Vast Branches

The forest was humble, dark, and thriving. Its canopy was reigned by hickory, crab apple, and beech, and abundant dancing lights bounced through their crowns for dispersed herbs to burst from the boulder covered grounds below.

Quiet vines hung from most trees, and a mishmash of flowers, which were found in the most quiet places, added colorful variety to the otherwise homogeneous lower level. A disharmony of noises, belonging mostly to foraging animals, echoed in the air, and were strangely synchronized with the occasional sounds of birds of prey gliding in the air.

The hills that lie friendly in the day - like the pillows of the land - are darkly ominous by night. The paths that were illuminated just hours before become lost in a blackness that even moonlight cannot help. The trees that are magnificent in the sunshine tower over your form as you step across the borderline between the seen and unseen.

Choosing not to go in is no choice at all, but aren't all quests like that? You steel yourself to keep moving, fur on end as if the forest was on the enemy side. The air is several degrees cooler and soon you begin to shiver. On your frequent stops, you could listen for signs of life around you, but there come none.