A loud commotion could be heard within the dense forest, a group of men and women on horseback, thundering through the trees. The woman in the lead in pursuit of the man before them, who was also on horseback, running ahead, laughing maniacally, "We do this every princess! You'll never catch up, this horse can outrun lightning! "
"Ling, you little shit, at some point that horse is going to die and you'll have nothing to run with." She shouted angrily.
"Yes, but that isn't today is it? Today I have a horse, tomorrow I'll have two! " Ling cackled again, "Anyways, I'll see you folks later. I've got what I came here for." He waved a sack in the air then tucked it into his coat.
"Some day, your actions are going to catch up to you" the woman gritted her teeth trying desperately to stay close to Ling.
Ling kicked the horse making it speed up. Rushing so far ahead, in such a short time, the team pursuing him disappeared into the forest as he hurried forward. After some time had passed, he slowed his horse and looked over his shoulder. "Assuming I've lost them, I can rest here" he halted and dismounted his horse, looking back into the direction he came from. The forest was so dense, you couldn't see anything but trees.
"I wonder how long until they do catch me," he mumbled to himself looking around for a moment. "Okay, I'm lost. I better hurry and find my way back, I'm supposed to meet that guy at sundown " He patted around his pockets and clothing. With a look of distress, he took a deep breath and sighed. " Great, I've dropped my compass."
Ling began searching for an opening in the trees to see the sun's position or where he may be, walking for several hours to find his way out. His horse following close behind like a puppy.
Realizing he couldn't use the sun as he normally would, as the trees were so dense, it blocked everything out, and it appeared there was no chance of seeing where he was going either. He started walking aimlessly, trying to think of something that may help him, his horse in tow.
While trying to find his way through the trees and dense undergrowth, voices began echoing through the forest around him, whispering incomprehensible words but making the sounds as though using speech. But, when he'd look around at the voices talking, there was no one there. The further he walked, the louder the disembodied voices seemed to get, until it was as though someone was in his face yelling. This scared him, but Ling kept walking forward, hoping it was just a prank.
A sudden flash of light shone through the trees spooking his horse, it then reared up, squealing wildly, darting away into the trees. Ling turned to grab his horse, but far missed his chance and watched it run off into the distance.
"Shit!" He yelled, looking at where his horse once stood. The voices still relentlessly screaming around him he yelled back, grabbing his head in frustration "SHUT UP!" He yelled in desperation. Turning towards where the light was still shining, he shook his head and looked around for a minute, "well I may as well follow it, since my horse isn't coming back any time soon." He sneered to himself. "If these voices would shut up it would be better"
Ling marched onward, towards the glinting light, as the now screaming voices got louder the closer he got. He soon came upon an old rock wall, upon seeing this, the voices suddenly stopped. Ling looked around shocked by what had just happened. But now, only the trees could be heard blowing in the wind as the deafening silence continued. "Well , that's fucking terrifying." He mumbled to himself, reaching a hand over to the top of the wall. He lifted his body over with ease over the wall and found a stone walkway on the other side, making a path up a large hill, "This feels like a trap," He looked around a bit before walking. "Who builds this is the middle of a forest this big?"
He shrugged to himself, then walked forward with an uncaring demeanor, looking at the trees around him. With time the dense trees started clearing, turning into a field with plants and fruit bearing trees he'd only seen or heard of in books. Awe stricken he continued walking forward, further up the hill. Soon the remnants of a building came into sight. He gazed upwards at the dilapidated mansion, sitting at the very top of the hill.
He turned around to look back down the hill, to see a small silhouette of the town below, through the trees.
"The trees are so tall you'd never see this from the village below." He looked with feeling of reverence, appreciating what little view he could see. Knowing he could now find his way back, he then turned back around and walked towards the building on the hill, looking around at the luxurious fruit bearing trees, and the rock wall surrounding it.
"This feels, almost like that stupid story my grandmother used to tell me as a child" He whispered to himself. He looked around a bit longe, then made up his mind to see if his instincts were right. He took a deep breath, then began walking towards the dilapidated building.
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