The Darkest Question

Chapter 2

  I was drifting in the blackness, that dark hopeless void until my eyes began to open. I felt the sharp pain of my skin being stabbed by the snow around me. I saw the same oppressive dark grey clouds, choking the sky with a sinister and uncomfortable atmosphere. I looked around me; My men were missing; The bodies of the rebels were missing, but my sword was there, still red with the duty I was charged with. I sat there. This wasn't right. This scene that I was looking at wasn't right: A darkness, almost like a fog of some sort, surrounded the rest of the forest just ahead of me. I got up and grabbed my sword, sheathing it. I looked around again, and all of the dark wood seemed the same; however, there were high and low points in the blackness, indicating ridges and hills, differing the scenery. I took a step forward, toward what I would assume is the north, and then I saw a figure far off to the right. It looked like a ram, of some sort, standing on its hind legs. I could clearly make out long, twisting and sharp horns, stretching out towards the sky. The figure turned itself toward me, and stood there, in the mist of the blackness. I could make out more now. It most definitely had the legs of a beast, of a ram or some other alike animal. The torso seemed to mimic a human's. The head was most assuredly a ram's. I knew this, most definitely. He turned around toward the deep wood and slowly strode away. I decided to follow it, and entered the darker part of that nightmarish wood. Walking, now, in the dark wood, I found myself lost in the blackness. All I could make out was the slim outlines of the petrified trees. The icy wind blew hard, pushing me so hard that I lost balance and dived to the ground; My face hit the cold hard snow with a slam. Still on the floor, I herd a monstrous breath, the type where all the force exists the mouth, while the mouth is open and the teeth are clenched closed. I raised my eyes from the snow just a few inches and saw the hooves of the the beast. I was too terrified to even continue with ascending with my eyes to see the full figure, but I did. I what looked like a half goat, half ram, and half man starting down at me, horns stretching toward the sky like those petrified and twisted tree branches. His black eyes looked at me on the ground. Even though he looked menacing and hellish, the beast didn't attack. In fact, the beast took a step back.

I got to my feet and looked at this thing in front of me. I had to look, however, at his its eyes to see if there was any aggression, for this beast must have been seven feet tall. It didn't seem an aggressor. The beast looked at me, let out a loud huff and turned, walking forward. I followed it. Walking through this dreary forest, we finally reached what was a wall of trees, which formed a gigantic arch. I looked up at the immensity of it. The arch was made out of the darkest, most atrocious looking trees I've ever laid eyes upon, everything about them was sickening. Through the arch, around the arch, and surrounding me and the whole of the forest was now a lighter, more silverfish hue. It saturated the atmosphere with itself, which made the arch and a very little part of the area around it less dark; however, the forest did not lose it's grisly tone. The beast slowly and silently made its way toward the entrance to the arch and stopped by there entrance. He let out another huff. I made my way over to it. I looked through the arch, nothing but silver-ish grey with this horrid and dark background behind it. I looked at the beast for a moment. He then huffed once more, turned towns the entrance of the arch, and let out a longer huff. The ground then began to shake, violently, the trees cried in a cracking, the winds screamed, and a sinister sounding trumpet sounded. I looked at the beast, and he slowly raised his arm and gestured for me to walk in the arch, or through it rather. I slowly stepped a few feet into the border from where I was standing into it, looking at the border of sicking snow and dark branches, and silver hue, and I imminently was struck with something. My body started to freeze. Then I felt as if someone punched me. I, in reaction, curled over and suddenly my mind was flooded with images and scenes of an exchange I had with a girl, a girl I meet on duty one year ago. I was bestowed with horrific feelings as I was forced to watch this scene replay in my mind. The despair, the looniness, the anxiety, the uncertainty, the confusion, the anger, the violence, and the contempt was too much. I tried to flutter my eyes and walk forward, into the silver fog, going deeper into the archway. I was then struck again, but this time my body was commanded, by some unnatural or demonic force, to listen and hear the scene that is being played in my head again. The scene from my earlier military career was imposed upon my eyes; I had no choice but to watch and feel.