//------------------------------// // 2,000 Years, 260 Days Ago // Story: Tales From Blackwood Forest // by Robobrony //------------------------------// 2,000 Years, 260 Days It’s been a little over two months now since I was allowed to first set hoof outside my cell, Og, at first, took me around the village to give me a tour so I could be familiar with the area, after that, it was really more of a way to get me out of the cell each day so I could stretch my legs, I was grateful for it, but I still disliked the idea of having to be led around on a leash. After two weeks of treating my wing, my bandages finally came off and I had full use of both my wings now. During these outings, Og took me to a secluded part of the village so he could help me get in some body building exercise to strengthen my body. Because of my situation though, I had no idea what I could do to strengthen my magic or shadow abilities, so I was stuck with just building muscle. Og had me do what he called pushups, sit ups, and let me jog around in a circle for a bit to build up my stamina. All the while though, he kept me on a leash, he always felt bad for me because of it, but I knew why he did. If he let me off my leash, his dad would punish him severely. Over the two months, I was also starting to accept Og for a friend. He was the only one who seemed to care about me. It wasn’t until later I found out why he seemed so desperate before to have me for a friend, he didn’t have any. He told me the other troll kids didn’t want to be his friend because they were afraid of his dad. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, so I just said nothing. It was another typical day and me and Og were in the same secluded spot, Og had one end of my leash tied around a wooden post and I galloped around in a circle while Og stood off to the side to root me on. “All right Nightshade, just three more laps and you can stop!” Og called out to me. Once I finished my laps, I came to a stop. “Well…..how…..was…..that?” I panted out. He walked up to the post and removed the rope from it. “You did good Nightshade, was it any easier today then before when you first started this?” “A little……yeah.” I said as I panted, trying to catch my breath. Og had me run 20 laps and it made me exhausted, but it felt good to get out of my cell and work out like this, at least I didn’t feel cramped. “That’s good, a few more days of this, then I’ll bump you up to 25 laps.” He said with a smile as he took my leash off the post. “Oh come on, I can still barely do 20! You want to make me do 25 now?” I exclaimed. “Hey, remember how you could barely do 10? Look at you now, your able to run 20 laps. Besides, this helps to build up stamina remember?” “Yeah, I remember.” I said with a smile as Og came up beside me. “Well now, what is going on here?” A deep voice asked as a shadow loomed over us. Me and Og looked up and saw chief Grog standing over us with a displeased look. We both gave an audible gulp as we looked up at Grog. Og spoke to his dad first. “Oh, uh, hey dad, what’s up?” Grog had a very deep frown. “Son, you aren’t helping this thing get stronger so he could escape are you?” He asked suspiciously. Og was sweating heavily. “Of-of course not, I was just letting him get in some exercise to keep him in shape is all, honest.” Grog kept his frown. “You better not be lying to me son, I would hate to have to punish you, I am not about to let my pet escape.” Og stood firmly before his dad. “Pet, dad, how exactly is Nightshade your pet, I’m the one that has been taking care of him, I clean up after him feed him, bath him, let him get in some exercise, all you do is just look at him and admire how different he is, if he is anyone’s pet, he is really more my pet then yours. So why do you even keep him around.” Og then looked up to his dad with a sympathetic eye. “Why not just let him go dad, he misses his home.” Grog glared down at his son. “Listen carefully son, I am keeping him and there is nothing you can say to change my mind, he is too unusual to just let go, so keep your yap shut and just do as your told, UNDERSTAND!” Grog bellowed the last word. Og nodded nervously and I was feeling rather scared now after that shout. “Yes father.” Og said in a low tone as he lowered his head. “Come on Nightshade, let’s get you back in your cell.” Og led me away and back to my cage. The cell door creaked open and Og led me back inside, I turned to face him as he took the rope off from around my neck. “I’m really sorry about all this Nightshade, I wish there was something I could do to help.” I gave Og a smile as I tried to comfort him. “Hey, don’t worry about it, it’s not your fault I’m stuck here, besides, it isn’t all bad, at least I have a friend, a roof over my head, and three square meals a day.” I joked in an attempt to lift his spirits. I really didn’t like being stuck here, and Og knew it, but I also wasn’t sure how I felt about leaving my first and only friend behind if I should find a way out. Og gave me a warm smile back, he turned to leave and made for the door. Before he did, he looked over his shoulder and spoke to me. “I know you don’t mean that, but thanks anyway.” He then left and closed the cell behind him. Once he was gone, I allowed a frown on my face to form. “Guess you don’t have any ideas on getting out, do you?” My shadow asked after appearing. I turned to him and answered. “Of course not, how am I supposed to escape? Sure I could fly out of here if I found a way out of this cell, which I can’t, but what about Og, he’s my friend, if I escape, Grog will think Og let me out and he’ll get punished. I can’t let that happen to him, he’s my only friend.” My shadow gave me a sour face. “Hey!” “My only REAL friend.” I amended my statement. This seemed to placate my double as he smiled again. He then frowned immediately after. “So then, what are you going to do?” I looked away and down to the ground. “What can I do, I have no way out of this cell, and the only way for me TO get out is on a leash held by my only friend, and I’m not about to try and convince him to let me escape just so he can get punished for letting me out. I’m stuck here.” I dropped to the floor and just lay there. “Don’t worry Nightshade, I’m sure there’s some way for you to get out of here and back home.” My double tried to cheer me up. I said nothing as I lay there, my shadow then disappeared and left me alone. The rest of the day went on, lunch came around and Og brough me my food as usual. Mid-afternoon then rolled around and Og came back to take me around for my dose of exercise, we did pay visits to the troll shaman Leon and had friendly chats, he too soon became another friend, but not as good as how me and Og had become. Night soon fell as the moon shone brightly in the night sky, after Og brought me my dinner and I ate, I lay myself down to rest for the night. I don’t know how long I was asleep, I heard a creaking that stirred me from my sleep, it was still dark out, I wasn’t sure how late it was, I turned my head to see the source of the sound. My eyes were half lidded as I gave out a yawn. My eyes widened a bit when I saw Og standing in front of my cell. “Og, what are you doing?” Og put a finger to his lips. “SHH, keep it down.” He said in a hushed tone. He looked around nervously as he unlocked my cell door. “I’m getting you out of here, come on.” I stood up and looked at him with surprise, then curiosity. “What, but why, what about your dad, won’t he punish you or something?” Og gave me a smile. “Don’t worry about my dad, I can handle him.” His smile faded to a frown. “What I can’t handle is seeing you suffer like this anymore, now let’s go before someone wakes up and sees us.” I narrowed my eyes. “But I can’t just leave you, there’s no telling what your dad will do if he finds out I escaped.” “Nightshade, I can’t stand seeing you trapped here anymore, now come on, you’re getting out of here NOW.” He then grabbed my left hoof and dragged me out of my cell. “Go on, fly out of here and find your home, I’ll be fine, don’t worry.” He gave me a smile. I couldn’t believe it. “Og, I…..I don’t know what to say, are you sure about this?” “Of course I am, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing this, now get going, spread your wings and fly out of here.” I smiled big at him. “Thanks Og, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.” I walked up to him and wrapped a leg around him, Og returned the hug. “You’re welcome buddy, and hey, maybe we’ll see each other again someday.” We broke our embrace, I looked at him one more time. “Count on it buddy.” I then turned flared out my wings and flew off into the night sky, leaving the troll village behind me, and my only true real friend. I don’t know how long I flew, but I was still tired since it was still late at night, after a while when I felt I put a good amount of distance between myself and the troll village, I found a place to rest for the night, or so I thought, I was about to lay down up against a tree between some roots and a pile of leaves, when I heard a growl eminate from somewhere near-by. I frantically looked around to find the source of the growling and soon spotted a few sets of red glowing eyes coming from a nearby bush. I looked on in horror as the growling grew greater, then a ghostly wolf emerged, followed by a few dozen others, a whole pack of ghostly white wolves surrounded me. I was terrified, until I remembered that I had wings, I could simply fly away from these things. I was still scared but I steeled myself. I looked at the dogs with confidence clear on my face. “Come and get me if you can you creeps.” I then sprang into the air and took off. The ghost wolfs followed close behind me on the ground, they were running faster than I could fly, I was starting to get worried. What then made me worry more were the wolves climbing up into the trees and jumping from branch to branch and catching up to me. I looked to my left and saw a dog keeping up with me as it hopped across the branches, I looked to my other side and saw the same thing. I was worried now, the dogs were keeping up with me easily as I flew through the trees. I tried swerving and weaving and making sharp turns, but nothing I did allowed me to lose my persuers, they were dogging me (Pardon the expression) every step of the way, or wing as the case may be. I was starting to get tired too, I had never flown so much in all my life before and it was starting to show, I was panting as I started to slow down, one of the wolves that were following me among the branches saw this as an opportunity as it leapt at me and tackled me in mid-air. I fell to the ground and tumbled. I groaned as I pushed myself up. I looked around and found myself trapped by these ghostly wolves. After everything I had been through, everything I had suffered through, after all I had done to try and stay alive for my parents, it was all about to end as me being chow for these things. One of the wolves leapt at me and I closed my eyes for the end………but it never came. After a minute, I opened my eyes and saw a bright light shining in from the left, the wolves were holding up their paws to try and shield their eyes from it, soon the light grew fiercer and they all just turned to vapor and blew away. I looked to where the source of the light was coming from and couldn’t believe my eyes. Standing before me was a large white glowing deer with big antlers. It slowly approached me as I started to feel exhausted, I tried to keep my eyes open, but with the threat of the wolves now gone, my body was telling me it was now safe to rest, not to mention this deer seemed to give off a comforting glow and aura, it wasn’t long before I lost consciousness and blacked out in a peaceful rest. My eyes were met with the morning light as I opened them lazily, I closed again and gave out a yawn. I was lying on my belly when I awoke and sat up on my haunches with half lidded eyes. It took me a minute to soon realize that I was in my own nest, in my own room. My eyes shot open upon realizing where I was. I frantically looked around and began to wonder. “What, but, how did I get here, what happened?” It was then that my mind went back over the events of last night. “Let’s see, Og let me out, I flew off, was about to rest for the night, got chased by some weird ghost like wolves, then…….” My mind reeled upon remembering the last bit. “That deer, that white glowing deer, it showed up, chased those wolves away and saved me, but what was it, did it bring me here, how?” I had so many questions fill my mind, I decided the best way to get answers was to get out of my nest and try to see if that deer was still around. I climbed out, but before leaving my room , I figured maybe my double could help me figure this out. “Hey, shadow me, come on out would ya?” I said as I looked up to my head. My shadow emerged and looked at me curiously. “Sorry Nightshade, I’m afraid I won’t be any help here, I’m just as confused as you are. I don’t know what that white deer was either.” I scowled at him. “A lot of help you are.” “Hey, it’s not my fault I don’t know what it is, you don’t know so I don’t know. Simple as that.” My shadow stated before disappearing. I then made my way out of my room and into the castle throne room. I walked past the three thrones, came up around to the front of them at the base of a couple steps that led to them and looked down, I faced the stones I made for my parents and where I buried them. “Hey mom, hey dad, I’m all right now, sorry if I worried you, but something weird happened last night. I miss you both so much.” I let a tear run down my face. I turned and made my way to the exit of the castle. Once out, I saw something I didn’t expect to see so soon, that same white glowing deer was standing just a few feet away from me, looking right at me. I was so surprised by this I didn’t know what to do. I just stared at it for a while before I heard a voice. “Well, don’t just stand there, don’t you know how to say hello?” I didn’t recognize the voice and it sounded like it was in my head, I was looking at the deer the whole time and it’s lips didn’t move once. I stammered. “Uh…I….uh……you.” The deer smiled and closed its eyes as its head lowered and bobbed up and down, I heard laghter in my head. “Hm hm hm hm.” It’s head stopped bobbing and looked back to me. “You sure are funny when your stunned.” I didn’t know what to say to that, my shadow then appeared beside me. I quietly whispered to him. “Any ideas?” “Like what, there’s a tall white glowing deer standing in front of you that saved you from a bunch of ghost wolves, what do you want to do?” “How about a greeting, followed by introductions.” I heard the voice again, it must be the deer. “Well, I guess that would be a start…..wait, WHAT!?” I asked in surprise. “You…….you heard me?” “And your friend there.” He said, this confused me more. “Friend, what do you mean?” “I mean your black friend with the red eyes standing next to you.” He stated simply. This sent my mind reeling. “You…..you can…..see him? But that’s impossible, only I can see and hear him.” My shadow agreed. “Yeah, only he can see and hear me.” The deer continued. “I am connecting directly to your mind to speak, thus I can see and hear your friend there.” “So your reading my mind, no fair, that’s private stuff.” I complained. The deer gave me a smile. “Don’t worry, I am not reading your mind, I am merely connecting to it so we can talk.” “Ok, so like, why can’t you speak to us normally?” My shadow asked. “I do not speak the same language as you, this way we can understand one another. I think introductions are in order, you may call me Bright Horn.” I looked at the creature carefully before giving my name. “Well, my name is Nightshade. And, I guess, this is Nightshade too.” I said, feeling awkward having to introduce my imaginary friend for the first time. “It is a pleasure to meet you Nightshade, and Nightshade.” He said with a chuckle on the second Nightshade. “Um, I’m thinking this is going to be weird if I stick around so I’ll just be going, if you need me, you know where I’ll be.” With that, my shadow double vanished and was back in my mind. I now was able to give my full attention to this mysterious deer named Bright Horn. “So, Bright Horn, you’re the one that saved me from those wolves right?” He gave me a nod. “Yes I am.” “Well, thank you for saving me, and helping me get back home.” I said as I looked at him. “You’re welcome, but you should know that from now on, it will be dangerous to travel the forest at night, or on your own. Those things were called spirit wolves, they can’t be stopped, it is best you stay in your home.” I glared at Bright Horn. “Hey, I can take care of myself, I don’t need you watching out for me.” Bright Horn smirked. “Oh really, I suppose you had a way to get away from those wolves then when it seemed they had you cornered?” He had me, I looked to the side to try and think of a comeback, but nothing came to mind, he was right. “Okay fine, you got me there, but where did they come from, I’ve never seen anything like them before, sure I had a few close calls with wolves when I went food gathering with some of my other tribe members, but we never saw anything like those before, and certainly nothing like you before, what are you?” My curiosity finally piqued. “They are spirit wolves, drawn to an area that had a great tragedy occur in an area, they feed on the negative energies that linger on, they also have a craving for living things as well. I am a forest spirit, it is my job to make sure they don’t get out of hoof and keep them from causing too much trouble, and now, it is my job to keep the last shadow walker alive.” “You know what I am, but how, and why is it your job to protect me now?” Bright Horn gave me a serious look. “Because I did look into your mind a bit and saw what you and your tribe was like, AND because you are the last of your kind, I am making it my responsibility to keep you safe and alive. I am now your guardian.” Bright Horn smiled again. I didn’t know what to make of all this, suddenly I had a guardian now, someone who was going to take care of me and look out for me. How was I going to handle this? Then I remembered Og, he had taken a chance at getting punished to help me, I just had to go back at some point and see how he was, I just hope my new guardian wasn’t about to give me trouble over it. For now, I would just live each day and see how things went.