Chapter 4 — The Worst News of the Night

The first lights of the village emerged from the darkness.

Small blue dots flickered around the walls.

The path leading to the gates remained plunged in night, but some people were already waiting outside.

Friends.

Wives.

Children.

Curious onlookers.

Everyone awaited the return of the loggers.

That was an atypical day for everyone.

They should have crossed the palisade some time ago.

That day, however, the bell had rung late.

Very late.

The rule was simple: when the bell rang, everyone had to leave the forest immediately.

But for some reason that day, the bell had not rung at the usual time.

And when it finally sounded, the mist had already descended upon the woods.

Because of this, the loggers were late.

The biting cold of the night made some tighten their thick cloaks against their bodies, while others kept their eyes fixed on the dark line of the woods, motionless like statues.

— They should have arrived by now…

A woman looked at her husband beside her.

— Perhaps they took longer to load the wagons.

— They always arrive before this.

Nobody answered.

Near the gates, Amara remained motionless.

Her eyes incessantly scanned the deserted road, searching for the first sign of the wagons or the flicker of a torch, while her hand rested firmly upon her own belly, in an almost unconscious protective gesture.

— You are worried — said Amara.

Darian did not answer.

He rubbed his shoulder over his clothes, as he did on cold nights, and looked up at the sky.

The clouds had covered almost all the stars.

I am.

Amara looked back at the road.

— Father! Did you hear me?

Darian finally looked at her.

— I am.

— With Zeph?

— With all of them.

Darian turned his eyes back to the road.

For a few seconds, nobody said anything.

Then…

A distant sound broke the silence.

Clack.

Amara raised her head.

Clack. Clack.

The noise repeated, clearer each time.

Wheels.

The people near the gates began to look at one another.

— Did you hear that?

The sound was coming from the road.

From within the darkness.

Soon after, the first horses emerged from the shadows.

Panting.

Their flanks covered in sweat and foam.

Behind them, the first wagon rushed out along the uneven road. Right behind, came the other two. The wheels rolled over mud and branches, making the wood creak with every jolt.

— It’s them! — someone shouted.

People ran a few steps toward the road.

Amara clutched her belly.

Her eyes immediately searched for Zeph.

But something was wrong.

The wagons passed through the gates.

Men were huddled inside them.

Some held onto the sides.

Others looked exhausted.

None of them were celebrating their return.

The horses were more agitated than normal.

Darian felt something was wrong, narrowed his eyes, and found Oskar.

— Where is Zeph?

— Where is Zeph?! — Darian shouted.

Oskar lowered his gaze.

Amara took a step forward.

— What happened?

Oskar took a deep breath before answering.

— The mist appeared too quickly.

His voice came out low, still laden with fear.

— Within moments, we could no longer even see one another.

Amara frowned.

— So you simply came back?

— It wasn’t like that.

Oskar raised his eyes to her.

— When we realized Zeph was no longer with us, I wanted to go back.

He gripped the handle of his axe.

— I tried.

Amara took another step.

— And why did you come back?

Oskar took a moment to reply.

— Because the others stopped me.

Amara stared at him, incredulous.

— Stopped you?

— Yes.

He pointed to the road behind him.

— The mist was closing in on everything. No one could see the path properly. The horses were frightened, the men were starting to panic… If I had gone into those woods alone, perhaps none of us would have made it back.

Amara clenched her hands.

— But Zeph stayed there!

— I know!

Oskar’s voice came out louder.

Everyone fell silent.

Oskar took a deep breath and lowered his tone again.

— I know, Amara.

He looked toward the forest.

— I didn’t want to leave him.

Amara’s eyes began to fill with tears.

But anger spoke first.

— Then how did you manage to come back without him?

Oskar stood motionless.

— How can you stand here, knowing your friend is in that forest?

Oskar closed his eyes for a moment.

— Because I promised I would come back to get help.

Amara finally spoke:

— What exactly happened before you lost Zeph?

Oskar looked at her.

— We were finishing loading things when the mist began to rise.

He swallowed hard.

— At first, it seemed normal. But it grew denser and denser. Very fast.

— All the fault of the bell that rang too late.

Oskar ran a hand across his face.

— Everything happened so fast…

— When we realized, Zeph was no longer near us.

Amara shook her head.

— No…

— We shouted for him.

Oskar looked at the other men.

— We searched for a few minutes, but we could barely see a thing.

— So someone decided to go back? — asked Amara.

Oskar nodded.

— The eldest said we needed to return to the village and get help. That staying there would mean losing more men.

Amara looked at him with teary eyes.

— And you agreed?

Oskar remained silent for a few seconds.

— No.

The answer came out firm.

— I wanted to stay.

He clenched his teeth.

— But there were many of us. And no one could see a thing in that damned mist.

— Not to mention the laughter — added a logger.

— What?! — Darian interrupted the conversation immediately.

— Yes, the laughter. We heard…

Damn it.

Zeph is in trouble.

— What do you mean you left Zeph in danger?! — Amara raged.

— I didn’t—

Darian didn’t let him finish.

— Amara! We have no time to lose, we’re just getting in the way!

— They need to put together an urgent rescue team, nothing we say here will help Zeph at this exact moment.

Until the sound of approaching armor rang out.

Commander Cassius.

Holding his helmet under his arm.

— Hello lads, we already know what happened.

— I myself will help in the search for Zeph.

Oskar stepped closer.

— I’m going too.

Cassius looked at him, evaluating.

— You just came out of the forest.

— And that’s precisely where I left my friend.

Darian placed his hand on Oskar’s shoulder.

Cassius nodded slowly.

— He can help, he knows the way and where everything happened.

— Then let’s go now, grab the magic torches.

But before they could move forward…

— No one is going anywhere.

The voice came from behind.

Everyone turned around.

A tall man was walking toward the group.

His body was broad and muscular.

His face marked by a few scars.

He wore pieces of dark armor, different from that of ordinary soldiers.

He carried a large double-headed axe on his back.

Captain Brutus.

One of Lord Gudran’s right-hand men.

He stopped before Oskar and the others.

— I hear you intend to enter the forest.

Darian did not answer.

Brutus continued:

— After the bell, no one is authorized to leave this village.

Brutus might be right, but this decision could condemn Zeph — thought Darian.

Amara pleaded with Brutus:

— My husband is out there, the father of the child I carry in my womb!

— That doesn’t change the rule.

Darian narrowed his eyes.

— The rule exists to protect the men.

— Exactly, that’s what they will do!

Brutus crossed his arms.

— And you intend to put more men at risk because one man failed to obey the tolling of the bell?

For an instant, his eyes darted toward the forest—too fast for anyone to notice, except perhaps Darian.

Before anyone could answer…

Dong.

A single toll echoed through the village.

Everyone froze.

Oskar took a step forward.

— Zeph didn’t disobey.

Brutus looked at him.

— I’m not interested in knowing who disobeyed.

— He got trapped in the mist.

— And now he’s missing.

Brutus pointed to the forest.

— Lord Gudran’s order is clear. After the bell rings, no one enters the woods.

— The order wasn’t made to abandon living men — replied Oskar.

Brutus gave a short smile.

— Are you sure he’s alive?

Oskar clenched his fists.

Darian placed his hand on Oskar’s shoulder.

— No.

— If you say one more time that my friend isn’t alive…

Brutus fell silent.

— What will you do?

Brutus stepped forward, blocking the way.

— I said no one is going.

Oskar slowly raised his eyes.

— Step aside, Brutus.

— No.

Brutus raised one hand.

— No one leaves.

The wind swept across the square.

Brutus prepared to draw his axe.

When suddenly…

A scrawny figure emerged from the gloom.

The dry, rhythmic sound of an oak staff striking the irregular stones of the square cut through the tense silence, announcing each slow, yet firm step.

— Enough, Brutus! — echoed the deep voice, cutting through the air like a blade.

Lord Gudran, with his long silver beards that seemed to defy the winds, stepped past the gates of his castle, flanked by two soldiers in heavy armor and serious expressions.

All the soldiers immediately knelt. At a slower pace, everyone else followed the same gesture of courtesy.

Brutus raised his face slightly, his jaw tense, and swallowed his pride with visible effort.

— Forgive us, my Lord — said Brutus, his voice restrained, almost choked by mandatory submission.

— Oskar, alongside Commander Cassius, intended to defy the curfew and enter the woods. I tried to stop them from committing madness.

Lord Gudran took two more steps forward, his staff marking the merciless rhythm of his arrival. His deep gray eyes swept across the square, pausing first on the lined-up soldiers, then on Oskar, and finally fixing on Darian, who was standing up slowly, maintaining a firm posture.

— Madness is letting fear dictate our borders, Brutus — retorted Gudran, his deep voice echoing off the stone walls of the square.

— But indiscipline before the gates also has a price.

The lord of the village stopped a few paces from Darian. The wind blew strong, rustling the hem of his heavy robe.

— You wish to enter the forest after the third toll, peasant? — asked Gudran, showing no anger, only cold curiosity.

— You know very well what that means. The territory is no longer ours as soon as the mist descends.

— My husband is lost in the forest, Lord Gudran, I beg you to let these brave men rescue him — replied Amara.

Gudran evaluated the men one by one for a few long moments. One corner of his mouth twitched slightly, as if weighing an ancient risk against a necessary whim.

— Very well — declared Gudran, raising his staff to forestall any interruption.

— You will go. Oskar, Cassius, and whichever men you choose.

Barely disguised relief shone in Oskar’s eyes, but it lasted a short time. The Lord raised a skeletal index finger, cutting through the air.

— But there is a condition.

The silence in the square grew dense. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.

— Brutus will go with you — ordered Gudran, pointing his staff at the captain, who widened his eyes in surprise.

— Or rather, he will take two of my most trusted guards, Achilles and Stephano.

Looking at the two soldiers who had stepped to his side.

— If you are going to run into the middle of the necropolis of trees, I want the eyes of my guard in there ensuring you don’t bring any plague back to our walls.

— Either you accept, or the gates will remain locked until dawn.

Oskar glanced at Brutus, who was gritting his teeth with bottled-up hatred at having to escort the very ones he had been defying moments ago. However, he knew there was no choice.

For a brief instant, Brutus’s gaze got lost in the dark line of trees beyond the gates—and there, behind the anger, was something older. Deeper. He averted his eyes before anyone noticed.

— Deal — said Oskar, turning to Commander Cassius.

— Prepare the enchanted torches, lads! — said Cassius.

Darian approached Oskar.

— Listen Oskar, be careful.

— The forest is treacherous, do not follow voices, do not make eye contact with what you are not looking for.

— Fight to the end.

Oskar nodded.

It was then that, from far away, coming from deep within the forest, a deep growl echoed through the night.

GRRRRRRR…

Everyone froze.

For a few seconds, no one said a word.

The men slowly turned their eyes back to the entrance of the forest, where the trees rose like black shadows beyond the open gates.

The growl had been distant.

But it was impossible to tell exactly where it had come from.

A heavy silence took hold of the square.

Darian narrowed his eyes, staring into the darkness among the trees.

Darian did not move. Only his jaw locked, and his shoulder twitched, barely at all.

Then the sound vanished.

None of the men moved for a few more seconds.

Oskar took a deep breath and broke the silence.

— I’ll bring him back.

Darian grabbed Oskar’s arm before he walked away.

— Sorry I can’t go with you.

He looked at his own hand and slowly closed it, as if testing for strength that was no longer there.

— A few years ago, I would have been the first to cross those gates.

Oskar remained silent for a moment.

— Don’t worry, Darian. Everything will be fine.

Darian released his arm.

— I hope so.

Then the lads prepared to set off in search of Zeph.

Good luck, lads… you’re going to need it — thought Darian, fearing the worst.

A cold, dark night hung over the village sky.

Five brave men set out that night in search of Zeph.

But courage would not be enough to bring them back.