Time is a master all its own, and it does not halt or wait for anyone. The seasons marched in one big circle relentlessly, passing through the world again and again. The ebb and flow of life never stopped, and that which was lost returned.

  Nature was nothing if not enduring. After so many years, all evidence of any fires were buried beneath new growth as the trees and plants capitalized on the freshly cleared ground to spread. Humans didn’t easily give up as well. Whether from stubbornness or determination, no one could rightly say, but the village that had been reduced to ash and cinders was steadily rebuilt, larger than it once was.

  The discovery of the destroyed village was horrifying to those who found it. While it was easy to see that they were raided, a mystery still presented itself. The inhabitants were found laid out with respect some distance from the village in orderly rows. It looked to have been done with great care, which begged the question of who did it?

  It wasn’t the only mystery that had emerged in the years following the reconstruction of the village. From the moment people began to rebuild, and especially after they moved in, they began to see strange things in the woods. Shadows moved out of the corner of people’s eyes, small tools or objects would go missing overnight, people would report odd tracks of markings in the woods, and animal bone effigies would be found on the other side of the river.

  Naturally, rumors and superstitions would grow from all these occurrences. People talked about curses, witches and demons roaming the woods, though none of it was confirmed and nothing really bad ever happened to them. It became part of the folklore. Wander too deep into the forest, and you’ll never come out again. The stories created an invisible wall, one that kept people away from the other side of the river.

  A decade after the rebuilding of the village, it had grown to be nearly large enough to be counted as a town. The buildings were bigger, sturdier, and capable of housing larger families. New production centers were created. Blacksmiths, logging mills, miners who prospected the surrounding land. All these and more were a sign of growth and prosperity, despite the troubled past.

  The villagers lived their lives happily enough. There were lean times, and times of plenty, but their lives were stable, and they were generally content. Most of the people’s problems were personal in nature, not very concerning in the grand scheme of things.

  On a normal morning in this village, the residents went about their daily chores and jobs with hardly a care in the world. Amongst those who left the village for their jobs, few went too deep into the woods for fear of the curse that hung about them. This made the sight of a young women walking confidently into the trees all the stranger.

  Fiora was never one to believe superstition or rumors. Her father, an apothecary, was a knowledgeable man despite his training under the tutelage of the church. Sure, he had his faith, but he also believed that there was logic in the world, and mysteries were just riddles that had yet to be solved. This mindset had been passed on to Fiora, and she liked looking at things that way as well.

  At seventeen years of age, she was more than old enough to be married, and yet she remained single. It wasn’t because of her looks. In fact, she was quite sought after. Her brown hair was straight and usually tied in a ponytail that touched the small of her back. Her fair skin was smooth as her lithe body had just enough curve to it to be considered highly attractive. Lastly, she was one of the more educated individuals in the village thanks to her father who taught her how to read and write from a young age.

  By all measures, she was one of the most sought-after women in the village, but she remained single for one simple reason. The men of the village were nothing but a bunch of boar-headed fools, in her humble opinion. They lusted after any woman than fell within their lecherous gaze. Sure, a few of them were attractive themselves, but hideous on the inside as there was not an ounce of romance or tact rattling about in their empty heads. All she wanted was a half-decent man that could romance her and didn’t act like she owed them her attention, but at this point it was looking like she would have to go to the city to find anyone like that.

  She was going into the woods this morning in search of some herbs that her father needed. They were fairly common, so she didn’t expect to be gone for very long as she walked the well-worn trail toward the riverbanks. This path formed naturally over the years as people came and went through the forest. It was convenient, that was for sure, as it basically made it impossible to get lost.

  Fiora liked the sound of the river as the water babbled and flowed. It was a nice day, and the perfect condition to find the herbs she was looking for as she looked through the growths nearby. There were some healthy samples around, and she took clippings of many of them, sorting them into her bag for later. She idly hummed a tune while she worked, enjoying the process as the smell of some of the plants soothed her.

  A few minutes into collecting, she heard the shuffling of dirt and the snapping of twigs from a short distance away. Startled, she turned quickly only to grimace as she saw two young men with which she was painfully familiar. Cassian and Bertram were there in all their smug, confident glory as they sauntered closer with the grace of your average pig. Fiora had been the subject of their oafish attempts at courting for the last few weeks, and the dogged fools were exceptionally stubborn.

  The two of them were brothers, which explains the irritatingly similar attitude they shared. Cassian was a dark blonde with trim features that were conventionally attractive. It was just a shame that he thought so too. Bertram had light brown hair and was a bit heavier set than his brother, carrying a slight pudge to his face and his belly. He liked to live off their father’s name, leveraging it to practically extort services and goods out of other people. Fiora did not fancy spending any amount of time in the company of either of them and quickly began to pack up her things so she might be done with the inevitable conversation as soon as possible.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Cassian approached with arms wide and a confident smirk. “Fiora! There’s the fair maiden I was looking for.”

  Those were honeyed words coating an onion, and she knew it well enough. “Really? Are you sure you’re not confusing me for the other three ‘fair maidens’ you were looking for yesterday?” Fiora replied flatly.

  Cassian was momentarily put on the back foot by her biting comment, which allowed his brother the opportunity to speak next. “My brother was never one for originality in his words. Perhaps you might consider an evening with me instead? I’m certain I could provide for your every desire. As my father is the alderman, I have plenty of access to luxuries not available to most.”

  Fiora regarded Bertram with disinterest bordering on contempt. He once pressured her father into making him a tonic that would ‘enhance his male prowess’. Naturally he didn’t pay for it as the ‘honor of serving the alderman’s family’ would be enough recompense.

  “Yes, I’ve heard of your ‘luxuries’ that you make use of,” she replied snidely. “Tell me, did the tonic my father made for you help you get it up?”

  Bertram’s face dropped into an offended scowl, but his red ears told her everything she needed to know.

  “Come now, Fiora,” Cassian tried again. “You’re being far too unreasonable for your own good. Our family is wealthy. Our house is always warm, our pantries full; if you would just accept my offer, then I will see to it that you need not worry about your future ever again.”

  She sighed while rolling her eyes. “Yes, your hearth is warm, your heart is cold, and your loins are evidently lacking if the barmaid is to be believed. Impotency and inadequacy; what a pair.” Her scathing review of the witless duo left the both of them red in the face for a variety of reasons now.

  She adjusted the strap for her bag as she began to walk away. “If that is all, I very much would like to return home now. Excuse me, sirs.”

  As she tried to make her exit from this horrid scene, Cassian lunged forward and grabbed her by the wrist with an unyielding grip. She was startled, and tried to tug away from him, but he would not let her go.

  “You’re a stubborn girl, Fiora, and foolish to boot. We can give you everything you could ever want, and you think you can spit in our faces as we show you such favor? Do you think yourself to be better than us? Too good for us?”

  She was starting to get scared as Bertrem moved behind her, blocking the way toward the village. “Unhand me at once! Are you truly such a savage that you would lay hands on a lady in such a way?”

  “All I see is a bitch who doesn’t know a good thing when it’s offered to her. Perhaps you simply need to be taught the benefits of cooperation?”

  He began to grab at her waist, pulling her forcefully toward him as she yelped in protest. Her arms were under his control as she squirmed to get away, but her legs were still free to act. She brought a knee up and landed a blow on Cassian’s groin. The man growled in pain, but it wasn’t enough to slip out of his grasp as his eyes burned with fury.

  “You whore!” With brutish strength he threw her to the ground, her bag falling to the wayside as she tried to scramble back to her feet. Cassian grabbed her by her legs before she could and dragged her across the ground as he climbed on top of her. She screamed out, but nobody was around but them.

  As she fought with Cassian, he called out to his brother. “Hold her arms, Bertrem.”

  “Get off me you bastard!” She screamed at him to little effect as Bertrem grabbed her hands, pinning them down above her head and allowing his brother more freedom to do as he wished.

  Cassian had a sickening grin on his face as he began to undo the clasp of his belt. “I’ll show you inadequate.”

  Fiora writhed and squirmed and shouted, but none of it did any more than slow Cassian down. Just as his hand grabbed the bottom of her dress and began to lift it up, there was a dull thud followed a grunt of pain as Cassian collapsed to the ground, bleeding on the side of his head as he rolled around groaning. A small rock that could fit easily in the palm of one’s hand bounced off the ground at the same time, evidently the cause.

  Everything stopped for a moment as Fiora and Bertrem both looked at Cassian and his injury, stunned. After a few heartbeats, Bertrem stood up fully, releasing Fiora as he glanced around in a mild panic. Whether that was out of fear of having been caught in the act with his brother was hard to tell, but he looked around the forest as he tried to sound tough and failed.

  “W-Who’s there? Come out now! I-I'm warning you!”

  Nothing happened for a few seconds, but then there was another thud as Bertrem let out a grunt of pain this time. A slightly larger rock had struck him in the center of the chest, causing him to stagger backward before tripping and falling into the dirt. Coughing, gasping, and now in a panic, Bertrem scrambled to his brother, grabbing the stunned individual and slowly pulling him back onto his feet as more rocks landed around them.

  The duo staggered to their feet and ran away like a pair of drunks in the night as dirt was kicked up all around them from rocks seemingly falling from the sky. Fiora kept low as she watched it all happen and noticed that all the improvised projectiles were coming from the opposite side of the river. A loud crack was heard as a fist sized rock collided with a tree near the retreating brothers, scaring them off for good as they ran like their lives depended on it.

  After they were gone, it was eerily quiet in the forest save for the constant babble of the river. Fiora remained on the ground, a little fearful of the possibility that the rocks would start to fall around her now. After a minute of continued silence and no more falling rocks, she dared to stand up again.

  Her eyes scanned the tree line on the other side of the river, but she could not see who had been throwing the stones. She had always been under the impression that the strange sightings from the other side of the river were most likely a hermit who wanted to be left alone, even if they took strange steps toward ensuring that they were. It was bizarre, but it was more plausible than curses in her mind.

  Whatever the case was, she had been saved by whomever was throwing the rocks. Not really knowing what to think of that, she awkwardly bowed her head in the general direction.

  “T-Thank you!” she said a little loudly in hopes that her rescuer would hear.

  She felt a little embarrassed to be bowing to somebody she couldn’t see, but she did it anyway. After what felt like an appropriate amount of time giving her thanks, she righted her posture and grabbed her bag, reorganizing the herbs she had gathered. Leaving the scene with a slight haste to her steps, she cast nervous glances behind her as she walked back down the trail.

  Across the river, red eyes hidden amongst the forest growth watched her as she left. Daegal had been witness to most of that scene. All he wanted was to catch his damn breakfast and instead he had his whole morning spoiled. He rolled a few rocks around in his hand, trying to calm himself down. In the end he huffed derisively as he tossed the rocks aside in disgust. His appetite was ruined, and he hated that. Trudging back through his territory, he grumbled to himself as he went with disappointment, and maybe a tinge of sadness as well.

  “They never change.”