Fishing & Bait

The next time I went through Redwood's trail, the apparition didn't try any more helpless baits to try to trick me. This time it used a fallen trunk that was tossed across the road, in a part of the trail that had two big boulders on each side. The trunk blocked the way entirely, making it impossible to pass through and continue with my journey.

"Oh, man! Seriously?" I complained as I pulled hard at Wooly's reins, making the wagon come to an abrupt halt.

I stomped down the wagon in a foul mood, and then I walked up to the road blockage to better evaluate the situation. The fallen trunk was quite thick, a good few inches wide of sturdy wood crossing my way. It was going to take some time to chop it all off and clear the passage for the wagon.

"That is such a low blow!" I grumbled to myself and I swear I could almost hear a faint chuckle rustling faintly past the trees. Or was it just my imagination playing tricks on my ears?

I tried to find a way to solve the problem lying ahead of me. There was a narrow path marked on the grass that diverted from the main trail, only a few feet before the road's blockage. The path led to a spot in the forest where the trees were scarce and there wasn't even any ground vegetation, the wagon could easily pass through that way.

It was a very convenient side track, and certainly was the easiest and fastest way to solve this problem, but… it advanced into the forest a little, crossing past its limits, definitely not on safe grounds.

"I see you're changing tactics here…" I said to the shadow moving past the tree line. "It is a clever ruse, but there's a fault in your plan." I rested both hands on my waist as I surveyed the ominous detour. "You gave me a good problem, there's no doubt about it, but you also made it too easy to solve it. And you know what they say. If it's too good to be true…" I commented, shaking my head in disbelief. "I must tell you though, it is a very annoying thing you just made in here. Very bothersome for sure. It's going to cost me all the extra bonus I'll get from this now not-so-fast delivery, you know? Every minute wasted chopping off this trunk is money lost down the drain. And all of this for what? For this stupid obvious trap? Come on, man."

A loud hollering shook the leaves of the trees but it didn't phase me one bit. I just tusked disapprovingly at the air and shot one last glare towards the edge of the woods, before heading to the back of the wagon to fetch my ax so I could chop off that damn tree.

I was almost finishing cutting through the trunk when I noticed his dark shape standing over by the line of trees, at the very edge of the forest. The apparition had the same form as last time, the handsome dark-haired man with marbled skin, standing barefoot in black trousers and a black shirt, watching me chop off the tree from afar.

I was getting tired and my hands were beginning to blister, so I decided it was time for a small break. I turned to watch him. Maybe I could go have a quick chat with the devious apparition. It wouldn't hurt to just talk to him, since I was already taking a break here… the thought entered my head as I put down the ax.

I gave a few cautious steps in his direction and his eyes shone a little bit brighter at seeing me approach. He wasn't moving past where the red flowers laid peppering all over the grass and past the shadows cast by the trees, I noticed again.

Maybe my mother's stories had some truth to it… Maybe he was bound within some sort of limit within the forest. Maybe if I kept away from that limit, I would be safe.

The question that mattered the most here was, how far away was enough? How close could I get from that forest until it wasn't as safe anymore?

I decided to stop halfway between my wagon and the forest, at a calculated distance that allowed me a fast retreat back to the trail.

"Alright, I'll bite. Let's talk." I told him, placing both hands on my hips, getting ready for the confrontation, and he mimicked my movement in the exact same way as if he was my reflection and I was standing in front of a mirror.

I scoffed lightly at that. He was far from looking like my reflection, with his silky, inky black hair and mysterious dark eyes. If only I was that good-looking, I thought to myself, and he smirked a little, which was odd since I hadn't said anything out loud.

"What are you, even?" I dared to ask.

The smirk was gone and he frowned, clearly confused by my question.

"You're obviously not human like I am," I explained, pointing to my chest. "So… what are you?"

He regarded me in silence for a moment, before finally replying.

"I am The Dark." His voice was quiet and scratchy, like leaves blown faintly by the wind.

"The dark," I repeated, clueless. "Like, that dark over there?" I pointed to the shadows beneath the trees at his back.

He turned to look at what I was pointing at. His movement was graceful and fluid, like a slow dance in the water, sort of mesmerizing to look at.

"That is the dark of the tree. I am The Dark in the forest," he said, turning back to me.

"Okay, but… I don't get it. What's the difference?" I mumbled, scratching at my head in confusion.

"That dark belongs to the tree. It is a part of it. I am not part of anything. I am just me. The Dark with intent. The Dark that lives in the forest."

"But… you're not just 'The Dark'. You can be whatever you want, don't you? I've seen you doing it." I said, trying to make sense of him.

He smiled, seeming amused by that statement. "No. I am only The Dark. I cannot be anything else."

"I mean, you are the dark, but you can also change what you look like. The dark doesn't have any shape or form… Do you cast illusions and such to present yourself?" I tried again. "You were a lady, and then, a boy. Now you're a man."

"The first two were my creations. But the way I look now, I took it from you. I looked inside and saw it, in your mind."

"You… took it… from me?" I repeated, feeling very vulnerable all of a sudden. If that creature could enter my mind and read my thoughts, what else could it do to me?

"I pulled it out of you. Your preference. What you feel is more appealing for you to look at." He continued.

"S-so… y-you can read minds too," I said, alarmed.

"Sometimes." he sneered, pleased by my frightened reaction.

I glanced at the wagon at my back, contemplating ending this conversation so I could get away from him. This whole situation suddenly felt very unsafe and I came to the realization that this creature could be far more dangerous than I anticipated.

He noted the change in my stance and switched his mood from cocky to innocent again. "Sometimes, but not all the time." He quickly corrected himself when he realized I was ready to bolt out of there in fright. "The thoughts… are very hard. Images are less hard to fish out. But also, not that easy. It is all very, very, hard." He scrambled for a good answer to give me, almost sounding desperate to convince me now. "No need to be scared. No need to go."

"Yeah, sure…" I gave him a tightlipped smile, not believing him at all. I didn't think The Dark in the Forest could be trusted, especially not when I knew it could be fishing things out of my head.

"I was only trying to impress you." He tried an honest approach. "You need not be afraid."

I eyed him with unease but decided to give him one vote of trust. "And how old are you?" I tried to engage in conversation once more.

He frowned again, clearly not understanding the question.

"I mean, how long have you lived?"

He sighed, seeming tired of explaining this. "Time is… subjective. It is perceived differently by your kind and mine. I have lived for a very long time if that is what you wish to know. Humans are very short-lived in comparison, if we must compare."

So he was very old. Perhaps even ancient. Which made him very, very dangerous too. Something that managed to live for that long couldn't be stupid or naive. Or safe.

"Okay. You're very old. And what is your name?" I tried one more question. "I can't keep calling you 'The Dark', can I?"

"It is what I am," he said.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, but I am human, yet, that is not my name. You can also call me Aydan. What should I call you, besides The Dark?"

He paused, thinking it over. "Your kind used to have a word for me, a long while ago." He said after a moment of pondering. "They called me Erebus."

There was a heavy coat of an accent there, as he offered me his name. It felt as if the word was wrapped in exquisite scents and strange new flavors coming from a distant foreign land.

I think I had heard someone say once that this word could also mean 'shadow'... or was it 'deep darkness'? I knew the elders used it sometimes as a word for "ghost".

I took one step closer to him. "So… Erebus. Now that we have properly introduced ourselves, let me ask you… why do you want to get me so badly?" I decided to go for the blunt approach. "All these tricks and traps you're making are because you want to make a snack outta me?"

"Make… a snack?" he asked, frowning profusely.

"Do you want to eat me?" I clarified, holding in a laugh.

He hesitated before muttering a reply. "It is not for me."

"Come on, now." I quirked up an eyebrow, to let him know I was not buying it.

"It is for the forest."

I let out the laugh I'd been holding in. "The forest wants to eat me, is that what you are saying? And you are what? The forest's cook that provides its meals?"

"It is not wise to leave Redwood's hunger unchecked for long…" He said and his tone was guarded and cautious. "It can turn on you very quickly and very… violently."

"I see," I said, raising my eyes to the trees' canopies at his back swaying eerily with the wind. They seemed darker and bigger somehow now, looming threatening over him. "I'm sure your forest has plenty of things to feast on. Don't you have rabbits and deer and hogs in there that can satisfy your hungry home?"

"The forest has… tastes and preferences. It does not care much for wild animals, humans seem to please best."

"Okay, but… you could do so much better than me, you know? Must you really go for this old skin-and-bones joke of a meal here? I barely have any meat on me. Look!" I said, moving a few steps closer with my arms wide open, to show him how thin I actually was.

He squinted his eyes as if he was having a hard time seeing in the dark and I stepped even closer so he could have a better look at me.

"I mean, going to all this trouble for a skinny lad like myself is just not worth it, you know." I continued trying to convince him. "Just the time you are wasting, for the both of us I may add, is already a sign that you should really give this a rest--" In my nonsensical ramblings, I didn't realize that I had gotten too near him. The moon had dipped low in the sky, casting a much longer shadow over the grass, a shadow that was now stretching dangerously toward me, licking at my boots. Only when I glanced at the grass that I realized what I had done. I had moved too damn close. I had stepped into unsafe ground.

As the possibility of being in danger entered my head, I thought about stepping back just a little, just to be on the safe side – quite literally – but Erebus read my intention and somehow managed to move from where he was, materializing right in front of me in the blink of an eye.

I yelped and flailed in fright at his sudden unexpected proximity, but he was already reaching out to grab me. Lucky for me, I get clumsy when I'm scared, and I tripped over my own feet, stumbling a few steps back, not very far back, but just enough to be out of reach.

His face distorted in a horrific melted mask while he screamed in rage for having lost another chance to get me. He stepped over the shadow cast on the ground, arms outstretched towards me, and the skin on his arms and hands began to erupt, sputtering like a crackling volcano and sizzling away as it turned into ash and smoke.

He took another step forward, and all of his body was sizzling now, but despite the painful skin reaction he seemed to be having, he still kept going. Right then, a horrifying screech rang through the forest, the leaves off the trees nearby shook violently in all directions as if an invisible hand had swatted at them in fury, and then Erebus exploded in a cloud of dark thick smoke that was quickly swept away by an unnatural fierce gale, hurled back deep into the forest.

I leid plastered on the grass, wide-eyed and mouth agape, completely in shock at what had just happened. A fortunate stumble had saved me.

I had been way too comfortable talking to this deadly creature… my recklessness had almost cost my life.

It was a mistake I wouldn't be doing again, that was for damn sure.