9 The Demon in the Woods

One of my earliest memories of my days in Ebernhard was when the children of the dreary orphanage were playing outside the village church. It was three days after the burial of one orphaned child who was beaten to death by one of the caretakers. The orphanage took all precautions to hide the truth from authorities and label it an accident, just like all the previous incidents.

We knew what really happened, but we also knew that telling the truth would result in our own deaths. We were just helpless children with neither a savior nor strength to rebel against the orphanage and reveal the truth. And so, we remained silent and went on as if nothing unusual happened. It was much easier this way.

Lately, there were rumors about a demon living inside a stone tower deep within the woods. As the number of witnesses increased, all children were forbidden to enter the forest. However, that never stopped us from challenging each other to venture bravely into the dangerous grounds.

One game involved someone bringing a toy and running to the big boulder near the creek. The next person had to run and retrieve it. The rules were very simple. You only had to be brave and not get caught by the orphanage caretakers. Then you would earn the respect of all the other children.

We never ran into any problems until one child took a long time to return. We waited an hour. Eventually, two hours passed. We were sure something had gone terribly wrong.

"Let's go find him," said one of the older children.

Everyone agreed. After all, we didn't want to be punished by the orphanage for our disobedience. Punishments tended to get excessive and occasionally fatal.

All of us went into the forest together, carrying sticks and rocks to defend ourselves with. The ground was damp from the long morning rain. Some of the children slipped from the mud and dirtied their clothes. They were already upset thinking about the punishment they would receive later for it.

Eventually, we arrived at the boulder. The toy was gone, but there was no sign of the missing child. We all feared that he had been abducted.

I circled the boulder and found a book on the other side. It was nothing like the books found at the orphanage. Its pages contained mysterious diagrams and words incomprehensible to me. As I curiously looked through the other pages, the oldest child rudely snatched the book from my hands.

"This is must be the demon's book!" He concluded upon seeing the diagrams.

"Should we take the book to Mother?"

"No, we have to keep this a secret. She will get mad and punish us if we show this to her. We need to hide it in the bedroom."

"Why don't we just leave the book here?" I suggested. "The demon might come after us."

"No! I want to bring it home!"

A figure rose suddenly from a cluster of bushes. A white faced stranger with a head resembling a bull speedily approached us. His long black cloak made him appear like a figure of death.

The children grew frightened and ran for their lives. The book dropped to the ground. In the midst of panic and chaos, I was pushed to the ground and felt a painful sting on my cheek. A branch had scratched my face. As I struggled to get up, I found the mysterious person already standing behind me.

If there was someone out there who could free me from the chains of the institution, it was surely that demon. Whatever awaited me, whether it was a swift death or suffering, I welcomed it.

He looked at me for a few seconds with his blazing red eyes. I stayed still without running. After all, who would I run to? Even the village had its own demons.

He silently picked me up along with the book and carried me on his shoulder. The long walk to the stone tower was almost like a funeral march. It rained hard the previous night, leaving the ground damp and every step made a very audible sound. The intervals of every muddy step were like a metronome. My arms dangled and swayed with no motivation to free myself.

A loud sound of an iron lock and a wooden door opening followed. My body trembled in fear and my heart raced. After a few more steps, I found myself inside the dim stone tower. Inside was warmer, which gave me small comfort.

Books filled the shelves to the brim. Piles of them took up more than half of the floor space. I had never seen so many before.

He set me down carefully on a pillow beside the fireplace. His face glowed orange from the flames beside us. For a minute, we were both just staring.

"Why do you not run, little one?" He finally spoke. His tone was neutral and free of any emotion.

"I don't have anywhere to run to," I replied while trying to stop my voice from trembling.

He accepted my answer and brought a basin of water with a towel. With it, he carefully cleaned up the mud and dirt on my face.

"What do you believe I am?" He asked.

"The villagers say you are a demon, but you seem much less of a demon compared to them," I replied.

"We are all demons. That is why the world is rotting away under the wars we created."

He continued to wipe away the blood and dirt. For a moment, he examined my eyes.

"You have seen plenty with those eyes," he concluded.

I was taken aback by his words. "I've seen only the village."

"You've seen human cruelty. That is plenty."

"How can you tell?"

"I've seen others with eyes like yours. Lost and hopeless."

A moment of silenced passed. The absence of voices made the crackling sound of wood burning more prominent.

"If that is already plenty, is it all there is to see?" I broke the silence.

"No, there are more." His gloved hand reached out for a circular metal object with a map engraved on it. He carefully turned it to show me every side. "There is much more you haven't seen yet."

"What is that?" I asked curiously.

"This is a globe. A representation of the world." He pointed at an area. "We are right here."

Right under where his finger rest was the name Alivia.

"Alivia?"

"That is correct. You and I are in the kingdom of Alivia right now. Your village, this tower, and everything you see around us. We are here."

He talked of strange lands and told stories of majestic kingdoms surrounded by sand. Stories very different from the repetitive tales we read from the village church's books. At that moment, the world felt much larger and unconfined to the village's boundaries.

His menacing face suddenly moved closer to mine. "Your eyes are shining brightly. You should keep those eyes. They are much more beautiful."

Those words were alien, but for the first time in a long time, I felt happiness again. I wanted to stay and learn more from him.

After some time, he stood up. "Your wound is fixed. It is time you return to your home. Speak nothing about our encounter."

He quietly led me out the stone tower's door.

"Do you know the way back?" he asked.

"I remember how to get back from the big boulder by the creek," I replied.

He escorted me to the boulder. We spoke not a single word as we walked over the muddy ground. Upon arrival, he turned around and left without a goodbye. I didn't get a chance to thank him. I took one last glance at him before making my way back to the village.

The children were surprised to see me back in one piece. They were so sure that they'd never see me again after they saw me being carried away by the demon in the woods.

"What happened?" They demanded to know how I escaped death.

"He cleaned me up and tended my wounds. Then, he led be back to the boulder," I said to them.

"No way! Why would he do that?"

"I don't know."

I didn't understand how a stranger with the appearance of a demon could bring more warmth than humans themselves.

However, I understood one thing:

The real demons were elsewhere.