An encounter in the forest

A heavy fog had descended upon the forest. Even the chirping of the nocturnal rodents had ceased.

All this had little or no effect on the warrior. Noiselessly, he continued his march through the dense forest. The silent thuds of his footsteps on the damp forest floor were his only companion.

He walked as if in a trance.

A perfect picture of strength, the warrior was only concerned with the final aim in his mind. His powerful limbs glistened with sweat as he made his way through the dense foliage. His breath hardly made a sound.

Although his brain was continuously reassessing the surroundings, his mind was far away, on the ultimate goal that he must achieve. And he knew that there would be many such forests that he must cross before he would succeed. And Lord only knows what dangers awaited him in these dark forests; what beasts and demons, their stomachs growling with hunger and their eyes shining with cruelty, eagerly anticipated his arrival in their part of the forest.

But who cared for such trivialities? What mattered was he go as far as he could in the mission that was given to him. His life was his goal. The mission superseded everything else, it had become the reason for his existence.

All of a sudden, he felt a presence. His eyes darted around, but spotted nothing. In a flash, he had drawn his sword. Although tense, he remained extremely calm for a man who was surrounded by uncertainty and danger. The only difference that an observer, if there had been one, would have seen was the deeper intakes of breath that the warrior was now taking.

As his eyes pried into the pitch darkness that surrounded him, there suddenly was a great beam of light which shone upon him. He raised his left hand to shield his eyes from the blinding light, but slowly lowered it realising that this wasn’t an opponent that would attack.

“Who are you?” the warrior demanded. “What do you want?”

“Who I am is of no consequence to you.” The voice boomed in the night. The warrior realized that this voice belonged to no human. And what’s more, it did not seem to be emanating from any particular source. The voice surrounded him from all sides, but all the warrior could do was look at the beam of light which seemed to be radiating from a point a few feet ahead of him.

“What I want, however,” the voice continued, “is your soul.”

“Then you shall not have that!” the warrior cried. And with that, even though at the back of his mind the warrior knew it was more an act of helplessness than anything, he struck his sword in front of him. All that he managed to do was dismember a few bushes.

“It is useless to try and hurt me, human,” the voice said. “All you have to do is surrender, and I shall make sure that your travel to the world of the great beyond shall be effortless. Face it, o human, the time for your bodily existence on this planet is over.”

“NEVER!!” shouted the warrior. “Not unless I have achieved my goal shall I stop. You may try and take me away if you want, but my feet shall ever keep moving forward.”

And then, remembering the words that he had heard from the sage a long, long time ago, the warrior quietly repeated the sounds that echoed in his head, “The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.”

As soon as the words ended, there was a great gust of wind which shook all the leaves. The warrior calmly looked about him, and then as the wind blew into his face, the warrior was forced to shut his eyes for a split second.

The moment he opened his eyes, he was back in the quiet, dark forest. There was no more light anywhere. The dense fog was there once again and an eerie silence had descended upon the forest.

The warrior slowly sheathed his sword and continued on his quest. The promise that he had made to the princess was yet unbroken.