Guardian of the Forest: Prologue & Chapter One

Prologue

Silence rippled in the air as the bell rang, and then each civilian fell motionless. Mist washed over the paralyzed bodies, and clouds hovered over the sacred chapel.

The chapel had never rung.

Never. But now it did.

Rain slowly fell, until seconds later, it was coming down as quick as lightning. Like learning that it was no dream, the civilians suddenly all became fully aware, and each struggled to move out of the crowd. Children were pushed, elders were left behind, and young men and women fled into the eerie forest, leaving all life behind. Only one of the children was taken to the forest; despite the rush to leave, her parents had hastily grabbed the baby basket and fled into the forest. A few short happy years had passed, as all the men and women lived peacefully; food was shared, homes were created, and defense systems were planned in detail. But it was only a few short years. Soon quarrels started, which quickly turned into a deadly war. There were events that led to bloodshed that left all of the fleers dead. All but one.

Chapter 1

The wind blew hard on Zylenskia, little specks of sand scratching her face and messing up the straight hair she had so carefully tied. Sighing, the girl walked over to the well and lifted a heavy wooden bucket to drop down. It had been ten years of living without another human, living in agony, living in fear every day. When Zylenskia heard the bucket drop, she pulled on the thick, worn-out rope that eventually would help the water come up again.

She clearly remembered the day when the well had been blocked off by a selfish person, and to this day, she wanted revenge on them.

The well had been sealed off for days. Her father, along with some other villagers who had tried to uplift the stones, was unexpectedly killed by a tylephant, a conjoined animal consisting of both the abilities of a tiger and an elephant: big and sturdy, yet fast and sneaky. The next group of men had been killed off by venomous snakes and had slowly decayed—in front of everyone. And her mother, having tried to protect her, died helpless after being attacked despite being unarmed. Her last words instructed Zylenskia to run even deeper into the woods and only to return in four days. When she did, corpses were everywhere, on every part of the ground, and was everyone.

When she finally pulled the bucket back up, she heaved it onto her shoulders and lugged it carefully into her home—a hut. The hut was made only of mud twigs, both of which were the only useable materials in the dark forest. As for the size of the hut, it was anything but big. Zylenskia grabbed her worn-out bedding to wash, and at the same time, she saw a slip of paper that read:

Find us between the trees,

be careful of the bees

but you don’t have to,

because you see. 

Zylenskia shook her head and rolled her eyes; whatever this was, it wasn’t anything serious—the instructions were too vague, plus there was no other living person in the forest, so it would have been impossible for anyone to have written it. It was probably some old slip that the wind had carried to her table. Thinking that, Zylenskia continued to wash and scrub the brown fabric, giving the slip of paper no more thought.