Lost & Found

1: Lost

                It had been reckless and infantile to accept the challenge, but realizing that now did not help Xenik find his way out of these woods. He didn't believe in monsters and spirits like the locals had and it should've been an easy win. The other young men from the tavern hadn't gone half as far into the forest as he had, turning and running back as fast as their steeds would carry them. But he'd ventured deeper, determined to last through the night and prove himself.

The pretty little wench that'd challenged the lot of them would've been just as easily impressed by a stack of coins or his title. He could've had her as soon as the rest of the lads making advances towards her had filed out to prove their own bravery. But he enjoyed them more when they didn't know anything about the riches he could give them and when they wanted him as he was, not for his title.

Still, this was one of the more reckless decisions he'd ever made. If he'd had his own horse instead of that easily spooked nag, he would've returned to claim his prize with ease. The least the beast could've done was throw him from her back near the trail that could barely be called a path instead of bolting into the trees, spooked by a single wolf's howl. He'd wasted hours trying to follow her tracks over the rocky terrain, getting himself more lost.

He'd wasted most of the next day trying to find the path. As the shadows of the looming Caucasian Mountains swallowed the world beneath them, he decided there were only two ways to go from where he stood. He could head towards the mountains and hope to find the little town he'd been staying in, or he could keep the mountains to his back and hope he made it out of the Cithaeron Wilds and onto the Plains of the Thermodon River.

There was no hope of climbing up and over those mountains without a guide, and he was unsure if the town was to the left or right. His best chance of finding a way back home was through the woods and onto the plains. From there he should be able to find a farm or village to help him find his way to the coast where he could charter a ship to sail him back to the northern kingdoms.

He didn't have anything with him to weigh him down, just his sword, a dagger, his coin purse and the clothes on his back. Again he cursed himself for his impulsiveness. His thicker travel clothes would've been more suited for this. But he hadn't changed out of the fancy silks because he'd expected to be returning to his room in just a few short hours. At least he'd been wearing his boots instead of softer pointed shoes this kingdom found fashionable.

For a forest that was supposed to be full of dangerous beasts and mythical demon women, he hadn't heard or seen another creature since his horse ran away and a lone wolf's howl. Occasionally he heard the sounds of trigs snapping above him, but he never caught sight of the birds in the branches overhead. He never even saw a track on the ground as he continued to push his feet away from the mountains.

They'd served venison and wild boar at the tavern, so there had to be some kind of life in these woods. He'd walked for days through the trees and there were still no signs of life. If it was for the mountains towering above the treetops behind him, he'd worry that he was walking in circles. Not only were there no animals to be seen, but there seemed to be no water sources to keep the vegetation from wilting either.

He'd studied maps of all the kingdoms of the continent before he'd left home. While all of them described the wilds as a dense forest at the foot of nearly impassable mountains, it'd always looked like a thin stretch of woods. After days and a few nights of steadily walking in one direction he should've made it out by now, shouldn't he?

The lack of food and water was starting to take its toll as his energy drained away. He even walked as much as he could through the nights to stave off the cold that settled into him if he stopped. The trees couldn't go on forever, and he kept forcing his feet to move, one in front of the other, determined that the plains were just out of sight.

Sounds in the trees followed him now. Vultures or some other scavenger perhaps, waiting for him to die? All of his energy was devoted to moving forward, away from the looming mountains that brought darkness too early and made the nights that much colder in their shadows. He was not going to die here, lost in the woods.

He couldn't feel the hunger pains in his belly anymore, and his throat was so dry that swallowing his own saliva felt like hot sand sliding down his throat. The cold had numbed his hands and feet. It kept him from feeling the sting of scraping against the rough bark on the trees, but also made his feet clumsy so that he needed to lean on the trees to keep from falling. The tree line couldn't be much further now, he had to be close.

Eventually, even his stern willpower couldn't force his muscles to obey without the energy to move them. He'd barely been able to prop himself up against a tree. Letting his head fall back to look up at the sky one last time he saw an angel of death perched on a branch, watching him. His throat was too dry to beg her for just a little more time. He was close, he could feel it. He was almost there. He stared up at her hoping she could hear his thoughts as his eyes slid shut, the lids too heavy to open again.