Reaching for the Stars

Chapter Five

Like I had promised, I entered the Silver Woods under the annoyed stare of the servant sent here to escort me, he probably noticed how much fuller my bag was now compared to last night. The early morning stock up had been well worth it even if I still felt slightly tired, I had had enough sleep to be mostly aware of my surroundings, I had been given a map that should lead me straight to the Dagon family shrine, as long as I followed along the overgrown paths that usually took carriages.

I was grateful to be rid of the last person employed by the Dagon family to watch me, even though I felt like there were eyes on me the moment I set foot in the forest. Surprisingly enough even though I was alone, and obviously not much of a threat, they didn't feel particularly violent, more curious, if you could tell that much from a gaze that I could feel but not see. No matter where I glanced around, I couldn't find what was staring at me, though for all I knew the trees could have eyes.

Even though I had heard vague rumors of what lied in the Silver Woods, I knew relatively little of it, especially nothing proven by anything but what other people had told me. The forest seemed relatively peaceful, I mean the sun was shining through the leaves of the trees, it wasn't dark and gloomy, there were birds making noises, insects flying around, it seemed like a normal forest, though what was considered a normal forest I wasn't actually sure.

I had entered the forest not long after the sun had come up, wanting to utilize as much daylight as possible, I had a long way to go after all, even with a carriage it would take a full day, but with me walking I knew I would have to spend the night in the forest, it was my only option, hopefully I survived the night. I walked until it was starting to get dark, coming across almost no dangers, or animals apart from the tiny songbirds that lacked any spiritual cultivation, I knew that would probably change once the sun fell.

Seeing no other possible shelter, I climbed a tree after numerous failed attempts, and secured myself to a branch with some rope I had bought earlier that day, this was not the most comfortable position and I didn't think I'd sleep well, if at all, but I wasn't going to continue walking on the ground once it got dark either. The sun fell and like all the other animals knew, they all became quiet, even the insects stopped their noises, and then it was still and silent with no animals making noises or sudden movements, and then howls erupted, sounding like they were coming from all directions, surrounding me, I could only hope whatever creature it was couldn't climb.

Every time I fell asleep, it wasn't long before I was jolted awake by some howling that sounded a little too close, but despite that, I never once seen any of the animals making these noises, I remained safe on my tree branch. Even though I felt dead tired when I woke up the next day, after maybe two hours sleep total, I began my trek again, feeling much the same as yesterday if only more tired.

Honestly apart from all the scary animal noises at night, this forest seemed relatively safe during the day, of course just as I take the time to look around at my surroundings instead of also looking at where my feet were going, I trip over something I hadn't noticed in the long grass that was slowly concealing the path. Huffing in annoyance, I brush the grass away revealing a rotting piece of wood that suspiciously looked like a carriage wheel, albeit a broken one.

I move the grass away more feeling curious, it isn't too long before I find a destroyed carriage on the side of the road, bearing claw slashes through it, it was in pieces, but I could still notice the Dagon Family seal on it, this was the remains of one of the carriages they had sent here, who knew what happened to the person they sent with it, though guessing on what the dark patches were on the pale wood, they had probably lost too much blood to be alive. It's a sobering thought, that even though this forest may look relatively safe in the daytime, it wasn't, there were many hidden dangers I had thankfully avoided so far.