The Great Forest

The Beginning of a Mission

The next morning, much of the northeast side of Dolorville was in ruin. Entire buildings had been raised to the ground. Several streets were littered with bodies. The attack had left the townspeople in a traumatized state. 

William drifted through the streets, dried blood on his shirt and a blank expression on his face. The events of last night had left him shocked, but something felt off. He remembered being incredibly terrified, but couldn't recall why. The harder he thought about it, the more he felt something foreign in his mind. He couldn't describe it, but there was something there that wasn't his own. He also didn't know what the heck he was covered in. It had dried by now, but an hour ago when he woke up under a pile of rubble, he was covered in a clear liquid that resembled saliva. A woman crying jerked him to reality. He turned to see a young woman holding a scorched body. Her head was lowered and she was rocking back and forth. William suddenly remembered Mikail.

Worry flooded through him as he realized he hadn't found his brother yet. He picked up his pace as he searched the streets for any sign of his brother. After several minutes he began to worry more and call out for Mikail. He walked up to a man and asked him if he'd seen his brother. The man shook his head disinterestedly. By mid-morning William was in a frantic state, petrified with worry that his brother would be dead. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration and grunted. This wasn't going to work. If he wished to find Mikail, he would need to keep a level head. Ignoring the weird presence in his mind, he searched for something logical that would give him a clue. Maybe Mikail went home? Home... 

William suddenly realized no one knew where he was! He quickly turned south and headed for home. Maybe Mikail would be there and if not, he would get his father and they would look. He wouldn't tell his mother though, if she found out they'd been separated she would die of worry right then and there. An intrusive image of Mikail squashed under rubble flashed through his mind. William pushed the thought aside as he left the attack zone and began to enter the busier parts of town. People were moving about, clearing rubble, pulling bodies from fallen homes, dousing fires, and helping the injured or shocked. It kind of amazed him how in times of tragedy people will come together despite their differences and help one another. It was pleasing.

As he passed the market, he noticed how empty it felt. Most of the village was down by the attack zone so the normally crowded areas felt eerily quiet. He stopped in front of his family's butcher shop and tried the door. After finding it was locked, he continued on his way home. The Colton family's house sat at the edge of the village opposite last night's attack zone. A few farms created a buffer between them and the Forest. Most of the farmland was farther south reaching towards the valley's mouth. William stopped on the middle of a bridge at the top of a hill, overlooking a small portion of the town below. In the distance he could see the river snake around the skirts of the Great Forest, then take a sharp turn and cut through the center. He didn't know the path of the river inside the Forest, but he knew it continued south and out the mouth of the valley. Like the Mountains, the Forest engulfed the perimeter of the valley, leaving just enough room for farmland. Despite the fear he knew he felt last night, William's curiosity and amazement seemed to suddenly take a new form; wouldn't it be cool if someone were to uncover all the secrets the Great Forest held?

William heard someone call his name and quickly turned to see his mother rushing towards him. Her usually tidy wheat colored hair was in a mess at her shoulders, and her blue dash was tied hastily at her waist. He suddenly realized he had not been wearing his, but didn't linger on it. When his mother reached him she fiercely grabbed his shoulders.

"WILLIAM LEWIS COLTON WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!?!" 

Her loud voice was very shrill, and William was felt a slight headache. 

"DO YOU REALIZE HOW WORRIED YOU'VE MADE ME?! I'VE BEEN WORRIED SICK AND YOUR FATHER HAS BEEN OUT FOR HOURS LOOKING FOR YOU WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG WHY DIDNT YOU COME HOME..." she noticed to dried blood on his shirt. "OHMYGODAREYOUOKAYISTHATYOURBLOODWHEREAREYOUHURT?!?!?!"

William thought if she continued to yell she'll make his ears bleed. "Mother, I'm fine, but..." he debated whether to tell her about Mikail, but realized if she was concerned she would have asked. "Do you know where Mikail is?"

"Mikail is at home, resting. He's been burned quite bad and he told me you two were separated and I got worried that something might have happened to you after seeing his burns and I just don't think I could handle it if something were to happen because I-"

She stopped short and began to cry. William hated seeing his mother upset. And to think of how badly Mikail was hurt... He needed to see him. Guilt began to take the place of worry. If only he hadn't let Mikail slip away, then his mother wouldn't be scared and Mikail wouldn't be hurt. "Mother, let's go home. I'm tired and I want to see Mikail." She sniffled and nodded. William took her hand as she held his arm. When they got home, Adeline and Arthur jumped and hug William fiercely. He knelt down and hugged them back. "Mama was sick worried about you and Mikey." Adeline said as she squeezed his neck. "I know, I'm sorry Mama," he said as he looked up at her. She gave a weak smile as she went down the hall and into Sabrin and Mikail's room. William stood and followed.

As soon as he entered, Mikail sprang up in bed, surprising Sabrin and their mother. "William!" 

"I'm glad to see you, Mikail. I'm so sorry I lost you, now you're burned and-"

"It's not your fault. I'm sorry I lost you." William smiled at this, then asked, "How did you get home?" 

"A woman named Natalia Swarth saved me."

Now that he was home and his brother was safe, tiredness began to creep up at him. Sabrin noticed the blood. "Jeez, Will, is that all your blood? Let me see." He sat down next to Mikail. For the first time he became curious about the blood. How had it gotten there? He was pretty sure it wasn't his own. As he lifted his shirt for his sister to examine, her eyes widenes ans she quickly grabbed more bandages. Confused by her reaction, William looked down and saw that it was in fact his blood. He took off his shirt to get a better look and saw that he had four puncture wounds in a straight diagonal from his left shoulder to his right hip. They weren't very deep and looked more like bruises than stab wounds. 

"You're hurt on your back, too." Mikail said. Twisting awkwardly, William saw that the same kind of wound stretched from his left shoulder to his right hip. He noted that all the wounds were the same length apart, about two inches. Without the distraction of worry for Mikail, he was suddenly aware that they hurt, especially because he was twisting. After cleaning the wounds, Sabrin wrapped William's entire torso and left shoulder in bandage cloth. He told her it was a waste since they barely hurt but she only gave him a glare and told him if he refused treatment she would give him more wounds. 

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That night, as William lay in bed, he thought about the strange presence in his mind and what his father had said when he came home.

"The people are saying it was a dragon. Did you see it?"

Mikail had answered yes, saying that was the cause of his burns. William said he didn't know, it was too chaotic to tell. He didn't mention the strange presence or the loss of memory. Mikail gave him a look he couldn't decipher.

"The Priest was there. He said it came from the Forest. Whoever caused the first attack must have also caused the second."

William questioned how the Priest could know this.

"Because he is God's messenger. Why wouldn't he know?"

All this talk of sin tempting whatever evil lay in the Forest sounded very ill-founded to William. No one had ever attempted to understand it, so how could they know what lay inside? His thoughts travelled back to the strange presence. He came to the conclusion that the presence, the loss of memory, and the wounds had to somehow be connected. While he lay in bed pondering, a thought came creeping to him; the only way to truly find any answers, was to go into the Great Forest itself.