Unblinded Faithful

Chapter 1: Misted Forest

*Chop*
The sound of a hatchet hitting wood can be heard echoing through the forest. Winter is coming, and the man collecting firewood keeps this in mind as he strikes the tree.
*Chop*
"... It's not coming down any time soon, is it," a young boy standing close by says with a hint of disappointment in his voice.
"I've definitely lost my touch... I didn't think it would be this stubborn," the man responds, wiping the sweat off his scar covered face with his forearm.
"Why don't we mark it and come back later?" the boy continues, and the man answers him with a resigned sigh.
"No helping it then. We already have a decent amount, don't we, son?"
"Yeah we've got enough for the day," he says while patting the basket half full of wood with his hand.
"Alright then. I'm going into town to run some errands. What will you do, Aide?"
The boy's head perks up, "I wanna play outside today!"
"Do as you wish," he says with a lighthearted chuckle, setting his hatchet aside and taking a small amount of paint from a jar on his belt and putting a mark on the tree in front of him.
"People don't usually come to this forest. I'm not so sure why, but it was probably the right call for us to stay just on the edge," the man says as he puts the straps of the basket of wood on his back, struggling only a little to get the strap on his left shoulder, as his left arm is lost from there on down.
He picks up the hatchet and says, "I'll head off then. You come back by sundown, got it?"
"Yes, Dad, I'll come back at dusk."
After hearing his son's answer, the father leaves with a waving gesture from the hatchet and a haul of firewood on his back.
Now done helping with work, the boy takes in the scenery of the forest around him. It's an unremarkable forest, if not a bit eerie from the veil of mist covering it, and the distinct lack of shrubbery and grass.
The gravel path that leads back home is only a few steps away, and the noon sun breaks through the fog and covers the world in autumn light.
The familiar scent of the woods wafts through the air, and the sound of various woodland critters comes in from all directions.
The distant sound of the hammers of blacksmiths hitting steel and that of the sawmills in the city slaving away to keep the economy afloat in this otherwise barren land leaves Aide wondering what exactly is stopping such a workaholic population from gathering fine wood from this here forest.
Looking between the trees, Aide is unable to discern much from simple observation, all thanks to the mist covering the whole area and making long distance vision impossible.
If he were to explore these woods, what would he be able to uncover?
His curiosity only grows, and after a few minutes of pondering, Aide decides he will just have to check if he wants to learn more.
Taking in a deep breath before departing, he treads carefully, walking his way through the trees, the lack of bushes obscuring his path making the journey relatively easy, as he makes his way deeper into the forest and closer to the stone wall that separates the city from the outside world.
As he walks, he notices that the sounds of the city grow more and more distant, and even the sound of the birds and other animals of the forest grow quieter, and the fog covering everything becomes heavier.
Eventually, his walking starts to slow down, as everything around him goes silent and the fog becomes so heavy he could barely see a couple dozen metres in front of him. Finally, after what felt like an hour of walking, the fog starts to dissipate, and a beautiful clearing is found within the centre of the forest...
The sound of wind blowing welcomes the young boy as he steps into the circular clearing. Stemming from a single beautiful tree standing tall in the centre of the circle, the sight of grass and flowers stretches and covers the ground, with more numerous and more exotic looking flowers appearing the closer it is to the middle.
The leaves of the tree, almost glowing in their golden colour, and the bark of the tree a pale white like the clouds paints a picture that almost looks otherworldly.
The juxtaposition between the barren and empty dirt that typically covers the entire area of the forest and the beautiful greenery of the clearing make the scene look ever more irregular.
While Aide is stunned by the beauty of it all, the sound of the wind blowing becomes noticeably louder, but before he could acknowledge the fact, he notices the mist covering the forest is heavy all around the clearing and yet none of it comes in any closer.
In fact, the wind that is so audibly blowing about doesn't appear to be moving the mist at all, as the only thing that is visibly being affected by it is the grass, flowers and the leaves of the tree as they're gently ruffled by the breeze.
With everything looking extraordinarily supernatural, Aide walks closer to the tree while clutching his shirt, pit a pats of excitement driving him forward as he reaches three quarters of the way before coming to a halt.
Although he was so distracted that he didn't pay it any mind the first time he noticed, the sound of the wind is definitely getting louder.
The wind itself is not getting any more intense, but it sounds like a howling storm when it's only a breeze in actuality.
Aide tries to cover his ears. As the sound of wind howling grows quieter, his attention wanders to the noises of his own body.
His breathing sounds like an iron smith's furnace, and he can hear his heart thumping loudly like trees falling down one after the other in his ears.
Everything is so loud it's sickening, and not only that, he notices that his other senses are also acting strange.
The aroma of the flowers and grass is so powerful the whole area feels like an old perfume shop, and he can feel his clothes start to irritate his skin as he steps back from the tree.
Feeling scared and confused by the sudden and seemingly inexplicable changes to his perception, Aide trips on his feet as he's stepping away and falls on his back, feeling a lot more pain than he thought he would feel from such a small fall.
Startled by the sharp pain, Aide shuffles around and desperately tries to get back up while still covering his ears with his hands. Each pang of pain from a flower thistle hitting his arms, or a protruding rock just sharp enough to scratch his legs brushsing past, feels way more painful than normal, as he tries to pick himself back up.
After struggling through all the different sensations and pain, Aide staggeringly manages to get up on his feet and dizzily raises his head, meeting his sight is the beautiful tree that had lured him into this conundrum in the first place.
Even when aching all over, the world does not give him a break, as a figure slowly emerges from behind the dazzling tree...