Junris Zevrian


 


 


  I tiredly picked up my feet and planted them firmly on the spot. I allowed my sight to wander up the stems of the massive trees that barred my way. I must've not been paying attention as I was sure that the massive forest- for that was what it was -had not been there before.


"Oh well," I thought, “if the path I am following leads through there, I had best keep going."


As I trudged along, the path diminished and petered out until little remained of it bar a small game trail. As the Sun started its slow decent to the horizon, and day turned to dusk, I decided to pitch camp and wait for night. "After all, it won't do to be caught in the night when who knows what sort of creatures resided here"


  As the shadowy boughs of the trees darkened, I heard a snuffling behind me. Like a cornered wolf, I slowly turned around to confront my prey. Lady Luck obviously smiled upon me that night, as it was no foul beast, but a simple roe deer. Imperceptibly, I took out my knife from its sheath and threw it at the deer. My aim was true as the knife struck my dinner in the ribs.


   Over the next 30 minutes, I skinned the deer and roasted it over the fire. "This will feed me for many a day," I thought lazily as I tucked into my meal.


As I settled down for the night, I speculated tiredly, “I wonder what the next few days will bring and when will I reach my goal?"


 


When I awoke, the sun was bursting through the leafy tops of the trees, the glistening globules of dew, studying the new day from their delicate perches, quickly soaked through my leather boots to my feet. I slung my bow on back, erased all traces of my being here and set off through the wooded maze that was the forest. 


   Soon, my throat was parched and my stomach was grumbling. I concluded that I would walk for another half an hour before I would sit down and have my meagre lunch. Soon, I arrived at a small clearing that the game obviously used as a drinking hole; there was a small pond in the middle and a couple of grassy trails leading from it into the dense forest beyond. I found a log stump, sat down on it and quenched my thirst and my grumbling stomach.  A bird flitted overhead; its call was startlingly loud to my ears after so long listening to nothing but silence. After I had finished, I got up and passed into the awaiting forest to continue my adventure.


   The wind howling through the trees sounded like the mournful keening of a ghoul. The sparse moonlight that managed to penetrate the leafy boughs of the towering trees revealed only scarce areas of the crumbling earth. In fact, the very ground seemed teeming with life; the roots seemed to be clawing at my feet and the ants were marching out of their winding dens to inspect me. This place reeked power; it was time to move on. The saplings appeared to be clambering over one another in a bid to grow the tallest. To grow the fastest meant to live the longest. As I finished packing up to move on, an arrow whizzed past my head and a voice sounded behind me,


"Too late to go now."


 


   I spun around so quickly I almost got whiplash.


"Who are you and what do you want?" I demanded in a deadly quiet voice.


"Ooh nothing much, just that you have a bounty on your head for illegally poaching, trespassing, and intruding this private forest." replied the stranger.


'What?' I wondered, ‘a bounty? Trespassing? Poaching?'


The words of my teacher, Orixe Blaku, flashed through my head,


'Only use magic in the direst instances, as it can extract a terrible toll on you, and it can be terribly difficult to use correctly.'


'Well this is necessary, and I haven’t used very much energy lately so I think it will be fine to use it.'


"And what right have you to arrest me?" I challenged.


The intruder replied in a perfectly calm voice, “every right, for this forest is owned by a lord who has given anybody who wishes to risk their life coming in here permission to."


"How do I know you're not a robber with some excuse to try and kill me?"


Then, I started to whisper frantically under my breath, "Exenca des yengt ihre kilge unespi...." to get the spell I needed.


Before the robber got a chance to answer, the trees around him exploded with new branches and enveloped the robber in shrubbery. For what I had said was, 'extend the trees and envelope my enemy...'


After that encounter, I thought that it was best for me to keep moving, so as to lower the chance of me encountering any more bounty hunters.


 


   A clap of thunder woke me from my sleep. I sat up, startled and gazed at the sky. A towering mass of black cloud floated above the forest. As I gazed into its depths, a sudden flash of cold, white light lit up the black inside. Suddenly, the trees around me seemed so much more menacing. The roots and branches seemed to be reaching out to grab me and lock me in their cold, harsh embrace. Another clap of thunder woke me from my dazed stupor. With some imagination, I could see, in the thunder cloud, snarling gargoyles, towering pillars and old oak doors. 


   Two days later, my food had almost run out and the storm stopped. I decided I would go hunting. I slung my bow on my back and headed off into the forest. I stooped to study some tracks. They were in the shape of a paw with three toes on each foot. 'Not a deer.' I thought to myself. As I was walking, I noticed that the trees were slowly becoming more widely spread out. 'What if I'm near the edge?' I wondered excitedly. Soon, I came upon some tracks that signified that deer were in the vicinity. The tracks were still fresh, the grass newly nibbled and the dew disturbed. It didn't take me very long to find my deer. I strung my bow, waited until my prey stopped moving and released the arrow at a small, young deer with a limp. My aim was true and the arrow struck it in between the ribs. I skinned the deer and roasted it as before. I sat down with a sigh and tucked into my kill.


 


   I woke up with my belly full and feeling refreshed. I went over to a nearby brook and doused my face to wash off the last of the tiredness. I packed up my camp and decided that I would make it out of the forest today. I walked to the spot where I spotted the deer; as that was where I had noticed the forest thinning out. I strolled along in a good mood in the same direction-and sure enough-the forest continued to thin. After another fifteen minutes of walking, I arrived at a roaring river.


'How am I going to get across this?' I wondered.


'There must be a bridge along here somewhere.'


So I continued upstream, determined to find a way to cross the river.


Finally, I came upon a majestically designed wooded bridge. The arches were carved in the likeness of a dragon; it had railings running along the side, laboriously polished until they reflected my face in them and the floor was chopped form the biggest, oldest trees in the forest. I crossed it, making sure to not scratch the delicate surface and on the other side I arrived at a tavern which was the exact opposite of the bridge. Its supports were rickety and the wood was wet with slime. The sign, which read, 'The Brown Chestnut' had had letters removed and looked more like 'T e  ro n C  stn t'. As my feet left the bridge, a voice boomed,


"WHO GOES THERE? WHAT BE YOUR BUISNESS?"


"Um.. Junris of Destyard." I replied, daunted by the volume of the man's voice.


"AND WHAT BE YOUR BUISNESS?"


"I...I am travelling to the Capital from the manor of Destyard."


"Well, as long as you don't cause trouble, you are welcome to carry on." answered the stranger, his voice going quite once again.


"Th...thank you." I stammered, and continued on my way.