VIGNETTE 2. THE ARRIVAL.

When I entered the forest, I instantly got a bad feeling. I was there once, and not for a good reason. I tensed my bow and walked carefully.

***

The trees around me were howling, moved by the night wind. The sound of a breathing had been following me for a while, but I didn't look back. I started thinking there was someone else there, apart from me. Whatever it was had been hiding between the dark and humid trunks of the firs for a long time, without making any other sound. At first, I thought it was an animal, but it wasn't. An animal doesn't follow its prey in such silence for that amount of time, I guess.

My little hands were trembling, trying to sustain a bow that was bigger than me. It was my mother's bow. And though she had taught me how to use it, I was too insecure to do it. I suppose that a five-year-old girl can feel insecure sometimes. At that moment, my head was spinning around trying to understand what had happened, where I was. I didn't even know how I got there. I was tired and hungry. Remembering that night, I wish my imagination had caused that rainy night forest image. It felt like a nightmare.

A branch crunched under my feet, and I stopped, listening, hoping that the sound hadn't provoked the thing behind me. I couldn't hear the breathing anymore. I was tempted to look back, but I was afraid to confirm my suspicions. And honestly, I didn't want to know what was hiding. I started walking again slowly, trying to calm myself and putting all my senses into that forest.

Then I heard a laugh. An evil and mostly muttered laugh. My heart started beating faster as I turned around slowly, making small movements each time. I started sweating. The trembling almost made my bow fall. A pale light. A thunder. The breathing was there again. I looked in every direction. I tried to perceive the creature in the dark. I followed the breathing with my senses. A lump formed in my throat. And I saw two yellow eyes looking right at me. I tried to run, but I was paralyzed. Suddenly the breathing became heavier, I could see the eyes moving in my direction. It was moving. Another thunder illuminated the forest and I saw a horned shade.

I stepped backward and the shade moved quickly like I hadn't seen before. It was no human. I turned around and started running as fast as I could. The trees around me were obstructing my way. I moved faster, avoiding each trunk, and each root that emerged on the floor. But my little feet stumbled, and I fell. My hands reached for the spilled bow. And I stood up. My knee was bleeding. I continued running. My little legs made me fall again. The creature was nearer. And I could hear the breathing at my back.

The shade uttered a horrendous sound. I started crying. On the floor, I turned around and prepared my mother's bow with an arrow. I was trembling. My hands couldn't tense the string tight enough. I was afraid. And I couldn't see the creature anywhere. But I felt the breathing approaching slowly.

Without warning the two yellow eyes appeared again a few feet apart from me. I started crawling backward with my heart pumping as if trying to escape my chest. The shade was taking pleasure in the moment. I moved faster and faster. And then I heard a crunch underneath my body, and I fell into a little hole. The creature tried to get me with its hands, but the hole was little, and the body of the creature couldn't get through. 'I'm trapped', I thought.

Another lighting made me see that it wasn't a hole, but more or less like a tunnel. I put my hand on the wall and started following the path in the dark. Running, hoping that the creature couldn't get inside the hole with me.

When a few minutes passed by, I stopped to hear if the breathing had followed me. But I could hear nothing apart from water falling from the roof as it happened in caves. I tried to remember how my father used to make torches. I took a piece of cloth and a couple of stones I could find around me, hoping they were flint, and clumsily started a little fire. I looked where I was. It seemed to be a dungeon. And fortunately, it was abandoned, or at least that's what I thought. Maybe I was right, but I didn't want to encounter those yellow eyes again, so I continued walking.

The tunnel ascended as I walked through it, and apparently, it ended in a beautiful meadow. Nothing compared to the forest before. The sky was clear, plenty of singing birds. And I could see the pinnacle of a cathedral nearby. I realized I had been walking the entire night, so I sat on the fresh grass and relaxed a bit. I mixed some plants to see if I could calm the pain in my knee, but I got them wrong and ended up having a swollen wound. Pappa would have been disappointed if he had seen me mixing in that chaotic way all the plants I found. A tear fell from my eyes.

'I'm sorry, Dad', I said sniffling from my nose.

No one heard me. That was the first time I realized how alone I was.

His face and my mommy's crossed my mind, and I couldn't help crying. All the bitter tears wetted my face. If she had been here; she would have dried my cheeks. And Pappa would have cleaned better my wound. If they had been there, I wouldn't be crying and wounded. I resisted the temptation of going back to them. I cried and tried not to think about their faces. But I really wanted to return to the village I flew from. However, I had to continue my journey.

When the cathedral's pinnacle was near enough, I discovered I had finally arrived at a city, and I felt better. I could see people around. They looked uglier than my neighbors, to be honest, but I was sure they could help. I went in with an infantile conviction.

A market went down the main road, and there, the noisy merchants exchanged different products with the buyers. There were men, women, and children around, and I was glad to see other people. I had spent the last few days walking alone in a forest.

'Hey, girl,' a man's voice called, 'Hey, you!'.

I turned around and searched for the voice that was talking to me.

'You want some of these magical objects I got here? I've got a special one right there', he said.

He was pointing to a wooden door right at his back. I looked at him doubtfully. He was wearing ragged clothes and looked like he hadn't slept in a day or two. His face was covered by some dark stains and there was sweat all around his body.

I took a quick glimpse at what he was selling and discovered a table full of beautiful stones. So, I came closer, I had to check them. They shone in the sunlight and a tinted shade was drawn into the wood where they were exposed. I was intrigued by the colors, they were variated and looked incredible. They were really magical, it seemed to me, and really cheap. It was a bargain.

'Have you lost your tongue, girl?', he said impatiently.

'I want this red one', I answered hypnotized by the glitter the stone had in it.

'Oh, you like red, huh? I think I might have what you're looking for. Come with me'.

The man entered the door behind him, and I was so curious that I followed him. As soon as I trespassed the doorstep, he grabbed my hand tight and dragged me inside. Feeling uncomfortable, I moved abruptly to free myself.

'Hey, what the fuck are you doing?', he said, tightening the hand around my wrist.

I bit him hard in the arm and he let me go. I run outside pushing everything that was in my way, including the table where the stones were placed. Everyone shouted and I took the opportunity to take a few stones and disappear from the place.

A few moments later I was reaching the end of the marketplace. My stomach was roaring and making weird sounds. It hurt a bit too. I checked my pockets to see if I had a coin, but they were full of beautiful stones. I, then, started pretending I was going with my mom by following a stranger around. I stopped in front of a stand and reached for a piece of bread, and suddenly a woman hit me in the hand and started yelling at me.

'But, please, I'm hungry', I said knowing she had caught me.

The woman went furious and kicked me out of the place.

'I am hungry too', I heard her saying.

I offered her some beautiful stones, but that made her even madder.

I got away sad with my stomach still howling.

I ended up crying at the stairs of the cathedral. I had no one. I couldn't get anything to eat. Nobody cared about me. And I didn't know what else to do now. I was sitting there heartlessly when I heard a door opening at my back.

'Hey, little thing', an old man said, 'What are you doing here?'.

I didn't even look at his eyes. I didn't want to talk because I thought he wouldn't help me anyway.

'Oh, girl. What happened to you?', he kneeled in front of me, took a napkin, and started cleaning my face and knees, 'You've got mud on your face, little creature'.

I let him clean my tears and all the dirt I had.

'Are you lost?'.

I nodded this time.

'Come with me, creature. Are you hungry?'.

I nodded again.

He presented me to his friends. Their funny faces were pinkish and cheerful. Their big hands made me something to eat, and their friendly eyes saw what I went through because they took care of me in the best way they could.

'Well, sure you're hungry…' said the old man while he was impressed by the amount of food I could fit in my mouth, 'But first things first. I'm Father Zephar, and these are the clerics of Aaren'.

I looked at them while chewing.

'Nice to meet you', they said almost at the same time.

I chuckled. They were coordinated.

'And this is Caleb'.

A boy approached me. He was maybe five or six years older than me. He had dark skin and brown compassionate eyes. He was smiling.

'Hi, I'm Caleb', he said.

I giggled; he looked funny in his cleric habit.

'I'm Lennah', I said.

He looked at me intrigued and hesitated.

'I was preparing a special potion in the garden', he said trying to cover his shyness with a friendly smile, 'Would you like to join me when you finish eating?'.

I agreed happily.

***