushing him. Blood pouring out of the man’s mouth and a massive wound appearing out of nowhere in his stomach, the other two men were incredulous.

“What have you done wizard?”

“How have you done this?” The men started to slash and stab wildly around them trying to push back what ever magic they believed was attacking them.

Making his way towards the men, putting down another crystal on the way, the wizard shouted again,

“Run!” The men took heed this time, turned on their heel and ran back to the forest as fast as they could. Unfortunately the monster was faster, engulfing them with the mist that surrounded it. The screams echoed in the ears of the companions but there was nothing they could do as the men were devoured by the darkness.

Arion made it to the creature and started shooting as many of the bolts at it as possible, trying to keep it within the glen. The monster clawed at him again, felling another tree. The wizard placed another crystal down on the ground, now in an almost triangle shape with the other two. He used his staff to lift the two trees into the triangle above the creatures head and shot a large bolt of white light towards it.

The explosion of light that occurred almost blinded Elara, as the light engulfed the entire glen. Once the magic had dimmed and Elara could see, the forest was void of the creature the surrounding trees devoid of light.

“Cheeky beggar” Arion chuckled lightly as he slouched onto a nearby toadstool. “Nearly had my head off little beast!”

“What do you mean little?” shirked Elara. “That was as big as the tallest tree and as dark as the most ominous night.”

“I wouldn’t worry, it was only a Shade Behemoth,” said Arion matter of factly.

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“They’re the play things of the gods, they usually create these creatures and send them to the human realm as a form of amusement.”

“Well the gods are dicks,” she tutted, “and I’m done with their shit!”.

“What a potty mouth! I’m impressed. Shall we?” Arion motioned towards the path out of the glen and into the forest. “We’ve still got a large part of the forest to go.”

“Sure, the monsters can’t be worse than that.”

“Well….” Arion stroked his beard.

“Shut up, I don’t want to know” Elara stomped towards the pathway.

“Let’s go then,” Arion picked himself up and followed her.

Walking through the forest side by side, Elara felt safer in the wizard’s presence but she still felt wary in the company of another person.

“Where do you come from then?” She asked.

“I’m from the rivers of Echosia across the Great Sea past the Desert of Inruio.”

“So somewhere I’d never been in my life then?”

“Something like that,” he mused, “what about you?”

“I’m from the town of Flaliel just past this forest”

“Oh really?”

“Is that so unbelievable?”

“No, just thought you were a high born prude from the Capital that got lost!”

“That’s just rude!”

“Well I’m sorry for my assumptions my dear. How did you end up out here?”

As Arion had saved her life numerous times already, she felt that he deserved an explanation behind the reasons for leaving her home. Saying this however, she still didn’t go into the magic aspect in case she was captured and experimented on by him (as she didn’t know what kind of magic she had).

“Hmmm” Arion stroked his beard.

“You now know that I’m a filthy murderer and all you have to say is hmm?”

“Well its just that some elements of your story don’t particularly ring true but it’s ok as I know you’ll divulge more in time.”

Embarrassed, Elara said,” I don’t know what you mean”

“My dear don’t insult my intelligence by lying to me.” She stared at her feet for the next couple of miles as they trekked in silence through the wood, with the forest providing terrifying distracting sounds as they walked.

“Shall we settle down for the night?” Arion asked, as the sun receeded below the treeline and the wood seemed a bit darker than a couple of minutes prior.

“Looks like a good idea,” Elara shivered as she was very aware that the temperature had dropped exponentially.

Scanning the forest floor for any twigs or logs that could be used for a fire, Elara came across a couple of sizable logs that seemed to have come from a nearby fallen tree. "We just need some kindling now," she thought out loud to no one in particular, after arranging the logs into a pillar-like shape. As she turned to walk around to find some twigs or leaves, she felt warmth behind her.

“What’s the point of magic if you can’t use it?” Arion said as he blew out the top of his staff as if it had been on fire. A blaze roared from the fire as high as their heads, warming up the atmosphere in a magical hue.

“You could have given me some warning!” she exclaimed.

“Where’s the fun in that?” he chuckled. With a wave of his staff, two bed rolls had been distributed onto the ground and a spit had been constructed above the fire, with a full suckling pig atop it. Sitting by the fire on a wooden camp chair that had also appeared out of thin air, Elara started to get warm by the fire, as it had lowed enough to cook the pig but not burn it.

“So tell me about you,” Elara asked. “How did you get here? Where are you going?”

“I was on my way to the Cavern of the Forgotten” he said, sitting down on another opposite wooden chair. “I’m trying to locate the Starbloom Herb.”

“What is that?”

“It’s a herb which increases a wizard’s power tenfold.”

“So you’re all about power then,” she said disappointed.

“No not at all! The council told me that I would need to gather this herb to become a fully fledged wizard.”

“So you’re not a wizard?”

“No just an apprentice, just a very good one,” he winked.

“Where is this cavern then?”

“It’s after the Capital, past the desert.”

“A long way to go then.”

“Pretty much.” Arion sighed, testing the pig with a skewer that was resting in the fire.

“Is it done?”

“Looks like it.” Arion carved off pieces of the pig onto two wooden plates that he had appeared and floated one over to Elara.

“Thank you.”

They ate in silence for the rest of the meal and when they were done, Elara could feel her eyes drooping.

“I think I might get to bed, but will we be safe?”

“Yes absolutely, I can sustain a shield around us as we sleep.”

“That’s alright then,” Elara drowsily got up and got into bed.

The night was full of nightmares but as she got into bed, she felt a sense of calm wash over her as she knew that she was protected by the wizard sitting by the fire.

They both awoke the next morning to the sunlight boring through the canopy.

“Sleep well?” questioned the wizard.

“Mmhmm,” said Elara, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

“Well we need to start moving straight away as I think I sensed something prowling the forest over night around the shield and I don’t want to stay here any longer than we should be.” Arion said concerned.

At the sound of this Elara, got up as quickly as she could, but before she could roll up the bedding, Arion had already used his magic to pack it away into whatever dimension he summoned it from in the first place. She grabbed the handle of her suitcase and started walking, Arion falling into step beside her.

“Are we really in danger?”

“Yes unfortunately so.”

They walked in silence, in anticipation of an attack but Elara never saw a creature as much as Arion had eluded to it. Feeling a sense of safety after a couple of hours, Elara felt that it was safe to finally talk with Arion about the reasons behind the previous day’s escapades.

“So…,” she said with anticipation knowing that her question might be met with other questions. “What caused you to be in the forest and the inn? It feels like you’re following me?”

“Does it really?” The wizard lifted an eyebrow. “It feels more like you’re following me darling!”

“Well no, I’m just trying to get to my parents in Flaliel,” retorted Elara indignantly. “It’s not my fault that you’re on the same path.”

“And why are you trying to get there?” Arion quizzed. Elara was afraid of this question and he still hadn’t answered her question.

“I can’t go back to my home.”

“And why is that?”

“I just can’t.”

“Well that’s clarifying.”

“That’s all you’re getting.”

“Ok then.”

The two continued onwards in silence, as they had reached a conversational empass, each of them refusing to say anything further, Elara more than the wizard. Before long however, she couldn’t take the silence anymore, especially with the sounds of the forest causing her to fear the quiet.

“I killed my husband.”

She broke the dead air so abruptly that Arion stopped. With a deep breath he responded with a calm and resolute voice,

“Is that all?”

“What do you mean is that all?”

“I mean,” he paused either for thought or dramatic effect, Elara couldn’t tell which. “Anyone would think you’d destroyed an entire village and killed the king!”

Elara couldn’t help it but she burst out laughing, doubling over with her face turning red.

“What’s so funny?” Arion said puzzled.

“You – you – really don’t know me at all!” She panted through the laughter. Arion raised an eyebrow and turned on his heel and carried on walking. Elara stopped laughing as soon as she’d started and almost jogged to catch up to him.

“I’m sorry for offending you.” She said apologetically.

“You didn’t my dear but I’m just concerned with the burden you’re carrying.” Arion said knowingly. She had no idea what he meant by that statement but something about it resonated within her.

“Anyway, enough about me, why are you here?”

“I’m on my way to the Cave of Whispers.”

“Ominous name,” she mused. “Why would you want to go there?”

“I have to as I’ve been tasked by the Wizard’s Council.”

“Why have they tasked you to do that?”

“Because I have to get an herb.”

“What herb? Why?”

“Enough questions!” Arion almost shouted at her and the sunlight on the forest floor got significantly brighter and dimmed as soon as it did. Elara sharply stopped talking and they walked in silence for the rest of the way until the sun started to go down over the trees.

“I’m really hungry.” Elara’s stomach growled and rumbled with a force she had not felt in a while.

“Well we haven’t eaten all day and I think it’s time to set up camp anyway,” the wizard said as he looked up at the disappearing sun through the branches.

They set up the camp and cooked a rabbit that Arion had conjured not vocalising their argument from earlier until Elara settled down to rest in her bed roll.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered over the crackle of the fire.

“I’m sorry too,” The wizard also whispered and with one last thought to the subject that she would never question again, she drifted off to sleep.