The Night is Dark
But the forest is darker. The night is naturally dark, yes, but the moon reflects the sun and basks the world in a subtle light, even cutting through the cloudy skies. Even without the moon’s help, the distant yellows of street lamps and cozy homes still guide you back to civilization. The forest doesn’t offer such luxuries.
The forest’s trees grow crowded, with little space between them. They grow tall, their branches and leaves drowning any hope of light passing through the canopy, as if fighting for a limited resource that’s about to be gone forever.
The forest does not differentiate between day and night. In the forest, there is only darkness, lit only by the glow of strange mushrooms growing on trees and ground and bark and decaying corpses of those who ended up as prey.
Eliyah fears the dark, but that’s no surprise to anyone. Any sane p̵͈̗͆ẽ̸̝̩̳͕͖̫̒r̵̛̮̟̱̬s̴̡̖̫͚̒̀ͅo̶̞͗̕n̴̺͕̥̉́̋͠ would fear the dark, especially when danger lurks in every corner, just out of sight for them to notice, but close enough to know they’re being stalked.
The forest’s darkness hides its threats, tries to lull you into a false sense of safety – you can’t see what is after you in the dark, you can’t hear it through the rustle of leaves up above and the gentle rush of water.
Eliyah and Brizo have known the forest for what it feels like years, so much that their previous life feels like a distant memory. Perhaps the forest has always been part of their lives?
Back then, all they had to worry about was tip-toeing around the now-obvious lies of their caretakers, isolated and sheltered from the false danger. The outside world was corrupted, their new parents said. You’ll be safe here, they said. They spent years in the dark, living a lie, like birds trapped in a cage. The darkness was comfortable, but every bird yearns to fly. And fly they did.
The caretakers’ anger at the siblings’ first taste of freedom was eye-opening in retrospect, but this thought only came months later. No, when they were chased off and ran into the forest all they could feel was fear, fear of the lies, the darkness, their past lives. Fear of what comes next.
At the very least, they were together.
How grateful Eliyah and Brizo were to their past selves for thinking of grabbing a few supplies before darting out of that old inn. Every little helpful thing one can get their hands on is another d̷̬̖̋ä̴̝y̶̺̒?̴͎̈́n̸͓͓̆̇i̸͔͆g̷͖̼̈́̈h̸͙̅͗t̶͓̓?̶̳̱̓̽ survived in the forest.
They fear the forest’s oppressive darkness and its lurking threats, but they also fear the light, for in the light you can truly see the predator that’s after you and its sharpened teeth. Light means seeing pairs of glowing eyes staring straight at you in the distance and the sleepless nights they bring as you stay awake, ready to defend your life. Light means spotting an unnatural glow of a vile creature mimicking a tree, more than ready to snap you in half lest you wander too close. Light means the false hope of finding a ray of sun and the promise of escaping the endless maze of twisting trees and vines.
They fear both the darkness and the light, but they’ve grown used to it. They’ve grown stronger, they had to in order to survive.
They’ve learned not to think too hard about the creatures made of pure darkness, taking many different forms, some hostile whilst others ignorant of their existence [a welcome break, but not something to take for granted]. They’ve learned not to question the existence of terrible monsters, the likes of which even the most terrible stories they’ve been told can’t measure up. They’ve learned not to analyze the nature of the living masses of slime as long as their stomachs were full for the brief moment.
They’ve learned not to examine their own bodies, somehow warped and unlike that of which they remember being. Ill-fitting, even. Their rubbery noses and long, pointed horns they do not remember having, their long tails, welcome for their usability to knock predators onto the ground but strange to control still. Eliyah’s bright orange eyes, both a giveaway of their position and a way to ward off smaller creatures.
They’ve learned to ignore their lack of heartbeat and the questions of whether they were even alive to begin with. Was the forest some kind of purgatory? They would rather survive another night than find out the truth.
They’ve learned to cover up their tracks, so that no beast can have an easier time going after them. They’ve learned how to make fire, exchanging food poisoning for being easy to spot.
They’ve learned to manage their time and resources. When one sleeps, the other stays alert, switching shifts.When one briefly goes to collect water, the other stays to prevent their things from being torn apart. These moments of being apart are the most dangerous and fill each one with dread every time.
Because the two of them are a team, but just one is easy prey.
And easy prey they were, when Eliyah noticed a light creeping up from behind the trees. From between the thorny bushes stepped a tall predator, their back lit by a light carried by another one. In their hand a weapon, towering over their own figure, tipped with a shiny metal which reflected the orange glow of fire. Eliyah was outnumbered.
The unknown predator opened their mouth, revealing a row of sharp teeth and made a garbled sound, a pathetic imitation of speech sounding more like a warning to Eliyah’s ears than anything.
Ḧ̵͎͈͍́̿̄̽͋̈́̍͛̀̒̅͛̑̌̋̚̚͝ȩ̵͇͉̙͙̗̱͎̜̝͔̅͂͆̎͛̈́͛ĺ̶̨̡̦̠͓̠̳̼̳̓̇͆͑̑̑̓̅́̕͜l̴̡̛̗̘̱̹̠͔̱̭͎̗͓̜̯̪̝͐͗͌̈́͛̀̀̄̀̏̕̕̚͝͝ͅŏ̴̝̘̱̹̗͍̘̲̔̌̅͋̎͐̄?̵̘̬̠̳͎̀̆̄͆̋̅̈͗͋̅̓́̌͘̕͝ͅ ̴̮͖̩̹̯̲̞̪͍̥̱̠̖̪̹̀̐͒̄̏̉̎̇͐̅̾̀͑͗́̕͝ͅD̸̰̼̠͓͑õ̵̺̤̰̜͈̦͔̦͈̮̟͔̇̀̈́́͒̍̈́́̄̅͂̑̒̕͠ ̴̧̲̺͎̼̌̉̑̍͋̚̕y̵͔̌o̶̡̗̮͎̹͎͉̖̎̈́̿̅̈́̈́̓͗͐̀̑͘͘͝͝ú̶͇͎͈̻̞̤̩͇̣͕̤͉̞͍͕̬́͐̒̅ͅ ̸̮͎̺͚̪̦̲̤̜͓̗̱̮̠̋͐̋͋͂û̶̡͔̣̯̥̠̼͎̩̳̼͙̺́̔̚ͅn̸̢̩̆̓͒̈̀̆d̷̢̡͙̲̜̮̠̜̞̻̱͗́̀͛̃͆̈́e̸̢̨̛̖̟̘̜̦̗̿̒̐̀̇͛̊͋̍͆͛͘̚̚ṛ̷̡̛̉̌̃̃̀̾s̸̜͕͒̑̈́͛̑̏̀̊̏̏͌̅̔̇̉͘̕t̸̢͚͍͚̝̠̙̱̮̗̙̫̪͉̜́̔̓̄̒́́̽̆͛̚ͅą̵̛̝͉͈̗̦̰̺̅̏̀̀̽͌͝͝ṉ̶̨͖̹͇͕̠͖̼̈́̾͌̊͘ḓ̶̢̨̛̤̮͈̉̅͒̈́̕͘ ̵̬̲̹̪̦̰͙̓͑̀ṁ̵̨̞̞̗͔̱̲̟̭̤͖̽̃̿͒̃̂͊̈͑͠e̶̦̟̮̳͎͔̻͂͛̽̈́̒͋́̉̂̂̀͌͜?̶̖͉͊͗͑͒͑̈̓̉̄͌͊̈́̒̚͘͝
Eliyah slowly picked up their spear. Brizo was out with their one and only knife. Even with the two of them together, these predators were far more advanced than others given their weapon-wielding. There was no hope.
- - - - -
Eliyah and Brizo fear many things, but there is one thing they fear more than anything.
They fear being separated, torn apart from each other’s protection.
- - - - -
Beaten down and tangled in a net like a wild animal, Eliyah could only hope their sister was out there, safe, as they passed out.