At 15 years old, Johann had learned that the untamed forests had a beauty to them that could not be easily described. They had been his old friend ever since the first vision had plagued his mind. Their dark, emerald depths held a majesty that no other soul in his village would ever notice. The others were always too busy thinking about their own lives to spare some time for a forest.
Johann came today not because of a vision, but because he was taking a break from working the anvil with his father. They were working on a couple of new hoes for the old couple up the road. Theirs had become too worn to be used anymore. Him and his father had been working for a few hours already and had finished the heads. All they needed to do at this point is to finish the handles and put everything together.
"Johann, go take a break. I know you want to return to those woods of yours," said Johann's father while stretching out his sore arms. "I have no clue why you're still hitting the anvil with me. With all the time you spend in those woods, wouldn't you be a perfect Ranger?"
"No, dad. I may enjoy the woods but I wouldn't want to make them my life. I would rather commit to being a Blacksmith, like you." Johann answered while wiping the sweat from his brow.
Johann has long since come to terms with the visions. They no longer impact him as greatly as when he was a child. He also came to terms with not being able to make connections with the other young men and women in the village. His curse is one that he will take to his grave if he can so help it.
The visions of iron towers that touched the clouds and of grand wizards hold no consequence. They have never impacted his life in any way, other than making him the strange one of the village. There are days that he has an episode and the others just pass around him like nothing is the matter. They accept that he is strange, and that is that.
On the way to the green depths, Johann felt a slight bit of trepidation. This startled him a bit. He had never felt something like this while entering his leafy home. This sensation was so foreign, in fact, that he dismissed this feeling as a momentary chill. The winter days were arriving so an explanation like this is nothing out of the ordinary.
The further Johann walks into the shifting glades the less he thought about that fleeting feeling. How can he focus on something so inconsequential when he was getting deeper and deeper into his safe haven? Only when he is amongst the ancient trees does he truly feel alive.
Step by step he arrives in his private sanctuary within the embrace of the bark-covered sentinels. His little shack that he had built 5 years ago had become a part of the forest. His little abode consisted of 3 mighty trees that had all fallen against the same rock. He nailed some planks to the trees to make walls and cut out a door. He used a thick burlap sheet as a door.
The outside walls had been completely coated in the luminescent moss that gives this forest its mystery. No one knows why this moss exists here. No traveler that had stayed in Johann's little village had ever seen it in any other forest. They all remarked the same thing, "This is not natural." And while many wonder why this moss is in this insignificant part of the world, the woods had no obligation to answer any questions.
This is why Johann does not question its existence. Perhaps only a true Ranger would be able to come to the same conclusion as him. 'There is no need to question the forest of its existence. It is, and that is enough.' But he would not want to be a Ranger, he doesn't need that Calling to love this place. It had been his safe haven from persecution since he was a child. It asked nothing of him when he was having a vision, unlike all of the other villagers.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
They asked why Johann was so strange. They wondered why he was different. The children were the most biting of all, as children so often are. They called Johann weird, strange, or silly in the head. They questioned his intellect in the purest way possible. They just wanted to understand why Johann was so queer. That is what hurt him the most.
When he would feel like tears would rain from his face, he would run to the woods. In there, no one would see him cry. No one would see how hurt he was. In there, his parents wouldn't see that he is still seeing the visions. Over time, the forest became the only place he felt safe to just be. This is why he didn't feel that something was wrong while coming near his shack.
He was just getting inside as he detected the smell of something ominous on the wind. He couldn't place it immediately. He knew that he had smelled it before but he just could not place it. While in front of the entrance to his sanctuary, he thought and he pondered. This continued for several minutes until it finally hit him, "Blood..."
At that realization he started sprinting to get back home. There is only one reason that the stench of blood would ever overwhelm the scent of the woods. There was a Beast Tide coming. A time when the beasts of the true depths of the forest would rampage and seek battles to Advance. This occurs when enough beasts in ancient places absorb the natural Mana to enough of a degree. They then seek bloody battles and feast to potentially advance into becoming a Monster.
In this effort they always seek the most dangerous quarry. This is usually the lands of the closest Race. The intelligent Races have deadly weapons and ancient magic that they have used against threats since time immemorial. The beasts have instinctive memories of this fact, it's why they usually stay away from land settled by the Races. But, when they are ready to Advance, there is nothing that will stop them except for death.
Johann knows he has to get to his home as soon as possible. The others must know of the incoming beast tide. If he doesn't warn the others in time they could face destruction. A Beast Tide is a calamity to almost all villages. They do not have the funds to employ any of Martial Calling, let alone just one of the Arcane Calling. Too bad that is exactly what it would take to be able to defend themselves.
"Please let me get there on time, Gods above. Please let me get there in time to warn them," Johann pleaded to those in the Celestial planes. Whether this plea arrived to them, and whether they would actually do anything about it is something that he doesn't have time to contemplate.
He runs and runs with everything he has. He knows that the stench of blood can only mean that they are close. He knows that he most likely will not make it to warn them. How can he possibly outrun beasts, especially ones that are close to Advancement? He runs anyway because he doesn't want to see his home destroyed.
Every step brings him closer to safety, every step brings him closer to warning the others. Yet, he starts to hear the crashing of trees, the trampling of shrubs, the crunching of branches. He can hear the Tide getting closer in an awful cacophony of finality.
He still runs and runs, with all of his terror fueling his aching legs. The crashing is gradually being drowned out by grunts and squeals and roars. The Tide is right behind him.
Sweat is pouring out of his body, his muscles are aching, his vision is blurry. He still runs the thoughts of the others having now completely escaped his mind, probably the only thing that would be escaping today. Johann can feel it. He can feel that destiny is telling him that his time is up. Yet, he doesn't want to believe it, he doesn't want to believe that he will die here. He doesn't want to believe that his deathbed would be the forest that kept him safe all these years.
A determination to live suddenly starts blossoming in his chest. This feeling growing with every screech and howl of the beasts. He can feel a rage beginning to form. This is his forest. This is his sanctuary.
How dare some beasts ruin the tranquility? How dare some mere beast make me fear? HOW DARE THEY MAKE ME AFRAID IN THE ONE PLACE THAT HAS KEPT ME SANE!
Johann abruptly turns around to face the Beast Tide. He then screams to the silent heavens, "I WILL NOT DIE HERE TODAY! I WILL NOT DIE AGAIN!" And he picks up various rocks and pebbles on the earthen floor, floating them into the air with nothing but his mind. He is prepared to fight. He is prepared to stand his ground. Because, David Ro'zard had finally awoken to fight once more.