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)
Erebus had been lying on the grass again while I fumbled with some dry twigs, snapping them in two to toss into the bonfire.
He was surrounded by a sea of red flowers that had bloomed in unison and taken over the entire forest's borders near the boulder's passage. Their strong fragrance hung in the air, calling out for bees and other insects that responded promptly, even in the middle of the night.
I had learned from the village's healer that these wildflowers – which I often found by the edge of the forest – were called Red Drops.
Apparently, they only bloomed under the shade of the trees of Redwood. When properly distilled and rightfully processed, they produced a potent hallucinogen that could be harmful if used in high dosages. The flowers in their raw state were supposed to be fairly safe, but they were still a rare commodity, a very expensive product that was hard to acquire.
I had no idea that those tiny red flowers could be worth so much and be so potent, even deadly if abused.
Unfortunately, you could only harvest them if you dared to cross over the forest's borders, and the price for them turned out to be all too much in the end. There was no use for me to become a rich corpse, is all I'm saying.
I lit up the bonfire while Erebus watched me with interest like an observer of wildlife would do to a strange creature moving around in such close proximity. He could easily step forward and had me in his grasp in a heartbeat, if he wasn't bound to the forest's limits, that is.
I think he saw me as some sort of pet, something soft, silly, and funny to interact with... but I couldn't help but wonder what he'd do once I stopped being entertaining. I needed to constantly remind myself that despite the pleasant disguise and the beautiful, attractive cover, he was also a very dangerous and deadly creature.
But I still kept coming back to talk to him, back to the dark that was waiting at the forest's edge, a disregard for caution and self-preservation leading my steps.
I knew I was careless and a fool for wanting this, but seeing him was the best part of my day. The sense of danger stopped bothering me after a while and pretty soon, it was completely gone from my mind.
Fast deliveries were scheduled almost daily now that people in the region began to trust me with their packages. Even though I was taking the Redwood trail, everyone knew that their orders would arrive safely and quickly in Chalkbarrel.
A few rumors were still weaved by gossipers in the village. I'd caught fractions and half sentences of tales about me consorting with the devil in the damned Red Forest and speculations of the things I had to do to get all those packages safely across the cursed trail. They came in quiet conversations and hushed whispers filled with distrust and suspicion after I would leave a room.
