A Winter at Solem High

The Forest

The moonlight struggled to find its way through the thick canopy, and the heavy fog dimmed the faint light even further.  Following the footsteps would be harder than Jenifer had imagined. She wasn't someone who got scared easily, but the gloomy surroundings and dramatic silence of the forest sent chills down her spine. It was as if the whole forest was asleep, and she was disturbing it. No sounds were heard, not even crickets.

She walked slowly and with caution, fearing that the noise of her footsteps would wake something up.

Never venture into the forest alone. Never.

Is what they had been taught on their first day at Solem High. The school didn't need to say anything else, because why would any sane student voluntarily decide to do so. But Jenifer was not any student. 

Her boots dug into the mud and her hands wrestled away the thick vegetation of the understory. She was getting deeper into the forest and it was proving quite challenging to follow the man's footsteps. She needed some light, otherwise, she didn't know how long she could go on. She rested by a tree on a dry spot she had found and thought what she would do next. Up until now, the footsteps had been following a straight path, and she assumed they would continue to do so, but walking ahead just based on this assumption wasn't a good idea. Now that she had reached so far, she had to know where the man had gone, so quitting wasn't an option either. 

Should have brought a torch, she thought. 

Unless?  

She had promised herself she would never try that again. 

But the situation calls for it...

Would she be willing to risk it just to follow a man she had nothing to do with? She pondered upon it, and after about a minute of internal conflict, she decided to go ahead with it. She got up to her feet and took the stance she had taken all those years ago. The right leg in the front, the left one a little behind it, and arms in a position as if she is about to throw a stone at someone. She didn't know if it would work. It had been a long time since she had done it. 

Relax, you can do this. Steady breathing, relax. 

Her breathing became slow, rhythmic, and she closed her eyes. It required concentration, and if it weren't for the dead silent surroundings she would not have been able to do it. Her right hand was in a position beside her ear like when one is about to throw a stone. She began to move the fingers of the right hand as if she were playing an invisible piano, while her left hand remained clenched in a fist by her side.

elemento, power, elemento, power, heed me, heed me, elemento, power...

She repeated these words and her whispers broke the silence of the forest. She kept repeating until she reached a point where her head was aching owing to all the concentrating she was doing. Conjuring light strained the whole body. The last time she had done it she had just been eleven and it had drained all the energy out of her causing her to lose consciousness. She had been exploring a cave when she had tried it. She had successfully generated light. When father had come to get her he was impressed by the light she had conjured but also scolded her later for being careless with magic.

"Your training has not happened yet, you are not to attempt magic on your own"  he had barked.

Her training never happened. Instead, she ended up at Solem High, where magic, like everywhere else now, was banned. 

She slowly opened her eyes and rejoiced to see white light emerging from the ground in a circle around her. For the basic magic she knew, this result was satisfactory. WIth advanced magic, she would probably have been able to light up the entire forest, but for now, the little light on the ground was enough. She just needed it to follow the footsteps anyway.

At least I didn't faint this time.

She did feel drained of all energy but hadn't lost consciousness so she decided to keep walking. The footsteps were now clearly visible and Jenifer picked up the pace. The thick undergrowth suggested that she was in the deepest part of the forest. She stumbled upon a narrow stream, but there was something odd about it. 

It made no sound.

The babbling of the stream was nowhere to be heard. The silence of the forest remained intact. The water flowed across the forest as if it had been put on mute. Never had she stumbled upon something of such peculiar nature and she wondered if this was one of the signs of the alleged strangeness of this forest. She examined the water closely but couldn't explain this phenomenon. She put her hand into the stream and the water felt normal to touch but just didn't make any sound. She lifted some and dropped it on the ground and heard it splash. This meant it was indeed normal water but for some reason, it didn't make any sound while flowing. She was now even more fascinated by her little adventure and decided to cross the stream and keep walking.

Just a little further from the stream the footsteps suddenly stopped. In the direction that the footsteps were evidently headed, she noticed something. There were lights in the distance, bright yellow lights. The man had to have gone there. 

That's the only place he could have gone. But why did his footsteps stop here then?

She walked until she finally arrived at a clearing across which a wooden fence ran. Beyond this was something rather magical. It appeared to be a small town hidden within the forest, but this wasn't like any other town Jenifer had seen. The yellow light emerged from lanterns that floated all around the cobbled streets of the town. There was no sign that suggested Jenifer wasn't allowed in there, not that any sign would have stopped her at this point. She crossed the fence and slowly made her way towards the town.