Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #14 May 2015 | Page 77

and her heart race. It was worse than having a cup of
coffee. She was wearing a path in the wooden floor
pacing all night. She had to get out and do something.

the rainbow, as the warmth from the morning started
to wake up the field. The light bounced off the dew
drops, making it seem almost magical and filling
Angwenth with happiness as she took a deep breath of
fresh air. While all the creatures slept the forest almost
seemed peaceful.

Fresh trees and morning dew filled the air, calming
Angwenth down as she walked as quiet as she could
along the forest path. Despite the multiple warnings
to never go in the forest, and the dangerous beasts,
Angwenth loved the forest. She would come out
here whenever she got a chance, in hopes of just a
brief time of no people, no talking, and no noise. The
darkness pressed in on her, but Angwenth followed a
familiar path for now and had no fears of getting lost.
Her anger level was dangerously high. Any higher and
she’d lose control, again. She wouldn’t make rational
decisions or find anything useful if that happened. She
had time before dawn either way, no point searching
in the dark and a light source would only draw attention from the wild life. Angwenth wanted to make it to
her little home away from home and wait for morning’s light, hoping that being in the midst of the forest
before those in charge of the dog fights even woke
would give her an advantage. Once there was some
natural light she could search for clues without being
caught. At least that was the plan.
Angwenth had taken her time to reach her destination, wanting to soak in the silence before having to
get back to work. When she had reached the familiar
clearing the moon was starting to hide from view.
She glanced at the moss-covered rock in front of her,
finding the worn path where she usually walked, and
followed it up to the top. At the highest point it plateaued for a few feet, providing a perfect place to sit,
rest, and enjoy the world around her. This was where
Angwenth retreated to get time away from the busy
life of the village, or away from her nagging mother about why she didn’t have a husband yet. No one
knew about this spot, not even Grey. Though Grey
would never come into the forest if he could help it,
Phadera forbid he got dirty.
She smiled as she sat down and glanced over the
edge. The sun was starting to rise, the light dancing
across the trees and hitting the flowers just right. The
field under the ledge started to shine with colours of

It took her a few moments to pull herself away from
the sight, but slowly she pushed herself off the floor.
She walked away from her love and towards the northern part of the forest. She was assuming that the men
would want to stay hidden but still near the edge of the
forest. There was no way a man like the coward from
the market would stray too far into any of the forests,
let alone Evanui’ Edra. Her spot wasn’t far from the
edge, but had a few tricky manoeuvres to reach it safely, usually avoiding any visitors.
Angwenth headed back towards the edge, following
it north. The light helped her as she stepped around
trees, over roots, and avoided possible injury-inducing
obstacles. She kept her eyes on the ground, looking for
signs of humans or beasts in the forest.
After walking for a little while she ducked through a
bush and took a step forward. Her eyes landed on the
back of a greenish skinned beast that stood over eight
feet high. Its back was bare, and it wore a tattered
pair of pants that would fit Angwenth four times in
one leg. Angwenth froze. Troll. The beast was faced
away, his giant three fingered hands wrapping around
a tree and shaking it violently. Small fruit fell from the
tree, a few hitting the creature on the head though the
troll seemed to ignore them, smile, and shake the tree
again.
Trolls weren’t smart but from personal experience Angwenth knew they were quick to explode with anger.
Sounds familiar. Maybe I’m part troll. Little things
could trigger their anger, and startling them was one
of those triggers. Angwenth took a step back, hoping
to escape before it caught scent of her. As her foot
slipped back, it landed on a branch, and before she
could stop her weight from pushing all the way down
a loud snap echoed throughout the forest.
The troll paused, tilting its head to lift an ear up to the

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