With an iron fist, I judged

  Laws are made not to be broken, but followed

  O Lady of The Still Waters, how you weeped

  But a heart I possess, broken it was when he st smiled

  …

  Hungry.

  “I’m hungry…”

  He mumbled to himself, only to be startled by the sound of his voice, foreign to him.

  His stomach ached, and it hurt a lot.

  The lost soul was following the river’s flow, resting at night in the cold, covered in his rge coat, and entered the forest each day in hopes of finding anything edible.

  Walk, sleep, wake up, search, return.

  This cycle repeated for several days.

  At least he didn’t have to worry about water. And his feet were since long numb, sparing him the biting cold of the thin snow yer.

  He had found a vivid blue species of mushroom on the third day and tried his luck, only to throw up for the rest of the day.

  ‘Noted... no eating mushrooms.’ The now slightly wiser boy murmured to himself that day, his stomach emptier than ever. He threw a dark gnce at the mushrooms that were more and more present as he kept going further, as if to mock and taunt him.

  And recently, he felt many cramps and contractions, adding to the regur rumbling. The orchestra of pain his stomach composed did nothing to help him

  Despite that, he kept walking, hoping to find… anything really, or at least get out of this forest.

  Fortunately, he didn’t encounter those spiders again, but sometimes at night, he would wake up to sounds that weren’t normal at all, or maybe they were; he wasn’t in a position to know. Earthquakes, screeching, sudden shifts in temperatures and buzzing sounds that seemed to come from the trees themselves. Always at the edge of the forest and ready to run back to the river, he listened. Nothing seemed to exit it, much to his relief.

  He had long since discarded his other boot, his bare feet full of scratches and hardened from the rough terrain.

  He was tired; he only wanted to y down and close his eyes, never opening them again.

  The only things that kept him going were his questions and frustration.

  The first reason came from his curiosity about himself. Who was he before? What kind of life did he lead? Did he have any retives? Lovers? He wanted to know. Perhaps curiosity was a trait he shared with his past self.

  The second originated from his situation.

  Why was he dropped in such a dangerous pce without expnation? No guide, no food, no objective.. As if the culprit wished for his death

  He wasn’t resentful, but frustrated, a strange thing to not feel spite or hate.

  He pondered as he felt no anger from himself whatsoever.

  ‘Am I really untroubled by this? No...’

  Perhaps he didn’t have it in him to harbor ill thoughts. This discovery was the first hint of who he might have been before.

  He was gd he was that type of person. Hate sounded like a heavy emotion to burden… And he didn’t need another burden to bear at the moment.

  Or maybe anger comes with something to hold on to. Since he had nothing, he didn’t feel angry about losing something - apart from his life. Thus the missing emotion.

  Perhaps, he didn’t feel angry because deep down, he knew he deserved it, perhaps he committed a sin and this was his punishment…

  He shivered at the thought of a crime bad enough to send him here..

  Oh, and food. Food was also a valid reason to keep going.

  “Food, food, food...”

  He mumbled again and again as he walked, as if in a trance.

  * * *

  He walked as the sun began to set.

  He walked as the river led to a thinner part of the forest, the pebbles giving way to a dirt path. His stomach sent him waves of pain more than ever as he clutched it with one hand. The river made a smooth turn to the right, but he kept walking in a straight line, leaving the retive safety of it behind.

  He walked as his mind was unable to catch on to the faint hum of human activity and the lights of the houses as the sun painted the sky in pink and orange.

  Neither had he noticed the smoke rising from chimneys in the distance as he walked in a daze, the smoke rising beyond a rather high wooden wall.

  Neither did he notice the dy that was in front of him all of a sudden was asking if he was alright, as he stopped in not far from the palisade. She smelled like bread and salvation in the form of civilization, or that’s what he thought it was.

  In a st moment of lucidity, the lost soul realized he was standing in front of a human. The surge of happiness made his already heavy legs waver. Her voice was a soft melody, but a distant one he could not quite make sense of right now, as if his ears were filled with wax.

  ‘Ah...’

  The lost boy was no longer lost; he smiled as he closed his eyes.

  * * *

  ‘Era was a woman of routine.’

  The vilgers always said so, and I couldn’t help but agree.

  I quite preferred it that way, instead of going on an adventure like the other young adults of my age wanted to, braving the unknown. Each evening, I would finish my chores, go fetch some water from the well, head home and prepare dinner for my family. Simple and safe, exactly how I preferred it.

  Today was no different, I took the empty bucket and made my way to the well, passing by the never-changing buildings and people. The well was situated just beside the open entrance of the palisade from the forest’s side. God knows how many times the vilgers asked the mayor to change its location, as the sight of the forest made many uncomfortable. Of course, that man never obliged, saying it might help, having it constantly in view.

  Once at the well, I noticed Stan. Seemed like he was on duty today, as he was yawning without a care in the world while guarding the watchgate, leaning on a spear. He probably won’t be able to use it if something really came out of that cursed forest. But hey, his eyes still worked, so he would be able to alert us.

  I greeted him as I threw the bucket down, fetching the cold water.

  “Lost a bet or something?” I chuckled as I spared him a gnce.

  He grumbled, not taking his eyes off the treeline ahead.

  “John pretended to be sick, so I had to repce him. I will get back at him for this.”

  I ughed. It was definitely something John would do to avoid his turn.

  “Can’t really bme him… They said the st thing that came out of there was 76… No, 77 years ago now.” I shook my head, my eyes lingering on the dark woods beyond the open entrance gate. The only thing that separated us was a small and barren pin, devoid of any vegetation this te in autumn.

  Sure, the sole purpose of this vilge was to alert the region if there was any activity in the forest, but the ck of so made us all x and compcent. Half the men here probably couldn’t even wield a sword properly, much less possessed one. If a horde of monsters came out, we wouldn’t be ready. But the nd here is fertile despite the very harsh winters, apparently it's caused by some type of magic soil or something along the lines.. I wasn’t real sure of the details. It gave us plenty of food, so we stayed.

  Stan huffed in annoyance, closing his eyes in order and ready to take yet another power nap.

  “Ain’t my problem, still gotta do his job. I bet he did that to catch up to Hailie and flirt with her some more… I swear.”

  I smiled as I retrieved the bucket and was about to head back when something caught my eye. I took a quick gnce towards the forest.

  Did I just see something move? Probably my imagination…

  I set the bucket down, a few droplets spshing out, walked a few steps and stood next to Stan.

  “Did you see that?”

  He chuckled, not even bothering to answer or open his eyes. Seems like we did that joke on the patrollers too many times… But this time it was not one.

  I nudged his shoulder.

  “I’m serious, Stan, look”

  Perhaps hearing the solemn tone in my voice, he opened his eyes and looked ahead to the direction I was pointing at.

  “What the…”

  We watched as slowly, a silhouette emerging from the shadows of the trees.

  I threw an anxious gnce at the wooden box next to the entrance, supported by stands, featuring an opening made of gss that revealed the scroll inside. We were supposed to rip it, instantly alerting the Warden, who was dozens of horizones away.

  The figure now had fully emerged from the forest and made half the distance to our palisade.

  It was a boy.

  But… something was wrong.

  His clothes were slightly tattered and his movements were sluggish.

  “I’m going to see,” I answered before exiting the safe comfort of our walls, walking to meet him. A risky and stupid move, it could’ve been a monster for all I knew.. but something was compelling me to.

  Stan didn’t even have the time to stop me as I heard him curse and run back inside, probably to alert the vilgers. We didn’t expect something so… normal, so he was probably confused, and so was I.

  Soon, the stranger’s state was more obvious. He was in a poor condition. The white hair falling down to his shoulders was dirty, his face covered under a yer of crass. His eyes, a vivid red, seemed lost, both mentally and physically, fidgeting here and there without registering what he saw. He barely reached my neck and was barely skin an bones.

  Was he even human? I never saw features simir to his. Despite that, I couldn’t help but be worried about him. He looked famished and on the verge of colpse.

  “Dear, are you alright?” I asked him, hoping he might understand as I kept a small distance between us

  He looked up at me, his eyes getting brighter before giving me a small, beautiful and faint smile... before colpsing to the ground.

  I quickly ran and picked him up in my arms. He was very light.

  “Help! Someone help!” I shouted back at the vilge as I was quickly heading back inside. His pulse was faint and slow…

  The vilgers, already on their way, quickened their pace as they heard the urgency in my voice, some with garden forks and others with worn daggers.