Chapter 3x: Whispering Mystery

"I'll let you know about Caeda by tonight." I said before taking off towards the stables. My armor made loud clangs as the plates hit each other. I worried the sound would scare off the figure I had seen sneaking around. As soon as I got to the stables, I jumped on top of my horse and quickly rode into the big, open field to the left of the stables. That figure I saw, I thought to myself, it can't be a good sign. I screeched to a stop at the edge of the forest where I believe was the last place I had seen the figure.

"This is Cain of the Altean knights! Show yourself!" I shouted into the trees. I scanned the darkening woods carefully. Nothing moved except for the leaves when the wind blew. I wondered, did they get away? I jumped off my horse and got closer to the trees. I could hear the wind blowing through the thick trunks and rustling the leaves, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. I was about to turn around when I heard a soft whisper.

"Heh… fool…" the soft voice taunted.

"Hey! Stop hiding in the dark and show yourself!" I was getting frustrated that they weren't cooperating. The forest went silent once again. I was determined to get to the bottom of this. I tied my horse to the fence post, grabbed the lantern that was hanging from his saddle, and went into the dark forest. I lit the lantern with a match and walked deeper into the forest. The wind blew through the forest almost continuously.

"Guess we're having a windy night tonight." I mumbled to myself as I scanned the area for anything suspicious. I made my steps as soft as possible as I made my way through the bushes and low hanging branches. I turned as I heard a sudden rustle in the bushes behind me.

"Gah! Show yourself!" I was starting to get impatient with whoever it was that was lurking in the shadows. I heard faint noises of laughter as the wind blew through the trees once again. I saw another shadow move in front of me and I decided in run in with my hand on my sword's handle. This time, I heard the laughter more clearly. I stopped in my tracks and surveyed the surrounding area. The trees casted ominous shadows in the calm forest. I felt something shoot past me and I turned to face it. There was nothing but darkness. Once again, I heard snickering in the woods. The woods were getting darker by the second. I knew I had to finish solving this mystery before it got too dark.

I held the lantern higher in an attempt to light up a bigger area. This did not help much as it made the trees' shadows more prominent. I heard something whizz past me again, followed by the same snickering.

"Look! If you don't show yourself soon, I'm going to have to use force!" I threatened. The laughs started up again and I started to doubt myself. My mind could be playing tricks on me, I thought, maybe this was all a figment of my imagination. Just as the thought crossed my mind I felt a strong pain on the left side of my back. I let out a cry of pain before turning around to see who had attacked me. All I could see in that direction was darkness. Once again, I heard the snickering coming from the darkness. I unsheathed my sword and stood my ground. As I looked around, I heard another arrow shoot past me. I turned to face the direction the arrow had come from. Before I could react, another arrow hit my lantern and it clanged onto the grass below. The light went out and I could barely make out the figures in the darkness. The moonlight filtered through the leafy canopy and lit up small areas of the woods.

I heard more rustling behind me and tried to keep my back turned away from them. The rustling started to surround me and the moonlight didn't seem to help. The rustling suddenly stopped and the forest was still once again. In the stillness of the night, I heard the sounds of multiple arrows shooting at once. Reacting quickly, I ran for cover behind a few trees. I was a few steps away from cover when I felt two arrows hit my back. When I finally found safety behind a couple of trees, I could faintly hear a voice in the distance.

"Maybe if you'd stop laughing so much, we would have finished up by now." The voice sounded feminine. I heard another faint laugh before the wind picked up again. With sword still in hand, I sat down and attempted to remove the arrows. Before I was able to touch one of the arrows, I heard the same feminine voice coming closer. I tried to keep as quiet as possible.

"Heh, isn't that cute? He thinks he can hide in the dark." I tried my best to breathe as quietly as possible. As each second passed, the pain in my back increased. I heard footsteps come dangerously close to me. The sound of metal scraping against metal echoed through the forest. My sword was still in my hand, ready to strike at anything. The footsteps stopped and the silence settled down once more. Once again I heard the same laughter from before, but this time it sounded like it came from behind me. There was a violent rustle from the bushes and I instinctively swung my sword upward. Sparks flew as it clashed with an incoming axe. I looked up in an attempt to identify my assailant. In the faint moonlight, I caught a glimpse of a green mask and a curved horn. The combination of the increasing pain in my back and the horned assailant caused me to panic. With all the strength in my arm, I pushed the axe away from me with my sword. Using my legs, I managed to stand and push the axe away into the darkness. I heard the loud thud of a body hitting the ground.

I took the chance and sprinted away. The darkness surrounding me made it hard to find my way around the many trees. All I could focus on was the sound of my footsteps on the grassy dirt. I was alone and I was in pain. There had to be a way out of the void.

I wandered for what felt like hours. The onslaught of trees was never-ending. Too exhausted to continue, I sat down and tried to regain my sense of direction. I looked up to the skies, hoping it would give me a sign. In the dead of night, all I could hear was my own breathing. I was about to give up hope when I heard the flapping of a pegasus's wings above me. A large shadow appeared in the sky for a minute before flying off. Perhaps the pegasus is flying back to Castle Altea, I thought to myself, trying to remain positive. Using a tree branch to support me, I stood up and started walking in the same direction that the pegasus flew.

"I've been through much worse." I said to myself, "I can make it through this." The forest seemed to answer my comment with a small breeze. I walked from tree to tree, stopping every few trees to lean on the tree to rest. My back still ached with pain, but the adrenaline from the encounter seems to have slightly numbed it. I was dragging my sword behind me and the clanging of my shoulder armor resonated through the forest. I kept my head up and struggled my way through the dark.

After walking from tree to tree for about an hour, I caught a glimpse of a tree-less field. Ignoring my exhaustion, I pushed myself off of the tree I was leaning on and ran towards it. As I entered the glowing moonlight, I felt a wave of relief wash over me. I grabbed onto the fence in front of me as I tried to identify where I was. I looked around in an attempt to find a familiar shape. The shadows seemed to melt into each other as I looked around. The shadows were indecipherable so I decided to walk along the fence instead. I put my faith into the fence to guide me back to safety. Throughout the entire walk, I couldn't stop thinking about the people who had attacked me before. I wondered, were they even people at all? The dark forest next to me seemed more intimidating than before.

Several minutes later, I walked into something solid. As I staggered backward, I realized I had run into my horse. I took a moment to reflect upon my luck before taking the reins and leading my horse into Castle Altea. As I approached the torch-lit gates, I spotted Jagen standing on the right side of the gate.

"S-Sir Jagen!" I blurted out.

"Cain. I've been looking for you. Where have you been?" He looked at me suspiciously.

"There… I…" I stumbled on my words as the pain in my back returned out of the blue.

"Calm down." He said as he came closer to me, "What happened to you?" He had noticed the arrows in my back.

"There's something, someone, I don't know. We need to send a group of guards to handle this threat before it escalates!" I said without thinking.

"Slow down, slow down. We don't need to send anyone out here."

"W-What do you mean!?" I began to panic, fearing the consequences of letting my attacker wander the forests near the castle.

"I mean no one is getting sent out here to hunt for a couple of bandits." He draped my left arm over his shoulders and held onto my right shoulder, "Come now. We must take care of those arrows." Using him as support, I slowly walked through the gates into familiar territory. Suddenly, I was struck with a realization.

"Sir Jagen." I said in-between breaths, "Is the 7th Platoon allowed to call upon Princess Caeda for assistance?"

"Of course. You know how important it was during the War of Shadows."

"I… I must get to her to-"

"Calm down. You must get yourself to the clerics before anything else." We walked until we reached the hallway that accesses the 7th Platoon's and 8th Platoon's quarters. He stopped to tie my horse to a nearby post. "I'll take care of it. Get yourself healed up." I stared as he walked down the hallway and knocked on Glacia's door. My horse looked at me as I watched Jagen talk to Glacia. I shook myself from the trance and slowly walked towards the infirmary. I used the walls to support me as I slowly shuffled away at a snail's pace. Once I reached the infirmary, I was quickly given an empty bed to lay in as the clerics saw to my back. Before they had finished removing the arrows, I had already drifted off to sleep.