I opened my eyes to darkness. The air was cool and a soft breeze blew my hair. No, it did not. I no longer felt the heavy mat of knots and curls on my back. I clawed for the familiar tangles with chipped yellow nails and then it all came flooding back to me. Blood and bone. The smell of death. Faun was dead and I was free. Finally free. Shouting out in pure joy I danced to the voices of the birds. Then I remembered. Faun’s death shan’t come without consequence. I would have to run. I looked around for the first time. All I saw were towering giants, the trees of the forest just outside the palace. The forest I had heard so much about but never even set foot in. Bandits and thieves prowled these woods, searching for a defenseless traveler to make their next target. I couldn’t go through everything I have just to die alone, buried in a blanket of leaves in a maze of trees or my bones laying in the stomach of a ferocious predator.
I set out at a run, dodging trees and weaving through shrubbery. I had a slight limp still from harshly landing on it when falling off the tower, but it was growing worse by the minute from overusing. I had no idea where I was going; I just knew I could not stop until I was safe, far away from my past. The branches reached out and slashed at my bare arms. Twigs and brush bit my ankles. After mere minutes of my terrified sprint, I stopped to catch my breath. The trees loomed over me and seemed to close in. Crows cawed close by. A vulture circled overhead, ready to devour its prey. I was fine. The trees cannot hurt me. I should be worried about the scoundrels of the forest but I wasn’t, if I could kill one I could kill another. The thing that scared me most was not what dwelled in the forest but the forest itself. Although many enter, none escapes.
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Trees all look the same. I had taken notice of this after wandering nearly a day, with no other direction in mind but away. Suddenly a strong wind blew at me, threatening to topple me over. Finally I stumbled to a stop in a shaded clearing, trees forming a ring around the open grass, realizing that I was starving. Most of my provisions had survived the drop to the moat, though the loaf of bread was soggy, nothing else had been damaged. I pulled out a piece of dried meat and sunk my teeth into it, savagely rippng a large chunk off before realizing I would have to ration it. I sullenly placed the venison back into my bag, despite a protesting stomach that was far from satisfied at the small meal. I heard a distant roll of thunder. Dark clouds were quickly moving in. I figured I had mere minutes before the rain would start to pour. Pushing through undergrowth I found the perfect tree, it had low branches covered with needles, an evergreen. Almost immediatley after the rain was falling, large drops splashed on my exposed legs.
I slunk between the trees, avoiding rain where I could and clasping my pack to my stomach, shielding it with my body. My oversized (stolen) guards’ boots sloshed with water as I struggled to keep quiet amongst the plunking drops that slipped from large drooping ferns to the soaked grass that didn’t crunch beneath my feet but bend to the whim of my shoes, leaving perfect impressions in the ground. My leg was burning with pain, not yet healed from the incident with the castle tower above the princess’ room. Finally the branches parted and my lungs filled with air that didn’t contain stinging droplets of water and the scent of damp greenery within it. A clearing. With a real body of water and rocks and other real landmarks that gave me the relief and satisfaction of having progressed from being utterly lost. I knelt down beside the glassy lake to fill my canteen with water, my pants soaking with water and knees staining from the earthen bank. I gazed down into the water that shimmered with rain drops pushing small crinkles of waves through the water, strangely absent of alge but was still murky and dark beneath the lively surface.
My heart stopped and I screamed, an enormous creature appeared just beneath the surface, its sharp and seemingly endless rows of sharp teeth near enough to lacerate my hand, its red eye glowing and spreading its red light throughout the inch of foggy water that seperated it from me. I jumped back, a bead of water flying from the lip of the flask as I fell backwards to the ground on my elbows. The grey back of the creature appeared briefly above the water before disappearing into the murky depths. I stood and tried to recover myself, shivering in my now soaked clothes, I gathered my things and disappeared back into the forest, traveling as fast as I could from the lake.
Not wanting to waste time I immediatley started up my journey to nowhere in particular. As the day wore on I began to grow weary. A hunger gnawed at me, but due to my life as a servant I was accustomed to this feeling.
I stopped and opened my bag containing the rest of my rations, toruring myself with the muted smell of onions I had swiped from the kitchen. Looking at the remaining supplies I had, a wave of worry washed over me. I had enough food to stretch over a week or two without starving myself. What then? I had no skill at hunting, and I was no use at trying to gather food. But I had enough time to learn, it was that or die without food. Alone.
I had been far too concerned with my food and hadn’t noticed the faint voices. By now the source of the voices couldn’t be more than a few hundred yards away. Accompanying the voices was the muffled yet distinguished sound of clanking metal against metal. I took off running until the voices became quieter. Branches scratched at my exposed skin. After a couple of exhausting hours of running I stopped. The forest was calm again, all but the gentle coo of the birds. The song of the birds was soothing and the sky was darkening. I decided to rest for a mere minute or so. After another hour of searching for shelter a suitable cave was found and I laid down to regain my strength I closed my eyes. The sound of the birds and crickets soon lulled me to sleep.
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Upon waking, I saw a inhuman figure retreating into the shadows. Before it completley vanished, the creature hesitated. What must have been it’s head was far to hunched , it’s whole body seemingly angled forwards. I tried to rub the bleariness out of my eyes, expecting the shape to fade with the blurred edges. But it didn’t. I crawled towards it, not sure whether I should be frightened or curious. I opted for the latter. Slowly I approached the shape, barely a meter away. It fled like a startled rabbit. I collapsed into a heap, becoming exasperated. Nothing was going my way. Finally, I glanced out of the cave. The forest was dark, but it was beginning to lighten with the rising sun. Shakily, I stood. My muscles were sore and tense from sleeping on a rocky floor. Gathering what supplies I had, which was no more than a bag of meager food supplies and a handful of my belongings.
In what literature I have read in my short life, the forest has always symbolized danger. Living it, I find this to be true. Myths about this treachorous wood have circulated for a hundred of my lifetimes, but now they are quickly becoming all the more real. I am in a state of panic now that I fear that all of the eerily specific childrens tales ring with truth. I didn’t realize at first but I am fleeing the woods, without any directional idea so most likely I am really going deeper in. Branches claw at my long shirt then come back to slap me across my reddened cheeks. Finally I stop, breathing heavily, and collapse into a heap on the damp forest floor, it killing me the unknowing of what could be watching me from just yards away. When I begin to hear the trample of hooves I realize that this was my fatal mistake.
