Exhaustion was beginning to wear on Amalia’s bones. She could feel a jab of pain each time she swayed and shuffled on her horse. The dirt road she was traveling on was only a small part of the journey that she had been on for almost the past two weeks.
The sun was setting to the point where only slivers of light could be seen in between the trees. As the sky gradually shifted from light to dark, time started to feel slower and the air felt colder and stiller as the sun took with its warmth, leaving only an unsettling chill behind.
She hadn’t seen any other travelers for miles and the feeling of being so alone heightened her wariness of the forest surrounding her. The silence surrounding her wasn’t one of serenity, it felt like a cold, empty void that threatened to drag her into its darkness. She could feel the woods calling to her, telling her to stray from the path and yield to the curiosity of what there could be inside the deep, dark depths of the trees. Wonderful, terrible things, she thought.
Something’s out there. I can feel it. They can sense me. They can smell me. They know I’m here.
She knew the dangers of riding alone at night, but the situation was dire, and she needed to reach Bucharest by tomorrow. Tomorrow will be the thirteenth night. Things could go from bad to worse with so much bad luck attached to one number.
She touched the amulet around her neck and the swirling tattoos along her wrists. It protected from malevolent spirits and the tattoos heightened her perceptiveness and extrasensory perception. “Protect me mother and give me strength father,” she whispered.
The next town was only 15 miles away. Perhaps she could find an inn to stay in for the night.
The moon was high in the sky, illuminating the path she was on in silver light. With each minute passing by it felt like the forest was reaching out to her like shadowy hands. She saw quick flashes of glowing eyes and wispy faces that disappeared as soon as she saw them. Around her, the leaves rustled faintly in a way that almost sounded like…
She knew it could be anything. She had traveled around towns, around villages, and even around countries to know that the world was much more than just rustling leaves and an overactive imagination. The world of magic and monsters was a place unknown to most people, yet for her, it was a world she sought to explore and understand while others more often than not sought to push away and ignore.
She stilled her mind, breathing deeply to slow her racing heart. She concentrated on the trotting of her horse and the wind blowing through her hair.
Almost there. Only half an hour, she thought
Along the path, she saw a willowy figure standing in the middle of the road. It was a woman, her hair unkempt and blowing gently through the wind.
There was only one path forward. Amalia cautiously approached the unknown woman. She could feel waves of dread emanating from her.
The woman raised her head.
Amalia’s stomach dropped. This isn’t right. This isn’t right. THIS ISN’T RIGHT.
The woman’s eyes were hollow voids. There was nothing inside of them. Where the white pupil was supposed to be, stretched an endless sea of black.
Inside of Amalia’s head, the growing sense of disquiet became blaring alarm bells that told her to turn back.
She fought the urge to run away. It could only be here if something bad has happened or will happen. Fear and worry began to run through her veins.
She, the thing was the only shell that existed as a physical embodiment of dread. It was a forbearer and omen of something terrible to come.
When she was only an arm’s length away from the Trisgol, she found the sense of disturbing disquiet inside of her reach its peak.
With its head upturned and eyes staring blankly in the direction of the path forward, it asked in a dead voice, “Are you sure?”
It slowly turned to face Amalia. For a moment they stood there, the empty eyes of the Trisgol staring into Amalia’s brown eyes. She knew what the Trisgol being here meant. It was an omen. But for what? she asked herself.
The amulet at her chest began to glow warmly, shaking her from her trance. She had to keep going. A Trisgol can’t hurt me. They can’t touch me, she reassured herself.
With a soft kick to her horse, she sped away from the spirit, even more eager to get away from this forest and its lurking spirits.
As she rode away, she quickly glanced back and saw that the Trisgol was still looking straight at her, a grim smile on its face as if to confirm to her what she already knew.
Something terrible is yet to come.