Fallen Forest

Fallen Forest Prologue

The night was calm with a nice gentle breeze dancing through the air and had many stars overhead for many to gaze at admiringly. However, on the ground at a certain elf village, somewhere deep inside the forested mountain lay a young elf sacrifice. He was barely conscious due to a heinous ritual: that was completed-just moments before.

The exhausted elf continued to lay in the center of the still-activated magic circle riddled with runes as an overbearing figure got up off the ground, smiling at the naked elf with glowing red eyes. "You are now mine," they declared to the maltreated elf. They look up, gazing at the large, blood-red moon above them in the sky.

Around them stood many vampires and elves who watched the scene unfold, not caring what horrors took place just moments earlier. While the vampires cheered for their leader, the elves could only anxiously watch the vampire's every move--especially their leader. The elves, having not long ago been subdued by the enemy-had offered up one of their own to save themselves. They wanted the vampires to leave as-soon-as-possible without killing anyone, but their leader was taking their sweet time leaving even though they had already given them what they wanted: the young elf.

The unfortunate elf-child felt sick with a fatally high fever and had issues breathing, glaring in fear, and horror at the one who just assaulted him. He would never forgive nor forget this night for as long as he lived--even if he didn't want to, but the vampire only smiled at their accomplishment, not minding the elf's death glare. With a chuckle, they reached out for the sick elf with their pale hand while the elf panicked with a yell that roared into the night sky.

After that, everything turned to darkness and then whited out. Then a pair of bright blue and emerald-green eyes gradually opened to stare at a ceiling made of wood. Their long blonde hair that has hues of blue and green had gotten messy from bad bed hair. It's spread about on the bed and its edge. Their fair skin which appears to glow in the night due to the moon's light is riddled with sweat dripping off their skin. They were awakened; by a forgotten nightmare that they're unable to recall upon waking. However, they could sense that it was the same reoccurring dream that they'd get sometimes. That terrible, horrible nightmare that doesn't seem to want to end.

"Tch, that dream again? I'm not sure if I want to know what it's about or not..." The long-eared elf sat up from their bed to observe the beautiful blue full moon looming over their house through their bedside window; he scratched the back of his head, a little irritated. Although he appeared to be a young teen or a soon-to-be young adult, the elf is chronologically 125 years old. He has a body with features that would make anyone that gazes upon him jealous, even women, despite having a tad feminine face: a common attribute of the elves.

Across the dark moonlit room, he notices his reflection in a wall mirror, and a sigh escapes his lips. He felt and looked horrible as he was currently, drenched in a cold sweat, and it happens every time he has that vague dream too. Now if only there was a way to make the reoccurring nightmare stop occurring, wouldn't that make his day? However, he knew none, not to mention that he lives alone, isolated in this dense, monster-infested forest that many wouldn't dare go near. Because of this, to keep up with the world or to get stuff that he needs, the blonde elf would have to travel to nearby cities and villages. It's something he dislikes to do very much.

Speaking of municipalities, he needs to go hunting tomorrow for a quest that he recently accepted in a somewhat nearby city. He needs the coin to purchase some necessary supplies for his everyday life and his hunt tomorrow. The thing is, the elf would have done this much earlier, but the weather had been bad lately. In fact: it has been so bad that none of the roads were open due to unsafe travel to any of the settlements, especially to the city he needed to get to to do his shopping.