Chains of the Forest

by Darin Niemann

  Because of my slow and silent advance, it took me quite a while to reach the little shack. It really was tiny, clearly only meant for a single person. From the outside, it appeared to be only one room. Now that I was close up the the place, I noticed that it seemed off. It didn’t quite have the look of a man-made building. The wood seemed almost to have been twisted and pulled into place rather than cut and hammered with nails. It was unnatural and eerie.

  Even more cautious now, I approached the door. Ever so slowly, I inched it open. Once the opening was wide enough, I slipped through, still staying as silent as possible. Inside I found that the dim lighting from outside still had its presence here, even without any windows. There wasn’t much to the room aside from a desk, a small bed set in far corner, and a small table all sized for a single person. The furniture appeared to be made in the same manner as the hut itself. I returned my gaze to the desk.

  In the desk chair sat the remains of a person. I made a guess that it was a person, though over time the skeleton had fallen apart. The skeletal head resting on the table along with some arm bones. The rest of its body was littered in the chair and on the floor around it, having long ago lost the flesh holding itself together. The two things that made me pause were the cloak hanging off the back of the chair and the book on the desk. How had these things remained untouched by time or wear when the skeletons flesh had long ago become less than dust?

  Curious, I grabbed the cloak, dislodging a few bones in the process. It wasn’t near as thick as any of the cloaks I had seen and it didn’t have the rough feel of them either. I didn’t know much of magic but if I had to guess I would have said that this was enchanted against wear and weather. I noticed then that ever since entering the forest I hadn’t been either particularly cold nor warm. Another interesting part of the curse.

  Unable to resist, I slung the cape over my shoulders. It felt comfortable and right, so I left it there. No sense in wasting such valuable equipment. I then stepped a bit closer, careful not to step on any of the bones, in order to grab the book. I had to brush aside the various hand bones as a few had lain on the open book. Taking the book to the other chair and table, I noticed that the language was in the common tongue. I sat down and began to read from the beginning of the opened page.

  Date: Unknown

  I have worked up courage enough to attempt the ritual. If I succeed I will remove the curse from this wretched place and be able to leave, if not then I shall perish. The ritual, as stated earlier, is complex and leaves no room for error. The problem is that the act of drawing the taint into one’s self causes immense, constant pain. Attempting to convert the entirety of the forest’s curse all the while feeling such pain and without making a single mistake is nigh on impossible for most, if not all, mages. Even a battle mage such as I would have extreme difficulty in performing such a task.

  In preparation for the ritual I have been forcing pain upon myself while attempt to wield my magic. So far, my experiments have all been successful but none have such dangerous repercussions as this. If I fail, I have enchanted this dwelling, my cloak, and my journal so that if any other stumbles into this forest they might have a chance at salvation. I warn you of the dangers of the ritual, though I have tried all other ways at leaving this cursed place. If you are reading this, I have failed. My belongings are yours. I wish you luck and courage.

  Sincerely, Sentovos.

  As I finished reading the page, I sat back in the chair and glanced towards the pile of bones that used to be a powerful battle mage. What hope did I have in beating the curse if even a trained battle mage couldn’t succeed?

  I thought about how I had only recently been freed from my life in chains, yet here I was once again caged and trapped in another prison. Anger suddenly rose within me. I pounded the tabletop with my clenched fist. Infuriated that my freedom had once again been taken from me, I vowed that I would beat this curse or I would die in the attempt.

  I was no stranger to pain and I realized that perhaps this gave me an advantage over other mages. Where they had been trained and nurtured, I had been forced to fight for my life. The experience was painful one, especially so in the beginning. The wounds from my battles, some quite close to killing me, were not even the worst of the pain. The worst by far was the slave collars. If the pain during the ritual was comparable to the slave collars then hope was lost. Either way, I had to try. It was the only way out.

  I calmed down a bit, remembering that I did indeed have a way out. Even if it did seem a daunting task. My first task would be to actually learn to control my magic. I glanced at the book on the table in front of me. I hoped that Sentovos had written at least something about using his magic. Then I turned my gaze to Sentovos’ remains. I supposed that my first task could be to lay him to rest.

  I took some time to gather up the mage’s remains and bring them outside to the back of the hut. Near the riverbank, I hauled as many of the larger stones as I could find and built a sort of small cairn around the pile of bones. It was the best I could do, having no shovel to dig with. I stared down at the grave remembering when I had buried my parents. Lost in thought, I began to drift off while standing. I had almost forgotten how tired I was and I could barely stay standing. I silently thanked the mage for giving me a chance and went back inside to sleep. Tomorrow I would attempt to learn magic.

  Chapter 7

  I awoke to the same dim lighting that never changed in the forest. I stretched and my belly growled out a complaint. Sighing, I knew that learning magic would have to wait until I had found something to eat. I began to peruse Sentovos’ journal backwards, quickly glancing at each page looking for some mention of a food source. Eventually, I found it.

  Date: Unknown

  The forest appears dead, but in actuality there is much at work. For one, the trees and various plants continue to grow even under the curse’s taint. Many of the larger game animals are non-existent here, but if one looks closely one may find that there is still some life within the forest. I stopped to think on my situation, staring into the flowing waters of the river, when I spotted a fish! Indeed, they seem, like everything else in this forest, muted and dull. I caught one and cooked it, only eating a few bites to make sure it had no adverse effects. I waited a full two sleep cycles, as it is impossible to tell time in this place, but I sensed nothing amiss with my eating of the creature and will continue to use the fish as an addition to the berries found all around. Though I won’t be eating any more of the yellow berries. They had me feverish for many sleep cycles before the effects wore off. If I had eaten more than a single berry I no doubt wouldn’t be writing this now.

  Berries and fish. I supposed it was better than gruel with nuts. I went outside and gathered some of the berries nearby, though I was careful to stay clear of the yellow ones. After a short breakfast, I started to practice my forms. I wasn’t about to lose my edge even if there weren’t any physical threats about. Riken had taught me better. I worked up a sweat and had to rinse off in the river, though I made sure to keep one eye on the tiny hut all the while. I didn’t fully understand the curse and wasn’t sure if one moment the hut would be there and the next it wouldn’t.

  It was finally time to see how hard it was to learn magic. I started from the very beginning of the journal before I quickly realized that the journal began even before Sentovos’ time as a mage. I had to skip ahead until I found the time when he had just started his training at The Towers.

  Date: Year 54, King Anfroi’s Reign

  I had previously thought that becoming a mage would be a grand undertaking, but how wrong I was. It seems that the first step to being a mage is learning to connect with your magic. This supposedly involves sitting around and meditating, though we were told that it could take anywhere from days to months. It wholly depended on the student. The very first time, or so I am told, is the hardest. After the initial connection, it becomes much easier. After a week, I have yet to experience this ‘vibration’ they speak of. I feel no clos
er to wielding the awesome power I have heard about in legends. Well, I might as well keep up the attempt as I am stuck here. Father wouldn’t even hear of me returning home. Hopefully this is the most boring part of learning magic.

  I chuckled at how different this younger Sentovos sounded compared to his last messages. Idly I thought that I acted in such ways when I was only a few years younger. That was all before my village was destroyed, though. I sighed, leaving the book on the table before going outside and sitting near the riverbank. I hadn’t meditated before although I had seen my parents do it occasionally. I remembered being told that each person has magic inside of them, some more than others, and that it was simply a matter of finding it and connecting with it.

  I sat cross legged with my fingers entwined in front of me, arms resting on my legs. Not knowing exactly what to do, I just simply tried to ‘search’ within me. I felt my beating heart, my lungs filling and emptying with air, my eyes closed seeing nothing but darkness. The one thing I didn’t feel though was any sort of ‘vibration’. I kept trying and trying for what felt like hours, though it might have been minutes within this cursed forest.

  Some time later I got up and stretched. My stomach was telling me that time had definitely passed and that it needed filling. I would eat and rest before trying once more. I would keep trying until I succeeded. It was, after all, my only hope of getting out of this place.

  I made a makeshift spear out of one of the branches I found lying around. It wasn’t the best, but it would have to do. Luckily, as Sentovos had mentioned in his journal, the fish appeared slower than usual. It only took me a couple tries to get my first fish, and only two more after that in order to get my second. Add in a few berries and it was a decent meal. As I ate, I wondered how such a curse was placed on this forest and for what purpose? More than likely I would never know, but it was a curious thought. I finished my meal and slept, still not knowing whether it was day or night.

  My days, or sleep cycles, all passed in a similar way. Wake, eat, train, meditate, eat, sleep. This kept up for a long while, at least twenty sleep cycles, until I finally felt a difference during my meditation. I was beginning to grow weary of my failure to connect with my magic and simply sat there. I threw aside all my intentions of searching for the magic and cleared my mind of all thoughts and simply sat there. I was, I am, I exist. Then, suddenly I sensed a vibration, though it wasn’t quite in the physical sense. I had found the magic!

  Carefully, ever so carefully, I tried to ‘reach out’ in my mind towards the magic. Abruptly the vibration disappeared and I opened my eyes. I was both elated to finally find my magic, yet confused as to why I hadn’t been able to grasp it. I quickly hurried inside to the journal and checked the pages after the last entry I had read. I found little. As Sentovos didn’t write in his journal every day, it seemed that he hadn’t written about the exact way to connect with the magic. I groaned aloud, realizing that I was on my own. I would have to figure out, through trial and error, the way of connecting with the magic.

  I spent another five sleep cycles attempt various ways to connect with my magic. The first thing I tried was to forcefully and somewhat violently, reach out to it. It didn’t work, with the vibration immediately vanishing and I had to start from the beginning. Secondly, I tried to coax it, almost like a dog or a horse. At least this time the vibration didn’t disappear. It merely sat there, silently and out of reach. I tried a few other ways but none of them worked until the fifth cycle, when I merely ignored the vibration and kept meditating and clearing my thoughts. I was getting used to meditation now and had to admit that it had a calming effect. It could be quite nice. I wasn’t paying any attention when the vibration suddenly ‘touched’ my mind. I jumped at the mental contact, which caused the magic to disappear once again.

  At last! I finally knew how to connect with the magic. I was too excited to attempt to meditate more so I did some extra physical training to burn off some of my energy. I slept well that night, and the very next day I meditated in the same manner once more. I let the magic come to me rather than attempting to bond with it myself. Sure enough, it once again ‘touched’ my mind. This time, I kept up meditating still attempting to clear all thoughts from my mind.

  The magic then began to… ‘flow’ through me. It felt strange, though not uncomfortable. It was as if I could feel my blood flowing throughout my body. I let it run its course, as it reach all the way down to my legs and feet, then returning back again to complete a full circulation. When it had completed its run by finally reaching my heart, it felt as if a door had opened within my mind. Understanding filled me. The magic was now fully connected with me and I could call upon it and bring it to bear as easily as raising my right hand.

  I opened my eyes, ending the meditation. This time, though, I felt different. I still felt the vibration at the edge of my perception. It was just out of reach, only awaiting my call. I beckoned to it, and once again it flooded through me. I felt its power, like a storm surging within me. I wanted nothing more than to see what it could do, but I realized I had no idea how to control it. Mentally, I ‘released’ the magic and it returned to its passive state, sitting there just out of reach. I grinned and shouted aloud, yelling my victory into the cursed woods. That night I celebrated by having fish with berries. It was the best meal I had eaten in a long while.

  The following day I spent reading and searching through Sentovos’ journal. It wasn’t exactly a book on magical usage, but I had to hope that the mage had somewhere thrown a hint as to what I needed to do next. It was about mid afternoon when I stumbled upon an entry that gave me some clues.

  Date: Year 55, King Anfroi’s Reign

  The teachers finally let us leave the school premises for a break. Most of us went to Greypoint and headed for the taverns. Though, I did find out some interesting things that they hadn’t taught yet. Becoming extremely inebriated causes one to lose control of their magic. Now, you can still connect to the magic, though it becomes much harder to control. Because the drink influences your mind, your mind cannot therefore influence the magic. To quote my teachers, “To use magic you must have absolute control. You must be able to visualize, within your mind, the form you wish the magic to take.” I found it hilariously funny when my companion tried to use his wind magic to flip a barmaid’s skirt and instead flipped over all the tables in the entire establishment. Luckily nobody was seriously injured and the masters didn’t hear about it. I feared for his hide had they.

  I shook my head at the nonsense done by Sentovos and his companion, though I was glad that the mage had wrote it down. It told me that all I needed to do was to have a clear image the form of the magic would take. In a way, it was similar to the shadow sparring that Riken had taught me. I had to visualize my opponent and his movements, before attempting to fight the imaginary opponent. At first it had taken me awhile to make a clear image of my opponent but over time the image had sharpened and solidified. Now it took me but a thought and an opponent would ‘appear’ in front of me.

  I closed the journal and left the tight confines of the hut. I did not want to practice magic within my only shelter. Though, I thought, as the days wore on, it appeared as if I was all alone in this place. Shaking off the worrying thoughts, I focused on the task at hand. It was time to use magic. Or, at least, attempt it.

  I sat cross legged in the grass and closed my eyes, opening myself to the magic as I did so. It was much easier to connect with the magic now that it had… attuned to me? It felt right, so I stuck with attuned. Once the magic was flowing through me, I began.

  I concentrated on visualizing the grass around me swaying in the wind. A clear image sprang into my mind of me sitting in the grass as the wind swirled about. My long, white hair swinging around in the gentle breeze, the countless blades of grass doing the same. I opened my eyes to find… nothing. There was no breeze. Confused, I imagined it once more but again opened my eyes to nothing. I then tried it with my eyes open, and still there was no breeze
to be found.

  What was I doing wrong? Was my magic so pitiful that it couldn’t even stir up a simple breeze? I shook my head. No, I could feel the magic and although it wasn’t a massive source, it was stronger than a mere breeze. Wait. Maybe that was it. The entire time I had visualized the breeze, my magic had merely sat there. I closed my eyes and concentrated once again. This time, when I had the image fully completed, I sort of pushed the magic at the visualization within my mind.

  Suddenly, I felt a gentle breeze tugging at my clothes and hair. I opened my eyes to find the grass around me also swaying in a gentle breeze. I laughed at the realization that I was using magic. It was working! My excited thoughts broke my concentration and the wind stopped immediately. I attempted to clear my thoughts, and revisualized the breeze. Once more I pushed the magic at the image and, sure enough, the wind came back. I sat there for a few minutes before I let the breeze fade away.

  As I laid my back onto the grass, I felt an ache in my mind. It wasn’t a mere headache, or the pain of a head wound. I knew what both felt like. This was a pain I had never experienced before. There was no doubt in me that it was from using magic. Perhaps using magic was akin to using muscles. If the muscle hadn’t been utilized in some time, then it ached when overworked. I decided to take it slow and rest for the day. I had nothing but time and as much as I wanted to leave this cursed forest, I knew that I couldn’t rush. Magic, although wondrous, could be quite dangerous according to the journal.