7 The Moonglow

Alistair stepped further into the gloom, the oppressive darkness suffocating his senses as it got harder and harder to see beyond the tress in front of him.

"How much farther do I have to go to get into the forest?" Alistair was exasperated, although he did not find it that difficult to traverse, it was still a bit of a headache. Not long after he climbed past a pair of particularly dense and thick trees did he spy a sight that left him in awe. In front of him was a dense forest packed with just enough trees that it blocks the sky, but also enough room to dart between them. That is not what caught his attention. What caught his attention was that he could see the entire forest in front of him was lit in a gentle silver glow, almost as if it was being bathed in a river of never ending moonlight.

"It's so beautiful," Alistair softly whispered. He almost never stepped out of the village so the scenery before him was absolutely stunning. There were also weird plants on the ground, the likes of which he'd never seen or heard of. At the base of the trees grew violet colored mushrooms the size of a house cat and they also glowed with a silver light. The grass the covered the floor of the forest was indigo in color and reminded Alistair of that one medical herb his mother was talking about. He honestly couldn't remember it, but it was said that if you held it in absolute darkness, it would glow red and light your way.

"I should take some of that grass with me to see if it really is the medical herb mother always talked about." Alistair said to no one in particular. He carefully dug up a couple handfuls of the grass and put them into a jar he had brought with him. "You can never be too prepared." Alistair said to himself. "Should I take a couple of mushrooms with me?"

Before Alistair could get close to the mushrooms, he heard a sound from high in the treetops. It was a weird sort of sound, something of a mix between songbird and feline. Just before he could determine what it was, it flew out of the trees and onto the ground right before him. It trilled at him? He didn't know what to make of the sound nor the animal in question. It is slightly larger than a cat but also smaller than a dog. Yet it did not have any visible ears that he could see, it had three eyes all of which had this sort of milky yellow film on them, and it seems to have tiny scales instead of fur, though if you didn't examine it in detail you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. It trilled at him again before sauntering off to one of the bluish-purple mushrooms. It swiped at the mushroom which expanded like a balloon for a moment before releasing a wheezing noise and expelling a cloud of blue spores. The creature took a very audible sniff and froze before falling over next to the mushroom. Alistair did not dare go near the mushroom, but he was almost sure the creature came here to die. Being a little sad to see the end of so magnificent a life made Alistair that much more aware of his own life. Taking one last look at the creature, he continued to walk through the woods.

Alistair was not in any particular journey, although he had brought supplies with him, he knew he would have to live off the land at some point. He could only hope that he would be able to find some sort of edible plant or fruit that he knew about or one that he was recently taught by the Woodsman. While walking Alistair saw many incredible forms of life. He saw what looked like a rabbit made of stone, and it surprised him when it swallowed a squirrel-like creature whole in a shower of gore. It took one look at him and ran off in the opposite direction though. He saw a tree that looked like a human and it's leaves were scarlet in color. He was going to get up close and examine it himself until he saw the rabbit creature from earlier try to nibble at it's roots. He stood horrifies when thin vein-like branches descended from the tree onto the rabbit and when they rose a second later, all that was left of the rabbit was a dried out husk and bones.

It was sometime later after watching what happened to the rabbit when Alistair noticed the woods becoming darker and darker.

"Daylight must be soon, I'd better find shelter." Alistair advised himself. "A cave would be best, but we'll see what I can find." He searched for an hour through the woods before coming upon a cave in a hillside. Arriving at the entrance, Alistair found himself curious about the lack of jagged or rough edges to the cave, it seemed as if something burrowed through the hillside rather than it being a naturally formed cave. He knew it better to risk it inside the cave than stay outside. While he might find some relative danger in the cave, he knew that if he stayed out he would definitely be in danger from the nocturnal creatures. Well, technically they were out in the daytime, but since day is night and night is day, that would make them nocturnal. Against most people's better judgement, Alistair ventured into the cave and was pleasantly surprised. As much as it looked very dark from the outside, after walking a few meters inside he could tell that it was not completely dark.

Looking around, Alistair found glowing worm-like tendrils wriggling out of the walls lighting the way. With a renewed sense of confidence, Alistair set out to explore the cave for a place to lay his head until night again. After traveling for a few minutes he found that the tunnel did not curve anywhere, there were no branches or turns, it was just a straight shot. After about twenty minutes he came to a large chamber with nothing in it but a blue glowing pool of liquid.

Alistair was curious about the liquid and where it came from. As he stepped closer to the liquid, he found that his body yearned to have some of it, and the closer he got, the stronger the urge. No! He must resist the urge! With a great deal of effort and focused willpower, he managed to take a few steps backwards, lessening his urge for the liquid.

"Nay child, thou must drink. Let thy very marrow be cleansed of thy sins. Refreshed and reborn. A stronger you for a darker time." A voice suddenly echoed inside of his head, though it seemed as if it came from all around the chamber.

"Who are you?" Alistair shouted in response. He was afraid, not of the voice, but that the voice was inside of his mind.

"The time is not ripe for our predestined meeting child. Thou wouldst set events into motion that cannot be undone. Haste will be thy undoing. Drink deeply and let the Moonglow wash thy very essence clean of impurities. Thou ist not of this very world. Drink child and sleep, now that thy art safe inside for a time..." The voice echoed before drifting off at the end marking the end of his silent conversation with the unknown being.

"Drink? Be cleansed? What is this about not being of the world?" Alistair had too many questions and honestly trusting a voice out of nowhere seemed a bad idea.

"What if this kills me?" Alistair questioned. Of course he got no response at all. It seemed whoever was communicating with him was finished or possibly couldn't carry on anymore. Alistair walked around the small basin with the Moonglow in it for some time. His boots echoing on the smooth stone floor, his mind deep in thought. After awhile he made his decision.

"If it is beneficial for me, then I will get stronger. If it kills me, then I would not have anything to worry about anymore anyways. No risk, no reward as Hyrdal always said," said Alistair as he walked to the basin. He peered at the Moonglow and while it did glow a pale blue, he could see that it was entirely transparent. Of course it was an actual basin and not some bottomless hole that kept gushing liquid, though it slightly disappoint Alistair. Taking a deep breath, he plunged his hand in and found that altogether, it wasn't entirely an unpleasant sensation. It flowed like water around his hands and it was cool to the touch. He cupped his hand together and brought some of the Moonglow to his lips. Alistair took another deep breath and drunk the Moonglow.

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