Siegfried Fors
The forest swallowed the last of the light, its darkness absolute, its silence so profound it pressed against my skin like a second shadow.
I ran through the forest, my lungs drawing ragged breaths as I chased the emerald trail. The world around me was a blur of branches and shifting shadows, yet my senses felt sharpened, every rustle, every broken twig rang like a bell in my ears. The trail twisted through dense thickets until, suddenly, it splintered in two different directions. My boots skidded against the ground as I stopped short, staring at the air with wide eyes.
The slithering emerald trail split in two. One path pressed deeper into the heart of the forest. The other veered sharply to the left. A wave of confusion washed over me. Why did it split? This had never happened before. Why two? What does this mean?
I looked at the two paths, a silent question ringing in my mind. Which one?
I stood between them, caught in a snare of hesitation. If I chose wrong… precious time would bleed away. Maybe everything I chased would slip into nothing. My hand lifted on its own, fingers brushing toward the glowing strands as though they might speak if I only pleaded hard enough.
Logic told me the deeper path was the answer. Instinct whispered the left, and somewhere in between, a reckless stubbornness urged me to leap forward without thought at all, to throw myself deeper into this madness until the truth revealed itself.
I hesitated, too long perhaps. My weight shifted forward, almost ready to dive into the dark path. Yet something, some tug I could neither name nor explain, pulled my gaze left.
"…Fine." I said to myself, forcing my legs to move. "Left it is."
I pushed into the chosen path, until the trees suddenly gave way to a clearing, the moonlight spilling in and illuminating the scene.... and there, at the heart of it, I saw a sight that stole the air from my lungs.
Hunched over the broken body of a massive horned boar was a creature I had only ever read about in fairy tales... even in this world.
A shape, vast and terrible in its beauty— Griffin.
Its bronze-brown wings were spread slightly, catching the pale light on each feather. The lion-like body was a deep, earthy brown, muscles tense beneath its coat, while its eagle head was framed with darker feathers around the neck. Its sharp yellow beak turned in my direction, a strip of red intestine dangling from it and swaying slightly with its movements.
Every part of me whispered I should retreat. That one wrong step would turn me into the next corpse at its talons. Yet I did not move.
No, I could not.
What filled me was not fear, but wonder. The sight bound me, not with terror, but with reverence. For under the light of the moon, this creature seemed less a beast of fang and claw, and more a shard of heaven fallen to earth.
The griffin's head lifted.
Golden eyes locked onto mine, piercing and knowing. My throat tightened; my body screamed to flee. But instead, I stepped forward. Slowly, almost against my own will, I raised a hand toward it.
The griffin let go of the intestine in its mouth and moved closer. A part of me was ready for the worst, but another part of me was already lost to the moment. And then...
Warmth.
Its feathered head brushed my outstretched hand. Its gaze locked into mine, carrying an intelligence that felt almost human. No words were spoken, but I understood: it knew.
Then, as if to seal the moment, the griffin drew back. Its wings folded close to its body. It lowered its great frame, front leg bending, head bowing until its beak touched the earth.
Is it kneeling?
The gesture was unmistakable. It felt as though the king of the sky had deigned to bow before me.
Beneath the moonlight, I stood frozen between disbelief and awe, unable to believe this legendary creature was kneeling in front of me.
But just as swiftly as it had knelt, the griffin rose. Its wings unfurled wide, stirring the air, and with one powerful beat it lifted, climbing into the night sky. I watched as the creature disappeared from sight into the stars.
A strange hollowness lingered. As though the griffin had carried something with it when it left, something I could not name, yet felt the absence of all the same.
A small, feeble growl brought me out of the trance. I turned to the right, toward the deeper part of the forest, remembering why I was here.
I pulled mana from my soul crucible, enhancing my body as I ran. My hand reached instinctively for the wand at my side, slipping it free from the pouch, "May mana pierce through my enemies." I prepared the spell, jumping over a line of bushes.
I landed in a clearing, expecting the worst. Instead, a familiar scene greeted me, a small predator tearing into the body of a horned boar with grunts of satisfaction.
My shoulders eased, the spell unraveling around me. I slid the wand back into the pouch, breath leaving me in a long sigh.
"Looks like horned boars are on everyone's dinner list today."
I crouched down beside the cub, tugging it gently away from the bloodied carcass. "What are you doing here?" I said, prying it loose from the boar's flank. Its little body squirmed and thrashed, claws scraping against my arm. "Hey—calm down. I'm trying to hel—"
The words withered on my tongue.
A shiver tore down my spine. My skin prickled cold, and a chill gripped my heart. The very air around me grew heavy and stagnant, as if the forest itself were holding its breath.
Slowly, against every instinct, I raised my head.
Crimson eyes glared back at me from beyond the trees. A shade so dark it was almost black, yet it burned with a faint, malevolent light. They didn't just look at me; they stared right through me, a chilling gaze that went past my eyes and straight into my soul.
My legs trembled. The weight of that gaze crushing me, as if the world itself had turned hostile.
The cub in my arms let out a low growl, breaking the silence.
Clenching my teeth hard, I forced my shaking hand to draw the wand from my pouch. I couldn't just stand there, I had to fight, no matter what this thing was.
But before the spell could leave my lips, the air itself split. An invisible force struck me before I could react. Pain followed, darkness smothering the edges of my vision until the world itself vanished.