The Blackwood
I wonder what it was like here, so many years ago. Before the stones crumbled and the earth took back the lands until nothing but the winding stairs and a shell of a stone building were left. Before the pillars that now lay broken and shattered on the ground fell. Before the moss that glows an eerie blue lit the path in this forest of eternal darkness. It feels as if I have been here before. In a dream of a dream, when hopes were high and the world was full of laughter.
How long had she been in these forbidden wilds? She had lost track. Between the dark trunks of the forest and the canopy that only seemed to allow the faint silver glow of moonlight through its branches, she had lost count of the days. The Blackwood was constantly dark, shrouded in night so thick that even the sun did not shine here. She had tried to climb a tree once, shortly after she arrived, to get her bearings. She could never climb high enough to get through the thick branches of the trees and had eventually climbed too high for comfort. It had taken her ages to get back down.
The gaps between the trees thinned at times, though the top remained ever the same. No light from the outside world could penetrate this forsaken place. In the beginning, when she had first come to the forest, she could barely move more than a few feet at a time because the undergrowth was so thick. The good part about the forest was that nearly every bush or tree had some sort of berry or fruit from it. At least enough to keep the forest animals fed. She had watched those animals closely in the beginning; learning which fruits they ate and which ones they didn't. Mostly, she followed the example of the strange deer she had seen grazing on bushes and eating the dark red fruit that grew on them. Those grape sized, blood colored berries tasted oddly like vanilla. It had been a gamble, but they hadn't hurt her yet and she'd been eating them for what seemed like weeks now.
Everything in this forest was strange. The trees bore bark as black as tar, and most of the deep green leaves held a waxy, oily coat to them. Strange flowers grew in the darkness of the forest, closest to the ground, and each one seemed to glow and create a little torch of their own. Strange, blue lights would occasionally float by her. As they did, they made a sort of soft moaning sound that was both gentle and sad, and she never once felt they were any danger to her. Some of the animals she had seen were just as strange as the plants. Solid white deer whose coats gleamed silver in the darkness of the forest. A bird that screeched like an owl, yet looked like a hawk. Squirrels with black fur that were the size of large rabbits is Marsote. What she had thought were song birds weren't even birds at all, but some strange creature the size of a cat with tear-shaped bodies and tails that resembled long needles. They would glide from tree to tree on featherless wings that would have reminded her of a bat were it not for the triangular shape of them. Each one was a different color, and seemed to be made of some sort of lights.
The further into the forest she traveled, the less dense the trunks of the trees crowded. When at last she had finally found what looked like a deer path at first, she began to follow it. It didn't take her long to realize that the path had once been a road. Once smooth and likely well traveled, it was now barely even visible and covered in fallen leaves, twigs, and patches of grass and flowers that had grown through it. That path had widened in some places, but the trees always stayed on either side of the road, blocking the sky and continuing to keep the forest dark. The very air was strange. An almost constant mist flowed through the forest, heavier and thicker in some areas than in others. Yet it had a freshness to it that was strange to her, and she almost felt as if she could feel magic through the air itself; a sort of strange, tingling sensation that kept the hair on the back of her neck constantly raised.
At some point, she had found a stream. She'd followed it, for a time. Still the darkness kept on. And yet something was... calling to her. For some reason, she felt in her heart that she was going the right way. That stream had eventually lead her to the place she was now. Ruins, set within the midst of the forest, as if a great city had once been there. Now the earth threatened to swallow anything that remained. Still, she pressed onward. Up the winding stairs, past broken walls and crumbling monuments that no longer even looked legible. She eventually came upon a large circle; what she assumed to have once been a sort of market place, from the looks of it.
The large circle was riddled with leaves and vine covered stones that had long been toppled. In the center was a smaller, broken circle of three layers. It looked like it had once been a fountain. Now the vines covered it as if they were trying to swallow it whole. A breeze began to blow, billowing the long brown hair she boasted as her green eyes gazed into the waterless fountain. She would be able to rest here. After gathering some kindling, she pulled the flint and stone from her pack and lit the fire within the fountain to protect it from the wind.
She didn't carry much on her. A brown cloak and hood to help keep the rain off her and keep her warm at night. A simple brown shirt and breeches that ran into plain brown boots. She carried a pouch with a few supplies of healing herbs and bandages, and the food she gathered as she walked. There was also a book, which she wrote in, a bottle of ink, and a quill. The only other thing she carried with her was a dagger and a short sword. Neither of which looked as if they had seen any battle. They hadn't, since she'd picked them up at least. She had taken them only to defend herself, but sense she preferred staying away from places she might be seen, she hadn't run into any trouble since she began her trip from Marsote.
Even here, in this strange forest, none of the beasts had attacked her. There was a bear, once, that followed her for a few days. But the bear only seemed curious about her and since it never made an attempt to attack her, she had just watched it follow her. Eventually, it had left her alone. Not once had she seen anyone else other than herself in that strange place. No one of sentience, who looked human or otherwise. She probably should have counted herself lucky, really. She sat down next to the fire on the outer edge of the broken fountain and pulled a few pieces of fruit from her pouch to begin eating her meal. She ate with one hand while she watched the flames dance in the fountain.
So. This is to be my fate, is it? She thought to herself, her expression saddening slightly. Am I to wander the lands alone with nothing more than my thoughts? How long has it been since I even spoke to a person? She remembered, of course. It was the night she'd healed her adoptive father. The night her adoptive mother had tried to kill her...because she used magic.
