Arcanus

[1]

  The Arcanus Forest was a place of mystery and shadows.
The trees loomed from high above, their leaves filtering out any light. The entire forest was cast in darkness. Vines and shrubs lined the border of woods. In the summer, when the raspberry bushes mingled with the blueberry bushes, their berries crushed by the foot of a hungry bear or squirrel, it left an ominous, blood-like stain.
But most eerily, was the fact that it was completely silent.
Blackwood Village, near the forest, was full of excitement, and chatter. The air was always filled with the sounds of carts with rusty wheels, being rolled down the cobble streets, and happy villagers shouting out their produce prices from their own little produce stands.
The sound didn't reach the forest, and if you stood by the woods on normal day, there would be complete and utter silence.
A few, before, had ventured into the Arcanus. None of them had ever come back. Mothers that lived in Blackwood would tell their children there was a monster who had seven heads, a dragon tail, and a lion skin who roamed the forest, eating those whom he came upon. It proved to be an effective way of keeping their children obedient.
At night, the shadows of the forest seemed to reach into the town, and snake around every corner. During the day, Blackwood was a wonderful place to live, full of lively chatter and warm greetings. At night, it transformed into a town from a vampire novel, the doors being bolted shut, the Windows latched closed, the town falling into an eerie silence that nearly matched that of the forest.
And that is where the story begins...