The Forest

(This was originally done for a contest)

“Darkness is a powerful weapon. It can make a man go insane and it destroys your vision. It is not to be toyed with unless you have great courage. What darkness could do to any person if it is combined with evil is sickening. Luckily I was prepared.”

Steven, member of the order of Halo, is a hero. He is a saint, a helper, makes good deeds, he is a warrior for all that is good. He triumphs over evil and provides help for society. Brown hair stands on top of his head and his white eyes stair into darkness, for he is about to enter the forgotten forest of all that is evil. Steven's white robe flutters because of the wind and his hood is rested on his shoulders. His black boots stand on the muddy soil that has rotted for centuries. His long sword stuck in his sheath and his sheath stuck on his waste. At the age of eighteen he has done much for his town’s people and fights outstandingly. Steven breaths heavily and gets ready for the journey ahead. He must pass through the forest to reach the oracle. He seeks advice on what the evil order is preparing to do.

He and his Order of Halo had been in war with the Abyss Legion for years. They have been closing in on them and Steven has been sent to the oracle and she will tell him great advice. He hopes the prophecy is wrong, saying that the woods are haunted with great evil. Many people who have gone there have died or at least never returned. Steven takes a few steps towards the only entrance to the forest. He sighs and enters. As he walks he sees only one thing, decaying trees. He grabs the handle of his sword and continues to walk while looking alert. Nobody knows how long the journey is through the forest because nobody ever passed. There is actually one exception, his name was Harry and he was once a member of the Order of Halo. Harry was of course a nice fellow who had a wife and kids. He spent most of his time with family but also helped the Order of Halo.

One day the leader member, so called thirteen, assigned the same task as he assigned Steven. Accept this time the oracle was needed because there was a famine. Later on they figured out where to get food but not because of Harry. When he came back he didn’t speak a word. He sat down and starred at nothing. He occasionally started to mumble as if trying to say something but he couldn’t. The forest must have scared the words right out of his mouth. Finally a month after I joined the Order of Halo he screamed very loudly. He screamed for about ten minutes took a sword and killed himself, a very sad and confusing day that was. Let us just hope the same doesn’t happen to me, Steven thinks. The reason was simple but not so simple for others. Bravery was a key factor, knowing that he can kick ass was another, and finally generosity. If he doesn’t speak to the oracle the Order of Halo might fall. Steven now sees two path ways one going left another going right, but which to take? He thinks to himself and chooses the right path. He walks a bit faster and starts to hear things.

“No go back go back.”
“I’m scared mommy lets go back.”
“Are you sure this is the path to go to?”
“Holy crap did I just see something?”
“Wow!” Steven thinks to himself. “That is strange.” He continues through the never ending forest. His hand enters the opening of his robe and he takes out a canteen. He takes a sip and puts it back in. With each step Steven takes the forest seems to darken. Every tree he passes starts to rot. Only nightmares would play host to a place like this. Steven notices movement to his right, to reveal a little girl who had climbed out from a tree. She starts to run along it giggling.

“Hey, little girl, what are you doing here? It’s not a safe place to be here.” Steven starts to run after her. She starts to run faster but Steven catches up and the girl stops. “Little girl it is very dangerous here.” The girl turns around and smiles. Steven’s eyes widen in disbelief. It was his sister from years ago. She died from a severe cold. The girl then runs into the tree and vanishes. “This cannot be. The forest is playing tricks on my mind.” Steven continues. The tree branches start to get thicker and become abundant. This causes the area to become darker. Steven still could see cracks of light coming through the branches and could manage to see direction he’s going. As Steven continuous to walk he sees a huge worm the size of his foot. Its mouth is circular and razor sharp teeth go around the inner circle of its mouth. “What the hell?” It lunges toward Steven and he dodges it by ducking. It crawls toward his leg and bites onto it.
Steven slices it in half and half of the worm heals while the other half grows into another worm. The second worm lunges toward Steven’s chest and bites on. He can feel the worms draining blood out of him. He reaches into his robe and pulls out a dark red potion. He gulps half of it down and puts the potion back into his robe. Steven waits a few seconds and breaths at the worm. A blaze of fire leaps out of his mouth and burns the worm. Again he breaths at the other worm and it gets burnt. The worms shrivel up in a ball and die. Steven sits down on the hard dirt surface and tries to regain strength. He then looks at the worms and they vanish. He looks at his chest and no bite mark is there. He gets up and looks confused.

To himself he says “this forest or some kind of force deep in the forest makes people imagine things. There might be no real danger hear but imagination and darkness is enough to make a person go insane. This place is filled with pure evil no doubt.” He walks onward towards the path remembering that there were two paths to choose from. He hoped he chose the right one. Suddenly the place goes dark; darkness threw itself over Steven like a blanket. He starts to hear voices again.
“Help me, I’m lost.”
“I knew we took the wrong path you idiot.”
“Oh god, please help.”
“Mommy I’m hungry and scared. Are we there yet?”

He hears a woman break down into tears and he hears many screams. He suddenly feels some hands touch him. Chills run down his back and he pulls his sword out. He cannot see anything and then he remembers. He now puts his hand into the left side of his robe and pulls out a small vile with glowing liquid. He pours it into his eyes and throws it onto the grown. He screams because of the pain its causing him. He falls to the ground with his hands holding him up. He opens his eyes and a great wave of light comes out. Steven now can see through the darkness. He can see little red demons jumping up and down. They have tails with a sharp point, mouth filled with razor teeth, eyes red, body red, and they are up to Stevens waste in length. They run towards him. Steven swings his sword chopping one in half. Another comes and jumps.

Steven’s other hand grabs him by the throat and sticks his sword into its head. He then chucks the body at another upcoming demon. Another bites into his leg, Steven cuts off its head. The one that got toppled over runs toward Steven and scratches him with its hand. He finishes him off with a blow to the head with the butt of the sword. Blood is all over the floor and it is getting absorbed by the hard dirt. Steven’s leg is also bleeding but as he thought the demons and his wound vanish.
He starts to run now knowing the vial of light does not last forever. After a while he doesn’t know if it is day or still night but he continues to run. He then comes up to a point where the path splits into three. He quickly thinks to himself that it cannot be the right path because he already chose the right path. He thinks the middle is always obvious to choose so it must be wrong. He takes the left path and continues to run. Steven sees skeletons along the pathways and then hears a deep voice.

“Steven! You are strong I can see.”
“Who are you?”
“I am the one who inputs images into people's head and I am speaking to you through your mind.”
“But why? Why kill all these people?”
“I have been cursed to stay at the ending of this forest. I will not tell you why but what else is a man to do if he is destined to stay in one spot for eternity.”
“You shall suffer for what you have done.” Steven continues to run and sees demented things in his way. He continues to run while slashing them to bits. He then falls into a pit. He collapses into a pool of blood and he struggles to swim. He chucks his sword at the other end of the pit and it gets stuck in the mound of earth. He swims to the other end and starts to climb out. He shoves his fingers into the dirt to climb up. He continues and gets his sword on the way up.

“You can’t destroy my mind that easily.” He climbs out and the pool vanishes below him and he runs once more. He sees a great light ahead and as he looks behind he sees the earth falling behind him. He starts to run faster so he doesn’t fall into the nothingness. He knows it is all unreal but he continues to run with all his strength. He runs and runs until he reaches the light, the earth stops falling and Steven stares. He sees a great chair surrounded by light. On that chair sits a rotting corpse. The corpse speaks. “Hello Steven. You are the only one that made it to me.”
“I feel special, now prepare to die.”
“Not so fast Steven, first you must get out of those chains.”
“What chains?” Steven looks at his feet and wrists and found chains attached to them. He struggles to get free. The corpse gets up and starts to walk toward Steven.
“You look like a great meal.”
“These chains are not real.”
“Yes, but I am.” A laugh comes out of the corpse and it approaches Steven again. Steven pulls with all his might. The corpse is near Steven and it opens his mouth. Its head moves toward Steven. Steven breaths heavily, sigh’s, and pulls once more with strength. The right chain breaks free from the dirt. The corpse gasps. Steven takes his fist and knocks him toward the ground. The chains disappear and Steven picks up the sword. He drives it into the corpse and black blood comes out.
“This cannot be.” The corpse coughs and tries to breath.

“Now this is real.” Steven takes out the sword and shoves it into the corpse's skull.
“Thank you. You have now set me free.” The corpse smiles and sinks into the ground. The lights from Steven’s eyes run out and he sees darkness again. Suddenly the whole place lights up. Steven looks behind him and the forest is no longer there, instead a large field with green grass lies. This pathway is now safe for everyone to use. But his mission is not yet complete. He still must reach the oracle and her house is not so far away. He can see it and so he runs again. He takes out some water and drinks it all. After half an hour Steven reaches the oracle. Her house was like any ordinary middle ages woman’s house. “Sit down Steven.” Steven sits down and awaits the oracle.
“You have come to seek advice about the war, yes?”
“Correct.”
“The abyss has created a new creature. It lives off of humans but has trained not to attack them, only others. They will unleash it upon your Order of Halo and you must be prepared. The greatest effect will be holy water. Weapons will kill but the water will kill even faster.”

“Thank you oracle. If you ever need any assistance you may ask.”
“Well I need my cloths washed.” Steven smiles and does as she asked. As the pathway is now cleared of danger he returns with great haste and a celebration is held for his return. The war is won because of the knowledge they obtained. But the abyss still linger to try to defeat the Order of Halo and have a brand new race to help them out. Steven thinks to himself “darkness is a powerful weapon. It can make a man go insane and it destroys your vision. It is not to be toyed with unless you have great courage. What darkness could do to any person if it is combined with evil is sickening. Luckily I was prepared.”