The Forest

     Over a week ago, after meeting a witch with some vanity issues, Balthazar and I were off on our MYSTICAL QUEST to search for a dark creature and restore balance to the world.  Being a magical being myself, I have knowledge of all the secret routes and even whole lands unknown to mankind.  Aife, the witch, had told me to gather supplies, and to prepare for a long trip before returning to her for a map and further details.

     "Forces are gathering," she told me, "You and Balthazar cannot fly during most of this journey, or they

will shoot you down."

       Forces.  There always has to be a mindless army.  They were probably just orcs.  I could handle them.

     Our adventure began in the forest.  I am quite familiar with it for miles out.  We started early in the morning.  For hours we traveled through the woods--all beautiful, but none of it new to me.  It's not the easiest thing in the world to get a dragon through the woods without trampling everything, but luckily, Balthazar is still young, so he is not too big.

     After many hours, we reached one of my favourite parts of the forest.  Here the magic is discreetly present--but only if you really pay attention.  If you listen closely, you can hear whispers in the wind, and the

sound of little bells.  If you look closely , you can notice the smallest, most delicate details in trees, or what one may just dismiss as a stump;  these details form little houses.  This is the work of pixies, creatures even smaller than fairies, and more shy.

     Here I had to stop and look at the map.  Soon we would reach a place where no humans have ever seen, and where I know little of, as Balthazar and I usually fly over it.

     I had to get Balthazar food soon.  He is an omnivore, so it is usually pretty easy, but I didn't want to harm a single plant or creature here.  Any plant could belong to a pixie, and the animals here were quite different from those of the "normal" world.  These animals deserve even more respect.  I had brought some food with me, but it was limited.  I gave Balthazar enough to satisfy him, but not as much as he wanted.

     Moving on into the woods, I expected to see the enchanted forests like the ones South of here, but instead it was quite different.

     As the sun was setting, Balthazar and I walked deeper into the woods, where we saw stranger, darker things.  The forest seemed to poison itself.  It was trapped in it's own darkness.  The trees were so thick, hardly any light could come through.  There were a few patches were the smallest bit of light could show itself, and in those places the life seemed to reach out desperately, only to lose it in a fleeting moment as the sun set.

     Having a jumpy dragon with you isn't the greatest situation.  Balthazar walked slowly, jerking his head towards any sound he heard.  He shuffled nervously.  I told him that the faster we moved, the faster we would get out of this place, but he didn't listen.  I had planned on traveling through the night by using a spell to cast light in front of us, but I noticed fresh footprints in the dirt with the last bit of daylight.  Orcs had been here very recently.  It would be unwise to reveal our location.

     I heard a twig snap, and Balthazar turned around and blew a stream of flames from his mouth, completely destroying a tree, along with all of the plants around it.  I walked over to see what he had damaged while managing to completely give away our position.  I saw a cooked orc that I assumed was once a scout.

     I didn't have to worry about Balthazar's food problem anymore.

     As Balthazar took care of the dead orc, I looked ahead, prepared for more to attack.  Surely enough, my expectations were met.  A group of about twenty orcs came running at us.  I pulled out my sword and waited.

     I plowed through several easily.  Of course, Balthazar had it even easier, as they were all together.  As he

was burning them all to a crisp, however, I saw a group coming from behind him.  I ran at them and decapitated one, impaled another...these were just goblins.  They weren't exactly a challenge.

     Standing in the middle of a bunch of orc corpses, one must experience the smell, which is far from pleasant.  I took out a vial and gathered some blood from one of the orcs.  It could come in handy later.

     I didn't want to make camp in the middle of this mess, but the sun was gone.  I had to settle for a clearing near by.  This had been the first day of this MYSTICAL QUEST.  It just hadn't gotten that mystical yet.


Seriously,