A dark fairy tale about traps, lures and falling for shadows.
When you see an eldritch dark horror made of shadows by the side of an old cursed trail that no one dares to go, you expect it to be less charming as it tries to trick you with deceitful...
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Art by James Fenner (@JMFenner91 on Twitter)
Next time I went through Redwood's trail, the apparition didn't try any more helpless baits to try to trick me. This time it used a fallen trunk that was tossed across the road, in a part of the trail that had two big boulders on each side. The trunk blocked the way entirely, making it impossible to pass through and to continue with my journey.
"Oh, man! Seriously?" I complained as I pulled hard at Wooly's reins, making the wagon come to an abrupt halt.
I stomped down the wagon in a foul mood, and then I walked up to the road blockage to better evaluate the situation. The fallen trunk was quite thick, a good few inches wide of sturdy wood crossing my way. It was going to take some time to chop it all off and clear the passage for the wagon.
"That is such a low blow!" I grumbled to myself and I swear I could almost hear a faint chuckle rustling faintly past the trees. Or was it just my imagination playing tricks on my ears?
I tried to find a way to solve the problem lying ahead of me. There was a narrow path marked on the grass that diverted from the main trail, only a few feet before the road's blockage. The path led to a spot in the forest where the trees were scarce and there wasn't even any ground vegetation, the wagon could easily pass through that way.
It was a very convenient side track, and certainly was the easiest and fastest way to solve this problem, but... it advanced into the forest a little, crossing past its limits, definitely not on safe grounds.
"I see you're changing tactics here..." I said to the shadow moving past the tree line. "It is a clever ruse, but there's a fault in your plan." I rested both hands on my waist as I surveyed the ominous detour. "You gave me a good problem, there's no doubt about it, but you also made it too easy to solve it. And you know what they say, if it's too good to be true..." I commented, shaking my head in disbelief. "I must tell you though, it is a very annoying thing you just made in here. Very bothersome for sure. It's going to cost me all the extra bonus I'll get from this now not so fast delivery, you know? Every minute wasted chopping off this trunk is money lost down the drain. And all of this for what? For this stupid obvious trap? Come on, man."
A loud hollering shook the leaves of the trees but it didn't phase me one bit. I just tusked disapprovingly at the air and shot one last glare towards the edge of the woods, before heading to the back of the wagon to fetch my ax so I could chop off that damn tree.
I was almost finishing cutting through the trunk when I noticed his dark shape standing over by the line of trees, at the very edge of the forest. The apparition had the same form as last time, the handsome dark haired man with marbled skin, standing barefoot in black trousers and a black shirt, watching me chop off the tree from afar.
I was getting tired and my hands were beginning to blister, so I decided it was time for a small break. I turned to watch him. Maybe I could go have a quick chat with the devious apparition. It wouldn't hurt to just talk to him, since I was already taking a break here... the thought entered my head as I put down the ax.
