The Blood trail

Turning my gaze away from Eric, staring at the creepy shadows of the forest, I felt something unnatural brewing in my subconscious, like a whisper inviting me to explore its depths. Fog-tinted trees stood like guards, serving as the final barrier between civilization and reason, taunting me into exploring any mysteries it could hold under its millennia-old gaze.

Nightingale light replaces sunlight as the autumn sky was beginning to unravel its aethereal blanket, filling the horizon with tar-black clouds, replacing any last hope I had in helping the peasants survive it.

the autumn sky was beginning to unravel its blanket, filling the horizon with lightning-infused clouds as I was lost in my thoughts, contemplating my next moves.

''As the baron of these lands, even if I was just thrown here without my knowledge, the least I can do for Eric is to not waste his death,'' I mumbled, attracting Nathan's stare and curiosity regarding my remark.

''The forest is primordial,'' explained Nathan, turning his head left and right, worried someone was eavesdropping. A childish action, probably a quirk of his since being an Awakened warrior, sneaking up on him was near impossible.

'' Centuries-old trees with sprawling limbs that serve only to protect themselves, blotching out any sunlight that dares to entrench its territory, marked and speckled bark as if poisonous blisters have curved their nest with time on their surface. Chunky patches of soggy moss, wilting from their rotten branches as if inviting us to a deathly dance, are only a fraction of what we will encounter,'' sternly voiced Nathan, prompting me to drop the matter.

'' You truly are a poet, Nathan,'' I said half-jokingly, wanting nothing more than to defuse the gloomy feeling that was crawling all over me.

'' If we are to explore these parts of the forest, Sir, we will only invite trouble on our heads,'' Nathan continued, attempting to discourage me from tracking down those that killed Eric.

'' Grab one of the locals'' I ordered Nathan before mounting my horse.

With sunset only some hours behind us, we barely have enough time to track the bloody path Eric left before rain wipes it all clean.

'But sir'', Nathan tried to protest, facing my piercing gaze as a result, ending the discussion sort.

''Get it done,'' I repeated, hiding my trembling hands inside my pockets.

Even though I was terrified of what I could encounter in these woods, I couldn't just let the problem fester.

I would have to deal with much trickier problems down the road if I were to ignore the issues that were popping up now. Like a wound you leave unattended, the problem with time will ooze into a life-threatening one, and with Nathan beside me, I at least had the means and reasons to act braver for both my and the barony's sake.

''Prudence keeps us alive yet it is the boldness that achieves us victory,'' I trailed off, waiting for Nathan to catch a local familiar with this spooky forest.

With a whimpering middle-aged man serving as our guide, begging us to let him go, vowing he did not know these parts of the forest, we carefully trotted towards the entry of the forest. Considering he was one of the few hunters in this destitute village, bragging left and right that he could navigate blindfolded in the forest at night if the need arose, we pushed forwards.

The wind howled and the trees started thrashing and crashing against each other, welcoming us with their unique way into the thick leafage of the forest. The further we went, the more mysterious and spellbinding it became.

The blood tracks were clear for about four kilometres deep, turning fainter and fainter the more we closed in on whatever it was that terrified and ultimately butchered Eric.

It was twenty minutes later that the tracks ultimately went dead. With dead leaves and twigs surrounding our trail, waiting for our frightened guide to point us on the way, I decided to unmount.

''Signs of battle,'' mumbled Nathan before pointing towards a spot fifteen meters ahead.

Broken twigs along with spots of dried blood and torn cloth, semi-buried in the dirt, were hurriedly spread behind a tree in a desperate attempt to hide whatever happened there.

The sun was about to set, soon to bring with it a veil of darkness, slowly creeping towards us with its misty ambience before the screams of our guide further increased my nervousness.

''Blood, there....there is blood ever....everywhere'' he screamed, scampering to find his way towards us like his life depended on it.