Black Woods by Jack O'Donnell

Author:Jack O'Donnell [O'Donnell, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, dark fantasy
Publisher: ODONNELL BOOKS
Published: 2018-09-20T04:00:00+00:00

THE VILLAGE OF FALLING STREAM

A TAKAN VILLAGE - DAY

Rin walked briskly through the Takan village of Falling Stream. All around him, Takans were working, gossiping, living out their day, blissfully unaware of the horrors lurking behind the scenes of their tranquil lives. Several Takan children raced past him, hitting a ball with a stick. Rin watched them wistfully, pausing in his quick pace for just a brief moment, then hurried on his way.

TAKAN SCHOOL - DAY

Rin walked down the empty hallway, passing classroom doors, hearing the sounds of students at work coming from some of the open doorways. He stopped before a wall filled with sketches of young Takans, drawings of all the students who had attended classes at the school. He found a drawing of Alaysia, Joktala, and himself, all positioned beneath the picture of their Teacher, an older Takan male named Nakarian.

Rin heard another Teacher’s voice, a female Takan voice, drift out of the nearby classroom. “The Rangers have discovered a new growth of Black Woods near Luxen Pass,” the female voice said. “Please avoid that area until we tell you otherwise.

Rin moved on. He walked up to an open classroom door and peered cautiously inside, craning his neck to look into the room but keeping his body back as far from the doorway as he could to avoid being seen.

*****

Teacher Nakarian, whose sketch Rin had just seen in the hallway, sat before his students, a group of young male and female Takan children, ranging from seven to thirteen seasons old. Nakarian had aged well; only a few more new wrinkles were visible on his face that weren’t visible in the portrait in the hallway.

“My mother says the Black Woods are full of strange plants and that’s where the PowderKeepers get all their magic from,” one young male student said.

Nakarian scowled at the student. He rose up from his seat and stood before the class. “I’ll have no talk of PowderKeepers in this classroom, do you understand me? Only the desperate or the deranged use their…” He paused as he searched for a word. “…services.” He glanced over his classroom, looking from student to student. “And, please, let’s stop this foolish talk of magic once and for all. There is not, nor has there ever been, such a thing.”

“Then how do you explain the Black Woods?” a young female student asked.

“The Black Woods are the lingering aftermath of the great Alchemy Wars,” Nakarian said. “It wasn’t magic. It was the misuse of knowledge. The misuse of science. They are a reminder to us of the evil and violence of warfare. They only grow where horrible atrocities occurred. They only spread where the dark weapons of the Worzons were used. They only thrive where the blood-soaked memories of murder stain the soil.” Nakarian paused, again looking from student to student, making sure each young Takan was paying attention to him. “That is why we do not enter them.”

“A friend of my Clan brother said his father’s blood sister saw a Worzon hole at the edge of the Black Woods near Mirahk village,” another male student chimed in.

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