Tainted Woods P1 The lost girl and the water spirit

When humans don't respect all aspects of nature, then those aspects will make themselves known for even the smallest water spirit wishes to be acknowledged.

He had told her not to take it, but she didn’t listen. Running out into the woods with it shining in her hands, the girl smirked at how she was able to deceive the young water spirit. He had been kind to her and saved her from the clutches of death when she was stranded out in the woods; she repaid him with rudeness and the stealing of his golden locket. She hadn’t noticed before, but as she looked closely, it had cracked in the middle and had claw marks on the back. Its golden color was faded into a rusty copper and its golden chain covered in dirt and grime. Seeing the locket in its condition, the girl threw it on the ground with enough force to cause it to click open, an ear piercing scream came rushing from the locket, and echoed throughout the entire forest. The girl yelled in pain and snapped it shut, her ears pulsing from the wretched noise. The locket, now safely in the girls hands, vibrated softly as small bits of sound managed to seep through the crack in the middle. Terrified of the item, the girl hung the locket on a nearby branch and dashed away. Night had fallen among the eerily quiet setting of the forest, and the lost girl who wandered its ground. It was cold, dark, wet and smelled of old rotting wood, an odd transition from the once flower ridden, beautiful forest it had been earlier. The girl was tired and hungry and couldn’t see anything but the moon in the sky. It had an eerie red glow and illuminated nothing but the small patch of sky where it was placed. With nothing to guide her after hours of searching for an exit, the girl collapsed and laid back on the bark of a tree to sleep.

A few hours had passed and the forest’s dark atmosphere had not changed. The lost girl had awoken from her quiet slumber to realize it was still dark. Dazed and confused, she stumbled to her feet and opened her eyes slowly. A faint blue light was moving towards her from the distance; the lost girl was too disoriented to move. The blue light appeared before her and floated in front of her face before reforming into the water spirit she had stolen the locket from. He was beautiful with long flowing blue hair down to his waist, pale moon-white skin and kind sky blue eyes. However as he stood in front of the lost girl he had changed; his eyes a demonic red filled with anger, his hair a jet-black and his once blue robes of silk, a rough black material. The spirit smiled and held out his hand, the rusty locket appearing before the girls eyes; she could only stare in fear. The spirit slowly took the locket and wrapped it around her neck chanting a spell of dark magic constricting her body. With gentle movements, the spirit took his fingers and trailed them along the girl’s jawline as she struggled to breath, the weight of the constricting dark chains of magic crushing her lungs. Before she could run out of air, the spirit released the lost girl whispering in her ear,

“I don’t like it when people steal from me.” He yanked the locket from around her neck and crushed it in the palm of his hand. The chains from the dark magic reformed and tightened around the girl’s body as the spirit clenched his fists, causing her to scream in pain. She was angry that she had failed her mission but also terrified because she knew her fate was sealed. The spirit laughed manically in triumph and twirled the broken locket pieces between his fingers. They began to glow red like the moon overhead and transform to its original shape, its power fueled by the newest scream it could absorb, the scream of the lost girl.

Not long after she had started screaming, the lost girl fell to the ground, her body lifeless as the water spirit examined his work. The locket was now back to normal, its golden hue a disturbing sight in the pitch black forest. The water spirit wrapped the locket around his neck and disappeared into the night, leaving the girl to decay and become fertilizer for the trees.

 

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Tainted woods saga part 2: Entry into the forest

 

The villagers had sent in a soldier to recover the body of the lost girl. They knew that she would be dead in the end, but all the while they were hoping she had somehow succeeded in her mission. However, upon seeing her lifeless body in the arms of the soldier that returned, the hopes of the villagers were no more. The vengeful water spirit had taken yet another one of the women they sent to retrieve the locket, which meant yet another death in vain. The villagers began to realize that they would only have so much time before they would have to move or the water spirit would come and take vengeance on everyone. It was a sad realization but it was the truth.

Elsewhere in the village a young girl by the name of Gem danced about the small field of decaying flowers, abandoned by the villagers after their efforts to preserve it had faltered. Gem was what everyone called the villager’s treasure; she was beautiful with green eyes and wavy dark brown hair, and an innocent way of speaking that captivated the hearts of everyone in the village. Her voice when she sang made everyone feel as if the golden rays of the sun kissed their skin; her laughter made their tired spirits uplifted again. However as much happiness that Gem brought she was never truly happy herself. She knew that the village was suffering and she did not want to leave her home. She had been to the funeral of the lost girl from the forest earlier that day and witnessed the sadness the villagers displayed as they had to lay one of their own to rest too soon. Gem felt as though her heart were a weight heavy in her chest, something hard for a young child to understand. She was told to always look to her elders and the spirit of the forest for help when she was led astray, but no one had the will to do so anymore. She would do something to help those she loved and make sure that her home would not be destroyed.

Later in the day after the villagers settled down from the funeral, Gem grabbed her basket from beside her front door and prepared a small meal for her trip into the forest. Her ailing mother was sleeping in the back so she did not hear the clinking of the doorbell as Gem went out. Most of the villagers had gone inside to avoid the ongoing heat so Gem easily snuck out without being noticed.

The forest was glowing from the rays of the bright sun from above, the greenness of the leaves a false sense of healthiness for the inside was a hot, dark, and uninviting place. Gem took in the scent of the rotting wood and rushed through the trees, closing her eyes to shield herself from debris. To Gem’s surprise, the forest was oddly quiet; no singing of the birds, no wings flapping from the butterflies, no rustling of the leaves and swaying of the blades of grass. To be so beautiful from the outside, it was just the opposite on the inside.

Gem wandered through the trees for some time but she didn’t feel as if she was getting anywhere. Hours passed and eventually she had to give up her travels; around that time of year it became darker much faster than usual. She held her basket in one hand and shuffled through the remains of her lunch that she had packed earlier. A somewhat dull looking apple was the only item she had left and she was quite hungry. Nevertheless, it would have to do. She rubbed the apple with her sleeve to rid it of any excess dirt and bit into it. It was somewhat sour because she had picked it a little too soon, but as it dropped into her stomach a sense of small relief washed over her. She could survive through the night on just an apple because she could find her way out of the forest when morning came. Gem smiled contently at her “brilliant” idea and finished her apple with a few more bites. When she was finished, she took the core in her hand and buried it in a nearby soil patch, for she had always been taught to preserve the earth and all parts of nature; remains of fruit made good fertilizer for the trees.

As Gem finished burying the apple core and blessing the soil, she head out to find shelter for the night. There was a slight wind that caused the air to chill, almost a sense of foreboding present.

She didn’t take notice of the sunset, prancing about in foliage and examining all the plants that had died. A void of darkness seemed to engulf the area just moments after the sky had glistened red with the kiss of the sun’s rays. Gem, the innocent-mined child that she was, didn’t understand the consequences of roaming these lands at night, as the dark shadows of once living beings watched her from their shady hideaways.

Gem continued her trek through the forest, turning back towards the direction of what should have been “home.” She had tracked her journey with the flower petals that sprouted from the touch of the sun’s rays but now the only source of light she had was the small stars that twinkled overhead. Gem sat on a nearby mossy branch, taking in the scents of old, rotting wood and the silence of the dark forest. With no lights to guide her to her whereabouts the only thing she could think to do was go deeper in. With one more hesitant look back she arose from her seat and surveyed the area, unsure if she had made the right choice. One thing she had learned from her elders was without the Earth spirits’ guidance, the forest was an unforgiving place at night.

 

The water spirit never showed mercy to trespassers.

Author's Note

First part of an ongoing story -P1