Time itself chooses how to pass, fast, slow or simply not at all.
*****
The faint morning twilight twinkled in the sky as it seemed to gleam with a radiance unseen before. Piercing through the forest foliage, the veil of darkness quickly fled into the deepest part of the forest. The soft rustling of leaves on the ground could be heard as a soft breeze brought with it the smell of autumn.
Clunk. Clunk. Clunk.
Resounded throughout the forest with almost an eerie echo. Wet mud littered the pathway as the once pristine white oak wheels passed through the filth and muck.
Gleaming blue eyes pierced through the fog as they looked at their surroundings with a clear look of disgust.
Wagons pulled by kyr could be seen faintly as the fog released them from it’s lustful grasp.
“I never want to go through a fog like that again,” Josha said as he seemed to spit the words out in disgust, wearing white fur clothing with thin strips of black steel covering vitals as they shined in the faint light.
Clearly made for freedom of movement and protecting vitals, often a favorite of rogues and scouts.
Another man spoke up.
“That accursed fog haunted us for nearly a week! an entire week!” he said while as he rummaged through his rucksack, pulling out a glass bottle filled with a red liquid. With a single bite he pulled the cork out and spit it off into the distance.
One swig, two swigs, a shade of red appeared on the man’s cheeks as his face began to relax.
The morning light finally broke through the foliage, awakening the creatures within. Life began to move and sounds reverberated through the forest.
Still one dominate sound echoed throughout the forest.
Clunk. Clunk. Clunk.
Three wagons could be seen as they traveled through the forest floor filled with mud and muck.
The third wagon had a long claw mark on it as if some type of monster had attacked it, the iron bark seemed to almost bend from sheer pressure.
Two men could be seen resting on top of the leading wagon as it traveled through the muddy filth. The man on the left wore fur skinned trousers and a puffy jacket made from white wolf fur.
As he breathed in and out the white mist of his breath could be seen. The man on the right however wore a worn out pair of commoner trousers and a light vest, as if the cold did not affect him.
With a exalted breath the one on the right began to speak.
“Krist, we will head to the Wildfire Auction House, then head to the Raju Express Headquarters,” He said mid yawn as his blue eyes seemed to pierce through the foliage and into the heavens with but a glance.
The man on the left nodded in agreement as he itched the back of his head.
“Sounds like a good plan, we need to restock our supplies anyway.” Pausing for a slight moment he glanced towards the third wagon, “And we still have our little guest to get rid of.”
The man on the right let out an amused chuckle.
In the embrace of shadows, a small silhouette could be seen as the shadows seemed to dance around it. Gleaming purple eyes pierced the darkness tinged with a look of defiance.
Each breath, meaningful, purposeful.
In these past two months he had grown accustomed to the pains of hunger and thirst.
The movement of the wagons suddenly came to a halt. The second wagon had gotten stuck in the mud.
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A wide variety of cursing could be heard through the walls of the wagon.
“Damnit Volk how did you manage to get it stuck?” Krist called out with anger apparent on his face.
The passage through the forest would normally take 2-3 days at most however with the accursed fog their traveling time slowed to a mere crawl of what it would have been.
“It isn’t my fault this forest is cursed,” Volk said as he continued to drink his bottle of wine.
Annoyed Krist snapped back. “The forest isn’t cursed it's your cursed luck Volk!”
“Krist, don’t let it get to you we will make camp here for the night.” a mellow voice called out seeming not to care about the situation at hand.
With but a glance krist turned and replied. “Yes, captain.”
“Volk, you’re on firewood duty!” Krist snapped.
“Eh?” Volk said as he took another swig of his bottle before jumping down into the mud, the leather boots seemed to scream in agony as he dragged them the muck, heading off into the greenery of the forest.
“Josha, go scout our surroundings,” The mellow voice called out again as he brushed his fingertips lightly over the small metal object.
...
Two days, they were two days away from the wildfire plains, but delays like this had been plaguing the caravan nonstop.
“Rosh light the fire already, i’m cold.” Josha said as he blew his breath on his hands.
The man called rosh stood up with a yawn as he stretched.
Walking towards the firewood he reached out with a hand and began to chant. Red mist slowly formed around his wrist as the words left his mouth.
[ SPARK ]
A crimson red spark flew into the wood pile and instantly ignited it. The flame danced wildly as the red mist around his wrist slowly dissipated into thin air, rosh glanced at josha and said, “Happy now?”.
“Very.” Josha replied with a smirk as he held his hands near the new heat source.
…
The sounds of the forest lingered in the air as it came into contact with the wagon.
‘I wonder what type of creatures those are.’ Kou thought as a small smile appeared on his face.
The sounds continued until nightfall when the forest became eerily silent.
‘It’s so cold,’ Kou thought as he shivered in the wagon next to him was a dented shield that he used to prop himself up with.
The slight mist from his breathing could be faintly seen in the darkness. As the laughter from outside the wagon continued to echo out into the forest.
The men would often take shifts as to not be caught by a surprise attack, goblins though rare in this forest do exist. And they aren’t ones to travel alone.
...
As the night relished in the nightmares and agony, the sun slowly rose into the sky, as the faint light illuminated the camp.
In the cold frigid morning 5 men could be seen huddling around a fire.
“Brrr, it sure is cold.” One said as he rubbed his hands together back and forth.
“Y-yeah, but we will be out of this forest by tomorrow and in the plains.” Another said as his teeth began to chatter.
“A-at least theres a town near this forest, for once we can sleep in a warm bed.”
All the men shook their head in agreement, the town of Lue was located almost 5 miles outside of the Hammerfall forest. Named after the once legendary hero of Aseriul who fell to his demise in the forest.