Chapter 4
Being outside the town, running away like a fugitive again brought back a lot of memories of my last escape, and the feeling of freedom from bonds was buzzing in all of my bones. I let Lune gallop freely, and concentrated all my energies to understanding where my Huntsman had gone. Why had he left the others behind, and where might they have been as they left him? It had took them a whole nights ride to get home, so they couldn't have been too far from the entrance to the woods. Since the first time I had been here, I was alone and got in trouble right away, having to leave my horse to die caught in a vicious swamp, I was now eager to avoid the same path. I remembered another part that the huntsman had shown me, further east, that lead past the bridge we once had crossed together and where I had calmed down a huge beast about to beat us to death or eat ur alive. While riding through the fields in the moonlight I thought about this moment, probably the first time we had seen each other for real. We had fought together side by side, as equals and developed that bond that kept us together to this day.
Lune continued, strong and muscular under my tense body and a couple of hours into our flight the landscapes started to change. From growing fields and small collections of trees with small green leaves about to burst into bloom we now came closer to big bushes and rocky ground. I could feel the cold of the woods creeping closer, but our only hope was to keep going forward, not stop and not look back. I encouraged Lune as I felt her tense up underneath me. The moon disappeared behind dark clouds and the bushes grew into trees that grew bigger and wilder as the forest got deeper and deeper.
My only hope was to follow the unclear path in front of me, but to do so we had to slow down, in order not to miss it. I focused my energy on not getting frightened. We had to keep going, for his sake. The darkness around me was thick but my eyes were fixed on the small rocky path in front of me, taking no notice of the insects that dropped from the sky onto my shoulders or the creatures that seemed to move around us, just out of sight. Fear was the enemy here, not the surrounding itself, and keeping calm was essential for keeping the spirits away. The Huntsman had told me all of this the last time we were here, and I thanked him quietly in my mind for giving me his knowledge.
The last time I was here, my insides felt like darkness and I was consumed by fear, and thereby almost consumed by the forest. "Keep going, keep going" I murmured to myself, and I realized that we must have been riding for several hours and that morning would soon come. This lifted my spirits, and I could almost feel some of the darkness lifting it's veil around me. Lune hurried on, almost encouraged by my lifting spirits, and I could see small sparks of light at the horizon. We came to a clearing, and I instantly recognized the surroundings. We were heading close to the old stone bridge.
Another half-hour and the bridge appeared in front of us, and I let out a sigh. the worst was behind us. The sky grew lighter and lighter, ant the trees slowly changed in appearance. from dark overgrown shadows they turned healthier, smaller and greener. This looked like a new forest, and I realized that this part before had been a dead wasteland between the two parts. It was now starting to grow, green leaves were shooting out of holes in old trunks on the ground, and the hard rocks were hidden underneath a green cover. I almost forgot my reason for this journey, as I was gazing at this growing land, but as I felt Lune breathing heavily beneath me I realized that we had ridden for hours without water or food, and that I needed her to rest soon. We continued for one more hour, watching the landscape change more and more into the lovely forest I remembered in my mind. Springtime had come to this place too, and birds were chirping loudly, announcing the breaking dawn. I could feel my insides slowly melting to the wonderful loving calm that always filled me in this magical place.
We walked on, more cheerfully and almost without direction, moving deeper into the forest. We were now surrounded by big old trees with small and lovely green leafs that made the sunlight glisten with a light green spark. The sound of Lune's hooves were now muffled by the moss on the ground, and the rocky surroundings were changed into lovely green knolls, covered in grass and moss. Two small sparrows landed on each side of my shoulders, and broke out in a lovely light song, and I couldn't help mounting off Lune. I walked a couple of steps, she sparrows flew away and sat down onto a tree nearby, still singing for me, and I sat down on a tree trunk that had fallen on the ground. A little field mouse ran out of a hole in the trunk and turned around, looking at me curiously. 'I'm sorry, did I wake you? I'm just borrowing tour house for some rest' I smiled at the mouse, and it quickly moved back into its house, as I started untying the straps of my boots, allowing me to walk barefoot for a while.
I took Lune by her reins and we walked on for a while, not really knowing where we were headed. I had focused hard on getting us in, past the evil forest, and now I didn't know where to start looking. We came to a beautiful place, a stream running peacefully through the landscape and I let Lune loose to drink from the water As I sat down with my back to a tree trunk I suddenly felt extremely tired. This tree was big, with a gnarled and twisted stem, which made the nook I was sitting in particularly comfortable. The twisted stem also gave me some shelter as it almost surrounded me, and without control my body slid down towards the grass covered ground and I covered myself with my cape, surrounded by the sounds of twittering birds, leaves and branches in the wind, the ripple of the water and Lune's calm presence. Had I been more focused I probably also would have heard the distant sound of muffled footsteps, but I was too sleepy and to comforted by this place to worry my head. I fell into a deep sleep.