The boy was tired of waking from nothing to a world worse than nothing. The warm cloak, the fire, and the smell of stew in the air helped though.. He looked around wearily, his whole body aching.
A man's voice caught him off guard as it said, "Aah you are awake! Good! Here!" No sooner had he sat up then a wooden bowl full of stew was thrust in his face. He took it without question, chowing down on the potatoes and leaks..
It was heaven.. Or as close to it as he had been in the days of hell he experienced since appearing in this bleak world. The stew was lightly salted, and it was warm, and full.. Everything one needs to survive..
He finished it quick. Perhaps too quick as his stomach turned and lurched from the sudden meal. He fought through the Pains easily though.. It was a good pain..
Looking around he saw a well dressed man strumming idly at a lute. He wasn't playing anything, more so tuning it, checking the strings, and just generally seemed to be passing time..
On the other side there was a young girl, around his age, that simply stared into the fire. Her clothes resembled his: simple cloth and canvas, brown and white..
The boy adjusted the cloak around his shoulders. He could tell it. And from the man.. But was very much reluctant to let the warm and comfortable fabric go..
He wanted to ask questions, to get answers, but the man beat him to the punch...
"Now. You are both here, and rested.. How about that song then?" He smirked. It was eery to say the least. His whole demeanor seemed opposite of the world around him, his cheery attitude, his bright and vibrant clothes, clean and unblemished. His pure white smile, infectious and carefree.. The boy envied that, he wanted it.. It wouldn't be the last time he longed for that happy freedom...
Deftly the bard struck a chord. It sang easily, and it was clear from the single note that the man was skilled. He knew his craft. He fell quickly into song as the stagnant air changed into a gleeful dance. The melody was smooth as butter, and sweet as milk. Then he began to sing...
"Err be the day,
Walking lone through the woods,
That brings you this way,
To the Fain,
Through the Fain.."
"No longer living,
Yet never quite dying,
Lest the dim blind your eyes,
To the Fain,
Through the Fain"
"Ascend,
To the ancients,
For all they have placed,
To the Fain,
Through the Fain."
"The power beyond,
Will find its way,
If you but journey,
To the Fain,
Through the Fain.."
The lute stopped as his voice did, and the silence took hold again. All that remained was the crackling of the fire as questions burned in the boy's mind..
The song had done little to soothe him. In fact, it had quite the opposite effect. He didn't see it on the girl's face. Her eyes had the opposite of his: clarity, understanding... As if she was in no way confused.. As if she didn't lose all her memories and wander through a dark wood, nearly dying multiple times.. As he got a clearer look at her, her clothes, though the same as his, were clean.. She wasn't covered in dried blood either..
"What does that mean?" He spoke up. It was odd to hear his own voice out loud. Such a simple tenor, so fitting for a boy his age. It made him feel smaller, even more vulnerable, as if it only made clearer just how young he really was..
"Why it's the Ballad of the Fain.. Your introduction.. Have you never heard it before?"
"What? No? How would I?" He asked, confused.. The bard's answer was not what he wanted to hear.. The need for answers sparked an anger in him, and it began to carry in his voice.
The bard set his lute down then and looked him in the eye, as if searching for something. This awkward silence lasted a long moment before he began again,
"I see now... interesting..."
He then turned to the girl, and said plainly, "The path to the next level for you is that way..." He gestured towards a break between two trees. As if by magic a path appeared, lit by simple torches in sconces on the trees..
The girl nodded, and stood up. The boy watched her leave without another word. She disappeared down the dimly lit path..
He sat, fidgeting on the ground. The Bard only began to speak after the girl was well out of sight, "You.. I'm afraid... Have a different path to follow..."
He seemed sad as he spoke.. It was the first emotion besides cheerfulness the man had exuded. "What does it mean though? Where am I?"
The boy asked, frantically searching for answers..
The Bard gave him none. He simply held up a hand, silencing him. He then spoke slowly and intently, "You are in the Fain.. that is what this land is.." he gestured to the dark wood and sad landscape around, "All who come here seek something more.. You are no different... Whatever you seek you must Reach upwards... To the next level.."
The boy nodded. He then asked a different question, "But reach for what? Why??..."
The Bard gave him a sideways glance, then laughed, "haha! Why for whatever you desire: power, wealth, immortality... You name it... It's at the end of the path... at the Mouth of the Fain..."
The man leaned forward and began to whisper, as if he were a child telling a secret, "And for you, there are answers waiting.. I'm sure you have plenty to ask, unlike the others..."
The boy understood a little more.. But the questions still weighed him down and gave him a headache. He didn't have much time to think about it though before the Bard stood and outstretched his arm,
"That path is for you..." he said. He turned and gave another smile, before he began to fade away.. His frame slowly disappeared until all that remained was the fire and the dark forest all around.
It freaked him out a little.. but strangely, not as much as it should have. It was another odd occurrence in an odd world.. So he sat back down...
The boy realized he still had the cloak, and there was a little stew left in the pot, so he sat, ate, and generally rested for a while.. It was warm near the dying fire, and He wasn't all too eager to head down the path that appeared.. He would do it on his own terms, when he was ready.. And that required a full belly and a chance to relax... As best as he could...
...
The way was lit by long torches in wrought iron sconces on the trees. They burned a dull amber that barely lit up the path, let alone the dark forest all around.. It was enough though, enough to see the shadows dancing.. To see the ghosts and monsters lying just out of sight: A swaying tree a dragon.. a small bush a goblin.. a felled tree a turtle faced behemoth...
He shivered...
The path itself was narrow, and made of loosely placed cobblestone. It seemed so out of place, in the middle of the wood.. He imagined it was placed with the same kind of magic or witchcraft the bard had used to disappear entirely..
He pulled the cloak tighter as he ventured deeper.. He was glad to have for it. It was long, and held within a warmth similar to sitting a few feet away from a campfire. It was heavy and he felt safe wrapped in the cloth, as if it was a shield against the dark grey world..
Hours passed, and the path seemed endless. The scenery never really changed.. He just wrapped around and around curves, and turns, and sometimes walked long stretches of no deviation.. He longed for nothing more than to reach the end..
But then the end came.. A clearing, about the same size as the one the bard had been in.. This time it was a stone plateau, with the forest encasing there halfcircle of barren rock. He marveled at how lifeless the view was.. He could see fog over the edge of the cliff, blocking any decent sight of what lie below..
He scratched his head and stood there for a moment before he turned back to the path. "Well.. Maybe I missed a turn?" He thought. It was a dead end.. There was no answers to be had in the empty clearing.
As he reached the edge of the clearing he fell over. "What in the world?" He thought. The boy rubbed his nose. It was red and sore, as if he had walked straight into a wall.
Looking up he noticed something odd near the edge.. There was a strange shimmer in the air.. It was faint, almost imperceptible.. He put his hand out and touched it. It was like glass: smooth but hard.. yet was like a still lake at the same time. It gave away slightly like water, and rippled outwards in all directions..
"I'm trapped" he thought. Looking up he spotted the strange enclosure covering in a semicircle all the way to the cliff's edge. He turned then, a sound drawing his attention..
It wasn't good.. none of it was.. But most certainly not that sound. It came from the cliff, like something large was scrambling upwards..
He backed up to the edge near the path and waited.. waited because there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide..
Eventually he spotted something pop over the side of the cliff: a hand.. a monstrous hand.. he knew that hand.
His face went pale, and suddenly the friendly bard in his memories and his friendly smile took on a different persona: traitor.. villain... the man who pointed him down the path to a sure death..
sure enough a familiar one eyed face peered over the side: the turtle beast.. It hoisted itself up and stood on the edge of the cliff. It look around with all the calmness of an apex predator, it's grey humanoid body bulging with large muscles.
It turned and spotted him. He heard it snap it's jaw once before it began to charge...