The Land of Tales: The Darkwoods

an early start

This was her, explaining what had happened before the guardian had approached her as they wait in a small crack in the wall till the ghosts passed by.

"Well it is quite a long story, it starts with the birth of my younger brother Joe.
You see when he was born I was five years old at the time mother and father always wanted a boy to carry the name of the family.
However, 100 years after the big war medicine has stopped improving while everything moved forward.
Although for the first time humans can build flying cars and houses on the moon no one was ready to spend money to do so. Nobody trusts the government's after the war and so everyone has split into groups, districts. The plan was it's us against the government's but then it became so much more unnatural things started happening.
Like ghosts and moving shadows, oh but I am sure you heard about all this before.
You see, since medicine was so far behind doctors couldn't figure out why my mother could not give birth no matter how hard the tried it all seemed pointless.

Mother and father soon began to give up and lose hope, so on the last day as they left the doctors room an old lady in a cloak approached them and asked if she could be any help. But of course, mother and father couldn't say no to such offer.

You see, she was a witch that wanted a deal and after they asked what was the deal they saw it as such a great deal and accepted, and what a deal it was.
The deal was, that she would give me, their daughter all her powers and that she will train me how to use them until she died. And only after their agreement will she make my mother bare with a baby boy.

Mother and father locked us In the house so no one would find out about the deal they had made, the witch has warned them that if anyone finds out that a young witch existed they would surely kill her for her powers. Years after that which trained me, every single day till the day she died when I was around the age of six years old before she died she whispered "my powers could be your greatest glory and reward or one of your worst nightmare. There is much more that you will have to discover on your own but don't be scared when the sky turns green." I never truly understood what that meant, however today I think I understand what she meant by a nightmare.

Today I heard my brother as he got dressed to leave, so I got up and asked him "where are you going at such hour, it's already dark and we are not allowed outside" he ignored me and pushed me out of the way to put on his shoes and said "I am old enough now, I don't like being in a place like this for the rest of my life so I am running away" I asked "what about mama and papa!!!" He gave me a look and laughed but then said "come on, keep your voice down... you don't want to wake them up, do you? And look I know how much you want to be out there as much as me" he got closer and squeezed my cheeks together and said "come on chubby cheeks, come with me. Let us go together".

Anyways long story short I never agreed to leave with him but he grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside with him. He ran out as if he has done that many times before, and I was right after a few turns between streets we met up with some older guys. Probably my age, I was scared and also confused. A guy walked towards me and said: "soo... this is your sister huh?" My brother pushed me towards him and said " yeah, we are leaving" me, of course, having no idea what so ever what's going on, but I stay quite. The guy smiled and said "interesting..." then suddenly someone from behind puts a bag over my head and all I could hear is my brother yelling out "let me go!!! Let me go at once!!! You traitors what are you doing!?" From what I could hear they said "we will let you go free, but your sister would stay here. But if you wish for us to let your sister go free... consider yourself dead" there was a quiet moment after that, I was scared but I knew I couldn't let him die so I yelled out "goo!! You can go! I will be fine!" The boys started laughing but I couldn't hear my brother anymore. I think that he ran away.

They soon lifted the bag away from my head, I was surrounded and right below my feet lays a dead cows head. The boys smile and said "well now... let us watch the witch burn" how did they find out? I was too scared to ask, too scared to think and too scared to use my powers.

Seconds later black smoke appeared that covered the floor like a carpet of black river. Suddenly the expansion on the boys faces changed, this time they looked scared and soon after that they all ran away. I stepped away from the cows head and started looking for Joe, time started passing and I didn't know how to get home, I don't know why they were so afraid and I didn't know if my brother is alright.

Something started moving and as a got closer a bright white light which looked like fog at first but as I get closer and closer I can see a face, a person? a ghost with a big scary smile. It grabbed my arm and said "a cow's blood? You must be a witch... I don't like witches, witches must die" I yanked my arm away and started to run after I heard that, he followed me but as I kept running into the black fog it seems he was more hesitant to follow I didn't know why but I kept walking towards the source.

And a few minutes after walking I started crying, not knowing is the worst feeling ever. Then I finally met you..."

The Guardian smiled and said "you found the source of the smoke" She stood there with a clueless look on her face then he continued and said "I think I understand what is going on here but I will let you find out on your own. But in that case, your only safety is the woods at the moment as ghosts are too afraid to go there" She then asked, "well what about my brother?" With a concerned look on her face so he answered her with a smile "when we get back from the forest we can go look for him " She kept asking "but what if they find him? What if they killed Joe!? I can't just leave" he covers her mouth and said "keep your voice down... I don't think that they would hurt him. He is human after all, and the boys made a deal, leaving you behind in exchange for his life and he tokes it so I don't think that they would kill him. Now lady what do you say? Go to the woods with me and maybe live to see your brother again or stay here and die? I must leave... I am a busy man" She nods and whispers "Alright... let's go to the woods than".

And so, the journey to the woods begins...