The Girl in the Woods

The darkness was overpowering.
She was alone in the smothering blackness, and all her hope had dissipated into the void of nothingness that surrounded her. She reached out with her mind, calling his name over and over again.
Rolan.
Rolan.
But no answer came to her, and the pain that came afterwards was excruciating. Searing, burning pain, like someone was stabbing her forehead with a hot poker. She cried out in agony, but no one heard her.
At least, she hoped not. They could come back for her at any time. The thought made her curl back even further in her corner, and cry with tears that she didn't even know were in her.

Young Rolan of Imperssia is determined to prove himself as the new king. As his first act as king, he embarks on a journey to explore the forbidden forest that surrounds his kingdom. But what (or more specifically, who) he finds isn't quite what he expected, and the further he ventures in, the more he realizes why this forest is so forbidden. Will he make it back to his kingdom alive, or will the darkness of the forest swallow him whole forever?