To-trial, Elowen was walking deep inside the Mistral Woods. It wasn't uncommon for her to venture far into the forest. After all, some herbs could only be gathered further away from the shack. But what was usually a pleasant expedition was giving her the chills a little this time around.
The sky overhead was cloudy which made the forest itself darker and cooler. Nothing unusual there either. Elowen know of the interconnectedness between nature and weather. Still, for whatever reason, the girl did not feel right in her own skin. So much so, she wondered whether her bleed was about to start for she had no other logical explanation.
But she also remembered the cry that rang between the trees just two trials earlier after she had found her grasshopper trap and was on her way back to the shack. That sound was embedded in her mind. Of course, the Mistral Woods had its predators and prey, and it was only natural for them to engage in chase and kill. Animals, like humans, were, after all, driven by survival and one could not survive without food.
Still, that cry she heard was nothing like she had heard before. Or at least, not in a long time. And the forest shifted then. She knew it. She felt it.
So despite nothing appearing to be wrong with the woods that trial - no sounds, no unexpected shifts - Elowen considered the trees around her. The shadows that clung between the trunks. And whenever she came across a small altar, she would place a little something on it - a berry, a piece of bread, a little flower - in hopes that the woods would take care of her as they had always done and not drag her into whatever it was that had upset it the other trial.
Eventually, Elowen arrived at a marker stone that she had been looking for. On occasion, these were placed along the trails as landmarks. The girl didn't know who placed them, but she was glad for them regardless. This particular stone was oblong and about two and a half feet tall. It had three horizontal grooves near its top. That's why she remembered it and she knew that now she had to turn south west and continue that way until she'd find the Sumac trees she was after.
The Sumac was a rare tree in these woods. It grew sparsely and irregularly throughout the forest. But it was much easier to find further south from the Creeksong. So the girl ventured into the woods, as she had done before many times. The collecting basket in her hand was swaying with her steps and a few cone shaped flowerheads of the Goldenrod were poking out over the edge.
Now came the moment when Elowen had to focus. She could not rely on the sun to show her breaks in the trees where a Sumac tree might grow. So she kept her eyes forward and her mind alert, unaware that there was more she would come across that trial than what she was looking for.
The sky overhead was cloudy which made the forest itself darker and cooler. Nothing unusual there either. Elowen know of the interconnectedness between nature and weather. Still, for whatever reason, the girl did not feel right in her own skin. So much so, she wondered whether her bleed was about to start for she had no other logical explanation.
But she also remembered the cry that rang between the trees just two trials earlier after she had found her grasshopper trap and was on her way back to the shack. That sound was embedded in her mind. Of course, the Mistral Woods had its predators and prey, and it was only natural for them to engage in chase and kill. Animals, like humans, were, after all, driven by survival and one could not survive without food.
Still, that cry she heard was nothing like she had heard before. Or at least, not in a long time. And the forest shifted then. She knew it. She felt it.
So despite nothing appearing to be wrong with the woods that trial - no sounds, no unexpected shifts - Elowen considered the trees around her. The shadows that clung between the trunks. And whenever she came across a small altar, she would place a little something on it - a berry, a piece of bread, a little flower - in hopes that the woods would take care of her as they had always done and not drag her into whatever it was that had upset it the other trial.
Eventually, Elowen arrived at a marker stone that she had been looking for. On occasion, these were placed along the trails as landmarks. The girl didn't know who placed them, but she was glad for them regardless. This particular stone was oblong and about two and a half feet tall. It had three horizontal grooves near its top. That's why she remembered it and she knew that now she had to turn south west and continue that way until she'd find the Sumac trees she was after.
The Sumac was a rare tree in these woods. It grew sparsely and irregularly throughout the forest. But it was much easier to find further south from the Creeksong. So the girl ventured into the woods, as she had done before many times. The collecting basket in her hand was swaying with her steps and a few cone shaped flowerheads of the Goldenrod were poking out over the edge.
Now came the moment when Elowen had to focus. She could not rely on the sun to show her breaks in the trees where a Sumac tree might grow. So she kept her eyes forward and her mind alert, unaware that there was more she would come across that trial than what she was looking for.
