Talation sat alone in front of the fireplace in his living room. The rug was already warm from the past few hours steady heat from the fireplace. It was a welcome feeling compared to the harsh chill of the stone floor, and Tal was more thankful than ever that the layout of his house meant the single fireplace was enough to heat every room at once.
He’d spent the whole day in the garden tending to his plants and making sure that the baby trees were still all in their supports and hadn’t been knocked over by any of the baby bears roaming the woodlands at this time of year.
The house was completely quiet other than the subtle crackle of the fire, and Tal leant back on his hands and closed his eyes. He enjoyed the quiet of the forest, he wasn’t made for busy cities or bustling towns. The village people were usually too keen to be in his business, and even the settlements saw far too many travellers these days. But out in the forest there was no one else to bother him. Any visitors he did get were either of the wild variety or the rogue mage just looking for the various plants that Tal grew.
Sure, living out in the middle of nowhere had its downsides such as the fact that Tal had to walk for three days just to get to the nearby town for any supplies he might’ve needed that he wasn’t able to grow himself. And of course there was the slight issue of the fact that wild animals didn’t always make for the best neighbours, especially when they decided to help themselves to his fruit and vegetables.
But he could deal with that so long as it meant he got to live in solitude.
Though the silence of the forest wasn’t always good.
As Talathion listened to the crackling fire, he heard something else from outside. It was a strange, unnatural sound that seemed to echo from all around the house. Tal tried to ignore it, he really did. The last thing he wanted to do was go out into the forest night…
[to be continued]
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