#personal setting

The Fayrewood had always stood beyond the fields, looming over all the small villages and single city that clung to the edges of the world. The trees were massive, reaching into the sky, lost at times within the clouds and standing so close together, they seemed to form an impenetrable wall against the laughable encroachment of civilization upon its doorstep.

Few would venture into the forest as it was well known the place changed and shifted making it very easy to get lost between its boughs. For those that did enter into the forest, it was always for short forays not too deep beyond the treeline and always to return before the sun set and the forest shifted itself in the dark once more.

Most though did not dare to make a living off entering the forest as it was much easier to trade with the strange natives of the forest, the Fayrefolk, for whatever bounties were in the forest. The strange natives had a way of navigating the forest and knowing when and where it would go, although even then, some species of the Fayrefolk, like the Unseelies, were known for aggression and more predator than trade partner. But the strange goods they brought were worth their weight in gold enough to look the other way for the occasional missing people. If they entered the woods, no laws of the world now could protect them but the laws of the wilds, so the saying went.

The elders always told tales that the Fayrewood was alive in a way that was intelligent. Every tree watched you. Every breath it took reverberated through every stalk of grass, every creature that scurried within the underbrush. Every predator bared teeth, unafraid to stalk silently after those that would enter under the looming trees. All of it singing with the god of life’s very energy and thrumming with his will.

Gainadal saw and knew everything within the Fayrewood. He dwelled in its secret heart. The bounty of the woods was free to all who would dare enter, but the elders always insisted on rituals and prayers to have the guidance of the wild god and his children upon entering the forest. The rituals, at least were a comfort to the people who lived in the shadow of the forest.

After all, one never knew if there were forbidden things that even the Fayrefolk knew not to touch hidden away in the forest. Secret treasures and places that no foot was permitted to touch without punishment.

It is why the elders insisted on the rituals or the guidance of the natives of the forest. It is why there were stories told, generation after generation of the fates that awaited the foolish that would dare to enter the Fayrewood with too much adventure in the soul and not enough caution.

The forest was dangerous.

But the group of friends who stole across the fields under cover of night, glowing lanterns closed tight so only thin streams of light would give away their passage, cared little for the words of elders or warnings of the old childhood stories.

For tonight, there was something to find in the forest and curiosity burned bright in their hearts to know more about the foreboding fortress of nature that ruled all aspects of their lives.

“How far in did you see it Jori?” The leader of the group paused, glancing back to the speaker and raising a finger to his lips, “Just a few feet in Gisel and be quiet. If we alert even one dog, someone will come to see. There is always paranoia that some Unseelie has stolen into the yard and the nightwatchers are quick to investigate any disturbance.” Gisel gave a roll of her eyes although the girl beside her tensed, “But what if an unseelie has stolen into the yard?” the small impish girl asked, glancing to the other three, “Wouldn’t that put us at risk to do this?” “Then it will grab you up and eat you first Valeri since you are so small,” The large rotund boy beside Jori said with a wicked grin. “That isn’t funny, Bal!” Valeri hissed, giving him a hard shove, “And it would probably eat you for how fat you are!”

“All of you shut up!” Jori snapped, “I’m less worried about some Unseelie stealing in and more about a nightwatcher finding us and dragging us home to have us explain why we were skulking through the fields towards the boarder!” Bal snickered, “And I don’t think they will take well the excuse we wanted to see the weird glowing thing in the forest as an excuse. Or rather, you wanting to see whatever weird glow you’ve been seeing.” Jori scowled, keeping his eyes ahead as he ducked his head, moving to the edge of the fields and glancing about before jumping down into the wide ditch that had been dug out between the cultivated land and the strip of scrub land that marked the edge of the forest, “I know what I saw and I know it was calling me. Something out there wants to be found!”

“We believe you,” Valeri said softly, glancing about before following after him. “We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t,” Gisel pointed out, her gaze rising to the huge wall of trees that seemed to almost grow larger, their tops appearing to brush the sky high above, lost in the haze of clouds. “Speak for yourself. I’m just here to drag you all out if something goes wrong,” Bal jeered, “Given I’m the only one who’s been in the forest.” “Only once with the hunters and during the day with the druid,” Valeri drawled, “Easy to be brave in a big group where you are just there to carry the equipment.” Bal flushed, scowling at her before he pushed his way to the front, lifting his own lantern as he looked at the yawning darkness stretching before them, “I’m not afraid of the Fayrewood,” he growled, “Day or night!” Yet his voice held a hint of a tremor, although no one pointed it out. There was a fear in all four of them as they stood now before the forest. The Fayrewood began so suddenly, so unnaturally compared to the forests of other places. Past the ditch, there was only a thin strip of scrub land filled with tall grass before the forest began with the first giant guardian of a tree, its huge roots tangled out to the tree next to it, forming tangled passages into the underground of the forest beyond.

In the weak light of their lanterns, nothing could be seen even a few feet ahead but closed in brush and unending darkness. There were sounds though, chattering and scuffles of unknown denizens of the forest. The distant howls of nocturnal wildlife and the faint flutter in the canopy of some creature on the move through the high branches. There seemed to be life all around, although unseen in the darkness that had come to lurk between the trees. “So now what?” Valeri asked softly, her voice seeming so loud against the sounds of the wildlife and yet still muted as if locked in a closed in room. “Look for the glow I guess,” Gisel murmured, squinting into the dark, “Find it, see what it is, and head home. Easy as that.” “Unless Jori is seeing things to start with and we are just out here for no reason other than a few scares,” Bal joked as he looked out, “I don’t see nothing.”

Jori swallowed, but his resolve was strong enough that he peered forward, lowering his lantern to let his eyes sink into the darkness, tense and searching. He held his breath before he went still, eyes widening with a sense of relief, excitement, and a sense of unease that he pushed aside as he raised a hand, “There it is!”

In the darkness of the forest, the spark of glowing green light somewhere deeper still within the forest drew the eye quickly. The light was bright, like a beacon, casting strange shadows through the underbrush as it danced over spread leaves and fallen brush. The color of the light was green, pulsating almost like a breath, and low to the ground. It did not move, appearing to be some stationary light source suddenly blazed to life and from it, a sense of strange allure was there. A sense of power that both drew and repulsed those who gazed on it. For the four though, an excitement was there, like they were bold adventurers about to stumble upon something new. “I feel something calling,” Gisel murmured, “Just like you described. Like...some nagging.” “Like you can’t look away,” Valeri added softly, resting a hand against Jori’s arm. Bal was tense, eyeing the glow with a tension in his jaw, “We don’t know what it is,” He finally managed before clenched teeth, grasping his lantern in one hand, his hunting knife in the other, “It might be something to lure us in.”

“Scared to find out?” Gisel teased, more to hide her own misgivings as she began to move forward as carefully as she could towards the light. “No,”Bal growled, “But if it is luring people in, we should be cautious and probably find a way to destroy it, for the safety of the village.” “Leave only footprints,” Valeri quoted as she followed after Gisel and Jori as they moved ahead, “We are just going to look Bal.” “Leave only footprints,” Jori echoed, taking great pains to step lightly and try to make as little noise as they moved forward. The glow did not come from any clearing, but more a dip in the land where the trees knotted together tighter and the vegetation seemed to grow thicker. A silence seemed to close in around them the closer they got to the light until they stood staring down at the source. It appeared to be a glowing circle about the edges of a large mound, bright, but pulsating lightly from within a black tangle of growths and branches. The four friends stood staring down at it, none sure of what it was they were beholding. They were all silent for a long moment before Bal moved forward, creeping towards the edge of the divot. “What are you doing Bal?” Gisel hissed, tensing as he slid himself slowly down the embankment, “Weren’t you the one saying to be careful?”

“Yeah, but it isn’t a creature,” Bal reasoned, “Some glowing flora probably, and I also said we should remove it,” “Leave only footprints! We don’t want to stir up something in these woods!” Gisel growled, reaching forward to hook his cape. “I don’t think it is flora,” Jori said quietly, his eyes on the glowing disk of light, watching how the mass of foliage around it rose and fell with an unnerving silence, “It is something alive.” Those words had the group falling silent again, all of them straining ears but not hearing the sound of breathing. Nor the sound of anything alive now. Not even the wind or rustle of a leaf could be heard, as if all sound had deadened around this thing. “Let’s go back,” Valeri said softly, tugging on Jori’s sleeve, “I want to go back. We came and saw it. We can ask the druid or the elders about what it was now,” “Those fools don’t know anything and it led us out here, what if it leads others out here? We need to stop the glow,” Bal said with a growl, pulling from Gisel stumbling a few feet closer. Gisel scowled, following after Bal, “Does it matter? We also can just turn away from it. It isn’t holding us here.” “It doesn’t. We found it and we can leave,” Jori said, feeling his voice grow hoarse as a growing unease was filling him, as if every step Bal took towards the thing, the more some voice was telling him to run. “Let’s just go Bal. You were the one against this from the start, now you are the one being an idiot!” Valeri hissed, “I want to go home!” “You need caution sometimes, but this is just a glowing mound! We might not be out here again and I don’t see teeth or claws or a creeper’s rattling vines,” Bal reasoned shifting closer to the light, reaching out to hold his dagger high, “And I’m not a coward!” He brought the dagger down upon the center of the ring and the entire group went still and silent, everyone holding their breath. Fear was in the air as they glanced about, waiting for something to happen. The forest remained silent. The glow though did not go away and a black liquid trickled out around the dagger.

Bal let out a soft, nervous laugh, “See? Nothing.”

Jori’s eyes were fixed on the glowing circle, feeling dread well up in him, “It isn’t moving.” That had the whole group looking again at the light. It no longer pulsated, remaining a strong green glow. The small, silent rise and fall of the foliage had vanished. Then slowly, ever so slowly, a second green orb appeared beneath Bal’s blade, slitted at first before widening. Like an opening eye.

Bal stood in horror, his dagger still buried in he center as the eye opened up under it. The eye shifted, staring at him before in a flash, the whole mound began to rise up. Bal fell back against the ground, eyes wide as the thing rose, impossibly silent. It stood on slender legs that seemed black shadows of vines than any real limbs. It almost looked like a deer in terms of a body, although the coloration was pure black with a slouched lower half. The tangle of branches were in fact huge horns and the single eye watched them as it stood there silently, ichor tricking out from where the dagger was still embedded in its eye, although that did not seem to impede its ability to see them.

The four stared at it in abject horror, a creature-like terror rushing through all their hearts but their legs remained locked. It was Valeri who managed to break the fear first, letting out a scream that seemed to break the trance of the scene. Gisel and Bal began to scramble up the embankment as Valeri turned on her heels and ran back the way they came towards the distant glimmer of town lights beyond the closed in foliage. Jori looked between the two, eyes wide as he tried to grab Valeri to stop her mad dash, but also looking back to his other two friends. Gisel managed to get up over the lip but Bal was not so lucky. The creature had moved without making a sound, bringing up a large clawed hand with impossibly large claws to pluck Bal up off the ground. He screamed and swung his fists wildly, his lantern falling to the ground and shattering causing a small flame to erupt from the underbrush. The monstrous thing did not seem to care, more limbs stepping forward to snuff out the flames carelessly as it dropped Bal into the impossible chasm that seemed to open up, as if its whole body was a mouth. Jori felt a scream bubble up before he turned and ran, Gisel on his heels. They were crashing through the underbrush now, all the forest seemed suddenly alive as creatures shrieked and wailed in the darkness and the underbrush seemed to shudder. The whole of the forest seemed to writhe now with a primal anger as if something that should have been left to sleep had been disturbed. Jori had no idea if the creature was following them, but how would they know if it was? The thing made no sound as it moved, everything about it silent as if it were a living shadow that was part of the forest. Part of Gainadal’s will. He saw no sign of Valeri ahead. The crashing footsteps of Gisel were no longer behind him. He let out a choked sound as he broke out of the treeline, stumbling into the shrub land and falling to his knees, panting and near sobbing. Jori lifted his head, looking about wildly for his friends, “Valeri? Gisel?” He croaked out. There was only silence, save for the sounds of the night creatures. He managed to rise to his feet, turning back to the woodland. The green light was gone. There was no sign of anyone. The young man swallowed, lifting his quaking lantern up, trying to find a sign of any of them. Of anything. The light fell on a pool of blood and he froze. Jori swallowed although his throat was too dry to work the globule of spit past it. There was a slight sound behind him and he turned, his own eyes meeting the pale, wild yellow of another denizen of the forest who rose from the ditch, much taller than him and looming, wearing a cloak of animal skins and stiched foliage. The feral eyes regarded him with the hunger of a predator that had stumbled upon a wounded creature limping in the forest. The lantern light gleamed off long sharp teeth in a dark-green skinned face of an Unseelie, no doubt having left the forest to hunt the easy pickings of domestic cattle, but finding easier prey rushing out of the forest. The Unseelie said something low in its strange native tongue, chuckling as it crouched, baring those blood-stained teeth in eager anticipation. Jori inhaled to scream, the last gasp of sound before his lantern hit the ground and the night returned once more to silence.