The Wood

The Test

As someone from the crowd ran off, Gavril explained to me what had happened while Nikolai raved madly at the people in the crowd, which had tripled in size by the end of the whole ordeal.

"Nikolai spoke the words of an old song about strigoi, saying you were a demon because you look same as in the legend. He want Anton to kill you, but Ajád stepped out and explain to folk how Nikolai knows nothing about what he says. Said his father was priest." Gavril smiled strangely at that, throwing a knowing look at Ajád. "Ajád convince folk that holy water is bad for demon, and if you not demon you will have easy drink of it. They are bring water now. See?" I looked to where he pointed and saw a young boy, maybe a year younger than I, running towards the crowd. Ajád strode towards the boy and took what the boy had, bringing it over and raising it to the crowd.

"Here is your test. Here I have a flagon of water, brought to me from the tavern. It will be blessed, and if the boy here can drink it all, he will have proved himself-"

"No! This is ridiculous! You can't listen to this fool!" Nikolai walked up to Ajád, his finger out accusingly. "This boy is obviously a-"

"Shut your mouth, pig-fucker." Ajád said it calmly, but the furious expression on Nikolai's face and the horrified looks of the crowd made me wonder what he had said. "Let this boy drink, and then, if you are right, we will cut him up and burn him. Does this sound fair?" Nikolai said nothing, but the people nodded their heads in agreement. Ajád placed the flagon down, drew a strange symbol around it in the dirt, and began to chant under his breath, eyes closed. After a minute he went silent, picked it up, and beckoned me forward. I walked over, the villagers eyes glued to my every movement. I grabbed the large wooden mug, full of clear, rippling water, raised it to my lips and drank. I downed the liquid in four or five gulps, wiping my mouth and dropping the flagon. I was out of breath, but I attempted to keep my breath level as I opened my mouth and faced the crowd.

"I am..Mátyás. I am boy." I turned to Nikolai, whose face was red with rage. "You are wrong." Ajád threw back his head and laughed, and Gavril smiled broadly.

"You see? He is one of us. Please, dear friends, go home, forget about this idiocy and return to your lives. We are done here." With that, the crowd began to disperse slowly, and Gavril took my arm.

"Let us go home."

As we sat around at the table and supped, I decided to ask Gavril the question that had been bugging me all day.

"Was Ana your wife?" Gavril's hand froze, the spoon halfway from his bowl to his mouth. I feared I had offended him, but his expression was one of sadness, not anger. He's set down the spoon, then stood.

"Come." He walked to the door without waiting for a response. I stood and followed him, grabbing my walking stick. I found him outside, down by the graves, cloaked in the darkness of the night. The stars and moons light seemed muted and dull. He spoke without looking at me.

"Ana was wife, yes. She was sister to Ajád. They came to Madus young, from Kegreye, where the rest of their family live still. Never told me why they came, but I have thought something to do with Ajád, when they came he was hurt. Mine father took them into our home. Mine mother help him, gave him medicines to make strong again. Ana, Ajád and I teach each other our languages, so we all speak together. They father was smith, so when he heal he offer help to old smith Harrus at the forge. Ana stayed with us for a longer time, help tend to womanly things, be taught by mother, and we fell in love. When we marry, I build house up here on hill. We have son, Alek, who...the boiling pox took them from me years ago, when Alek was merely boy. Ana...her favorite flower was a white rose. That why I have them growing from their graves. I have been much lonely and sad, but today I am happy. Thank you to you for it." 

He smiled and clapped me on the back. I smiled back, though in the dark both our smiles were only obvious by the shift in our voices, not the change in our face. It was a dark night in the wood, too dark for smiles and friendship. Too dark for joy.

The next few days went by quickly. My wounds healed at an incredible rate, and soon I was walking fine. Gavril spent a lot of time working, and I helped him, tending to the animals or collecting herbs around the clearing. On the third day we even walked a little through the wood, checking various traps he had set and then cleaning and dressing the various rabbits and squirrels that we found. When we weren't doing chores, he spent time teaching me various things. We spent a lot of time on the language, he taught me quite a bit of Romanian, so that I could better understand the townsfolk. He also taught me quite a bit about trapping and some herbalism. We got a long well, and soon the house on the hill began to really feel like home. My memory still failed to return, but as time went on, I stopped caring as much as before, content with the fact that I didn't remember. The only memories I needed were the ones I was making.

She was beautiful, wandering along the path with her hood drawn up and her basket full of flowers. The thing watched from the trees, it's eyes fixed on her hungrily.

food

She paused as a bird began to sang it's song somewhere in the chilled canopy above. She tilted her head, a smile spreading across her face, red lips parting slightly to reveal white teeth.

hungry

The creature growled quietly. She didn't hear it.

HUNGRY

She ran for a long time, she almost made it back, but she tripped and fell and the thing stood over her and howled and she looked up and met its eyes. They were green.