Chapter 6

A fog amidst the trees

This place...where...”

“The deepwoods, an area very few enter and less make it out alive”

“Then why am I here then”

“

“Huh… I guess you can’t figure that out”

“What do you mean...”

“...”

“Hey.... Hey you...Heyy!!”

As Aamaile looked around her she could notice the gigantic trees looming over her, the mass amount of fog disoriented her, the ground was covered by dead leaves and rotting sticks. Everything around her was extremely confusing, but the thing that most worried her was Auro. Mostly because of his wounds.

“I need to find a way out of here as soon as possible”- she thought to herself as she looked around.

It was the same, everything around her looked exactly the same, the only thing that stuck out to her was a small path in between all the trees. A small path, covered by the giant tree canopy. It was a cool and breezy day, at least in the deep forest.

“Ahh it’s really cold, I wonder where Auro is right now”

“The wound on his chest is deep isn’t it?”

“What… how did you...where did you...where are you...”

“Less questions at a time please, I’m getting confused”

“Well then, who are you?”

“Didn’t I tell you the first time we met?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m a spirit”

“What?”

“I’m a spirit, I’m not sure what happened but I haven’t been here long”

“More or less how long?”

“Around a month or so, I guess”

“Oh, so not that long, I don’t remember much of earlier, but somehow you sound familiar”

“So it happened to you too...”

“What do you mean?”

“How in the world, never mind that, I’m here to answer your questions afterall”

“Where’s Auro?”

“He’s somewhere in the deep forest yet I’m not sure where”

“Do you mean we were both brought here”

“You were...”

“By what Exactly?”

“I’m not sure at all my self, this world is as confusing to me as it is for you”

“Well, what am I doing here then?”

“That’s for you to find out….”

As the voice slowly faded away she couldn’t think of anything else, somehow the way it sounded haunted her mind. It sounded like, well like if it was in pain. The fog grew thicker and thicker making it harder to see and yet the only thing that wasn’t covered by it was the path…

“Why is this… is this supposed to be where I’m meant to go?”

As the fog grew thicker and thicker around her the only thing that she could think to do was walk down the path and see where it would lead her. The gigantic trees dwarfed her, she could notice more and more trees. The forest grew more dense and the fog grew more thick. With limited vision it was hard enough to see where she was going but the dense forest and its canopy made it even harder to tell.

“She mentioned that Auro was also her I wonder if i’ll run into him eventually”

A dead silence covered the area, nothing could be heard, not even the chirping of any crickets, as she walked the crunching of leaves and twigs could be the only thing heard. A cold breeze could be felt coming from the forest, her hair would slowly flow around in it.

“Damn I should have worn a sweater before visiting Auro, It’s freezing cold”- She thought to herself as she could feel the breeze run through her clothes

“Auro’s wound was deep and yet somehow he’s still fine, that guy, he never knows when to give up, and yet…. That’s the thing I like the most about him”

The as she went farther and farther down the path the wind blew stronger and stronger, the even the thick fog began to grow closer, the dense forest got even denser she felt as if she was going to get lost if she took a wrong step. The little sunlight that got through eventually disappeared.

“I guess eventually I’ll find an end to this path but what worries me the most is… Auro and his safety”

Slowly light began to seep in through the canopy, the forest started to get less dense and the fog began to fade, she began to feel something warm run through her body. Finally she could see past the fog, there was an opening right in the middle of the forest as she saw it she began to run right towards it.

“Maybe just maybe Auro is there...”

She ignored the surroundings, she didn’t care if the path she had to follow was marked by stones all she cared about was finding him. As she approached the end of the path she could see it, opening in the woods.

“There I’m so close..”

Finally after what felt like she had been walking forever , she had finally reached the end. She could feel it, Auro had to be at the end of it waiting for her, “that must be it” she thought to herself as she approached the light and finally got to see what was awaiting her…

“Aur...Auro… Where is he...”

He wasn’t there, after all that running, after all she walked and he wasn’t there like she expected. All that awaited her was an opening with flowers surrounding a pedestal in the middle of everything…

“What is this, where is he?”

“You're looking for Auro right?”

“You, It’s you, You lied to me...”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“You told me Auro was somewhere in the forest...”

“I did, but did I ever mention that you would find him here?”

“You bastard!...”

“Hey, Hey now look there’s no need to get angry”

“I guess so...well what is this place then…”

“A sanctuary of sorts”

“Sanctuary…?”- She looked around her -”Flowers”

“Indeed, as I said before, I have little to no clue about this world, so i don’t know the purpose of this place, I just know it exist”

“How much do you actually know of this world?”

“To be honest I have never been beyond the forest near the cherry blossom tree”

“Really?”

“Yeah at this point I believe that there's nothing beyond that point, going in a straight line eventually made me reach a part where it was drowned in a mist of sorts, going in to the mist eventually brought me back to the cherry blossom”

“Drowned in a mist? Just like here then?”

“Well this one is more like a fog, the one in that forest felt humid and sticky”

Aamaile looked around as the voice talked, flowers circled around what looked to be a pedestal in the center of everything. Stones marked the edges of where the forest and the small opening met. Small animals like birds flew around the area and sat around the flowers. Everything felt out of a fairytale.

“Well I’m here, now how do I get out of here?”

“Go up to the pedestal to figure it out”

“Why should I?”

“You want to find Auro don’t you?”

“I do...”

“Then this is the only way to do it”

“Well if it’s to find Auro well then”

“Well then step ahead”

“Ok...”

As she walked onto the pedestal the birds took flight. Everything went dead silent just like in the deeper parts of the forest. The pedestal didn’t look as if it had been there for long, it was well kept. With a large stone pillar in the middle. Embedded in the stone pillar there was a stone tablet with writing on it. Below that tablet there was a set of gauntlets lodged into the pillar.

“What is this”

“Read the the tablet”

“Thou traveler who has found themself upon this world, one day you will need this to free this world from the...from the hell it’s stuck in ''. What in the... what does this mean?”

“Exactly what is written on the tablet...”

“The hell it’s stuck in? What hell may that be?”

“You’ve seen the decrepade land I guess you can figure it out”

“What are you saying”

“Pull the gauntlets out of the pillar to find out… ”

“Why should I pull them out...”

“...”

“Heyyyyyyyyy”

“That ughhhhhh...Fine I guess I have no other choice… ”

As Aamaile slowly approached the pillar she felt an overwhelming feeling of Anxiety fill her body. As she slowly inserted her hands into the gauntlets her body began to shake, was she nervous because she might be able to see Auro or was it because of what was about to happen.

“Well here goes nothing...”

As she clenched the gauntlets with her fist, she could feel a surge of energy flow through her body. Even though she used her full strength the gauntlets wouldn’t break free from the pillar. She kept pulling on it, she could feel as if her body began to get tired, even though she had only tried once.

“What happened, why aren’t they out of the pillar”- she said as her breathing became heavier.

She tried again, she could feel her left arm begin to fill with pain. She forgot about her arm, she didn’t let her pain get in the way. She kept pulling on the gauntlets more and more, she could feel her body get drained out of energy. Finally…

“Finally, they are out”- she said as she slowly fell back as the pillar began to fall apart in front of her, as her body reached its limits, she couldn’t help but smile.

As the sunlight began to shine onto her she slowly opened her eyes…

“Where am...I”- she said as she realised it -”Auro, Auro where are you…”

“I’m here, don’t worry Cough Cough”- He said as he tried to stand up

“Auro don’t move, what happened...”

She said as she noticed the handle of a sword sticking out from behind his back, as she stuck out her arms towards him she noticed the gauntlets…

“What’s that?”- They said in conjunction

“Aamaile, where were you? I was looking for you and never found you in that forest...”

“Forest? Do you mean the one with giant trees?”

“Yeah, when I appeared there I didn’t know what to do and I decided to look for you”

“Oh”- she said as she glew a bright red

“Anyways where are we?”

“I’m not sureeee….”- she said as she turned her head just to see the cherry blossom tree looming behind them…

“Aamaile are you ok?”

“I’m fine but…, Auro do you remember the last thing that happened before you appeared in the forest?”

“I laid my head on my hand while touching the cherry blossoms...”

“Do you think...”

“Aamaile where did you get those gaun... ahhh”

“Please Auro don’t move, Your going to get even more hurt”

“Hehehehe It’s too late for that...”

“Auro what do you...mean...”

“As I was pulling this sword out from its pedestal I ended up destroying the little muscle tissue left on my shoulder… Plus with the strength from pulling the sword I began to bleed out and passed out before I ended up back here”

“Auro then why did you… Why did you pull out the sword then?”

“I was told to… So I can free this world from the… From the hell it’s stuck in”

“What do you mean?”

“The sword was lodged in the pedestal above it there was a pillar with a stone tablet lodged in it”- He said as he began to remove his shirt as to see how bad his wound got

“Auro what are you doing?”

“I’m going to see my wound, I feel that if I don’t...”

“Don’t say it, I’ll help you then”

“Thanks Aamaile, Also how did you get those gauntlets...”

“When I found myself in the forest I ended up hearing a voice, eventually it told me that I could find you down a path”

“Oh really, you were that worried for me… hehehe”

“Hey it’s not funny… I was really worried and your wounds made me even more worried for you, since I know what can happen when… well you know... ”

“Don’t worry, I know that you had good intentions… Ahhhh cough cough”

“Don’t move that much… please Auro”

“It’s hard not to… cough cough… Just keep telling me your story”

“Well, Eventually when I reached the end of the path I found a pedestal with the gauntlets lodged into it the pillar right under a stone tablet”

“What did the tablet say?”

“Something about freeing this world from the hell it’s stuck in”

“Aamaile...”

“Auro...”

“Can it be that… ”

“We were meant to find these”- They looked at each other -“I think we were...”