Death's Hold [1]

Damien walked the forest for a long while. He didn't know how long he spent walking, but he was subconsciously looking for the water that woman waded through.

He felt like he could find something there. Even if it wasn't a vestige of what once was, it would be something.

The black forest didn't have the same eerie atmosphere as it did when Damien first arrived here. Perceiving it through the lens of the story instead of the rumors of the outside world, Damien felt a pang of sorrow in his heart.

He didn't know why.

He tried to analyze it as he searched for the black water, but an answer didn't come to him.

There wasn't a single logical reason for him to feel sorrow of all things. 

Sympathy, maybe. Curiosity, maybe. Sorrow, however, was not an emotion he could feel towards the black forest.

It existed because it existed. There wasn't anything sorrowful about it.