The Wanderer – Part III
The sun was rising as the tiger left the inn. He wished, he could have slept a bit longer, but he knew, he did not have the time for it. He had drunk a pot of coffee before he left and was now moving towards the Alandi forest. He estimated that he would reach the forest in about one or two hours. Then the hard part would start. He would have to track his prey in the forest. He thought about that. His prey must have entered the forest two days ago. He the fox he was looking for must be deep inside the forest now, hiding from the world. It would not be easy to find the fox. But he would do it, he had found everyone. And it seemed, he didn’t have to hurry, as it was known that the fox was going to hide in the Alandi forest, suddenly no other bounty hunter seemed interested anymore in the job.
What was it that everyone seemed to be afraid of the Alandi forest? Rumors said, that no one, who had entered the forest, had ever returned. Was that true? No one seemed to know. It seemed indeed, that a few years ago, when the king send some strong bear lumberjacks towards the forest, only the youngest returned his mind was destroyed, so it was said. No one could get a coherent sentence out of him, and the others were never seen again. A very old legend, its origins were long forgotten, said that the forest was the home to a sealed portal into the dark worlds, and the forest was truly a guardian, watching over the portal, letting no one come close to it, for it should be sealed forever.
The tiger knew a lot of the legends of the world, as Corion had taught him them. He had also learned, which parts of them were most likely true, and which were most likely not. He had thought about the Alandi Forest legends and he knew, similar legends were told of the jungle where he lived. They could not be true. He thought, that there must be something in the forest, and the legends were created to protect it. But what? Well it was his task to figure out. His task now was the hunt and he would succeed. He was sure of that.
As he came closer to the forest, he realized, why the legends and rumors spread. This forest was the prototype of an evil forest. Tall and dark trees, the trunks almost black, the leaves of a dark green color. On the border of the forest some dead trees were greeting the adventurer, and yes he came closer it somehow got cloudy and darker, even colder. Yes such a forest with these legends could not be found in bright sunlight. As he approached he closed his eyes, and breathed deeply, inhaling the scents of the wood, the grass, the trees, the leaves. He took a second breath to analyze the scents deeper, to identify animals nearby, anything that came by here the last day. He took a third breath and thought about all. Yes there is something strange here, indeed. The forest scents were wrong somehow, he could not really say why, but somehow this forest did not smell like a forest. He could smell the tres, the leaves, the grasses, the herbs, everything. But somehow, the smells were wrong. It seemed, as if , yes, if someone tried to mimic the smells of a forest and misses just the last bit.
He tried not to think of that and concentrated again, to smell after his prey, to find someone, who entered the forest a while ago. He got on all fours, closed his eyes again and smelled, moving along the border of the forest. He had to find the spot, where his prey entered the forest. He moved along the border of the forest slowly inhaling the scents, trying to find a hint of his prey.
After he searched for about an hour at the border of the forest, he picked up a new scent. He stood for a moment and inhaled. Yes, someone was here, he opened his eyes, he came from over there, he looked in the direction of the road. And here he went into the forest. Yes, this must be his prey; no one else had even dared to enter this forest. He took the grey robe and slipped in it, it would give him a bit more cover in these dark woods. He looked up. Although it was not even noon it seemed to get darker. Dark clouds were rising above the forest, it would surely start to rain soon. Then he looked around, he looked for signs which way his prey had taken. And he found them, a broken twig from a bush, a footprint in the dead grass, not much only a few hints, only visible, if you know what you have to look for.
The young tiger took a deep breath, and looked at the forest. There was no real path here, but as he looked around he found, that there was no path into the forest. It was simply avoided. All roads avoided the forest with at least a mile distance and it was possible, that his prey was the first living being to enter that forest since about 170 years. He took again a deep breath; yes, the forest was frightening, indeed. But there was no reason to be frightened, was it? Just because of some old legends? He came from a jungle, much more dangerous than these woods. In the jungle even the plants and trees can kill you, and here? He pulled out his waterskin, and had big gulp, then he took the second skin, and took a gulp, he felt better then. It was filled with wine and was a present from the innkeeper. He never before had drunk wine, but somehow he felt like he needed it now. In the moment he put the waterskin down it started to rain.
The tiger made a step towards the forest. Besides from the sound of the falling rain it was almost completely silent. Old dead twigs crushed under his feet, and the sound seemed to be louder than it should be, like a tree breaking in a thunderstorm. He knew, it just his imagination, but somehow… He shook his head; no this is a normal forest he thought, not more, not less. He made further slow steps, trying to be silent, and crossed the border into the forest.
Inside the forest it seemed to get darker, each step he made away from the border seemed to lead in darkness. Okay, he was a feline, he could see very well in near almost darkness, but somehow, this was not normal. The rain had started only as a few drops and they did not reach the ground in the forest. He could hear the sound getting louder, and some drops came through the trees. He stood in the forest, and looked around and inhaled again. The scents were there: the trees, the grass, the bushes. Still they were somehow wrong. And something else was wrong; he just couldn’t point out what it was. He inhaled a second time, trying to focus on his prey. He closed his eyes, and breathed deeply. Trees, bushes, gras, dead twigs, fallen leaves and very weak, a scent of a living being. Then it hit him. He could not smell any signs of life in this forest. And that was, what the other scents were missing. The trees did smell like trees, but they didn’t smell alive. Suddenly he felt very alone in a hostile place.
It was a shock, when he realized, that this forest, he and his prey must be the only things alive in here. But what was this then? This was strange, it could not be. He went over and touched a tree. It felt real. Yes everything felt real to him, but it didn’t smell real. It wasn’t alive. What was it. Somehow it frightened him. Were the old stories true? Would he never get out here again? He felt his heart beat to rise, he would start to panic. He took a deep breath, and calmed himself down. There is nothing alive in here, nothing then can harm me. He reached for the waterskin with wine, and took a gulp. ”Find the Prey, and get out of here, as fast as possible”, he thought and trailed of in the direction of the only other living thing in here.
The forest got darker and the rain became heavier, when the tiger moved deeper into the forest. It was silent now, only the rain was hearable. It was falling in a steady rhythm through the leaves, “like a heartbeat” the tiger thought. He tried to focus, his task on his mind, but the strange forest kept sneaking in his thoughts. He shivered every time he thought about the forest. The darkness seemed to engulf him here. Suddenly he remembered his old nightmare. It was a long time, since he had dreamed it last, but now, here it seemed to get real again. There were no voices, but the falling rain, yes the drums. And suddenly it was getting louder, oh god, this was no rain. These were drums indeed. Boom, boom, boom. The drumming was there and it was louder. He looked around, oh god, he was surrounded by shadows. They were dancing around him, in rhythm with the drums. He looked around, they were every were around him, a dark wall around him, the forest was not visible any more, just blackness and the drums. He grabbed for his sword, turning round, looking for something in the shadows, but they came closer. He knew his sword wouldn’t help him, he looked around the overwhelming blackness. He let his sword fall to the ground, and dropped on his knees, he started to cry. Then the shadows, the blackness leaped on him. The tiger screamed, and closed his eyes, waiting for his death. The Drums rose…
Nothing happened. The tiger opened his eyes looking around. He was prepared for almost everything now he thought. But he was now sitting on his knees in the forest. No signs of the blackness, no sound of drums. It was just him in the forest, sitting in the rain, kneeling on the wet ground. He blinked, “What just happened?” everything looked just like a minute before. “It must be my nerves, the forest creates strange thoughts”, the young tiger thought. He stood up. Everything around him looked the same as before, he took a deep breath, and, yes, it smelled like before, but something had changed. He felt being watched. But who was watching him? He was nearly alone in here, or wasn’t he? Was the darkness real? Was he going to die here? Was this forest leading to worse fates then death? Where was his prey? Was it possibly dead already, or had it suffered a fate worse than death? Or was his prey allied with the forest, and would therefore be safe in here?
He looked around again, taking a deep breath. “I’m getting nervous, I have to calm down. This is just a forest, nothing more.” He closed his eyes and breathed till his heart beat was at a normal rate. Then he concentrated and smelled for his prey again. He breathed, there it was, the smell. He opened his eyes and saw the traces his prey had left, some few broken twigs, and paw prints on the ground. He he followed the trail, hoping that his scream hadn’t be too loud and had alarmed his prey.
After a while the rain stopped, and immediately silence fell over the forest. The tiger stood still and listened. There was no sound, besides his breathing. He looked around, and yes nothing, no wind was moving, no animal running around, nothing. No insects no worms, just bare silence. And yet something was watching him, he was sure of that. He could feel it. It was behind him! He turned around quickly, but there was nothing, just the trees. He was alone, but he was sure, something was watching him. Suddenly some noises behind him, trough the trees, it was coming for him. He threw himself on the ground and he felt a cold breeze running over him. Then as suddenly as it occurred it was over again. Just some wind, he thougt, just some wind. He breathed deeply and took another sip of wine. He felt better. Okay, find the fox and get out.
Again, he took a deep breath and sensed for his prey. He gasped, as he found a new smell in the forest – blood, a very strong smell of blood. He opened his eyes immediately and the scent of blood was almost clearly visible to him. His prey must be hurt now. Was someone else there? He closed his eyes and smelled. No just him and his prey, now hurt. He jumped up and moved fast in the direction of the smell of blood not caring anymore about silence. He had to find it, before it was dead. If his prey died in this forest, everything was lost for him.
As he moved towards the smell of blood fog rose in the forest, a grey fog, darkening the forest more engulfing his far sight in greyness. He did’t care now. He had to be fast. This fog was a lesser problem now. It rose around him, but it was fog, wasn’t it. Well the forest was strange enough, strange fog would somehow be normal then. He almost ran through the forest towards his prey. He ran and almost fell over a big root of an old tree, but in the last moment he was able to jump. With the next root he was not so lucky. He had seen a clearing in front of him and ran towards him, as he saw a red body lying in the middle of the clearing. He picked up speed, and fell over a root, which he had not seen before, he would even have sworn, that it hadn’t been there. He fell over and landed in the middle of the clearing in front of the red body.
He tried to stand up and as he looked up, he noticed, that someone was with him. Behind the red body, this was a fox, stood a figure in the rising fog. He could not see much of it. All that was visible was a dark grey cloak with hood. He could not even see any facial features, well he could not see anything except for the cloak. He got up and looked at the figure closer. He could see, the fox in front of him was still breathing, it was alive, but he also saw, that it was hurt, for a trail of blood flew away from his body. Why could he still not smell that other figure, what was it? Which species was waiting for him? What had it done to the fox? What would it do to him?
The figure stepped out of the fog, or was it more like flying? The tiger couldn’t tell. Suddenly he felt unable to move any further. He was practically kneeling in front of the figure and unable to move. The figure came closer, and he could feel how it was looking at him. He was unable to move. He tried to struggle but his body didn’t respond. The figure was in front of him, its view lasting on the tiger. As it was close the tiger realized, it was indeed only a hooded cloak, there was no one inside. No, this was not true, he could see two bright eyes under the cloak, but nothing else. No hands no legs, just these two bright yellow glowing eyes. He began to sweat in anticipation; this was his end he feared. He was unable to move and a prisoner of a strange creature in a strange forest, where no one would rescue him.
The bright yellow eyes kept staring on him, and he couldn’t turn his face away. Like hypnotized he looked in these eyes, which seemed to look right through him. There was nothing he could do, just, looking and hoping. Suddenly the figure looked up, and he felt himself being able to move again as he collapsed on the ground. He stood up now, and looked at the figure. “Welcome,” a strange voice said, it was a slow voice, it seemed to come from an centeruries old figure. But no one seemed to have spoken; the voice was directly in his head. “Welcome, nameless one. We have been waiting for you. We have waited for a long time.” The tiger was puzzled. “Waited for a long time, nameless one...?” he stammered. “Who…, who are you? And why do you say we?” he asked. “We are the watchers. We have been waiting for you.” The voice in his head spoke. “Watchers?” he still did not understand. “What do you watch? And why were you waiting for me?” he asked, still puzzled.
Suddenly the fog was rising up and the voice in his head got louder “We are the watchers. We watch the tides of time. We wait for the one without a name. He will change the tides of time…”
