Daniel ran. It was all that he could do. He didn’t want to – no, he wanted to go back and fight, but he couldn’t.
The noise and the fire of the battle was behind him. He knew that he was betraying all of the men and women that he had trained with, that he had sworn to defend, but he could do nothing else. He was afraid. No – this was no simple fear, to be confronted and controlled. This was true terror, such as he had never before experienced. Such terror that he could do only one thing, which was to move away from the source of it as quickly as he could. He was terrified. Around him, a part of Daniel saw that others were running, just as he had. They had thrown their swords to the ground, just as he had. They still gripped their shields, as if they would offer any protection, just as he did. He wasn’t alone, and he hated himself a little less. But still he ran. The further he managed to get from the battle, the more his mind caught up with what had happened. They had been fighting together, just another border skirmish. He was in his line with the other shield carriers. Behind him a spearman, and behind them the archers. Scattered amongst them, the mages, masters of magic that was far beyond his own understanding. He had to admit, he was a little afraid of them, but he was glad to have them on his side. It had often been said that the only defence against magic was more magic. It had even been going well. They were pushing the enemy forces back. Their flanks were advancing steadily, and they were on the verge of boxing the other army in. The sergeants had shouted to hold – to leave the enemy an avenue of withdrawal. Never make your enemy too desperate, they had said. But some on the flanks didn’t listen, didn’t heed the warning. They kept advancing, at which point their fellows advanced with them. Always keep the line. Daniel had been able to see the enemy magic users over the shield wall before him. Their enemy was now few in number, and the magi had come together. He squeezed his eyes shut as he ran. He didn’t want to see it again. It didn’t help. Even in the dark of his own mind, the vision played out. The enemy magi had been chanting and moving in some kind of rhythm, like a mad dance. Suddenly, the order changed. They were to advance. No – they were to charge. They had to break through. They had to reach those magi and stop whatever they were doing. Daniel stepped forward with the rest of the line and started stabbing and chopping, working with the people to left and right to find openings and take advantage of them. It was almost over. The battle almost won. Then an arrow flew overhead and struck one of the enemy magi directly in the chest. The others screamed, as if it were they that felt the pain and the fallen man started to burn. There was no reason for it – the arrow had not been on fire, but the man burned from the inside. First his body, and then his robes. A part of Daniel felt sorry for the man – this was no way to die. The stench soon overwhelmed their front lines and they fought not to gag, fought to keep their concentration on the fight. The heat was also growing, far stronger that Daniel would have expected. The man’s hair had burned away, and he now seemed as if he had been bald. And still the other magi screamed, as if they felt the pain of the burning. The horns called for a retreat, but why? The dance had stopped, the magi were screaming and writhing in pain, rather than casting anything. The battle was all but won. The soldiers ignored the sounds and the orders. Then the screams of the magi became roars, instead of pain they now made a sound of fury and of victory hard won. The burning man stood again, his skin charred and black, and he seemed to grow. He still gave off the stench of the fire and smoke rose from him. His chest split open, spraying parts of him over his own front ranks. And something crawled out. It was naked, and its skin was red and blistered, just as the mage’s had been. It was almost human, but wrong, the limbs out of proportion, and the head too large. It had tusks, and horns. And it was growing. There was more of it emerging from the body than could have possibly been contained by it. It was soon taller than any man, and soon after that taller than any two, with breadth to match. It looked strong, and it roared its defiance, its success at having been born. And it had been that roar that brought the terror into them. That roar that had filled their minds with the horrors of what it might do to them. Daniel tripped and hit the ground, the shock sending his eyes open. The terror had lessened. He could stop. He could go back. He could find his sword and return to his fellows. He saw the same reactions, the same thought processes in those that had run with him. They slowed, some of them turned. As one though, they kept moving away from the battle. Now not out of primitive instinct, but out of intellect. There was nothing they could do to that thing. The forest was close now. Daniel knew that if he could reach the forest, he could be safe. He could lose himself in the wooded glades, and the ancient pathways. The forest was said to be haunted by something, and that those that entered did not always return. Even those that did return spoke of strange things, and it seemed that they had spent days there when they had been missing for years. That, however, was stories. It wasn’t the truth of the burning monster that might decide to follow them. The forest, whatever tales were told, was a safer prospect than that creature. And Daniel saw that many of the others fleeing felt the same way. They were starting to come together. And come together they did. They looked at each other, and saw their own feelings etched on the other faces. Looking back, they could see the creature, still growing. It was too late to turn back now – any that hadn’t fled would, by now, be dead. The only hope now was to find their way home and to warn their superiors of what had happened. Perhaps something could still be worked out, and a plan formed to destroy that thing. As one, they entered the forest. Immediately, the noise of the battle was gone, and the trees hid the fire. The canopy was high enough that they couldn’t even see the fire of the creature through them. A small stream ran past them, and they all stopped to drink. Even being close to that thing had parched them, and the run hadn’t helped. They continued on, staring at the life all around them. Birds sang in the trees, and Daniel spotted a family of deer through a break in the trees. Other creatures crawled and leapt around them, and the trees themselves almost seemed to be whispering to each other as the wind blew through their leaves. Everywhere they looked, there was life. They kept moving through the trees, unsure where they were or how deep they had gone. They knew that they needed to get through the forest, but none of them knew the way. They tried to go in as straight a line as they could, but that quickly proved impossible due to dense undergrowth. They forded streams, and climbed over fallen trees, continuing ever on. They didn’t speak – to speak would be to break the spell that the forest was casting over them, and to remind each other of that which they were fleeing. Then they turned a corner and saw stairs leading to a higher level of the woodland. Standing at the base of those steps was a woman dressed in a long, flowing dress and hood of green. She was barefoot, and her arms were likewise uncovered, and he held in her hands a bow, nocked with an arrow. The string and shaft alike glowed with a vibrant green energy. The woman tilted her head, causing her hood to drop and her blonde hair to cascade down over her shoulders. She stared at them, and they stared back. She was the first to speak, and her voice was as soft as the wind that moved through the trees, but with the hint that it could be as fierce as the storm that that same wind might become. “Why have you come to the forest, soldiers?” Daniel looked around to his fellows. None of them were officers, and none seemed inclined to speak up. They all simply looked at each other, each hoping somebody else would answer. “We mean no harm, ma’am,” Daniel eventually said after it became clear that nobody else was going to. “We were involved in a battle outside, and we came here seeking safety.” She nodded slowly as she took them all in. She relaxed the bow in her hands, and the green energy evaporated. “I cannot promise you safety,” she said. “The forest does as the forest wills. However, harm none and it will likely not harm you. Why do you come here? Surely, you have heard the stories of what this forest can do to folk?” Daniel nodded emphatically. “Yes, ma’am. We’ve heard. But, begging your pardon, ma’am, what was outside was worse than any story.” She raised an eyebrow. “And what awaits you outside?” At this they all spoke, all trying to explain to her what had happened. They spoke over each other, everybody trying to tell the story in a different order. She let them speak and, after a few moments, held up a hand to stop them. “They called forth a demon,” she said. “They must have been desperate. Very well – the forest will grant you sanctuary, though I cannot promise you will depart as you have arrived.” She moved to walk past them. “Where are you going?” asked Daniel, surprising himself. She looked over her shoulder as she left, heading back the way they had come. “That demon will not be permitted entry. I am Keeper of this forest and the task of ensuring that falls to me.” She drew her bow again, the green energy reigniting upon it. Then, resolute as the trees that surrounded her, she strode into the forest to hunt, and to do battle.
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October 2021
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