A Demon's Tale

Chapter Ten

- The Edge -

The black mist swept across the sky above, and the mysterious white fog near the ground embedded the forest in a ghostly ambiance. I was leaning out from a tree high up, holding on to a vine looking down over a valley. I had tried to follow the direction of the moon, heading in the same direction for what had seemed like forever. But there was ever, only more forest.

Shifting terrain with rocky hills and dried-out trees among valleys of silvery needle-pines and chaotic jungle-like terrain with dense vegetation and monstrous growth, poisonous plants, some of which seemed like plant and insect-like hybrids, different vines which seemed to reach out across the whole forest like a spider's webwork, some types of which had razors or torn-like hooks, climbing amongst and between the trees, some almost as thick as the trees themselves, going down like roots into the ground, even seeming to appear like patterns in the clouds.

The thicker the vines were, -the more solid, gray, and black they became, and the smaller they were, -the more lucid and bright they became, almost like silicon, until they narrowed to the point of seeming like they were just made from white fog, or dust particles, so thin and transparent, a light wave of a hand would have removed them, just like removing a regular spiders web out of your way.

There had to be an end to this forest. There had to be a way out, but there was nowhere else to go but forward in some direction. The only other places to explore would have been the deep scaurs leading to what seemed like bottomless shafts or underground caves of pure darkness. I held on tightly to the vine attached to the tree I was hanging out from as my eyes moved across the treetops in the distance scouting the area. Every now and then, the moon would peek through the dark clouded sky. It actually seemed like I was somehow getting closer. Although, it could just as well have just been my anticipation combined with the feeling of walking forever.

The moon appeared again. It lit up the valley with its white and pure-blue light. I saw the blue flame in my demon arm react to the light, absorbing it and burn purer and stronger at the same rate as some kind of hope built up within me. I inhaled a deep breath of this yet, empty air and then leaped from the tree to proceed.

I fell down between the branches as they scratched me on the way down. I landed on the ground with a thud. I heard the strange ambient noises of creatures in the distance, clawing and screeching. I heard whispers and distressed voices. I began walking with determined steps, as I cautiously examined the environment surrounding me, knowing; behind every tree, and within every shadow, something could be lurking. In suspicion I watched the trees pass me by, every now and then looking back behind me, to assure nothing was following me. The moon peered through the branches above and became more and more visible as the trees seemed to become less dense.

Eventually, something unusual happened with the environment. The trees had stopped growing. Everything seemed to open up, and I exited out from the forest as if I had reached a great cliff...

About ten feet in front of me, there was just no ground ahead. I looked from left to right. It was like I had reached a long cliff leading out to an ocean of a pitch-black sea, or like a direct steep where gusts of black mists cast up like waves crashing against a shore. It was as if I had finally reached an end to this forest, but not the kind of end I had anticipated or hoped for. It was as if I had reached an edge, but not just the edge of the forest, but the edge of the world...

Where solid ground ended, and space began. I just stopped in surprise as I looked ahead. All I could see was pitch black darkness, like staring into the dark void of empty space, where only the mist gave it the resemblance of an ocean. But there was no horizon, just the moon hanging like a bright blue orb high up above and far off into the distance, so far out of reach. It was brighter and more visible than before. My eyes got locked into it, almost blinding me. It shone down making the clouds and mist appear visible, reflecting its light in the mist in front of me the way the water would reflect the light of a sunset or sunrise.