Dennor ❦ A not-so common fairytale

The swamp

..He found himself following the sound as if it was a trail itself, going further and further off of the trail, and longer and longer into the deep, dark forest..

Every part of his mind was telling him to turn around. To run, to go back to the trail, but his legs disobeyed.

Mathias was taken towards the music, unable to do anything but walk and listen. 'Such a beautiful tune,' He thought as he walked.
The trees and grass around him was turning foggy, and cold, and the trees were short and seemed to only be bushes of branches.

His shoes were getting wet, as below him the solid ground was turning mushy and cold.
The day-lit, summer warm forest turned into a foggy and chilly swamp as he walked.
Mathias felt a chill go down his spine, making him shiver. And yet, all he could do was keep walking towards the enchantingly beautiful tune playing in the no longer so far distance.

Then he fell.
Or rather, stumbled over something, falling face first into the mushy cold swamp. His mind was back to focus, no longer enchanted by the oh so wonderful music he had heard, as he pushed himself up, looking around for whatever he had stumbled over.

That's when Mathias saw it. Right there, behind him, covered by the fog, was a dead man's corpse. Or rather the remains of it. Mathias could've mistaken it for a deer, if it wasn't for the skull.
He suddenly became awfully aware of his surroundings, and the fact that his wet clothes were sticking to him as if for dear life.

He wondered how he had ended up here, when he realised something.
It was quiet. Extremely quiet.
The music had stopped.

He should've been relieved, knowing he wasn't following the sound anymore. But something, deep inside him, was triggering him, telling him to run. And so he did, he ran in whatever direction he had been standing in, and ran as fast as his legs could carry him.

As he ran, he stumbled over old rowboats, upside down or broken in half upon the shores by the ponds of the swamp. 'What happened here?' He wondered, hastily looking around the swamp that seemed to never end.

He didn't want to admit it, but he was scared,
more scared than he had ever been before. He was cold, shivering, and his lungs were begging him to stop running, but he couldn't. He was too scared, his only thought was to get away from there. And then it returned.

The sound of the music seemed closer, yet so far away. It was beautiful, yet terrifying. Unable to stop himself, Mathias turned towards the sound, going back in its direction. The tune was so lonely, and strong. It felt Familiar to Mathias, yet distant. Like a feeling he was familiar with, but had also never felt before. That's when he felt the water running into his lungs, and saw two sunken, haunting, sad pale white eyes staring at him.
The creature that the eyes belonged to, looked like they had been crying for centuries, but yet there was no sign of tears. Their hair was old, grey, long, and soaked. Their skin was pale, making them look sick. Their bones were so visible, as if the creature hadn't eaten in years, and all they were wearing was a black, long, filthy tunic, hanging off their shoulder, where they were holding a violin.

Struggling with the water, Mathias swam, throwing his arms around, coughing up the water he had swallowed, and he screamed. He screamed at the top of his lungs, as he had never seen something so terrifying his whole life, yet it seemed so beautiful.

The creature didn't move. That was, until Mathias started swimming towards the shore again.
The creature lashed out, going after Mathias and grabbing whatever it could get a hold of.
Eventually, Mathias felt something ice cold grip around his ankle, dragging him down.

Yet again, water was filling his lungs, and he couldn't breathe. But just before he went completely under water, he saw a familiar person, running towards the shore of the lake.

.

Walking along the trail, Lukas was listening to the birds around him. He had recently found a leather scrip laying around, with a couple sandwiches and water. He had taken it with him, figuring no one would need it, and was eating one of the sandwiches when he heard a loud scream ringing through the forest.
Alert, he stopped in his tracks, looking around, listening. 'Had I imagined it?' He wondered.

He was about to keep walking when the scream repeated, louder this time. "Mathias?" Lukas thought aloud, as he began running towards the direction the scream had come from.
He wasn't sure if it was Mathias, but decided on risking it, in case it actually was.

He stopped running as the forest came to an end, and a swamp and a lake spread out in front of him, a thick fog blocking out most of the sunlight.
Lukas looked around, unsure if he had ran the right way, when the scream yet again repeated, this time way closer.

His head snapped towards the sound, just in time to see the wild blonde locks of the dane disappear under the water. "Mathias!" He yelled, and ran towards the water. 'Can't he swim?!' Lukas thought, throwing the scrip to the shore, running into the water.

A/N
Take a shot of  hot coco every time I mention 'foggy, fog, beautiful or Moldy' in this chapter if you ever reread it
Since we're all, or most of us(I'm looking at you, Sweden) are in quarantine or just have to stay home, I'll ask some questions at the end of some chapters you can answer if ya wanna
So, how are ya'll doing during these times?