1.i (The Field and Gray Woods)

1. i (The Field and Gray Woods)

    The grazing field that lay just outside of Cloud Valley village was perfectly green and straight. From end to end, nearly three miles in length, one could see the buildings of Cloud Valley and the dark, dead trees of Gray Woods. Between the two lay small fruitful trees, gigantic bales of hay nearly the size of a Cloud Valley home, and various nests. In the small trees, families of rabbit hawks called, the young chirping hungrily for a worm or two. The mooing of grazing cows stopped at the Cloud Valley village end, almost a hundred yards into the field.

    Shoden hopped the wooden fence that marked Cloud Valley's border and looked back for one last glance. The town was beginning to come alive with men and women and children going to their various places. In the distance, the school bell rang, telling the schoolboys it was time to get up and come learn. Past the town was the enormous Cloud Scraper and, on a cliff, about halfway up it's rocky face, was the house Shoden had left. And, he supposed, would never return to again.

    Trigger, who had ducked under the fence where Shoden had hopped, yapped, telling his owner to get going. Shoden nodded and turned towards the grazing field and the rest of the world that lay beyond it. 

    As they walked, Shoden surveyed the land around him. It all seemed so fantastic: Trees where not only fruits grew, but also birds, The large hay bales that stood way overhead that someone had bundled (perhaps a Cloud Valley farmer). Though the day was warm and gentle and the air smelled clean and beautiful, it wasn't enough to cast out the cold shadow that fell over Shoden's heart. 

    In his heart there was a void, one deeper than the fabled Endless Pit that supposed to be at the very center of Allworld. From this void came the shadow of anger and sadness that strangled out every other emotion in Shoden's body. Sadness at the death of his beloved parents, and the knowing that he'd never see them again in this life. Anger at the raiders who had killed them as they slept, defenseless as newborn babies, and Anger at himself for witnessing their deaths and not doing anything to stop them. 

    Would this void and shadow be endless as the legendary Pit? Would it stay in Shoden's heart as long as he lived, or would his revenge on the raiders banish it? And if so, what about Commissioner Anderson's advice? If this void and shadow were sated would something else take their spot that wasn't relief? Would it - could it - be worse than the hell of this heaviness over his heart?

    Shoden was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Trigger's barking. It had changed from a happy, cheerful sound to one of aggression. The small sheepherder growled at something. Shoden stared in the direction the dog was facing and gasped at what he saw. 

    Standing about ten yards away from them was a giant field boar. It's gray furred body rippled on its jaws as it tore apart and gnawed a fallen rabbit hawk. A hefty piece of wing ripped from the bird's body and the boar chewed noisily on it, feathers and all. As it ate, the beast snorted with pleasure. It hadn't noticed Shoden and Trigger yet.     

    "Quiet, boy," Shoden whispered to the dog, who still growled at the giant boar. Shoden didn't know if the creature would attack, but given its size (almost taller than Shoden himself) anything was possible, and he didn't want his journey to end here, not even a mile away from home. 

    "Come on, Trigger," he said softly and crept slowly towards one of the giant bales of hay that stood like a monument. He'd try to hide there until the boar moved on.

    But Trigger didn't move. He crouched on his haunches and kept growling at the enormous creature, whose dining was nearing an end (it had crushed the rabbit hawk's skull with a hideous CRUNCH!). Shoden felt a lump of fear rise in his throat as the giant boar ate the rest of the bird in one bite and looked up.

    At first the look in the thing's eyes seemed to be stupid anger and ferociousness, but after a Shoden realized the look was that of fright. For several seconds the three of them, Shoden, the boar, and Trigger, exchanged quiet looks and then Trigger barked and the boar bleated and rushed off into the distance.

    Shoden watched as it ran, making sure it didn't realize the size difference and come back back for dessert, and then looked at Trigger.

    "If you want to stay with me," he scolded the animal. "You have to do as I say. Got it?"

Trigger whimpered as though he did understand and then walked over to his owner, nuzzling against his pant leg. 

    "Alright then," Shoden nodded, bending over to pet the dog's head. "Let's go."

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    A half hour later Shoden sat beneath a tree and opened his pack as he wiped sweat from his forehead. From inside the pack he pulled out a quarter loaf of bread. He sat the pack on the soft grass beside him and stared at the round yellow fruit that hung from the tree. They looked a little like lemons, but the smell they gave off was a softer citrus flavor, not quite like oranges, but close. 

    He stood up and plucked one from the lowest branch and sliced it in half with the knife from his pocket. The innards were lime green and contained only two seeds. Shoden scooped the seeds out with the point of his knife and gingerly licked the fruit's juice from the blade. When they didn't make him ill, he put the fruit into his mouth and sucked and nibbled at it softly, savoring the delicious taste. As he did, he plucked several more from the tree and stashed them into his pack for later.

    When the one half of the fruit was gone, Shoden tossed the rind to the side and sat at the base of the tree, his back against the trunk. He bit into the bread and watched as Trigger ran and jumped, trying to catch butterflies in the air. Twice, the dog tripped and rolled and, despite the hard coldness in his heart, Shoden found himself laughing.

    When the small meal was over and Shoden found energy again in his limbs he called the dog to him and the two began to walk again. After a short while, Shoden found himself talking to the animal.

    "Who is this Grimwall, Trigger?" He asked. "Perhaps one of those crackpots who thinks just because he can read, he can read minds?" Though the dog didn't give an answer, Shoden kept talking. 

    "Maybe he does know, though. That's always a possibility, right? I mean, who knows where those raiders come from. Maybe they live right there in Lillith and this Grimwall guy's their leader?" The thought gave Shoden a chill. He shivered the chill away and continued. 

    "I doubt that, though. After all, Anderson knew the guy, so he mustn't be all that bad, right?..."

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    The Second Sun had just touched the top of the sky and the Third was almost half-way there when Shoden and Trigger had reached the edge of the grazing field. For the last half mile or so, the beautiful green grass had begun to turn brown and dry, and the ground began to produce more pebbles, which turned into rocks, which turned into stones the size of Trigger. Now all traces of life were gone. The ground was a gray floor of rock that ran with cracks throughout. Through these cracks peered the dead black trees that made up the Gray Woods. A draft from the Woods swept around and, what felt like, through Shoden. He tried to swallow the lump of fear in his throat and Trigger whined at the dark place.

    "It's okay, boy," Shoden rubbed the dog's head gently. "Just a barren place." But he couldn't even convince himself with this. He had grown up in a barren place. The Cloud Scraper wasn't fertile and the Briggs had to buy feed for the mountain sheep, but this was something else entirely. Staring through the trees of the Gray Woods was like staring through the black soul of a witch or demon, or even the Devil itself. 

    Shoden tried to shake that feeling away as he stepped past the first tree and into the Gray Woods.

As he and Trigger walked slowly, he realized he was trying to keep his breathing quiet, as though he were trying ot keep from waking some beast. But, looking around, Shoden was for certain there was no beast luring in this evil-feeling place. The woods weren't very deep and he could even make out some green grass on the other side. It was probably only a half of a mile away at the most, but, to Shoden, it seemed as though it were world's away.

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Shoden let out a scream of fright as something grabbed him. Trigger barked and snarled, scared for his owner. Shoden closed his eyes, ready to be eaten by some terror, but when it didn't happen he turned around and saw a long, thin tree branch had snagged his shirt at the shoulder. In the distance, his shrill echo resounded through the empty Gray Woods. He looked at Trigger, feeling his cheeks grow hot with embarrassment.

    "Sorry," he whispered. "This place just gives me the creeps."

He wiped the sweat that had been scared out of him off his face and kept walking through the trees, being careful not to get caught again.

    A moment later he stopped again as he heard a growling. He looked down to see if the sound came from Trigger, but the dog was quiet. Shoden looked around them, trying to find the source of the sound and saw something in the far off distance.

    The thing looked like a tree at first, but after a moment Shoden saw that the spindly branches weren't simply wood, but were arms and legs. The trunk was a naked male body and there was a head at the top. The thing was almost twenty feet tall, Shoden thought. Suddenly, the thing opened its eyes and Shoden saw they glowed the heavy red of a living coal.

    The thing let out a piercing, hollow screech and dropped the tree-act. It rushed towards Shoden and Trigger, dodging the trees around it with perfect precision. Shoden wheeled around from it, grabbed Trigger, and began to ran. Where the thing had no trouble at all, he tripped over dead roots and rock rubble. Every terror-filled moment was filled with the tree creature's evil screeches.

    "Gods protect, save me from sin," Shoden began to pray, his breath short, as he ran harder and harder. "I am but a speck of dust upon this earth, but a faithful speck am I." He peered behind him and saw the tree creature was only yards behind. He thought he could smell the rotting wood of it's being. "Gods protect, says the speck," Shoden heard as the tree creature pounced with a roar and closed his eyes, ready to be crushed and killed as he spoke the final word: "Amen."

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Shoden opened his eyes, expecting to be in the After World. Instead, he was standing in a patch of grass just outside of the Gray Woods. Ahead of him was a small village, no doubt Lillith. He looked at Trigger who was shivering and set the animal down on the ground, where it released its tiny bladder. Shoden closed his eyes and realized his own bladder was emptied during the chase in the Woods. 

    He turned around to see if the tree creature were coming and when he did he saw the Gray Woods were empty. Except, he realized as he peered closer, it was empty. He could see the tree creature stalking, very slowly, off into the distance. Its movements were so sluggish and soft that it seemed it was only the wind rattling tree branches.

    Shoden looked down at the seat of his pants and saw a large dark spot there. He pulled his traveling coat from his pack and zipped it up over his clothing, covering the urine stain. That done, he stared down at Trigger, who looked back up with wide eyes that still were frightened.

    "Come on, boy," Shoden said, patting the dog's head. "Let's go."

And the two went into the town of Lillith.