The Burning Forest : Chapter 1

“We’re losing her dammit!”
His eyes were sore and had dark circles around them.
“She’s stable but she’s not responding.”
His hands shook violently in front of him.
“Damn, she’s not waking up.”
He was in the waiting room many meters away but every word seemed to float into his ears and tears started to form.
“Mr. Damien!” a man clad in white with patches of blood splashed across his midsection shouted.
He got up quickly only to look unsure if he was the one being called. He stood there dizzy and holding his head till the voice repeated his name.
He was still disoriented but he managed to cross the distance between himself and the doctor before he walked into the room to see what he wanted.
“She’s fine Mr. Damien but…” the man said with a face one would have; if they were reciting news from the paper. His words trailed off as Damien stumbled towards his wife who lay quietly on the bed in the middle of the room and cupped her soft, pale face in his hands.
“Liz, please can you hear me?” he asked her with the welled tears now streaming down his face. “I’m so sorry, Liz. I’m so sorry,” he said before his knees buckled and he knelt beside his comatose wife. The doctor stood behind him, more interested in getting home for microwaved instant noodles and shuffled impatiently in place.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Damien.” He said with a seemingly rehearsed voice. “Your wife is in good hands till she gets better.”
Damien broke completely and cried on the cold, tiled floor. There’s something about the sound of a grown man crying that breaks the hardest heart. This was the case in the waiting room as everyone now had tears dripping onto their laps. Damien remained there until he could cry no more. By that time, the waiting room was empty.

The sound of glass shattering jolted Damien to consciousness. Thick stubble had grown across his face and sweat had stained his clothes around his pits and neck. He painfully opened his eyes and looked around his living room. He had sold everything he had to pay for his wife’s care in the hospital. All he had now was the bottle on the coffee table in front of him. He snatched it as though his enemy had asked for a gulp and drank loudly. The brown liquid ran down the side of his face and down his chest. He winced painfully and looked at his foot. It had been cut by the glass he had kicked earlier and was bleeding considerably. He dragged it through the shards and managed to cut himself more before he limped to the bathroom. He turned the knobs and placed his foot in the bath. He clenched his jaw as his foot went into the freezing water. The water hadn’t run for a minute before the tap seemed to cough and brown, muddy water began to pour into his tub. He recoiled quickly trying to get his foot out but slipped on the rug below him. He fell hard on his back and sighed loudly.
“You’ve hit rock bottom.” a voice said to him.
“Get lost.” he snarled angrily.
“Now is that any way to talk to your sister?” the voice asked seeming to mock him.
“Half- sister and what have you ever done for me?” he spat before struggling to look at his tormentor.
“Who got you the “independence” you wanted?” the voice asked before making its owner visible.
She was lean and tall with wings half the length of her body. Her makeup was thick and poorly done and her right eye seemed to be caked in powder to the point he wondered if it was even open. Her bones pushed through her skin and a gaunt figure with sunken eyes and large cheekbones stared at him. What annoyed him the most was the glass pipe she sucked on with the white substance he had grown to fear burning within.
“Look who’s talking about rock bottom. You are the living definition of bad choices.” he said almost sadly “What would make you take up crack?”
“It calms me,” she said casually. “How did the Queen’s son end up nose deep in debt with a wife in a coma?”
“So nobles don’t have health problems?” he asked before the depth of her words sunk in and he grabbed at the collar of her withered dress that was now too big for her. “Where were you when I needed you? Even a warning that this was going to happen would have been enough!”
“I warned you never to leave your mother’s side. Yet you chose the life of a commoner and ran away with a girl who evil has chased since she turned eighteen.”
“What do you mean by evil?” he asked genuinely worried.
“Get off me and I’ll tell you.” she said slightly irritated by his outburst.
“Your wife’s life has been one of misery and loss. Her father and mother perished in a fire that only burned the room they were in. She was taken into foster care before she escaped from her new abusive parents and looked for solace in the houses of strangers.
Damien sat on the ground and stared at her hoping she would get past what he already knew and to what was important.
“Your wife stumbled upon the acquaintance of a man named Draug; A powerful Halfling with a craving for human women.”
“A Halfling means he’s a hybrid, but of what?”
“He’s half man and half dragon,” his sister said grimly.
Damien’s eyes widened at the thought of a man that could burn him with only a breath.
“He needed a bride. Yet his burning seed would scorch the wombs of the unworthy.
“By unworthy, you mean people that were not a match for his impregnation.”
“Precisely”
“He took a liking for the young Elizabeth but the price for her rent was a daily offering of a young lady.”
“What the hell are you saying?” he said more shocked than anything. “Are you implying that my wife kidnapped people for this man?
“I’m saying your wife was an accomplice to murder. These women were found with a burning hole in their bellies.”
“No, she would never do this. My wife is the sweetest person I’ve met in my life. She’s a pediatrician for fuck's sake. You’re telling me she killed people?
“Elizabeth was a murderer, but she soon got sick of it and prayed for the day she would escape.”
“What part of this story has to do with her coma?” he asked getting impatient from this story that changed the way he saw his wife in the corner of his mind.
“Draug’s eyes soon fell on your wife Liz, who grew ever more beautiful by the day. In a blind flush of lust, he forced himself on her and she bore him a son.”
“You’re not saying what I think you’re saying?” Damien said as his fingernails dug into his palms.
“Aye he did the deed and soon Elizabeth became nothing more than a baby maker to him. As soon as his son was born, she fled from his kingdom and ended up here with you.”
“So if he can’t have her, nobody can right?”
“Right, he’s nothing but a selfish lizard.”
“What a dark cloud my wife’s life has been.” he said as tears welled up in his eyes.
“We all have dark pasts, my boy.” She said with a downcast look. “Your wife’s just happens to be the most contrasted to her present life.
“So what can I do about her now?” he said as tears streamed down his face. “I don’t care what she did before she met me, I just know I love her and I need her to be off that bed and in my arms again.”
“I understand my boy, but I can promise it’s not going to be a walk in the park. Your wife is dying and it’s the influence of someone who will never give up.”
“That’s where Draug connects in all this. Where can I find him?”
“He lives in a dark forest full of people with abilities like us. Full of wicked people who the evil of the overgrowth has made deep roots in their hearts.”
“I’ll do anything to save my wife.” he said as his voice quivered in his throat.
“You know what you will need to do when you finally catch up to this witch?”
“Yes, I have to kill him.” he said slightly more confident.
She nodded and the strap on her left shoulder slid off. She pulled it up before she searched her pockets for what needed to come next. She produced a wand that must have dazzled in its prime yet was now bent and lifeless.
“There’s no doubt he’s watching us now. He would send people to stop you and end your life. You’re too handsome to fit into the rough folks in the woods.” She said before waving the wand in his face and light emanated from what could pass off as a painted stick.
His chiseled features became rugged and his nose bent slightly to resemble a boxer’s. She gave him a scar that ran across his left eye and increased his muscle mass and filled out his arms. Finally, she gave him a thick beard that made him look in general like a woodcutter who had been in a world war.
“Wow,” he said as he looked in the toilet cabinet before almost jumping backward in shock. His regal, clear voice was now husky and baritone. “I’ve lost my powers haven’t I?” he said looking away from the mirror in time to see her heating up her glass pipe again.
“No, you can still manipulate people to do your bidding but it’s restricted to twice a day, nothing more.”
“It will do. Now take me to this forest.” He said pulling a red and black checkered shirt from the dirty laundry and wearing it over his once white shirt.
She shrank to the size of a pencil and flew ahead of him towards the door.
“There’s one question I have to ask Damien. Did you ever use your powers on your wife?”
“The love between us is the stuff of fairytales,” he said as they stepped through the doors and into the cold street. The full moon hung high in the sky, illuminating the man about to risk his life for his wife.
Somewhere deep within the forest, the arrival of Logan was being prepared for. The sky was blood red and the ground was cracked and dry in this strange place. A giant monument stood in the middle of this barren land in the shape of a large flame. Doors opened up to a balcony at the top and a man completely clad in black armor stepped out. His thick black hair ran down the back of his head and alongside his well-trimmed beard. His red eyes were bright and full of a power that his present form hid to a disturbing degree. A large crowd knelt outside and sprang to life the instant his hand went into the air. They screamed and pulled at their hair in nothing more than rags on their bodies.
“Citizens of Ember, I come to you with a sign of warning. A man has chosen to make his way into my kingdom with the intent to end my reign!” he said with a powerful booming voice.
The crowd’s energy suddenly shifted to one of outrage and they expressed their disapproval with shouts and boos.
“On no occasion, must he find solace in your house! Do not offer him hot food to eat or a warm bed to sleep! Death will come instantly to a family that shows him any form of compassion!
The crowd began to grow wild with the excitement of finding this wanted man.
“My word has been passed. Relay to your neighbors” he said finally before walking away from the balcony and back into the room he left earlier.
The room was furnished with the most expensive of items. What really made it his home were the banners that were plastered in every corner. The insignia was a burning tree.
“A young man with features similar to his walked up to him hurriedly.
“Father, does he really mean to kill you?” the young man asked with a slight look of worry on his face
“Indeed he does. Yet his labor shall be in vain.” Draug said as he began to remove his armor.
“What quarrel does he bear with you?” he asked seemingly genuinely worried.
“It’s the other way around my son. He stole your mother,” he said as the red in his eyes glowed brighter.
“What shall you do about him for now? The citizens mustn’t risk their lives against this man.”
“You’re right my son. Tell the general to ready the Hatchlings.”