The Key Of Destiny

Chapter 2: Return Of A Warrior

Chapter 2: Return Of A Warrior

     The forest was calm. The trees were swaying in the wind lightly as the gusts blew some of the weak connections of branches, freeing them from their earthly attachment. The brown, crinkled leaves danced in the wind, having their few moments in the air before finally majestically floating downwards onto the floor. The sunlight breaking through the cracks of the trees in the sky lit the way of on looking animals.

     A white canary that was gliding through the air dived, following the bright sunlight through the cracks of leaves and found itself hovering in a calm, respected forest. It flew up and perched its tiny white body onto a thick branch on one of old, timeless oak trees.

     It sat there and waited, expecting something. He emerged from behind a tree, strolling casually through the forest while the leaves the fell swiftly made way for the oncoming man. He was about 6ft 2 and had jet black, tidy hair. He couldn’t have been older than 25.

     He had on a dark brown leather jacket with the zip undone and had tattered navy blue jeans. He was wearing a dirty white shirt with a golden chain at the end. His face was a little dirty, stubble dominating most his face and he wore old, crusty, faded black boots, ridden with mud and dirt that the colour behind it was barely visible.  He had dark, deep brown eyes that glinted of hope and a smile that brought comfort and compassion.

     He had obviously come back from sort of journey or pilgrimage because he had plenty of things with him. He had a large backpack with a sleeping bag on top, while holding a rucksack and around his waist carried a sheathed sword, with a little bag around his waist.

     The canary sat there and put it’s small head under it’s wing, pulling a feather off from its wing before taking flight. It hovered above the man and it let go of the feather, letting it fly in the direction the oncoming person. The man saw the feather, slowly falling in front of him and held out his hand to watch it fall, resting in his palm. He smiled and looked up at the bird, flapping it’s wings to suspend itself in mid-air.

    He clasped his hand around the feather and put it in his pocket, nodding towards the bird. “Thanks. I’ll treasure it,” he exclaimed as he winked to the bird and gave it a smile. His voice was deep but had a meaningful sense behind it. The bird seemed to understand what he had said and tweeted joyfully, whizzing forwards, in the direction of where the man was originally walking towards.

     It flew out the forest and the man smiled again, teeth glistened as the few rays of sunlight hit them. He upped his pace of walking, as the clank of metal resonated the every step, due to the sword that was round his waist. He walked out of the edge of the forest and he closed his eyes, as the full force of the sun’s rays washed over him, drowning him in light.

     He took a deep breath through his nose and took in the scent of the land. It smelled beautiful, the musky smell of dirt and the aroma of the flowers mixed together. It smelt like home. He only wished he was here for other reasons. His smile faltered and his brown eyes shot down and suddenly found his manky boots weirdly interesting. He decided to continue moving.

     He was standing at the top of a small hill, but the view from the top was breath-taking. There were fields and hills beyond the eye can see, patches of fruitful greenery. There was a bustling village at the bottom of the hill, loud, busy with people hustling and bustling, doing its exchanges within the market, people gossiping and it was kind of annoying.

     Perfect. He started to sprint down the hill, nearly toppling over by his own weight. He started to force himself to slow down as he got towards the bottom of the hill. He stood tall, brushed off dirt of his trousers and shoulders.