The Midnight Forest

“Shhhh!” Ilyon hissed at his companion as the crackle of breaking sticks pierced the deafening silence of the windless evening. Eurias raised his hand apologetically, realising his mistake. His lack of experience as a woodsman was really starting to become apparent, this not being the first time he had disrupted the quiet air. Pausing to regain his composure, Eurias watched on in awe as his mentor swiftly and silently dashed out into a small clearing in front of them, analysing the tracks of hopefully their next meal, and moving on to the other side to regain the cover of the undergrowth seemingly without the slightest doubt in his abilities.

Ilyon waved his apprentice on without turning, maintaining his focus on the tracks of his prey. Knowing this land better than anyone else, Ilyon prayed that this stag had stopped for a drink at the upcoming lake, for on the other side of the lake was a place he seldom entered, alone or with a clumsy apprentice. The Midnight Forest.

The thin, winding trail created by countless animals and creatures came to an end at the edge of a large emerald lake. Beams of golden light bounced off the water as the last rays of light escaped the thick canopy above. Eurias came to a halt next to his teacher, breathless and hungry, for the pair had not eaten in nearly a week and these tracks were fresh and their only sign of life in this dreaded place. It had been an unusually quiet spring this year. Eurias peered over the shoulder of his more experienced companion and felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

“What is that place?” he whispered so quietly only Ilyon could hear.

“That is The Midnight Forest,” He shuddered. Pausing for long enough for Eurias to wonder what long lost memory had just reappeared from                                                    the back of his mind. 

“What’s in there?” He enquired, unable to take his eyes off the tree line opposite them. The light orange rays of the sunset seemed to be swallowed up by the darkness, penetrating no more than a tree or 2 deep. 

“Nothing… Nothing but darkness and danger.” Ilyon warned. “Not many who enter those woods every return to tell the tale. For inside lay a dark power, capable of turning even the strongest minds to madness and despair.” He sighed, “And our only hope of something to eat walked straight into it.”

Without another word Ilyon was off again, skirting around the lake, pausing briefly to fill his water pouch.

“We aren’t going in there are we?” asked the young apprentice running after his, now seemingly insane, hunting guru who he had looked up to for the last year of his training.

“Unless you want to go hungry another night?”

“What happened to all that ‘dark power, turning the strongest minds into madness and despair’ wisdom,” he mocked.

“If you hope to one day take my place as chief woodsman of the kingdom,” he stopped and turned to his apprentice, “then you will have to learn the labyrinth of The Midnight Forest. As I did many years ago. I have entered these woods but a few times over the years, and I sure as hell don’t feel like going in there again, but with our last hope of a decent meal before winter slowly getting deeper into that god forsaken place, I don’t see a better option.” Ilyon turned and resumed his mission, turning back briefly to add, “I sure hope the goblins aren’t out and about yet.” With a wicked smile he turned away from the now pale apprentice. Struck with both awe and fear at the thought of what this old woodsman had been through, he slipped his hunting bow over his back and hurried along behind his master.

The next hour spent navigating the lake passed by quickly as Eurias’ mind darted from thought to thought, over every corner of his mind. His mouth salivated at the thought of his last meal at the castle almost a month ago. He and his childhood friends were all celebrating their ascension from young children to apprentices. After being chosen for their respective positions as blacksmiths, bakers, stone masons, magicians and woodsmen, The newly appointed apprentices were thrown a final feast before beginning their long journeys into adulthood. While most apprentices would remain within the castle for the majority of their apprenticeships, Eurias would spend the majority of his outside the castle walls, for woodsmen patrolled the forests and perimeters of the kingdom. Hunting for both food for the castle and for signs of encroaching danger, whether it were wild creatures like the goblins to the north, or the minotaur to the south. Or neighbouring kingdoms, seeking to expand their territories.

The last few weeks were tough on the woodsman as there had been an unusually small amount of game for them to hunt and an increase in goblin raids across their borders. Eurias’ stomach growled as he wondered at the cause of the disturbances. They had spent the last 6 days moving along the northwestern borders in search of food or foes, and had failed to come across anything yet, except the tracks of a lone stag, who they were now following.

Eurias’ daydream was whisked away from him as he stopped abruptly to see his mentor standing on the edge of darkness. Pausing for a moment and taking one last deep breath of fresh kingdom air, Ilyon stepped forward and seemingly vanished into nothingness. Eurias rubbed his eyes, bewildered by the sight of his teacher disappearing was stunned when he heard a quiet chuckle and a muffled voice.

“You should see your face. Come on, your eyes will adjust.” Whether out of instinct or a need to calm his nerves, Eurias also inhaled a long, deep breath. Savouring the sweet twilight air, he stepped forward after Ilyon.

Engulfed in darkness, Eurias was disoriented by the lack of light, only a few meters into the dense forest from the tree line. Ilyon sparked a piece of flint with his dagger, over a small torch, something he told Eurias to always carry. The light seemed to quiver in the damp, musty air. Almost scared to reach too far in fear of being extinguished. The meagre lamp managed to reveal details about the dark region, unexpected to the green eyes of the young woodsman in training.

Surprisingly green, fern like plants covered the forest floor. Hidden precariously in between and underneath the ferns was a sinister looking thorn, riddled with sharp barbs rising out of the stem like hundreds of needles, waiting to dive deep into any unsuspecting feet.

“Be wary of things like that in here, a lot of things want you dead here. Quickly, we are losing time!”

Eurias took another deep breath and trotted off after Ilyon. The pace was slower than when they were out in the open but with the warning of ‘a lot of things want you dead...’ Keeping up with the seasoned hunter wasn’t an easy undertaking. Moving quickly and silently through the dense forest, the pair appeared almost completely in sync. Their steps placed in the same spot, ducking efficiently under branches and dodging more plants and weeds that almost reached out to grab their legs as they sped past.

Losing sight of his mentor, plunging into complete darkness caused Eurias to rely solely on his memory of the brief glimpse of his surroundings before Ilyon disappeared around the corner. Feeling his heartrate increase, Eurias nervously took the first few steps. Deepening his breathing to try and calm himself down he took another step. Excruciating pain shot through Eurias’ foot and up his leg. Eurias began to sweat as fear and dread overwhelmed him, his foot still planted in place. He swallowed a scream as he slowly lifted his foot, feeling the long, sharp needle like thorn making its way out the bottom of his foot. Fumbling desperately for his torch and flint, Eurias cursed himself for being so foolish. Hands shaking, he struck the flint. As sparks flew out onto the torch and failed to ignite the torch, panic began to set in. Every moment he fumbled about, his hope of catching up to Ilyon dwindled. Heart racing, he struck the flint again. Another failed attempt caused the torch to loosen in his grip and slip silently to the floor. Eurias bent over and reached out in a desperate search for his torch, sweat dripping of his nose in the damp night air. The rookie woodsman pushed his hand towards the ground in the direction he thought the torch fell. Finding the shaft of his torch he wrapped his fingers around the small wooden handle he felt the unmistakable sting of another razor-sharp thorn graze the knuckles of his hand. Letting out a muffled groan as he stood back up, Eurias positioned his torch and flint in his left hand and his dagger in his right. He struck the flint. Light erupted into the small space he found himself in. The dim light illuminating his blood-soaked shoe, Eurias could see a hole in the fabric where the long spine had pierced up through the top of his foot. A quick peak at his hand revealed only a small cut from the second thorn. Eurias pulled some fabric from his pack and quickly wrapped his foot. Noticing a slight tingling radiating from the hole in his foot, he chose to ignore it and find Ilyon.

Pushing through the agonizing pain of his foot, Eurias found the tracks of the fabled deer and those of his companion and began hastily along the trail. He pulled out his dagger and etched an ‘X’ into a nearby tree. An old trick Ilyon taught him so he could tell where he came from in a strange place, and this was certainly a strange place. The distant howl of a wolf only confirmed that feeling.

Looking down Eurias began shaking his leg to try and wake up his foot as it was a little numb, like he had been sitting on it for a long time. Eurias also noticed that his hand was itchy, right where he had cut it. Knowing his torch would nearly be ready to shine its last rays of light, Eurias pushed a peculiar feeling he had to the back of his mind and picked up the pace.

A dozen or so ‘X’s later, the apprentice came across a trail of blood, next to which was the broken tail of an arrow. One of Ilyon’s arrows. Feeling an ounce of hope Eurias pushed on, desperate to find his partner. Eurias stumbled on something crashing into a tree, holding onto it for stability. A crackle of sticks behind him caused him to swing around, drawing his dagger with lightning speed. His eyes rapidly scanning the dark shadowy depths. An unusual feeling was brewing deep in Eurias’ stomach. Unable to place it yet he continued on, feeling sweaty and anxious despite the cool spring night.

After what felt like an eternity of following footsteps and patches of bloody soil, Eurias looked up. His body was shivering but covered in sweat, head was spinning and his focus drifting. The dishevelled apprentices heart sunk. Fear and dismay set in when he saw in front of him a tree with a very distinct ‘X’ etched into it. He had been travelling in circles. Looking down to his blood drenched foot, he assumed that it was his own blood he had been following for who only knows how long. Feeling his mind swing back into focus, Eurias could feel a searingly hot pain slowly snaking its way up his leg, his foot now completely numb. Looking down at his cut hand he noticed his skin beginning to blacken around his knuckles. Attempting to open and close his hand, realisation hit him suddenly like a slap to the face. The thorn he had so foolishly stepped on contained some form of natural toxin. He’d lost all feeling in his foot and his hand wasn’t far behind. Not knowing how long he had until the toxin spread to the rest of his body or what that would do to him, one thing was certain in his mind. He didn’t want to find out, especially not here. Just before setting off in search of his friend, the unimaginable happened. In an instant, Eurias’ small torch had extinguished. Helpless and hungry he bellowed “Ilyon!” All attempts at being a stealthy hunter now unimportant.

Breathless and on the edge of exhaustion, Ilyon put the last piece of deer meat into his pack. He had cut off all he could carry but there was still so much left. If only Eurias hadn’t fallen behind, they would be able to carry the whole animal. Slicing off one last chunk and filling his mouth he grimaced at the taste of raw meat. Not a taste he enjoyed but he felt bad wasting so much. This wretched place had seldom provided him with anything, and he was intent on leaving as little good meat left as he could. A silent protest against this lawless forest. Sheathing his dagger, he stood up and oriented himself. His torch had burnt out, so his movement was precise and slow, using what little moonlight there was piercing through the canopy to see any possible detail of what was in front of him. The small needles of moonlight provided barely enough light to illuminate the hundreds of dark grey thorns lining the forest floor. Taking his time not to step on them, knowing the horrors of their paralytic toxins from firsthand experience, Ilyon navigated his way back along the path he had come from. Suddenly the eerie silence was ruptured by a distant voice. Immediately Ilyon closed his eyes, and held his breath, allowing his ears to absorb any noise that managed to make its way through the dense woods of the Midnight Forest.

“Ilyon! Help!”

The experienced woodsman took off at an impressive speed, navigating the hostile forest floor with great precision despite the almost pitch-black night. Not a single leaf or tree was disturbed as the seasoned hunter sped hastily towards his less experienced companion. Following the sounds of struggle and despair Ilyon rounded a corner to find the dark shadow of his companion agitated and panicked, hopping back and forth swinging his dagger around as his mind was descending into madness.

“Who’s there?” Challenged the young apprentice.

“Relax, it’s me. What happened?”

“Ilyon? Is that you?... I… where have you…. I can’t feel my hand.”

“Oh god you didn’t get spiked, did you?”

“What are those things? I took one through my foot and now my whole leg is numb, it barely scratched my hand and now I can’t feel it.” The young man was feeling hopeless and scared. The pain was beginning to radiate through his chest and his heart was pounding, exhaustion was taking over.

“Here eat this,” said Ilyon, handing him a chunk of deer meat. Eurias reached out into the darkness with his good hand and found the meat in his palm. He gagged at the taste but forced the food down, grateful to finally have any sort of food. “The paralysis is just temporary but things will likely get much worse before they get better considering you took two of those things,” Ilyon reassured. “Lets get you out of this place before anything else hears you wailing like dying cat.”

Eurias found himself smiling as his teacher pulled Eurias’ arm around his shoulders and began to guide him through the forest. Mind racing, he began to pull himself together as they slowly trekked through the dense maze of the midnight forest.

By the time they reached the edge of the forest, the pain in Eurias’ hand had spread across his arm and into his chest, his entire leg dead weight, dragging behind him like a lame horse. Exhausted from hours of slow going through the damp, dark hell of the Midnight Forest, and a pain throughout his whole body unmatched by anything he had ever imagined, Erias was relieved to step out of the darkness into the fading light of a full moon almost set. The glimmering lake in front of them brought a tear to his eye as hope flooded his body. Noticing the body of his young apprentice relax ever so slightly Ilyon said, “Don’t get too excited, we are still a week ride from the castle. At least with you in the state you’re in.” Eurias’ heart sank. He looked up at his saviour with despair. “I said it was temporary, I just left out how long temporary is.” That wicked smile shone brightly again in the moonlight.

Eurias Blacked out.