The Tale Teller

Ch 34

 The forest seemed to beckon like the wanton whispers of a woman. The wind wailed as though in pain, reliving the suffering of its life against the pines that now shaded the grey skies completely. It turned The Bard's red cloak the shade of dried blood.

The man walked ahead of Vaun with the two children following. Loral's teeth had begun to chatter. She had drawn Ash's threadbare coat around her shoulders, but the cold couldn't be blocked. Ash stood tall and confident, but as he looked left and right, a hand pushing his hair from his eyes, Vaun could see the blue tinting his skin.

Vaun had felt the cold beneath frost dusted hedges, he had touched the walls of the food storage rooms in the cellars of Faydura and the caves of Caveholde. He knew the cold. He knew how it bit at fingers and toes until children burst into tears at the pain it brought them. This forest held a different kind of cold though. It was a sort which brought a pain that immediately settled in the bones as though they were about to crack in two. He tugged his cloak around him in vain. This wasn't a chill one could block out.

The snow had begun to fall as they had left the first clearing behind in search for the second, but with the temperature, Vaun doubted the spring he had been so sure of would ever arrive.

The sickly sweet scent was growing heavier like the humidity of a summers day. It wasn't just unusual for this time of year, it was impossible. With ever step it grew stronger until Vaun had no choice but to pull his cloak up to cover his nose and mouth, just as a cough escaped him.

"It's heavy this evening." The Bard pulled up the corner of his own cloak to muffle it from entering his lungs. Loral and Ash followed suit with their collars and sleeves.

"What is it?"

"Who knows." It was odd how The Bard shouted behind, his fear gone now the outskirts and the border where east met west was out of sight. The forest was still but for his voice as it mixed with the wind. "It's like a mist that comes from the ground."

Ash glanced back at Vaun, pointing a finger between two trees to signal for him to look. He did, brow furrowing at the sight of the mossy patches on the forest floor where a steam seemed to rise. It was tinted green as though reflecting the hues from all around. Though without sunshine this forest was more brown and grey than green. It wafted into the air, the breeze pushing it this way and that until it melted into the air.

Vaun didn't know what it was or what caused it, but it had him coughing once more as the strong scent drifted past his nose.

"Don't breathe it in, it'll only make ye dizzy and sick." With how Loral winced, it seemed she had felt the effects first hand.

They kept walking until the light grew more and more faint, and the essence in the air was great enough for Vaun to feel the lightheadedness he had been warned of. He felt the path with the toes of his boots, careful for every tree root or fallen branch he could trip on. His ears seemed to ring with an echo of that same wanton call, whilst his throat burned to swallow his own spit. It hadn't taken long for the air to catch him in its grasp and squeeze until he feared his eyes would water. In places the air seemed to be tinged with that green, as though he was walking right through a patch of the steam that seemed to rise from behind every tree.

Thankfully it soon passed, though its effects lingered long after they had reached a secluded clearing with cleaner air and a circle of stones set up for a campfire. Ash soon got to work lighting it, whilst Loral used a branch to dust down the area by a few thick tree trunks that would soon become their bed. The Bard ventured off between the trees, returning soon after with a handful of wild mushrooms which when cooked only made Vaun's head spin the more.