The Elder Forest

Rochelle's will has rung true, and she escaped the clutches of the mermaids. Now, her journey will hit its peak. Can she survive the enigmatic Elder Forest, or will she be lost before morning's light?

Rochelle stepped out of the water and faced the forest. It didn't look particularly frightening, but she had learned enough on her journey now that she understood how things were not always as they seemed. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward and into the forest.

Dark was swiftly falling, but Rochelle saw no point in stopping, as she wasn't sleepy and her pack and blanket were soaked from her excursion under the sea. Grumbling a little to herself about the courtesy of mermaids and their underwater spells, Rochelle decided to push on until she could go no more.

The forest was eerily quiet as she walked, especially for nighttime. Rochelle was used to the comforting hum of a busy nocturnal world outside her window every night, but in this place, it was as though nothing lived at all. Even the trees barely whispered to one another, as trees are normally wont to do when pressed so close together. This forest felt old, and dark, and Rochelle didn't like it.

After a time, she could barely see her own feet, stumbling through the undergrowth. Stubbornly, Rochelle kept walking, out of an unspoken fear that to stop would mean terrible things for her. She hoped that the healer kept a light burning in his house, otherwise she might just walk past it in the dark, and miss it completely.

This thought was so unsettling that Rochelle stopped completely, staring around blindly and trying to get her bearings. It was then that she heard a noise that stopped her heart. Something, very near to her, was breathing. And she couldn't see it.

Panic flared in her chest, but Rochelle forced herself to remain calm. Her legs were trembling, but she ignored them, trying to search the darkness as discreetly as possible to discover the location of her silent watcher. She could not find the source of the breathing, and that thought only served to frighten her more.

Finally, she came to a decision. If her watcher had wanted to hurt her, surely it would have done so by now. Seeing as it had not, Rochelle decided that it either was harmless- highly unlikely- wanted to continue keeping an eye on her for something, or, it simply couldn't see her either. In any case, Rochelle decided that it was safe to continue walking and pretend that she was unaware of the existence of her stalker.

She took a few steps forward and hesitated. The breathing hadn't changed, but it hadn't left her, either. Rochelle continued to walk forward slowly, trying to ignore the cold dread she felt creeping up her spine at the thought of an unidentifiable monster sneaking along at her back.

Rochelle frowned, squinting into the darkness. In front of her, it looked as though there were some form of light, perhaps a break in the canopy or a clearing, allowing some form of light to get through. In any case, it filled her with relief to see some kind of light, and she headed toward it as quickly as possible.

Finally, she broke through the treeline into a large clearing, a kind of meadow in the woods. At the other end, there was a tiny cottage with a single candle burning in the window. The sight was so shocking to Rochelle that she had to stop for a moment, dumbstruck. Was it possible that she had found the house of the healer at last, just in time to save Alyx? The thought filled her with such relief, she almost completely forgot about the breathing she had heard in the woods.

There was a snort behind her. Rochelle whirled around, finally laying eyes on the creature that had been following her through the woods.

At first glance, it appeared to be a large black horse, stamping and pawing in front of her. On closer examination, however, the horse was found to have a large, spiraling horn growing out of the top of its head, and eyes that were the misty white of death. Rochelle's breath caught as she realized what the creature must be.

"A dark unicorn," she said aloud. "Possibly the very one that attacked Alyx in the forest that day. Why have you followed me here? What purpose could it possibly serve for you to keep me from my goal?"

The unicorn reared and screamed, a sound that made Rochelle's stomach clench in fear, but also moved her heart in pity. This was not a creature of hate and violence, but of misery and desperate sorrow. She had heard a sound like that before, when a neighbor's horse had lost its colt when it had fallen down a ditch and broken its neck. The mother's agonized scream had rung out across the village, setting every dog howling. Even then, that sound was nothing compared to the degree of pain the creature in front of her must be suffering, to create such a noise. Rochelle's heart was filled with sorrow for the poor creature, and she wished there was some way she could help it.

The unicorn did not seem to notice her sympathy. It reared again, striking out with its forelegs as though the very air they breathed was the source of its suffering. It charged at her, pointing its deadly horn directly at her heart. Rochelle was transfixed, watching the instrument of her death hurtle toward her without making a move to stop it. A single tear slid down her cheek, not from fear of dying, but from extreme empathy and understanding toward the unicorn. This tear splashed onto the unicorn, awakening a new understanding within it. However, it was too late.

Rochelle fell to the ground, her heart pierced by the dark unicorn's horn. She was dying, but she felt no resentment toward the creature that brought this fate upon her. She understood the animal's pain, and accepted that perhaps it was her time to go. Before she slid into blackness, Rochelle thought of Alyx, and silently asked forgiveness that she could not save him. Then, she knew no more.