Trollhunters: Tales of Baniar

Part One

I had always enjoyed being alone. Walking along the branches of trees as if they were my tightrope, feeling the sun's warmth against my face. I never travelled too far into the woods. My mother had told me more than a few tales about the strange creatures that live in the forest, creatures that attack anyone that walks by. Of course, these stories had been told when she was alive, three years ago.

I ran my hand along the thin bark of a tree, feeling the texture rough under my hands. It was slightly cold in Baniar, a small town off from New Jersey. The autumn leaves fell softly from the trees, creating bursts of red, orange and yellow around me.

"Romera!" A voice hissed and I turned at the sudden sound of my name being called on impulse.

Westley Castle stood, looking around at the setting sun worriedly. "Not to alarm you or anything, but it's getting dark."

I rolled my eyes, standing up from my crouch at the base of the tree, and strolled over to where he stood at the edge of the forest line. "We were barely in there."

His gentle brown curls fell over his eyes, and he involuntarily brushed them off.

"You know the woods aren't safe-" he reminded me, but I cut him off.

"We're fine, honestly, West."

I turned back around to the forest. Shadows grew as the sun illuminated the trees in its sinking, and yet I felt drawn in. There was something about the dark, the shadows, that was beautiful to me. As I stared into the darkness, however, I was suddenly struck with a realisation. Eyes were staring back at me. Bright, intoxicating beautiful blue eyes, wide with curiosity, and wonder. The shadows hid the rest of their body, yet a slight, tall shape was visible. West impatiently made his way over to me and groaned. I turned to him for a second, but by the time I looked and faced the eyes once more, all I could see was darkness.

"Romera!" West hissed, and I begrudgingly agreed to leave.

We carefully trekked the short distance to the outside of the forest, the sun setting quickly. The entrance to the forest, or our entrance at least, was through the backyard of a house that never finished construction. It looked foreboding in the dark, nearly unrecognisable, but that was probably because we had left the woods later than usual.

"Spooky," West shuddered, voicing my thoughts, as we gazed at the back of the house.

The back had an old, wooden patio, leading to glass doors inside the empty house. The upstairs had a few smashed windows, most likely because of the other teenagers who enjoyed destroying it. We ducked around the house, slipping under the broken gate, and walking out to the front. The streets were dimly lit, only illuminated by the street lights, and West and I quickly found the pavement.

As we walked to his house, which was closer, West began talking.

"It's too dark, far too dark," he said nervously, and I found myself laughing.

I punched his shoulder lightly, "Oh, come on. It's not that bad."

He waved his arms in exaggeration. "The dark. I know your mum, she drilled these stories into your head. Sure, your dad is a piece of crap, but you still know the stories."

I furrowed my brow, giving him a look. "He- he just has his own methods."

We ducked under tree branches, and West grabbed my hand to avoid falling into gravel. I stared at our hands, his much larger than mine. His hand was warm, comforting. I smiled softly, as he goofily stammered and let go.

"I-uh, this is me," he said, stopping outside his house.

It was one story, with slightly faded white walls, and a brown tiled roof. Contrary to my own house, West's house was almost constantly noisy. Even now, I could hear his little sister, Mia, crying to her mother, and his little brother Tanner laughing loudly. West was the oldest of five kids, two lizards, and a cat. I wasn't sure where the second lizard had come from, but I was pretty sure Tanner had something to do with it. West waved goodbye, walking up into his house. Smiling, I turned and continued walking home. Without West, the silence around me was prominent. There wasn't a soul on the streets, but in the distance, I heard the soft purr of an engine. As if on cue, the streetlight above me flickered out, as did every other in the street.