NOVEL NEXT Chapter 43: A village of peace and secrets.
Hanna forcefully swatted another tree branch to the side, slowly growing more and more exasperated as the children continued to lead her along the roaring river to their left side, Hanna couldn’t believe any parent would let their children wander along such a path, as one wrong move would most definitely get you drowned in the river, Hanna doubted even the most professional of swimmers could make it. Not to mention just how loud it was, despite her enhanced hearing, Hanna could hear absolutely nothing except for the roaring torrent of the river next to her, or maybe it was because of her enhanced hearing? She wasn’t sure at this point.
As a consequence of this very peculiar path she was travelling she was forced to move extremely slowly and basically watch her feet with every single step she took, as a single missed step could result in her watery death, but having her eyes glued to the ground the entire time inevitably led to other problems in the form of various plants introducing them selves to her face, arms or hands. Hanna swore that at least some of those plants were probably poisonous, as when she removed them from her face she noticed multiple small critters hanging lifelessly from the leaves, testing her poison resistance for the first time in a long time.
Luckily for her, it seemed to work perfectly normal as it should.
Looking up for a moment to remove another branch that was blocking her path, she caught a glimpse at the children that were leading her, they were seemingly enjoying their time, skipping across the dirt of the forest grounds and swinging their arms around, it looked almost like they were dancing instead of walking through the forest, miraculously not hitting any branch of the tree or other Plan life, never getting their feet stuck in a ditch or tripping over a hidden root, Hanna swore she saw the branches bend out of the way whenever a child was about to hit one.
Whatever Magic was protecting them from harm was definitely incredibly powerful if nature it self was bowing down before it, although she noticed how much distance the put between themselves and the gravel path she herself was traversing on, whenever one of the sisters got to close to the path, their brother would pull them away from it. Hanna was thoroughly intrigued already, but now her curiosity reached even greater heights, what kind of magic was it and who was behind it? Who were these children to warrant such a measure of protection and why was she affected at first, but not anymore?
She wanted answer and this thirst for answers kept her bloodlust at bay for now, after all she was currently in a perfect place to kill these kids with absolutely no chance of being found out, at least that’s what she told herself, in actuality she didn’t want to kill them at all in the first place, she had darker plans in her subconscious that she didn’t fully understand yet, but she would in due time.
For now, she continued following the children back to their home, which seemed to be near as Hanna saw a large open meadow before her while she was in the process of slowly untangling her left arm from a bramble that was heavily covered in thorns, the sudden break in the forest line also revealed rays of sunlight that had previously disappeared as they ventured into ever denser parts of the forest, unfortunately for Hanna however, these rays of light lined up perfectly with her own eyes, temporarily blinding her in the process.
Hanna stumbled back in confusion, only to trip over a small root behind her sending her dangerously close to the edge of the river, she also ripped her left arms out of the bramble it was previously ensnared in, however it cut into her flesh with its many thorns creating many cuts across her left arm from which her black blood dripped out from And onto the gravel path she was walking on, immediately burning it whenever it came into contact with the gravel, but as it were really shallow cuts barley any blood was actually falling from the ground preventing the forest from suddenly having massive holes burned into its earth by Hanna‘s corrosive blood.
However as Hanna started to get herself back up from the ground she held her bleeding arm over the river until even the smallest of drops stoped falling into the water below. She didn’t want to raise suspicions on why her blood was completely black or why it burned anything it came into contact with she needed to be trusted if she wanted answers, as such it was vital to appear was normal as possible, now Hanna didn’t know exactly how every single living beings blood looked like or what properties it may have, for all she knew it could be fairly common to have black corrosive blood but she didn’t want to take that risk.
So once she was sure that no more blood was oozing out of the cuts on her arm she continued along path, and once she got past the tree line, making sure to cover her eyes from the rays of the sun, what greeted her was a large open meadow surrounded by trees on all sides and multiple farms scattered across the large open field that was otherwise covered in tall grass and colourful flowers and in the center of it all, a small serene village, with no more then 20 or so houses.
It was objectively a beautiful sight, but Hanna didn’t feel anything at all except for a desire it see it all come down on it self, this serene village of housewives cooking dinner for her husbands while they were out on the field and their children playing down in the village square with all the other children, where everyone knows one another and greets everyone they came across?
Wouldn’t it look much better with an hysterical mob of paranoids burning another one of theirs for crimes they had never committed? Where wife’s cry in the arms of their dying husbands as their children lie unmoving around them? With large walls of smoke rising into the sky as burning houses illuminate everything around them in the dark night?
A sudden tug on her arms was what ripped her out of her thoughts and looking down she saw the two sister looking up at her, their eyes sparkling as the sun reflected off of their green eyes, these were eyes full of naivety, hope and happiness, the eyes of children who have yet to experience the horrors of the world, a beautiful bright light in this horrific, dark world.
Hoe wonderful would it be to be the one to tear this light out of them as painfully as possible, to watch these eyes darken over in despair as they see everything they hold dear collapse around them in a fiery explosion of hatred and fear.
"Hey Kayne look the weird lady got water flowing out of her mouth, it tastes super icky!"
"Don‘t drink someon‘s spit, you could get seriously sick!! Do you want mommy to scold you again?!"
The brother called out from a bit further away, Hanna saw he was standing right before a small wooden sign, although she wasn’t quite able to make out what was written on it, she could see that it was shaped like an arrow and pointing downwards, probably indicating a downwards slope of some kind.
"Now stop fooling around you two, we have to get back soon, daddy will be back soon remember?"
At The mention of their father both sister perked up immediately, turned around and stared at their older sibling with eyes just as wide as their smiles were, before sprinting along the small dirt path and towards the village they unsurprisingly called home. Soon disappearing, as they ran down the slope, before reappearing a bit further down, with their older brother desperately running after them calling out to them that they aren’t supposed to run down the slope, that they might’ve hurt themselves and how worried their mother would have been.
Hanna looked at the scene a sneer creeping up on her face as she looked after these carefree children, their brightness and optimism truly shone brighter then the sun itself and it absolutely disgusted her, how she longed to snap on their necks the next time they touched her, but she had to keep it under control, she had to keep her temper down at least for a bit more, and then she knew the rewards would taste so much more sweeter.
Taking a few deep breaths she calmed herself down enough for the sneer on her visage to disappear and be replaced with a smirk as she imagined all the things that she would do and experience in the future and how wonderful it will be.
She began her walk to follow the children towards the village, the place they now call home, but soon they will call it their worst nightmare, one which they won’t be able to wake up from.
But just as Hanna was about to take her first step down the slope that led to the small village, she stopped dead in her tracks, the cogs in her head turning faster and faster before the full meaning of the conversation the siblings had finally made it’s impact into her mind, Hanna could feel her entire body seize up in disgust as she finally realised that the two sisters had drunken her saliva.
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"And you are definitely certain you saw them in the woods? Near the river?"
The women’s voice was shacking, even the nearby children picked up on her worries, her breathing short and fast like she had just run a marathon, the hunter in front of her put both of his hands up in a calming gesture, trying to calm the woman down as he continues to explain what he saw.
"Look miss Herz, I know you‘re worried about your children, but I can assure you there is no danger in these woods, I‘ve been hunting in these woods for almost twenty years at this point and I have never seen anything more dangerous then a few overgrown owls and those only ever come out at night so please, there is no need to panic and even if, they stumbled open something, they were staying close to that old gravel paths the long ears use, they can easily find their way back if they have to."
To the dismay of the hunter, who really just wants to finally get home and relax after being out for hours on end, instead of calming down miss Herz grabbed him by the collar of his clothes, a Look of sheer horror and disbelief on her face.
"They were near the eleven path?! Did they follow it deeper in? Tell me right now!!"
Much to the hunters surprise, he could feel his feet leaving the grassy floor below, as miss Herz raised him into the air in her sheer panic, he knew that people got stronger when they were in extreme distress but this was beyond anything he had ever experienced, a kind you g lady, pulling a fully grown man into the air?
"Answer me damn it, did they go deeper into the forest?! This is an extremely serious matter!" She all but screamed into his face, her own being warped in mask of sheer horror, until there was sound coming from the distance.
"You two, if you do don’t want to make mommy worry anymore then you have to be faster then that!"
The visage of pure horror melted away from her face, as her head snapped towards the voice and she was greeted by three young children running up the dirt path, covered in dirt and leaves from head to toe, laughing and smiling as they ran without a care in the world, her children came running up that dirt path.
But then, in the distance a new figure emerged, their stature not to different from her children, with blond hair swaying in the wind, two cat like ears standing atop her head, covered in nothing but dirt and mud. The figure wasn’t laughing nor smiling and the longer she stared at the figure the more a cold ran up her spine, a feeling of unease and dread that slithered it’s away across her body.
Then the figure‘s dark crimson eyes met her own and she flinched back in surprise and terror.
For she saw something truly horrible lurking within those eyes.
“Uhmmm, miss Herz can you please let me down, if you want I can go look for them if you really think that their in such grave danger."
The nervous stutter from the man brought her back to reality, with a light shacking of her head she set the poor man back onto the floor, she now knew her children weren’t in immediate danger and soon they would be back by her side, she had no need for him anymore, but that thing following her children…
She could see that the thing occasionally waved her hand and sometimes her children would look back and do the same, clearly she needed to ask some questions and more importantly, make sure that thing wasn’t hostile or worse, the words of the old eleven priest coming to the front of her mind immediately.
"A dark creature lays dormant deep inside these woods, evil is not a word I would use to describe it, for it is much worse. I have seen it’s soul and what I saw… I don‘t want… I simply can’t put it into words, it was like staring into a never ending dark abyss and yet… something stared back, taunting me with visions of terror and death. We’ve sealed it into its sleep and we will do anything in our power to keep it sealed in its slumber, but if it ever escapes you need to flee immediately or I fear death would be a mercy if you ever fall into its grip."
"No, I couldn’t force you to do something like that, but if you wouldn’t mind, can you stay here with me and keep an eye out?"
Of course, she already knew that her children were almost back home and that she really shouldn’t trouble the man any longer, he was a really nice man who just got home from a long days work and simply wants to see his family now that his responsibilities of the day were dealt with, yet something in her gut told her that this other person following her children couldn’t be a coincidence.
After all the village hadn’t had visitors for more then a year already, with the exception of the two wandering traders that came once every month and of course the king’s representatives, making sure the village is in order and collecting the required taxes, so a lone person suddenly appearing with seemingly no possessions?
A part of her tried to rationalise the situation, The elves had promised to watch over the thing with as much diligence as possible, to make sure the seal remained in tact, surely if anything happened they would notify them immediate about something being wrong right? And neither she or her husband had received a single word from any elves, so perhaps this truly was just her being a bit paranoid?
She might have stopped having the nightmares, but maybe she hasn’t truly forgotten the horror of that place… Her husband had told her many times that she worries to much, that her children couldn’t get harmed here, a secret forest only the elves and very few individuals at the royal court truly knew about and the other villagers all having been refugees fleeing the war between the humans and the demons making it practically impossible for them to be discovered here.
And yet, whenever she is alone and nothing moves, she swears she could hear his laugh and his voice…
"Ah, Look miss Herz there they are and just as expected, they are completely fine."
She tried her hardest to get her breathing back to normal, her fist but a few inches away from the mans back of the head, who was still facing the way of the dirt road below and hadn’t noticed his head was about to be blown into thousands of bloody pieces. She quickly dropped her arms to the side her eyes slowly drifting to the ground below, her breathing still shallow, she had almost killed this man, she had almost…
"Mommy! Mommy! We have found something really cool, can we please keep it?!" The sudden voices of her two daughters is what finally managed to completely dispel all the thoughts of angst from her mind, turning around towards the dirt path below, she could see her two beautiful daughters, running to her with her arms outstretched two large smile plastered on their faces, the red rays of the setting sun behind her tinted their faces in a beautiful shade of red, and for a moment there was nothing but these beautiful children, her beautiful children.
The world around her seemed to slow down to crawl, all other noises were reduced to nothing but noiseless buzzing and everything she saw blurred except for her children, she crouched down and opened her arms for a big hug, every worry she had melted as she saw the laughing faces of her daughters and finally appearing slightly behind them, her beautiful son, a giant smile on his own face.
In the background she could barley make out the shape of the hunter, a smile on his face before turning away and disappearing into his blurred surroundings, probably to finally return to his own children, now knowing that the mother has her children safely within her reach, she will definitely make it up to him some day, perhaps a gift or an invitation to dine at their house for a day? She would speak with her husband once the time comes, for Norwalk her focus was on her children.
Laughs And kisses were exchanged as the tow girls ran face first into their mothers body, almost toppling her over, they were growing quite quickly as she had difficult to hold both of them at the same time in a single embrace, luckily for her, her son opted to simply stand by her side and smile, she could tell he wanted to play the maturer older brother, desperately fighting his urge to simply drop to his knees and hug his mother with all his strength.
She could loosen her arm away from the girls for a brief moment to at least give him an affectionate squeeze before the girl ripped her arm back to its rightful place, in the corner of her eye she could see him turning his head to the side, clearly trying to hide his excitement, he truly was acting just like his father used to when they first arrived here.
In this moment everything was perfect, or at least it would be if her husband was here as well, but it was as near to perfect as it could be, no more worries of getting hunted down, no more endless squabbling, only her peaceful life with her beautiful family, in that moment there was nothing she wished more then for this moment to never truly stop, a truly peaceful life for the rest of her time.
Yet despite all the powers at play in the world, with all these powerful magicians and witches in the world, with all the incredible deed they all have archived, no one has ever been able to control fate.
And fate likes to be cruel more often then not.
"Excuse me, I really don’t want to ruin such a beautiful meeting, but I really need your help."
