Torden of house Waster, the eldest of Two sons, staring at whatever was noticeable of the dark forest
"I believe it is called Weeping trees, right?" said a voice from behind
"Master of the walls, I see your still alive, I doubted I would ever see you again" Said Torden as he looked back at the old man his body covered in iron, I it showed battle experience through the scars
"The last thing that would take me to the grave is old age, be sure that my death shall be drenched in blood and not in a soft bed" said the master of the walls, he leaned on the wall beside Torden
"So? Another failure" said the master of the walls
Torden did not respond, its already known what has happened across the red sea
"Don't be so clumsy, at least you've held your grounds till rescue came" said the master of the walls trying to get in some condolement through Torden's thick skin
"Sadly, all that is to be remembered is my defeat, none will care what led to it" said Torden, his eyes staring at the sitting sun beside the forest, only the far half reflected the rays of light, and yet, nothing was visible, it is as if the darkness swallowed the sun
"Are you embarrassed by it?" said the master of the walls "Do you think you could have done better? or is it perhaps you need for approval from your father"
"I don't seek approval!" said Torden angrily
"So it is" the master of the walls grinned at Torden
Torden faced the forest once more, annoyed of it being the truth, The master of the walls said
"And did your father say anything about it?"
"He did not really care" Torden said "Not angry, nor was he disappointed, nothing"
"I am sure it is all because of the big festival coming to the doors of the Kazar kingdom, he is just busy with the preparation" said the master of the walls
"Yes, preparation to marry me off to the king's daughter, away and out of his sight" said Torden
"Come on, don't take it like that, you need to mature Torden, you are already past your 20s, if you wait for the prefect timing to get married you only grow old "said the master of the walls
"I don't really care wither I got married off, what really hurts are what is going to be remembered of me" Torden said, he stared at the forest with intense eyes
"Do you think magicians inhabit the forest? or is it perhaps just the wild beast giving it such reputation" said Torden
"I once walked alongside its trees" said the master of the walls "a pretty long time ago, when I was right around your age, reports from a village nearby it came forward, messing children came back dead, hallow eyes, earless, tongueless, and huge chunks of skin were ripped of"
"No torture or struggle signs, clean death without any clues to what could be the reason"
"So you are telling me there lives black magicians?" said Lord Torden
The master of the walls took a moment to collect his thoughts, he spoke what he remembered
"We sit our tents in the village that was being emptied by order from your father, at day we built the fence around the forest, at night we stood guard" The master of the walls stopped talking as the night creeped in
"I remember waking up, we weren't supposed to sleep, feeling heavy I tried waking the rest, no answer, my eyes were shutting down but from far away I noticed a child walking in the dark of the night"
"I struggled to follow after him, dragging my feet along the way, but shock woke me up at last, a in shaped human figure made of the dark, hands tall scratching the grass, wide white eyes, he was two times the size of a normal human, not even Vikings could reach such lengths"
"The moment it saw me, carrying the child it ran away, his foot steps were silent, he had no shadow, he left no tracks behind him, reaching the forest I couldn't move anymore, not tired, but it felt as if I was dreaming, he stopped staring me for a moment, before entering to the point of no returnee"
"Days later the forest spit out the kid's body, same signs like always" said the master of the walls
"So, whatever lies there is not human you say?" said Torden
"Some said a magician was cursed by his own craft, he might be that figure, others say that the forest harbours poisonous fungus that causes hallucinations" replied the master of the walls
"Why didn't you cut the trees?" asked Torden
"Your father did think of that, and we did try it, " replied the master of the walls, he said afterword's "They grew overnight"
"Burn it," replied Torden "Oh wait, flames of that calibre will only make it worse"
"All we were able to do is evacuate the people, and to this day, carriages that pass by it tend to lose livestock, if not their lives" said The master of the walls, he backed from the wall and said
"Now you better go to bed, the wall is not your duty, tomorrow might be a very long day for you" said the master of the walls "Your younger brother is coming back"
Torden left alone gave one last look at the moon, he walked back leaving his curiosity behind