Wynter's Rain - Part 2

I looked back at her beautiful elven face. It seemed so long ago that I met her. It took longer to realize I loved her. I couldn’t help but to sigh as I looked at her with her heart-wrenching beauty. Not just her physical beauty, but the inner part of her she willingly showed me. I appeared like a wilted rose next to her. Who she was as a person compared to who I was made me seem so insignificant, unworthy. She had faith where I had none. Time, like my memories, flowed together. It may have happened yesterday even though it hadn’t. But still, I see her as my salvation. She will save me from myself. Not sure how, but she will.
I needed to save us from the ogres quickly coming toward us. The only alternative was to enter the forest and it would be easier to fight the ogres. My chances of survival and defending Arianna are better. The forest was evil. As an apprentice, I remember reading how evil spirits from the start of the world resided there. It was a place of judgment and death. All who died there, continued to live there in a state of undeath, their sentence being to haunt the souls of the living who entered the wood. The forest held an aura of death. The spirits roamed the edges forewarning all those who were weak-hearted upon entering an eternity of unholy servitude awaited them. It seemed my choice was taken from me. How cruel the Fates. A bitter irony filled my thoughts. Maybe I believed in something. It is easier to blame a supernatural force than to believe in it.
“I must do this, Arianna. I have no choice,” I said sadly.
“There is always a choice, Wynter,” she said calmly.
Sometimes I resented her calm. Her inner peace permeated every fiber of her being. I was the complete opposite, the chaos to her tranquillity. The resentment never lasted longer than a thought then I would always come to realize how stupid it was to think it. To win this battle, I would need her calm and centered approach.
I hate to fight which is ironic due to how many people I have killed in the past. My elven nature resented it while my human side was fairly neutral on the subject. Even killing in necessity sent my blood to burn furiously. The elves hated to kill. They saw all life as being valuable, so valuable a funeral would last months.
Sometimes I wish I could just throw down my sword and study my magic in peace with Arianna. Was it such a foolish whim to want something like this? I was tired of my hatred and of the killing. It was causing me so much pain. If my life ends today, I don’t want my pain to go to my beloved. She was innocent. I looked away from Arianna as she laid her hand on my shoulder. She accepted my pain, even if she didn’t understand it.  
“We can go to the woods. Maybe we can lose them there. The trees are thick and we can hide,” Arianna said calmly. She wants us both to run and avoid this fight. I couldn’t blame her but I understood deep down we would be pursued. Running would just prolong the inevitable.
“They will follow us only to cut us down when we are too exhausted to fight. I will fight here,” I said forcefully.
The gods of this world can burn for all eternity in their own torture for all I care. Because of them, I must either run or fight. Either choice can send me to death. I looked up at the sky and cursed The Keeper silently. He is not worth my shouts of anger. My whole life He ignored my blood-borne turmoil and my tortured soul. A rush of adrenaline filled my body as rage surged through my soul and it seemed I would break apart any second. Curse the God of Light. Curse the voice plaguing my dreams every night. Who are you both to torture me so much? Today, I will fight, not just for my life, but Arianna’s. Blood will be shed. The Keeper and The Taker can sort out which souls they want.
“Damn you,” I whispered venomously. “The woods behind us are evil and we will not survive it,” I said as Arianna pleaded with me with her eyes.
“Wynter, maybe the stories are wrong. They can be safe for us,” she responded.
“No! The Forest of Lost Souls is for the dead not the living,” I yelled.
The forest was once the site of an ancient war between the elves and the orcs shortly after the gods created the world. This era was known as the Age of Beginnings. With the orcs outnumbering the elves, they were forced to enlist the aid of humans to help them win the war. The fields the forest now sits on ran with blood and tears as the battle waged for forty days and forty nights.
Wizards and sorcerers from both sides tore the land to pieces as their magic ripped the fabric of nature from its core. I remember reading how the land became scorched from fires raining from the sky and how elementals rose from the scorched earth to fight for whoever summoned them. As the wizards waged their battle of sorcery, they unknowingly primed the area for what was to come. Their sorceries became a catalyst for the rise of the forest and curse that would forever remain on the area.
In my studies, the elven general, Se-al-thas Fenwar, fought valiantly alongside the human commander Xander Bo against the orc leader, Gez Ris. Day and night the army clashed with any respite. Each side fought in desperation until the only ones willing or able to fight were the leaders of the armies themselves. The leader of the orcs fought viciously leaving both the human and elven commanders gravely wounded. With his last breath Gez Ris cursed the battle field to allow no elf or human in without certain death being the outcome.
With this curse the ground shuddered in response to the magic released from the curse of the dying orc leader. The earth around them all died and withered to dust. The air became poisonous and difficult to breathe. In horror at what was happening to the land, Se-al-thas cast his own counter curse. He vowed no man should die here unless they could not face their own demons and the land would thrive and be free from evil. As he spoke his last words, he threw himself on his sword and died, allowing his own blood to seal the magic. For seven days, Xander Bo and the rest of the elven and human armies watched as the land transformed into a mighty forest. With the orc army defeated, the elves retreated to the Tallanian Forest in seclusion and the humans took the plains to the west. Both races left the Forest of Lost Souls to its own domain, neither race wanting to have anything to with it, letting the Gods themselves worry about what happens there.
As the years came and went, the curse evolved as the forest thrived, for those who entered the forest were forced to face their darkest demons. To fail meant to lose one’s soul forever as a guardian of the forest. Eventually the souls became one being known as the Lady of the Wood. It was left to her to guard the forest and test those entering its borders. She alone ruled the forest, with only the souls that failed their trials to be her court.
I didn’t mean to yell, but it just came out. I hated raising my voice toward Arianna. Whenever I got too emotional, she would shake me out of it. Sometimes it wasn’t always a verbal reprimand on my attitude. Being a moody half-elf had its disadvantages, but too much was happening right then. My head needed to be clear for the battle. If my head wasn't free from the chaos, then it would be harder to work my magic and focus on using my sword. Making sure Arianna was safe was the priority. If I needed to kill to do so, then so be it. I didn’t like killing a lot but arguing on what to do will get us nowhere quickly but the edge of the enemy’s axe. As much as I know everyone dies, I would prefer Arianna to be saved and for my death to not be today. 

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Thanks for joining Wynter on his journey! Join me on mine at my substack https://matthewangelobooks.substack.com/