It has 3 years since Acel fled his home and disappeared into the wilds of Alkor, a nation utterly torn apart by a 30 years war. It's East falling to internal bandits and it's West under constant enemy attack.
The years of living in the harsh and unf...
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The wagon creaked as it was pulled along the uneven dirt road. Each little indent in the road felt like a deep chasm to those sitting inside. Acel could hear the horse at the front periodically grunt as it pulled their weight. The green hills of the south put further strain upon the horse and its grunts became more laboured. Acel stood up awkwardly inside the wagon, causing the rapier at his waist to bump into the cargo. He leaned carefully out of the front to get a look at the land. He could see the road winding towards a forest so dense that it appeared more like a solid wall of green. The treeless hills leading up to the forest emphasized its wall-like appearance.
The atmosphere inside the wagon grew increasingly uneasy as the wagon creaked closer and closer to the forest. Like an innocent man marching to the gallows. By the time they had arrived at the entrance, the air itself felt clenched and shaken.
Between the trees on either side of the forest entrance, only the darkness of the inner forest could be seen. The branches on the sides of the trees broken from wagon traffic looked like jagged teeth. The trees were as black as charcoal yet had never been burnt, their leaves a pale green as if their very life was taken from them. The entrance had an ominous feeling to it, almost as if the wagon was going to be devoured.
A swarm of crows suddenly flew screaming from the darkness over the merchant's wagon and off into the horizon behind them. A cold wind swept past them, chilling the passengers to the bone, and swaying the trees back and forth, giving the appearance as if the forest was alive and taunting them.
Acel looked behind him at the other people in the back of the wagon's storage. Children as young as 6 made up half of the dozen fellow passengers that sat next to him. They were tired, with worn clothes and even more worn faces. Their eyes were wide and unmoving, staring at nothing. The signature look of those from the eastern border villages. They huddled together as if to shield themselves from the lifelessness that seemed to emit from the forest.
"Hey, driver!" Acel yelled turning his head, "Do you realize where we are? That's the Barabbas Forest! Have you not heard the stories of that place? We are heading right into bandit territory! Don't you care for your own life or ours?".
Despite Acel's protest the wagon did not stop moving. Many of the other people in the wagon mirrored his emotions and began to raise their voices at the driver.
"You're going to kill us you madman!" screamed a woman who clutched her child with fear as much as anger in her voice.
At the woman's cry, the Driver quickly reeled in the horse's reins and stopped the wagon. After a moment of motionless silence, he turned around to address the now increasing anger of his passengers.
"Now everyone calm down." The Driver said calmly, clearly attempting to de-escalate the situation, "The entire west of the country is now controlled by bandits, so if we want to go west no matter where we go we will have to go into bandit territory." The Driver pointed to the forest, "And the forest is the shortest way through."
