by David Paul
Effortlessly, I used the hand axe like a machete to chop vines and debris out of my way. The hand axe was sharper than any blade or tool that I had ever used. It was very lightweight. The blade was enchanted, and I could feel its magick. For the first time, I really got a chance to look at it. It had very precise and intricate lines and contours. Leather cording wrapped tightly around the handle and beautiful jewels adorned the pommel and hand guard.
This must have been a priceless relic that the prophet had given me. There were carved notches all along the metal parts of the handle. I guess Saint Michael kept a head count of all of the demons that he had put down, and there were too many notches to count. I forged forward. I still felt really good from whatever Capello did earlier. Maybe, it was the potion. Regardless, I felt great.
The forest just seemed like an endless void. I kept cutting and chopping down branches and vines, only to find more branches and vines. Finally, I realized that the vines would grow back several minutes after I had whittled them down. What a crazy place this was. All of the work that I had done to get in here was for naught because I’d have to do the same to get back out. This endless labyrinth of trees and vines might have been leading me in circles.
Almost all of the scenery looked the same, and it was very easy to see why people have died in here. I decided to use the hand axe to mark the area in front of the biggest trees to somewhat keep track of where I was going and had already been.
It seemed like hours had gone by, and it gradually got darker as the afternoon turned into late afternoon. Hacking and chopping was all I did endlessly. I seriously started to think that part of the danger of the Black Forest was going insane while in there. It was testing my sanity and resolve.
The silence was unnatural, and even the noise that I made while trekking through seemed muted. No one would hear my screams. No one would ever find me again. This macabre place could literally swallow someone up without a trace. I was quite sure that the truth was buried beneath the omnipresent plant life.
The greenery seemed infinite, and I had little reprieve from clearing it away while burrowing a makeshift path. Every now and then, I would come across a small clearing in the middle of the endless vegetation. That’s where I took my small breathers before moving forward looking for the mountain that Capello had mentioned. That mountain seemed as if it was worlds away from where I was. Even if I were lucky enough to reach the mountain alive, I’d still have to face the witch. I pressed forward with the safety of Katerina haunting my thoughts.
The most recent clearing that I had come across had a pile of bones on display. They didn’t even look out of place. I thought that the skull was a small rounded boulder until I inspected it closely. It wasn’t heavy enough to be a boulder. As I turned it around, the eye-sockets introduced themselves to me. The chilling realization of what I had in my hands gave me a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I dropped it from my hands and regained my composure. The remains were a cold reminder of where I was and what happens to mortal men in this place. God only knew what lurked in this forest.
The skull of the dead man made me think the worst things. My only company in the forest was someone long dead. I prayed that my fate would be different then my unlucky friend. I kept cutting a path. Full of perspiration, the sweat stung my eyes as I hacked my way through that treacherous place. The vines seemed to be thinning out.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I came to another small clearing. There was the mountain standing off in the distance. I had the wildest feeling of déjà-vu or something that I could never explain fully. Maybe I had reached a nexus point in the prophecy or a sliver of time designated by fate. The hugeness of the mountain spanned across the sky. The mountain was intimidating, and the Sun stood behind it in picturesque fashion.
I temporarily put the bones out of my mind. A small trail looked as if ran up the side of the rocky cliffs of the mountain past the timberline.
Large birds that appeared to be vultures circled the highest parts, and they were the first signs of life that I had seen in this forest. Seeing the mountain motivated me because I knew that I was getting closer to where I was headed. The vegetation seemed to be thinning out a bit more as I got closer to the mountain. I still had my work cut out for me getting there, but at least I had some visible signs of hope.
Physical exhaustion was not the problem because of what Capello’s spell had done for me. This place was starting to play tricks on my mind. The silence in the forest was just not right. There weren’t even any crickets chirping or bugs flying. Not even a bunny rabbit in this entire place was hopping around. Only the vultures flew above the mountain, impending doom.
All of a sudden, almost without warning, the Sun went down. I couldn’t keep track of the time, and it seemed like it was about four or five in the evening. To my best calculation, the Sun should have had at least three to four more hours of light left. “Now it’s dark, “I heard either whistle on the wind or echo in my mind. Where it came from wasn’t obvious. There was no wind prior to that all day long in this forest.
At least the sound of the wind would have been mildly comforting to me. Briefly, I stood frozen as I tried to gather my bearings in the darkness. As if it wasn’t dark enough in this forest, I didn’t need the Sun to go completely black. This was obviously some kind of spell or maybe even an illusion. I wondered if Zurelda knew my location all along.
The glowing crystal I got from Capello would produce a good amount of light, but I was scared that I would mark myself in the forest. It wouldn’t be too hard to see at night from afar. Basically, I might as well bang a drum and light a fireworks display to alert everyone of my presence. I struggled with what would be the best course of action. Other events were pressing me to react.
Off in the distance, I saw a set of glowing red eyes piercing through the darkness. Did the blood on my clothes attract a predator? The eyes made me tremble for a quick second before I acted. I decided to move forward through the darkness. I lost my footing. After several stumbles, I realized that it was impossible to maneuver in the dark forest. The moon wasn’t out yet to give me some light, and the darkness spell or illusion was powerful. All I knew was that the Sun was gone from the sky. I really wondered if the entire forest was one big illusion.
Out from my pocket, I took out the crystal, and it seemed to illuminate a radius of about twelve or so feet with pure glowing white light. My body didn’t cast a shadow in the light. Interestingly enough, the vegetation in the sphere of light withered with the exception of the trees. The plant life grew unnaturally in almost complete darkness and probably hadn’t seen bright light, ever.
The light cut a path through the vines, high grass, moss, and shrubs. For Christ’s sake, I really wished that I would have known this beforehand. I could have run through the forest during daylight and put the crystal away at night to not compromise my position. At least, I know now. Some cording from my backpack was used to make a makeshift necklace with the crystal in the center. My other hand was now free instead of carrying the crystal around. As I walked through the forest, those red eyes seemed to be following me the whole way. I felt as if I was being hunted.
While hiking to the mountain, I tried to forget about what was following me. Hopefully, the light from the crystal would keep away any dangerous animals or creatures. The eyes seemed to follow me at the same pace that I was moving. I wondered what the hunter in the shadows was. I hiked for what I thought was another hour through the blackness. I saw the full moon glowing out of the darkness.
The eyes seemed to disappear into the shadows. With the eerie moonlight, the glowing crystal was no longer needed, and I put it back into my pocket. I was getting closer to the mountain, and there wasn’t as much cover from the trees anymore. For a brief moment, it actually looked like a normal serene forest under the moonlight.
Suddenly, I was startled by a noise behind me. A twig or a branch had snapped. With the dead silence in the air, it almost echoed like
thunder throughout the forest. Quickly, I spun around to see nothing. The noise had startled me enough to make me run. Running like cheetah in the moonlight, I hauled ass through the Black Forest trying to get to the mountain trail. I really didn’t want to know what had made that noise. I ran full speed into something. I tried to run away, but I was stuck.
It took me awhile to figure out what I was tangled up in. An enormous spider web was laid out in a darker area that blocked the moonlight. I was almost paralyzed inside of it. The web was incredibly strong and sticky, and I struggled to free my hands from it. This web was so big that it scared me to imagine what had spun it.
Finally, I had my right hand free. Strong vibrations that I could feel in the web alerted me to something coming close to me. I used the hand axe to cut the webbing from my other hand. At least I had both hands free, but my torso and legs were entangled in it severely. I struggled to free myself with no luck. I began to panic, and the glowing crystal fell out of my pocket. The crystal stuck to a portion of the web around my feet, and instantly lit up the area with blinding rays of welcomed white light.
It was no longer a mystery as to what had spun this web and where the vibrations were coming from. A freakishly large, black spider with a body the size of a wine barrel was roughly three feet above me crawling down the web. The light from the crystal must have blinded it because it seemed to be shielding its two rows of four grotesque, opaque eyes with its long hairy legs. Light of this magnitude must not be common to this forest, and it was punishing the hideous creature.
The spider reared up, and a red hourglass marking under the thorax gave away her identity. I was about to become a meal for a giant black widow spider. One bite from this wicked thing, and I’d surely be doomed. The black widow kept inching closer, but still shielding her ugly eyes from the light. Black sticky saliva or copious venom leaked from her menacing jaws as she approached even closer. My heart was beating at a ridiculous pace, and my adrenaline was surging furiously through my veins.
This situation required immediate action. If I hesitated, the spider would have had me in its grasp, and the venom would kill me. With a flat-footed, off-balance swing, I attacked her. The first strike with the hand axe swiftly cut off her first front leg. Black blood gushed all over me as she bled profusely. The second blow I planted just above her jaws and just below her eyes.
Luckily, her jaws didn’t catch my hand when I had swung. More disgusting arachnid blood splashed everywhere on my body. The creature made awful high-pitched squealing noises that pierced my ears. I don’t know what came over me, but I went absolutely insane with rage and kept chopping the spider to pieces.
Chunks and parts of her eyes, legs, and everything else flew wildly into the night. The painful screams stopped. The black widow fell dead at my feet, almost in a pile. I gave her a few extra shots for good measure just to be sure that she was completely dead. I didn’t want to make the mistake of thinking that the giant spider was dead, and then get bitten. I made sure.
Immediately, I used the hand axe to cut my legs and body free. The crystal yanked free from the web after some coercion. As I picked up the crystal, the illumination allowed me to see the web somewhat better. At first, I made sure that I didn’t have any more deadly friends visiting me, and then I was able to see.
The web spanned at least one hundred yards between two gargantuan trees and was littered with the leftover remains of those not as fortunate as I. The ground was littered with bones, feathers, rusted pieces of armor, and tattered clothes. This spider must have been here for quite some time feasting on the unsuspecting. There was no sign of whatever I heard earlier that sent me off running wildly.
There may be another hungry creature creeping around in here in this forest, but no more red eyes followed me. I wasn’t foolish enough to think that I was out of harms way, but I didn’t have time to worry about that. Whatever else jumped at me from these woods would be dealt with in a similar fashion.
There was a lake rippling in the moonbeams several yards behind the nasty spider web. Heeding Capello’s advice, I decided to steer clear of the evil water. Several pools of murky quicksand surrounded the general area behind the trees. It was very easy to see how so many perished in this forest. I cleaned off the spider’s black blood as best as I could with some water from the water skin. The black filth wouldn’t come off completely, so I smeared it all over my face like war paint. The crystal was still glowing intensely, and I put it back into my pocket.
All I thought about was Katerina. An unhealthy amount of fury brewed in my mind. If Katerina was dead, then I intended on a torrid storm of revenge. I also wanted to avenge my aunt and uncle who were innocent victims of evil wrongdoing. Determination gripped me, and I raced to the mountain path. After a long sprint, I arrived at the path. Strangely, I was not out of breath.
The path looked like it was seldom used, but it was relatively clear of brush. Cautiously, I traversed the slight incline. After several hundred feet, the grade of the slope became far steeper, requiring more time and attention. The dirt path became a slate and rough granite, rock trail. The smell of fire was in the air. Maybe I was close to Zurelda.
I took a long swig from the water skin. Thirst had set in, but still no fatigue. I drank more water until I was satisfied. It seemed like a good time for a quick meal for hopefully more strength. I forced down what I could, but lacked a hearty appetite. After a few negligible bites of cured beef, I readied myself for battle.
Further up the rocky grade, I came upon some caves. They appeared empty, but this had started to sound like what Capello mentioned in the hut. Several hundred flapping bats flew out of the smallish caves in one huge exodus. I was startled only for a brief moment. Upon further inspection, the musty caves led to nowhere, yet I knew I was close.
The North Star was above me, and no trees blocked its view to the sky. A sliver of light had caught my eyes roughly ten yards away. It almost appeared as a horizon. I heard a soft clanging noise and saw a rising column of smoke emptying into a dark storm cloud. Slowly, I made my way over and crept to the horizon. I was on a slight ledge overlooking a crater.
There she was…as ugly and vile as ever… The wicked witch Zurelda was in all of her usual disgusting glory. There she stood roughly thirty feet from me. The toothless whore bore new scars by my hand to add to her gruesome appearance. What a surreal scene it was. Chills ran the entire length of my spine.
A black onyx pentagram bound by a circle formed of red tiles with wild otherworldly symbols adorned the floor of the crater. The crater floor was smooth gray granite that had been carved out of the mountain flawlessly with robot-like precision. The witch must have prepared for the ceremony for quite some time. Either that, or Zurelda had been using these grounds for years already. A stone altar was in the middle of the massive pentagram with Zurelda behind it.
From my vantage point, Zurelda wasn’t facing directly at me. She was set up perpendicular to the altar at my two o’clock. Sitting on top off the carved stone altar was the glowing prism. It was absolutely mesmerizing. The light danced through it like sparkling diamonds exploding into shiny dust upon exit.
This prism would have easily killed it at any disco in the 70’s. The visual was breathtaking. Light was being sucked into the prism and redirected elsewhere exploding into different hues. It appeared as if raw evil power had been made visible and transcended into different alternating frequencies of luminosity. This was the twisted rapture of science and black magic melding into one.
As I watched a myriad of lights bend and refract into different phosphorescence, smoke was rising from bronze fire pans filled with various magical herbs and other vile ingredients. The incandescence colored the smoke as it drew from the fire pans, culminated uniformly, and then spun in a controlled vortex around the wicked Zurelda. I could smell the foul stench of whatever unholy ingredients that she burned.
The smell of scorched human hair was something that I did pick up on the tepid mountain wind. Kateri
na was nowhere to be found, and I saw no trace of Regina. Torches burning sacred ancient oils worked like incense to help mask the foul smoke rising out of the crater skyward from the vortex. Flickers of lightning strobed throughout a storm cloud with varied electrical pulses.
Zurelda lowly chanted foul things dressed in a black get-up that resembled every stereotypical witch costume seen on Halloween. This was something straight out of a bad movie, yet it was in front of my face unfolding. The only thing missing from her awful costume was the broom, and that was replaced with an ancient, black wormwood staff.
Three weathered, shrunken heads bolted to foot-long rusty chains dangled at the end the staff. The heads were fastened securely to the chain from the top of the skull, and they hung like a ceiling fixture from a kitchen. Every time her hand moved the staff, the shrunken heads would dance on the end of the rusty chains like a sick puppet show. The staff made a foreboding jingling sound when the chains clanged together. There was a sinister knocking noise from the skull bones colliding with each other.
The chime fit for the Devil himself played its sorry tune while the twisted ventriloquist continued with her grim performance. Every nightmare I ever had since this day has had that morbid chime in it as background music. The chime wasn’t even frightening; it just gave me a very uncomfortable feeling in the very core of my being. It rang heavy on my heart for some inexplicable reason. It rang a depressing tune of sadness and despair.
There was no sign of Regina on this mountain, yet I felt eyes on me. I really didn’t know if it was just paranoia. The weight of the stare was heavy. Zurelda kept speaking in other tongues until her aura appeared as a dirty fluorescent green. She spoke louder. Something else began to happen as I surveyed the crater thinking about what to do next. The ground shook, and the rumbling echoed all over the mountain.