Last Envoy

​Last Envoy ​
Chapter One
​Crimson Blood
​Almost like it followed a current, a thick crimson fog encroached Basidia Forest. As the current slithered in between the large ghastly trees, it left spotty particles lingering behind it and a putrid odor that Solis couldn't accurately describe.
​"Sulfer?" Solis questioned in a whisper, but there was no one else around to hear him speak now except the obscure and silent forest.
​Solis clenched his fist. This was it and he knew it was his only way. A way to escape. Solis looked behind him and gripped the silver-lined paper folded in his right hand. Nobody would follow him into this forest. He faced the trees again and hesitated before he reached his free hand out to touch the fog, but just as he was about to clasp his fist, the fog dispersed backwards and sideways, evading his touch. Solis snapped his hand back and observed the area yet again.
​Other than the fog, Basidia Forest had a certain frigid chill to it. Not like the ice of the north, but an unnatural and nipping cold, unnatural to the familiar heat of the east. The forest floor was covered in ashen leaves and groveling insects that skittered through broken twigs that laid across a blackened ground. And when Solis looked up, searching for a clear path into the forest, his eyes met the familiar darkness of the night. Even the moon couldn't breach the overreaching roof of Basidia Forest.  But the forest, for some reason, felt even darker than the night. Solis picked up a tiny rock and tossed it forward into the fog in front of him. When it smacked the forest floor, the sound echoed through the distance and when Solis didn't hear anything unusual, he picked up two more rocks and threw one to his left and the other to his right. He waited a few moments before assuring himself he could move forward without confrontation from the Creatures that might live within.
​After looking over his shoulder, Solis slipped quietly into the forest. His heart suddenly exploded, beating heavily against his chest. His skin grew icy cold and then he was fine. Nothing had happened. He had half expected the crimson fog to suffocate him, to reach out and grab his throat, but nothing had happened. The fog had simply moved out of his way as he walked into Basidia Forest, careful not to touch him. Solis continued to look around as he took step after step, but as he ventured deeper into the forest, it became harder and harder to see, almost like the darkness was swallowing him.  And an eerie feeling came about him like something in the darkness was watching him. But nothing looked particularly strange. Everything looked the same: red and dark and endless.
​"Nothing's here," Solis snapped and placed his left hand against the side of his face. "There's nothing here."
​Solis looked back the way he had come. He hadn't realized it, but the fog had quickly covered his path. He spun around. Nothing seemed familiar. He bent over and placed his hand on the ground, searching for a sign of his foot prints. But there was nothing. He started to panic. The paper in his right hand crumbled under the pressure of his closing fist. He could summon light, but if there was something in the forest, something lurking, it would only draw attention to himself. He couldn't afford that. Not at time like this. He needed to get away.
​"Damnit!" he bellowed, his voice a little louder than he expected. He looked over his shoulder again. "Slow down. Slow down."
​Solis took a moment to think. He cleared his mind and opened his ears, attempting to listen to anything that could guide him. Maybe there was water nearby and he was just missing it. A river would give him a path to follow in a one direction.  But there was no sound of running water and no, there was nothing else but the growing familiar hisses and chirps coming from within Basidia Forest. That and his own breathing.
​Solis moved forward, careful to keep his ears open. And then finally he saw something. A feint light, standing alone in the darkness, had moved in the distance before him. He dashed toward it. One foot after another; moving quickly, he skated past trees into the path that the fog had opened for him. Solis stopped again and shook his head. He was sure he had seen something but it was gone now. He took a deep breath and surveyed the darkness again. The crimson fog was thicker now, almost like it was blood dripping from the overhead branches which obscured Solis' view. And then through the profusely dense fog, there was a light. A warm, bright light that flickered once. Twice. And then it dashed further into the forest and vanished.
​'There!' Solis shouted, pointing in the direction of the light, but only to himself. He was alone after all.
​He took off running, shifting past the trees again and leaping over the random log. He moved efficiently and quickly like a wolf in the night; he continued to run, never stopping, toward that flickering light, past tree after tree. And then he saw it again. A very feint light, but a light. He edged his way toward it, slowing down into a careful walk as the fog continued to move from his path, like it was guiding him, somewhere, and then he came to a complete stop. Solis rested his hand on the tree next to him and searched the forest for the light he had seen.
​Over a vast open land, the florescent moon watched over a large black lake that had been completed surrounded by the forest and its crimson fog. The moon reflected its opal surface across the lake, almost like a ray of light shining down on a small patch that walked inward. And on that small piece of land that stretched out into the lake, a girl stood facing the center of the lake.
​'A demon,' Solis thought. No, he knew better than that. Demons haven't been seen for centuries but what was a girl doing out here. Nobody came into the Basidia Forest. Nobody.
Solis looked back behind him; there was nobody there. He looked back at the girl and thought about shouting at her but he knew better. Instead, he inched his way closer to her, moving from the last few trees he could until he was able to get a better look. It wasn't a normal girl that was for sure. Her hair was silver with hints of white, echoing the same shining brilliance of the moon's reflecting image on the lake and her robes – her translucent robes – they radiated a white light that surrounded her, forcing the red mist to encase her body like a rotating sphere. The closer Solis got, the harder it became to approach her; it was like something...something invisible was preventing Solis from moving.
Suddenly, the red mist surrounding the girls moved backwards and opened a path for Solis to move forward. He inched in closer, moving slowly at first; his eyes darted from left to right but he never moved his head. Then, before he knew it, he was closer to the girl. Closer than he realized, like his body had been moving unconsciously forward, being drawn to the very presence of her existence. He was close enough to touch her, yet she still didn't seem bothered to notice him. Instead, was peering out into the lake, appearing to search for something in that large body of empty water except for the reflection of the full moon. He wanted to say something to her, but he couldn't find the words. His mouth wouldn't let him speak. Solis tried to reach his hand out to touch her but his body stopped just short of her body, like it was scared. But Solis broke through his subconscious and forced his left hand to move forward; it smashed into a barrier and he was rebounded jaggedly.
​"Ouch!" Solis screamed and he retracted his hand before examining the burnt flesh that melted from the tips of his finger. A foul smell of burning flesh followed quickly after and blood seeped from the wound and dripped onto the forest floor. ​
'Magic!'
Solis went to turn around but just as he tried his body rejected his mind and was telling him no that he couldn't move his feet. That was when the girl turned around and her pale gray eyes met his, staring straight through him like he wasn't even there. Solis' throat grew dry and his body became frigid; red ice began to encase his feet, locking them to the ground before slowly crawling up his legs and wrapping around his waist. The girl's gaze continued to pierce him but this time something was different about them. They felt warm and alluring; Solis was too weak to resist her temptation. By this time, Solis realized fully what was happening; the ice had reached his forearms and encased him, pricking sharp frozen needles into his skin.
"Oh poor boy," a voice said, slithering into his subconscious. "Do not be afraid. Your Magari...is-"
The girls lips did not move, but it had to be her voice that was speaking to him. Nobody was near – and he liked it. Her voice, he liked it! Solis had liked how the soothing sounds of her voice had enticed him, causing the inside of his body to feel warm. But the feeling came just as soon as it went away.
Solis' entire body was coated now in the red ice and the back of his neck shot pains into his head as he tried to scream. But he couldn't' scream. His body wouldn't let him open his mouth.
"Your Magari." The voice again seeped into his subconscious like his own thoughts; it felt invasive this time like she was penetrating his soul with her magic. "No. It's different. Strange. But do not cry."
Voices, from the distance grew closer. He knew then that they had followed him into Basidia Forest –a place people forbade.  He knew this it wasn't the girl talking to his subconscious. This girl, this strange girl, had stepped forward. She opened her crimson red lips and placed them on Solis' mouth and kissed him. He tried to move back but again he couldn't. His body seemed frozen in time, stuck in that ice that continued to crawl up his body. Then she bit him, drawing blood from his open mouth as she backed away. The ice had crawled over his face and his entire body was now a frozen tomb and when he blinked, his eye lids cracked.
"Over here," I see footprints. "This way!"
​Though feint, Solis could hear them clearly and he knew it was over now. They were catching up to him and the girl didn't move. Instead, she whispered into his ear', "Death is only the beginning."
​She pulled her hand back and it began to glow red, and from it grew a white and black blade that she shoved through Solis' chest. The ice around him bled crimson, like the mist, and then it shattered and fell to the ground. Moments later, blood erupted and foamed from Solis' mouth and ears as he fell backwards, slamming into the ground back first. The moon, the bright and heavenly moon, slowly blurred away and Solis was enveloped in complete blackness.
​"Over here," said a coarse, rough voice.
Several other voices approached Solis but he couldn't see who they were. He could only tell from the feint sounds of their voices.
​"He's dead?" a man responded. "Check his pulse."
​There was a pause and then, "He's colder than dead," said a woman.
​"What got him?"
​"I don't know but look around," responded the lady. "There has to be something out there. The blood. There's just so much blood. It's everywhere. "
​"Got what he deserved."
​"Is that so? He was just a kid." responded the lady.
​"This means our job is done," said the coarse voice again. "Pick up that letter Cornelia and let's get back to Blingerfield.
​"You're just gonna leave him?" Cornelia asked.
​"He's dead. Nothing for us to do."
​Then, as the voices gradually faded into the night, it was darker than night. Darker than it had ever been.