Surviving the Never-Ending Woods

A Story by Elfinlocks

Rose finds herself lost in a woods that goes on forever. Along the way she encounters giant brothers, a fox with a glowing tail and learns just what the woods really is.

Jimmy grelli

Snapping through a hidden branch miles deep into the forest that was said to be small, Rose felt the snow hitting her face at a more rapid pace. All around the lost girl were trees big and small and all covered in a thin white glaze of freshly fallen snow. The wind was heard blowing through the branches and in the distance Rose could make out the sound of a river. Step by step the forlorn girl walked into the wooded unknown, and step by step she walked towards what she thought was the way out.

Hours go by and the snow grows worse. Now all Rose could see in the distance is white and all she can hear is wind picking up fiercer and fiercer. Fear starts to set in the youth, and as she realizes her state of confusion she starts to run frantically. Running, faster and faster, Rose tries to get out of the nightmarishly white forest that is all around her. The further the youth went, the thicker and more foreboding the trees seemed to get. A branch leaped out of the white in front of Rose and smacked her in the face, sending her to the ground.

Opening up her eyes and feeling the now searing numb spot where the tree limb hit her, Rose sat up and thought about her situation. As she sat there thinking the snow eased down and granted the lost girl a bit more visibility, the wind followed in the snows example. The forest now was dead silent, other than the small sound of snow hitting the ground. Rose took note of the silence. The silence was not a silence of peace and tranquility. This silence that Rose was experiencing was menacing, eerily menacing. Panic started filling the girl's head again, but was soon shut off by the next sound she heard. Footsteps were being stomped into the snow, not too far off. Hope filled the sitting girl, so much that she got up and ran off to the direction the footsteps were coming from, not once thinking of just who was making them.

Rose ran and ran, and the footsteps got louder and louder, almost too loud for footsteps. She stopped. The steps were now all around her, she could hear more than two feet stepping now. Looking down in the snow, Rose saw footprints all around her, all different shapes and sizes. Some were foot impressions of normal human feet. Some were sharp and pointy, and inhumanely long. Some were wide and bulging, some others were not even in the shape of feet.

Fear froze Rose as she looked on and saw that these footprints were not old. They were being made fresh in front of her very eyes. Step by step, new footprints appeared by the second, all surrounding and circling Rose. The scared youth began trying an escape, running left, and then right, only to be pushed back by whatever seemed to be circling her. Laughter was soon heard. Not the laughter of happiness or even the laughter of humans. Piercing, almost screech-like laughter was being emitted from the footprints. Rose fell to her knees in fear as the laughter grew louder and more twisted. Soon the piercing laughter turned into that of malice and ill-intent. The sort of laughter that Satan or Beezlebub themselves would carry, tucked away in their voice boxes. Closer and closer the laughter got. Rose could see the footprints growing closer and closer just as the laughter was. Tears started to fall from her hazel eyes that were big and beautifully rounded. Closer, and closer these demons came. Closer and closer...

Laughter turned to shrieks of pure pain. Ripping was heard, blood spilling all around. Rose looked up and saw a fox, no bigger than the average dog, tearing at a freakishly tall and disfigured woman-looking demon. The fox ripped flesh off of the demonic figure with ease, quickly swallowing and returning to rip another shred off. Once the tall demon was dead the fox sprang into the air and ate a midget looking half-goat, half-man whole. Rose looked to her side and saw a one eyed demon looking at her. This man was missing an arm and growing out of its place was a snake. His toes were a heavy blackish color, perhaps even brown such as timber. He made a leap for Rose and just barely touched her by the time the fox bit his hand off. After the arm was consumed the fox returned for the rest of the demon, eating him whole.

Red, blue, and green blood was now around Rose and the fox sat in front of her. The snow had stopped and the moon was now fully lighting up the dark. Rose could see that the fox was orange and was waving its bushy tail in a pleased sort of way. Peering into its eyes, Rose saw that they were blue. The moment she saw this, however, the creatures eyes turned into a dead white, then to a crimson red momentarily only to return to being blue. Rose got up and started to head to the creature sitting in front of her. The fox looked up, let out a soft bark and ran off, its tail seemingly glowing palely as it ran, chimes could also be heard with each of the fox's steps. The snow soon started to fall again.

Rose walked for hours in the direction the fox ran. The cold seemed to no longer affect her as it did earlier, in fact, Rose felt more than alive after her encounter with the demons and the fox. The trees went on and on as Rose continued to walk. A snap was heard, Rose looked to her left to see what made it. To her amazement Rose saw that the forest opened up at this small spot, making way for a small pond. In the pond's center was a small island, with an even smaller tree. As Rose approached the pond a small light started to emit from the small tree on the small island. From the trunk of the tree came a turtle that stood on two legs, Rose could see a beard growing from the creatures chin. In the turtle's left hand was a cane used to support the creature, he looked old. The turtle looked on at Rose, shook his head, and splashed water from the pond into Roses face. Rose started to feel drowsy as the water hit her, drowsy, but relaxed and chilled. Perhaps even mellow. Rose drifted to the ground and felt her eyes close.

A cold droplet hit Rose's face, waking the sleeping youth up. Yawning, she looked up. The sky was gray and was spilling rain everywhere. No longer did cold dominate the air, but instead warmth. Where there was once snow there was now green life. Rose looked on at the pond and saw that the turtle's tree was gone. Instead, the tree was replaced with an innocent looking fox, staring at Rose. The fox saw Rose move and cocked its head slightly, bells could be heard chiming with the movement. Rose got up and jumped at the fox, only managing to make it halfway before landing belly-first into the pond.

Her eyes shot open. All around Rose was once again the coldness she fell asleep too. White still adorned everything around her. The tree was still on the island, but the turtle-man was gone. A bell was heard behind Rose. Turning around, she saw the orange creature staring at her once more. Its shifting eyes changing by the second. The two stared at each other for a moment or two. Rose caught the fox's gaze, causing the creature to run off. Rose felt obliged to follow the orange blur. The sound of bells still ringing through the night.

A house was in the distance, complete with a smoking chimney that breathed through the white of the snow. The window had a candle in it that burned brightly. Rose never thought to question the strange house in front of her, the youth simply charged right up to the structure that appeared from the darkness.

As Rose drew closer and closer to the house, she started to notice the size of the strange structure. This was not a normal sized house, but instead seemed to be twice, maybe even three times the size of a house that Rose was accustomed to seeing. Rose closed in on the door and was now in knocking distance. Even the doorway was three times the size of Rose,�"Who was not that tall to begin with�"nonetheless, the girl knocked on the door all the same.

No answer came from within the lively house. Rose knocked again. Still no answer came. She tried to push the door but found that the massive mass of wood would not move. Rose tried to make a jump for the doorknob, but the metal sphere was too high for her to reach. Rose sat down and tried to think of a way to get inside the warm-looking house. Rose thought so hard that she fell asleep in the coldness without even realizing it.

Rose shot up from her sleep, scared that she did not notice that she even fell asleep. Around her was no longer snow or trees or even the outside. Around her now was a house of giant proportions. A grandfather clock that was taller than her was in the corner to her right, next to that was a fireplace that dwarfed any Rose had seen before. She was even laying in a bed that seemed to go on forever.

A thumping came from the next room. Rose tried to move the massive blankets that covered her, to no avail. The thumping was growing louder and Rose saw a massive figure move through the entryway to the room. The figure was a tall man, with a long black beard and a strong body. The man was not just tall, but massive. Just as the rest of the house, this man was at least twice the size of a normal man. He came closer to the bed that Rose was in. The giant saw that Rose had awakened. The massive man moved a chair over and sat down in front of the bed. He coughed, seeming to prepare his throat for something he had not done in a long time. "Do you speak English, small girl?" The voice that the giant let out was deceivingly soft and soothing, not what Rose had expected from something of this man's size. Rose shook her head to say yes, but said nothing. The giant smiled, "Then why do you not speak, small girl?" Rose wondered this as well, she wanted to speak many times in the woods before but seemed to have forgotten how to. Rose opened her mouth to try and let out words, but nothing came out. The giant saw this and frowned, "Have you forgotten how to?" Rose shook her head to say yes. "What a shame. You small people speak so much better than us big kind. Would you like to hear a story then?" Rose shook her head to say yes once more. "Very well then. This story I am about to tell is of a legendary knight of the woods that some called the Wolfknight…."

The giant told his story of the Wolfknight for what seemed like hours. Rose felt entranced by the story of heroics performed by the knight. A story ultimately ending in the Wolfknight saving his beautiful and fair maiden named Angel from a demon that was most evil. The giant continued even after the story seemed done, "You see, small girl, in the time of the Wolfknight demons were not so easily killed as in tod-" The grandfather clock began to chime and the giant seemed to grow worried at the sound. Forgetting the story he was telling, the giant picked up Rose with ease and walked towards the massive door. "Forgive me, small girl, but after a certain hour I cannot have guests. He comes out from his slumber." The giant opened the door and put Rose down in front of him, "It really was nice having you. I don't get many visitors here." As the giant was reaching to close the door another massive figure threw itself at him. The friendly giant fell and almost crushed Rose. A new, jet-black and charred looking giant now stood in the doorway. He took a step towards Rose, "My brother always did love guests." A loud, thundering voice erupted from this new giants mouth. "Was he telling you his Wolfknight story, huh?" The evil giant was now looming above Rose. "He always forgets about me though. You visitors never make it out. At least you all don't taste too bad." The evil giant grabbed Rose up with his monstrous arm. Rose tried to get free but the giants grasp was too tight and strong. Rose kicked and even tried biting at the giant, only to have her mouth filled with a taste more acidic than vinegar. The evil giant seemed to feed off this resistance, "They all try and bite me." He laughed.

A log slammed into the evil giant's face. The strong, massive arm released Rose and she fell, landing in the soft snow. The friendly giant was up again and was trying to fend off his brother with a log. The evil giant laughed, "I always win our little fights, and you know this brother." The evil giant touched the log that his friendly brother was wielding and it burst into flame. "Every time this same occurrence happens, brother. And every time I hit you so hard you forget that you even had a visitor. This time will be no different, and I will eat yet another that has heard your story of the knight who thought himself a wolf." The evil giant continued. He raised his arm to punch his brother. Rose saw that just as he was to lunge an orange blur shot out of the darkness and took off the evil giant's arm. Bells rung fiercely and the evil giant seemed to stop all aggressiveness.

The fox settled down between the two massive men, both of whom were now bowing to the fox as its bells jingled in the wind. The glowing tail still moving slowly back and forth, his ever-changing eyes staring at Rose. The evil giant, now missing an arm spoke, "Let us go back into the house, brother." Both rose and went back into the huge house and Rose heard the door slam, and then lock. A mighty gust of wind blew loose snow all across the yard. Rose saw the fox vanish as the blowing snow passed it.

The night was never-ending. Surely Rose had been wandering for more than a single night would allow. Hours and hours the youth remembered walking, but still, the same darkness surrounded her with no hope of a sunrise. The snow was now an off-and-on occurrence to Rose. Ever since the giant's house Rose seemed to have lost the ability to fear. It was as if the thunderous voice of the evil giant scared the fear out of her, if it was even possible to scare fear, that is. Nonetheless, Rose trudged on into the black, wooded abyss that stood never-ending in front of her.

A tree was out of place. Rose stopped when she saw it. The girl picked up almost instantly the discrepancy within this single tree that was different. She walked closer to the oddball tree and noticed just what made this tree stick out from the rest. On this tree's trunk was a mask that was placed just a bit higher than Rose. Upon closer examination, Rose saw that this mask was not a delightful sort of mask one would wear to a ball, instead, this mask was vile and twisted. The eye holes were carved into a sort of disgusted look and the mouth seemed to be writhed in pain. Around the mouth Rose saw what looked like blood oozing out of it. Rose backed away from the awful thing, and bumped into another tree just behind the oddball one. This tree also bore a mask, one that seemed to be carved into a fashion that made it seem the tree was screaming. Tears fell down from this mask's eyes.

Rose noticed that all the trees in this grove seemed to have masks, all of them were also as twisted and sinister looking. Some had chunks missing. Some had only one eye. Some had no mouths. This was around the time Rose started to feel her fear coming back. It seemed that fear could not be scared away after all.

Rose tried to run away from the terrible circle of trees but found that they had somehow encircled and ensnared her. There was no longer an opening. This was when Rose saw the first tree move its gnarled branches. One after another started moving, all the same way, with their branches. What seemed to be the tallest tree crept forward, ahead of all the rest and without any movement from behind the mask spoke, "To what do we owe this visit to our grove, young one?" The voice was as awful as the tall trees mask, which had pictured on it a dead child, the eye holes had tears flowing from them. Rose pointed to her throat and tried to show as best as she could that she could not talk. The tall tree seemed to understand. "So, we have a mute in our midst then? All the better I suppose. Whenever you lost little one's do come along you all tend to talk too much. Never nice thing's. Always about our masks. Always how sickening we look." The tall tree's branches seemed to move with an anxiousness to them, as if unsure of what to do. "By the way you are looking at me, little one, I can see that you too find us appalling. Nevertheless, I shall share with you of how we came to be this way. It's been so long since a little one has wanted to listen to my story. Well, I'm assuming you want to listen to it." The tall tree said, still no movement coming from it, other than his branches. "Where to begin…"

"This all happened a very long time ago, you see. When us trees could move freely and carefree without fear of anything. These were very good times. Times of harmony and trust among the elder races. Man, elf, dwarf, ent, and even fleming all lived in peace with one another. This, like everything good, ended one day. Before anybody could realize just what was happening, death and fire were everywhere. Humans wanted elves dead. Dwarves wanted humans dead. Everybody wanted fleming's dead. And we ent's simply existed. The Great War, as some call it, did not affect us for a long time. But soon we too found ourselves embroiled into conflict. Humans and elves took up battle in our forests, burning and killing everything they could. We ents could not stand by and watch our forest burn, all of our wildlife friends killed with it. So we rose up and fought both human and elf. Our victory was swift and certain until the human and elf magi made an alliance to help each other rid the world of us ents. They formed a circle and cast a great spell, turning all ents into simple trees. And so that is how we remained for so very long. Just trees. Until one day when one of the great magi from the circle came, be it from guilt, I do not know. But nonetheless, he came. This wizard brought with him a great multitude of masks. I was the first to receive mine. The mask was blank when I was first bestowed it. The wizard cast his spell and I felt my life return to me and I could move once more. The wizard told me that my last sight before being turned would appear on my mask. And never seeing my mask, I know just what it is. My mask bears the wildling child I saw die right in front of me. The wizard would go on to revive all the ents his mask supply could allow, making him a hero to our kind. So now you know of why we look grotesque."

Rose looked on at the trees surrounding her, all of whom now seemed all the less vile. Her fear was replaced with sadness as she now knew just what the masks that the trees wore meant. Rose saw trees with masks of burning deer and squirrels, humans and elves. The tall tree seemed to feel Rose's sadness and brushed a small branch across the girl's face. "Do not be sad for us, little one. We ents are alive, and what more could we ask for? These masks are nothing compared to sitting in one place for all of our lives." The branch that brushed up against Rose was warm and filled with life.

The trees that encircled Rose were now moving away. Rose looked and saw that each tree, one by one, walked off and disappeared into the dark of the woods. The girl began to feel confused at this. "They've seen what they wanted to, little one." The tall tree spoke, somehow sensing what Rose was feeling. "Visitors are rare in these parts, and we ents love to see new visitors." Rose looked around and saw that only her and the tall tree were left in the area. "You must go also, little one. I sense a longing in you." The tree's branches moved as if to point in a direction, "That is the way I would recommend best. I would show you the way to your home, but alas, I do not know one. Years of seclusion to this part of the woods has drained my sense of direction. All I know is that way is best." Rose looked onto the tall tree with the dead child on its mask and frowned. "Do not be sad, little one. I know you wish not to leave this place and go back into the uncertainty, but you must." The tall tree said.

Rose started to walk towards the direction his branches pointed. Just as she was at the wall of trees Rose heard the tall tree speak once more, "If you ever find yourself in another ent grove, little one, tell them my name. It is Breet." And then Rose was back into the blackness of the woods.

II.

The wind and snow started blowing fiercely. The whole woods seemed to come to life all around Rose. Darkness was becoming white and the silent trees were now trying to withstand the windy onslaught. Rose could hear branches snapping in all directions from the strength of the wind. The cold also was beginning to find enough strength to burrow its way through Rose's jacket. Rose began to shiver.

The wind grew fiercer and fiercer with each step Rose took until she could barely move. Each step was now a struggle in and of itself to accomplish. With the last of her strength, Rose took one last step before the wind knocked her on her back. Rose found herself staring up at the sky, and to her surprise, she saw that it was clear. There was no storm in the stars and the moon could be seen perfectly from where she was lying. The wind and snow still continued however, and were still growing all the stronger. The howl of the wind was turning into a roar, and Rose still continued to look at the clear sky. Wondering just what magic was happening now.

The roaring of the wind was growing unbearable to Rose. The girl tried covering her ears from the ear shattering noise, but to no avail. Louder and louder the wind grew. Rose felt that her ears would shatter if she had to endure the roaring of the wind any longer. Louder and louder the wind still roared. Rose felt her mouth scream out in pain, but could not hear anything other than the wind.

Everything stopped. The roaring and the snow were gone as Rose screamed. Now everything was quiet and still. Rose sat up to see what happened. Trees were uprooted and blown away all around Rose. The area she sat in was now a clearing filled with stumps. A shutter caught her eyes. A figure was staring at her in the dark.

"They all scream in the end. No matter how strong they think they are. My wind always makes them scream. You were no different, little girl." The dark figure spoke out, its voice a smooth, male voice. "You lasted quite some time though… that's pretty admirable. But what does it matter? " Rose heard the figure emit a small laugh. "I can sense your fear, you know. Just like a wolf, or a bear." The figure started to walk to Rose, who was frozen to where she sat. "So scared you can't move, huh? How… what do you outsiders say…? Cliché, yes. How cliché of you, girl." The figure drew closer and closer until it was just a foot or two from Rose. A dark arm reached down and felt Rose's face. Rose pulled away. The figure laughed at this, "There's no need to be afraid, little girl. If I wanted to kill you, I would have had the wind do it, you see? No, I just want to have a small talk. And then maybe I'll kill you. But we'll see. The name's Nolios, by the way. What is your's? Hmm?"

Rose went to speak, but still no voice came out. She could see what looked like a smirk coming from Nolios' dark face, "Lost your voice, huh? This woods does that to some of you outsiders. Let me fix that for you, girl." Before Rose could realize, an arm struck out for her throat. Faster than lightening, Nolios pushed his arm out and gripped Rose's throat in a soft manner. Then he gripped hard, murmured something and then released. "Now try talking, little girl."

Rose opened her mouth to talk, "My name is Rose." Her voice worked again. But those were not the words she wanted to speak. Nolios smiled at this.

"I'm getting good at that." The dark man laughed, "First couple of you outsiders I tried doing that to I ended up tearing their necks out!" He laughed again, this time with true joy. "Now, next question. What are you doing in these woods?"

Rose felt her mouth move once more, emitting words she did not want to speak. "I just wanted to explore across the river in the woods. Nobody ever goes back there, so I figured I would. I just wanted to explore." Rose's mouth slammed shut, this magic cast on her was dark indeed.

"Just wanted to explore, huh? Good enough answer. I'll tell you what, seeing how you're being so good, this next question will be nice. What do you want to ask me?" Nolios smirked.

Once again Rose felt her mouth forcibly move, "You look human, you are the only other human I've seen in these woods. Why are you here?"

Nolios answered, ever-smiling, "How funny, I knew you would ask that question." He laughed. "Since you are so interested, my story is a dark one. A most pleasantly dark one."

"My story starts in your outside world, just as yours started. I was a boy, just around your age, I think I was seventeen. Every day I would go to school and do my work. Every day. I would go into that school, do my mind-crushingly boring journals. Then I would do some exciting power points that taught me absolutely nothing. Every now and then I would have a PE class that was more concentrated uselessness and to top it all off I would finish my day with an English class that had such great promise, but ultimately failed. You're probably wondering what I mean, little girl. Just what I mean by 'failed'. I mean that in that class we could've learned and studied oh so much. We could've delved into the madness of Kafka. We could've swam in the Heart of Darkness with Mr. Conrad. We could've fought windmills with Don Quixote! But NO! Do you know what we did? We studied allegory. Allegory! Such a simple topic, allegory. But in my final year of school we needed to learn it. And it took forever. But I can see you're getting bored. So I'll make this long part of my story a bit… shorter. The English teacher was so smart. The class had potential. But the prescribed course the government wanted us to take would have none of it. So we wasted a potentially great class." Nolios paused and looked deep into Rose's wide eyes. "I'm not boring you am I, Rose?" Rose couldn't answer. "Good! I'm going to continue then."

"So as I said, day after day I would go to this school and learn nothing. I started to stop doing my useless assignments. My grades started to go 'down the drain' they all said. I didn't care. Those numbers were just that, numbers. I always would scream out, 'How do these numbers tell if I'm going to succeed!?' I would always scream that. Nobody listened though. They all just kept looking at those grades as if the numbers were the messiah itself coming down to save them."

"One day heading to school I decided to take a little walk a bit further than I usually did in the mornings. I decided to walk through the woods. I walked and walked for a bit, until I decided that I should head back. Now here's the funny thing, I couldn't head back. No matter how far back I tried walking, there were just more and more trees. I gave up after three hours. And I smiled. Then I laughed. I went hysterical. I was finally free from everything. And you know what, it was great."

"Instead of going to school day after day. I could now be free. That was ten years ago, by the way. Slowly I felt myself changing to become what this woods wanted me to be. And you can see what that turned out to be." Nolios paused again. "Oh wait, you can't." A fireball flew from his fist and lit a nearby stump on fire. Rose could now see Nolios in full. He had a tall, slender figure and long arms. His hair was long and wild, with the color brown running through it. His face was clean shaven and his eyes were green. Rose noticed that he wore furs and leathers of many animals and had a cloak made of wolf skin. "There, now you can see me. But yes. Over the years this place changed me from a nice, borderline-insane teenager into a full-fledged nutcase that wears dead animals. Isn't it great?"

"But you're starting to bore me, Rose. I'm not going to lie to you. I believe I might kill you now." Nolios said with a smile. Rose began to feel fear returning to her, this time causing her to shake. "And there's your fear again." He laughed as he drew a long-black blade out of nowhere. "Or you know what… you're kinda cute… maybe…no, I got wildling girls for that. But then again… that brown hair that sort of looks red is really attractive. Maybe I will…" Nolios threw the blade and Rose saw it dissolve before hitting the ground. Nolios pushed her onto the ground and began to force himself onto Rose. Rose tried to fight but Nolios was too strong and kept continuing in his advances. Rose managed to get an arm free and punches the tall man. She felt all the weight of Nolios lift away from her.

Rose looked up and saw Nolios with his sword out once more. He was bleeding and Rose could make out a waving light in front of him. Nolios made an advance with his sword and Rose saw an orange blur leap out of the way of the strike. Rose knew then that the mysterious fox was fighting Nolios.

"So you have an affinity with the girl then?" Rose heard Nolios yell out, fear in his voice. The fox just looked through him with its changing eyes. Nolios charged again. The fox took off an arm this time. Nolios did not seem to care. "Like you've never gotten an arm from me before." He said, laughing. Nolios smiled, murmured a few words and Rose saw his arm regenerate. "You're going to need to try harder than that, Wolfy-Boy." The fox barred its teeth at the remark.

Rose noticed the fox starting to wave its tail in a peculiar way. The glow from it grew brighter and brighter until the brightness consumed the fox entirely. Rose could hear the sound of metal from within the light. A man in half-metal, half-leather armor emerged. His hair was wild and medium length at best. His eyes shone a full blue and his cloak carried a howling wolf on it. "If you really want to die, Nolios. I can help you." The man said. "I really hate leaving my fox form, but for you I can make the exception." The man smirked.

Nolios was growing nervous, Rose could see that. "So the fabled Wolfknight finally emerges from his little shape shifting form, huh? Good, now I can say I killed the Wolfknight proper."

Nolios ran at the Wolfknight and made a slash. The Wolfknight broke Nolios' sword with a single parry and continued through with a full strike, cutting Nolios in half. The knight's sword seemingly howling as it cut. Rose saw Nolios' body dissolve before hitting the ground, just as his blade did.

III.

The Wolfknight turned to Rose and smiled, "Sorry I was late. I lost you after the giant's house." He walked over to Rose, who was still sitting on the ground. Rose tried to speak, but found that no voice would come out once more. "I see, let me fix that for you, beautiful." The knight extended his arm to Rose's throat, caressing her skin rather than grabbing as Nolios did. Through a soothing voice the Wolfknight murmured a few words and pulled his hand away from Rose's throat. A warm sensation shot throughout her mouth. "Speak." The Wolfknight said.

Rose opened her mouth to speak, expecting nothing to come out. "Okay." She said. Rose smiled at the word she produced, which was all her own. "Thank you, sir. My name is Rose, by the way." Rose said, her voice elated with happiness. "How did you do that?" She asked.

"Well, with magic of course." The Wolfknight replied.

"But how?" Rose asked, pushing the question.

"A sage taught me it. In fact, you've seen him already. I led you to him. That turtle on the little island in the pond. Really nice creature, he is." The Wolfknight said as he moved to sit down next to Rose. With a flick of his wrist a fireball erupted a stump in front of the two. "There, for warmth." He smiled.

Rose felt very confused, she had so many questions to ask of the knight. "Why did you lead me to him? And what did he do to me? He knocked me out with some weird water!"

"Well, he was seeing whether or not you were in these woods by mistake or by purpose. That water can tell him that." The knight said.

"What do you mean? And am I here on purpose?" Rose asked, adjusting her sitting position closer to the fire. She noticed that the flames were turning from red to blue and blue to green.

The Wolfknight frowned, "Well, Rose, the sage concluded that you are stuck in the middle. Which rarely happens. When somebody happens upon this woods they are either here by accident or they are meant to be here. You seem to be a little bit of both."

"I suppose for me to better understand, you need to tell me what this woods is." Rose said.

The Wolfknight's blue eyes seemed to glow, "I've been wondering that myself, ever since I got here." He looked at the color changing fire. "All I know is what I learn, and I've learned little in my time here. The sage simply tells me that there are those who need to stay and those who need to leave. Whenever I question more he never answers."

Rose moved closer to the Wolfknight, "Well, the giant told me a lot about you. You're quite a legend in these woods." She seemed to have forgotten all of her questions she had. Something interested Rose in this knight. The one they called the Wolfknight.

The Wolfknight sighed, "Yes, well I have done quite a bit since I got stuck here. Which tale did the giant tell you? Those giants are oft the only ones that get my stories correct every time." The Wolfknight turned to face Rose.

"Well, he told me a lot of them. I really liked the one about how you got your name." Rose said, gazing at the knights cloak. The howling wolf was against a tree with a full moon in the sky behind it.

"Ah, when I saved the great she-wolf Shiba." The Wolfknight looked up into the dark sky. "But that is not where I attained my name. I got my name after I killed a wildling king named Gelk. His whole court was there as we fought. I had my greatwolf by my side, Shiba's firstborn. I named him Fenrir, after the greatwolf of our legends." The knight fell back and laid in the snow. "Yes, that was a good fight. I didn't want to kill that madman, but he left me no choice."

A long silence occurred. Rose looked up at the stars and moon just as the Wolfknight was. He was the first to break the silence, "Out of questions already, Rose?"

Rose thought about what she wanted to ask, "You can ask me something if you like. I've been hogging the conversation." She smiled.

"Alright then. Do you want to go back to the outside world?" The Wolfknight said, seriousness in his tone.

"Yes, I do. Other than you, everything in this forest really has not been too pleasant. Well the ents were nice." Rose said.

"Ah, yes. The ents and I always have some nice talks. But are you truly sure you want to go back?" The Wolfknight asked. "Think of everything the outside world has for you."

"Why do you want me to think so hard?" Rose asked.

"Well, the sage tells me that those who end up here on purpose want to escape their lives. And those who end up here by accident were simply drawn in, most of the time by a spirit. And like I said, you are in the middle. I need to know whether to send you back or not." The Wolfknight said. He sat back up.

"You can send me back?" Rose asked.

"I can. But I must do it before daybreak, or else you will be stuck here." He said.

"How long do I have until daybreak?" Rose said.

"An hour." The Wolfknight said. "So you don't have to decide right this second."

"I'll wait then." Rose said. An uneasy feeling rising in her stomach at the revelation of her situation.

"May I ask as to why you don't want to be in the outside world?" The knight asked.

Rose looked down at the snow, "Mostly the same reason as Nolios said. I don't like society out there. Everyone works their whole life for some stupid paper. I want to be an artist, maybe even a movie director. But I wouldn't be able to. It's just too hard to fulfill your own dreams in that materialistic, consumerist society." Rose thought of her friends and family. Though back in the outside world, she had little of both.

"I see. An artist, huh? I wanted to be a musician way back when I was an outsider. I could bang out a pretty nice beat on the drums." He laughed. "But a day came where I just said screw it all. Next thing I know, I'm walking through this place." Another laugh.

"So how did you survive? I take it you couldn't transform into a fox then." Rose laughed.

The Wolfknight smiled, "No, I couldn't!" He laughed. "I learned that from one of the Fox Sage's a few years back. No, the story of my survival is a long one. Best for another day, should you choose to stay."

"Are you trying to bribe me?" Rose smiled.

"Yes, I suppose I am." He smiled back.

"Why?" Rose asked.

"Because it's rare to see another human here. A true human, that is. Wildlings may seem human but they are not. No, humans usually don't last long here in the woods." He said.

"But you said that they wanted to be here." Rose said.

"I said that they were here on purpose. That usually doesn't save them from what this place has in store for them." A frown formed on his face. "You're lucky I found you, in fact. Those spirits that you attracted were not friendly, as you could tell. And the humans that do survive usually end up like Nolios. Twisted."

"Then why would I want to stay?" Rose asked, her face showing how puzzled she was.

"Because you would have me." The Wolfknight said, looking straight through Rose's eyes. "And the times almost here, it will take me some time to summon the portal. You have to choose, Rose."

Rose looked up at the sky, "Okay then." The stars were still so clear and the moon was now sinking. Rose remembered the evil spirits that greeted her into this place. She remembered the giant's and the ents. All of it was so terrifying. But all were so much more exciting and magical than anything she could have felt in the outside world. She looked at the Wolfknight, in his beautiful armor and cloak. His hair falling a bit in front of his blue eyes. She would have him in this mysterious place. And with him, she could see every bit of it. Explore where she never once thought was possible. Rose thought also of her family and friends, who would miss her dearly. Of the life she'd be leaving behind. But they'd get over her, she knew. And she had an opportunity to be ultimately happy. She opened her mouth, spoke the words, and stood by her decision. The Wolfknight looked to the sky as the moon was sinking, and nodded his head.