9 A Letter In Passing

Alistair awoke on the soft ground? Looking around he noticed he was not in the cave where he drank Moonglow. He was in the Forest of Scales somewhere and judging by the silver light everywhere and the fact that he could see, it was night time outside of the Wilderwood. Next to him was his knapsack and it looked a little more full than when he entered that cave with it. He opened it up and peered inside only to be greeted with many vials of Moonglow. He stumbled backwards, the memories of drinking the stuff at the behest of that mysterious voice haunting him like a ghost. Wait, what did happen after he drank it? Now that he thought about it, Alistair could not remember exactly what happened after he drank the Moonglow, there were just loose fragments of memory floating about. Every time he tried to reach out and touch one it faded away.

Alistair crawled back over to his bag and checked to see what was inside. He did not find anything other than the Moonglow and what he already brought with him. Wait. Where is his sword? He looked around wildly until he spotted it leaning against a tree. He made his way over and lifted it straight up without a problem. It was strange. While it was not as light as a feather, it was was considerably lighter than before. Alistair gave it a few experimental swings. Although he trained with his father, his stamina could not have been said to be terribly great. Now though, it seemed like his body was lighter and he had an almost endless supply of energy.

"Great! I got a boost out of that whole ordeal, but what's with all this Moonglow, what am I supposed to do with it?" Just as Alistair asked himself this, a black blur whooshed through the tree tops and a single piece of parchment fell from the air slowly, weaving side to side as it did so. He snatched it out of the air as it fell closer to him, curious of what the contents were.

"Young Hero," it read. "I know you have many questions about what happened. I can not answer all of them, it is forbidden to do so. Any who attempt to shall perish swiftly from the annals of life, never to return. What I can answer and I hope you forgive me for this, is a very small portion of what you went through. Let us begin with how many days have passed since you first imbibed the Moonglow. It has been fourteen days since you first partook in that which you sorely needed. We have been watching you all of your life child, we know what you are, and who you are. As I said then and I shall repeat now, the Moonglow is instrumental in cleansing your soul of impurities. You can not walk your path if your soul is not clean. Which brings me to my second point, the Moonglow. It is an instrumental liquid in recovering your soul and cleansing it. I'm sure you've felt it at times, that something does not seem right? That the world sometimes feels out of balance, even in your perfect idyllic village? That is because the world is not. It is slowly being consumed by an evil force called the Void. The Void has always existed, it is the counterbalance to Life and Creation. At one point both were evenly matched, locked into their eternal struggle as it be, until seemingly out of nowhere the Void gained enough power to push back. So the Overgod was created, in order to combat the Void and drive it out forever. Alas, at some point not known to us mortals, the Overgod perished. One by one the Realms of the Gods began to be invaded by the void, it took them one by one, severing their connections to each other and cutting them off from the mortals here. It has created these endless wars and unrest, the balance that is so fragile is cracked, but not yet broken. The Moonglow will help restore your purity, enabling you to feel and seek out these imbalances. It is not only your duty, but your birthright. I beseech you to take up the mantle and set yourself on the path. Should you do so, then one day we will meet. Imbibing the Moonglow should only be done once per month, it will still be painful, but nothing as painful as the first time, nor will there be any "visions" coming to pass. If you do not want to take up your birthright, then feel free to leave the Moonglow here, go back to your village and live out your days in peace, at least until the world is consumed. I have written all that I can of this matter, there is nothing more that I am able to tell you. A piece of advice, seek out the Sword of Sacrifice at the heart of this forest. It will aid you greatly in the times to come."

Alistair finished reading the letter, it was signed by someone calling themselves The Scholar. He knew it was no prank, based on how he is feeling now after having drunk Moonglow the first time, then he would only benefit from it even more. As for the rest of the contents of the letter, he was not sure if he should believe them or not, although it sounds like a fairy tale, the Woodsman always said that fairy tales were based on something that actually happened.

Alistair re-sheathed his sword and slung his bag over his shoulders, if ever there was a time when he should decide to disobey the Woodsman, he felt it was now. The very last words given by the Woodsman were not to venture into the heart of the forest, yet in order to decide whether he should believe the letter and if it was truth, then he was going to have to venture to the heart of the Wilderwood. It was not going to be easy, the terrain would only get more rough and the vegetation more dense. He checked his pack to see how many rations he had before he had to forage for more. He still had all two weeks worth in his bag, which if he had been out for fourteen days, then who could have taken care of him while he slept? What did they feed him with? Mysteries for another time he was sure. At least with the amount he had he would not have to worry about foraging for a while. Glancing around, he was sure the moon was as high in the sky as when he first entered the Wilderwood, which gave him around eight hours of moonlight with which to travel.

"This is it Alistair," he coached himself. "No turning back, I do not know how many days it will take to get to the heart, but in for a pinny, in for a pund." He hitched his bag up and began walking, his journey this time around was going to be arduous, but surely it was not anything he could handle, right? His figure faded into the trees, the only signs of his passing the footprints he left walking deeper into the woods.