The Woods

Whispers. The trees were alive with the mysterious murmurs of the wind, blowing through the otherwise silent forest. Almost no light hit the dead jumble of pine needles, and shadows danced widely from the few thin beams of moonlight that made it through the treetops. Wilting leaves drooped tiredly from the boney branches, finally succumbing to the icy temperatures of late autumn. A frigid rain began to fall, drenching the mossy terrain. The woods stood stock still, remaining as silent as a mouse. Haunting. Lonely. Isolated. A swinging lantern light slowly began to illuminate the dim night, accompanied by the cracking of footsteps. Aria strolled quickly through the dark, pulling her hood tight around her face to keep out the wild chill of the woods. She glanced briefly from side to side, wary of the creatures that could be hiding anywhere in the shadows. Her face was as white as a ghost, and she hustled through the eerily quiet woods, desperate to get to the village she hoped was through this dense forest. She hoped she was near, but her frantic journey could have lead her in any wrong direction, any at all. A strange sound rang out in the silent night, and Aria stopped dead in her tracks. With a whoosh of air, a short, stubby old man cloaked in red appeared in front of her. Aria let out a high pitched shriek, then rolled her eyes as she realised it was just one of the village warlocks, who must’ve been transported to her when she crossed the protective shield that she knew encased the village.
“Come, child.” The warlock spoke in a deep, but kind voice, reaching out a gentle hand towards the girl. She took his hand, and her stomach dropped at the sudden feeling of the transit, the Warlock’s standard form of jumping between villages.