The End of Eternity

The Cursed Forest

"You should have behaved, now we have to go all the way on foot!" An elf dressed in dirty clothes said accusingly. "All you care about is a bottle. I was an idiot and backed you up, I will never do that again, you. . .you weak-willed midget!"

The person the elf was talking to was apparently drunk and had trouble even moving forward. Both of them had been originally traveling by a carriage up to the point, when the other passengers kicked them out for farting, swearing and smelling bad. Of course, most of it had been done by the dwarf, who was now walking the road, swaying like a tree in a strong windstorm.

"Weak? Weak you say?!? Frangnir is the strongest dwarf walking on the face of the world!!" The dwarf roared and looked around, wanting to prove his strength. "See that giant sign? Frangnir will turn it to point the other way, only by the strength of his arms!"

Frangnir immediately tried to do, as he claimed. He staggered closer to the sign, placed both his hands on it and heaved mightily. He struggled for a while, but ended up doing as he claimed.

"Pha! Look feeble elf, how mighty Frangnir is!" The dwarf smiled victoriously.

"Mighty and stupid, just what I have expected." The elf growled.

Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by a convoy of carriages, with an elaborate emblem of the Magistrate engraved on all their doors. The duo watched, as the carriages paased them, turning in the opposite direction the giant sign had been pointing only a while ago.

"Strange, I have never seen any carriages going into the Cursed Forest." The dwarf wondered.

The elf just shook his head.

"Turn that back dwarf, you have caused enough trouble already."

"I am not taking orders from elves!" Frangnir frowned.

"Ahh, I see, you are too exhausted to turn it back." The elf laughed.

Immeditely, the dwarf turned the sign to its original position, but it was too late for the carriages, which had already passed by.

* * * *

Tivan swallowed and looked out of the small window of his carriage. This time, they got themselves into a mess. Of course, he and his two friends Gaviw and Alron were one of the few, who had a more accurate picture of the events, which had taken place that night.

Gaviw looked similar to Tivan, they were typical elves, their hair and eyes were of bright, warm colors and their skin almost shone with whiteness. Alron on the other hand, was in contrast with them, his hair being pure black as the night itself.

"I do not like this, it gives me an uneasy feeling." Alron spoke.

"Exactly, I liked their timid versions more. It is easier to conquer the heart of a timid girl in comparison to lesbian's right?" Gaviw was brooding over their future chances.

"I mean the forest." Alron said dryly.

"Ah, the forest." Gaviw nodded, but it was apparent, that he had no brain capacity left to think about the forest. Without a word, Alron looked at Tivan, expecting more cooperation.

"Indeed." Tivan kept looking out of the window. "It does not feel right, it should be bright, turning into fields, but it is more dense with every minute."

They were far away from the city and they were not very familiar with the forests in this part of the empire, even so, something did not feel right, even horses were snorting, their eyes blinking nervously.