Nadir

A Man in the Woods

"I'm sorry, I'm not quite sure I get what you're saying." Comes a loose voice from a dim tavern room. A warm fire lighting the grim faces of those inside. Sitting around round oaken tables. With tin mugs of ale overflowing and large roasts centering each table.

"What I'm saying is, there is definitely something-nay, someone doing something in those woods." Exclaims a younger man, on the cusp of adulthood but still clinging to the voice of his youth. The old man with a large, grizzly beard clears his throat loudly before taking a massive swig from his jug.

"Ahehm...how do you mean, son?" he asks the young man, with acorn eyes and hair earthy red. He stood tall and bent, like a broken spoon.

"I was out hunting for the guild, when I come across these ruined buildings. I was out pretty far from the city's land, so I figured I'd take a look." The boy says almost in a breath. The other men in the tavern whisper silently among themselves. The young man was the center of attention however.

"Stop a moment and catch your breath, child. Explain to me again what you claim to have seen." The grizzly man says to the young man, who speaks:

"Yes, okay. Sorry. So I woke up this morning far out of city range-where most huntin' is done. I only had another day's rations so I wanted to really push to try'n find more prey. I was walking through the woods that border the vast river, and I stumbled across some ruins. At first I figured it might've been some old barracks or lumber shack that has long since been abandoned. My curiosity got the best a'me however, and I found myself wandering inside.

Of course, it was then that I realized what a mistake I had made, for these ruins led to a large courtyard, with tall pillars lining an overgrown garden. In the center of this courtyard was a staircase leading underneath the earth. I began to wonder what kind of place this was meant to be-beginning to speculate that this might've been some ancient place for Mages of old to practice their magic. The staircase was old and musty, and it was overgrown with vines and moss and cobwebs. I pulled out of my bag some cloth and wrapped it around a decent sized stick I found. Lighting it aflame I stood atop the first step. The tiles of the courtyard seemed to have some form of symbols etched into them-but I didn't recognize them to save my life. So I took the first step into this staircase, and then another. Holding aloft my torch in my left hand and holding my short-sword in the right hand. The darkness enveloped me sooner than I had anticipated and soon all I had to light my way was the measly orange light of the flame. I wanted to be careful, as I didn't know what kind of beast could've stumbled into such a place. I expected the worst-bears, boars, or some horrible monster spoken of only in legend. But I also began to wonder about treasure; maybe there would be gold and silver and jewels lining a gilded crown of some king! There could be thousands of gold coins or ancient scrolls of old Archmages ready to teach magics unknown to this day.

My fear of the unknown turned quickly to anticipation and I dove deeper into the dark. Further in I began to see faint light, orange and flickering-torchlight for sure. I wander closer, keeping my own distance. I felt uneasy, and the anticipation shifted once more to fear. I wasn't stupid; I knew that it would be impossible for fire to live this long down here in a place this abandoned. Which meant it would only make sense for this place to be inhabited. By whom though, I wasn't too sure.

I stifled the torch flame and set down my bag to lessen my noise level. I kept with me my sword and bow. Sinking lower towards the ground I began to stalk my way towards the light. I began to hear soft voices, which rose to loud conversation. I stopped just outside one of the doors which glowed with the warm light.

'So wait, did you want the eve's root or the golden-toe?' Came a light and wimpy voice. Obviously belonging to someone younger than my own age.

'I clearly said eve's root. You need to get your hearing fixed.' Came a gruff and certain voice from someone clearly older than myself. I sink even deeper into the shadows, and began to fear for my life."