The Veridians

Chapter 4

It was morning. Morning in Verzawald, a tranquil & simple experience, when you don't consider the circumstance. The mornings of Verzawald were a fresh feeling, especially from the mornings of the Amenisearch building. While machines would rumble & race down the New Jersey streets, nothing in Verzawald but the air of the forest could be heard. When birds would chirp & glide through the air outside the windows of the Amenisearch building, there was a surprising lack of those white noises in the silent morning symphony of Verzawald. But while there weren't many audible sounds present in Verzawald's mornings, the inaudible features of the forest awoke & danced silently in the morning light. The wild grasses & plants looked up to the light of the sky & flourished in the air of the morning. Winds sang through the trees, creating an invisible, almost indiscernible chorus. A new feeling flooded through Callahan's home & swept over Julian. A feeling of comfort, one that Julian hadn't felt since he was a young child. Slowly, Julian woke himself up, his eyes still shut. Subconsciously, he was preparing to get ready for a long day of work at Amenisearch. But as he slowly opened his eyes, he was reminded of the dreams of his that had finally been fulfilled. He laid his eyes on Callahan's home once more, & as he sat himself up, he stretched his arms up to the sky. He let them swing back down before sitting still for a moment, taking in the Verzawald air. He then grabbed his bag, which he had placed over by the stump the day prior, rummaged through it to find his journal & something to write with, & began recounting his morning in the journal.

"Day 2: May 26th. Entry 4. I wasn't able to recount my experience in an entry from yesterday because I fell asleep, but I should definitely say something about the wonderful thing that happened to me. It didn't start out wonderful, it actually started with myself being chased by a red snake-resembling aura & me running for my life from it. I saw my life flash before my eyes in that moment, but luckily, that seemed to be it. Until I was knocked unconscious from the back of my head. But after that encounter, the most amazing thing happened. When I awoke after being knocked unconscious, I laid my eyes upon a very nice looking home. It was in the home that I met the creature who I'm currently living with, a centaur named Callahan. He took me in, told me he would protect me from this separate figure who goes by the name Blaire, and I awoke this morning residing in his home. (I should mention, I believe that the person casting the red aura I had mentioned earlier was Blaire, & after my face-to-face encounter with her, I can confirm that she was the one whispering to me when I first entered the forest.)"

"Callahan has shown me much hospitality, and for that I thank him very much. Although I will admit, he is incredibly intimidating. Standing up, he towers over me by at least a couple of feet. He has longer hair than anyone I've ever seen before, even out of any of my female friends. That plus the obvious factor of him being a centaur leads to some... less than normal interaction. I'll admit, it is awkward communicating with him. But there's also something alluring about him. Something that draws me to him. Yesterday, Blaire made it a point to mention a potential action that Callahan might have taken to dispose of me, but it wasn't entirely clear what it was. Is there something Callahan is trying to hide from me? He's a mysterious man, that's for sure. And I can feel an urge within me to learn more about who & what he is. That will probably come in due time, but for now, I should take my time & get to know everything else this forest has to offer."

He closed his journal & placed it back into his bag. At the same time, he heard the sound of a horse's hooves coming from the other room. Through the opening leading to the other room came Callahan, an exhausted look on his face. His hair was completely covering his face & the little parts of his face that Julian could see looked extremely tired. Callahan stretched his arms up to the sky, likely stretching for the first time that morning. And as he set his hands back to a resting position, he closed his eyes & started humming the melody of the song he sang to Julian yesterday. A green aura surrounded his upper body, cascading around from his chest to his head. His hair began to float slightly, and as Julian saw this happening, he also noticed Callahan's face starting to look less tired. He continued to hum the tune until the very end, and by the end of the song, he looked far more like the Callahan that Julian saw yesterday. The green aura dissipated & Callahan took a deep breath in, and out, slowly. He opened his eyes to look upon the rest of his home, but surprising to him, a small Hispanic man was sitting on his chairs, curled up in a blanket.