Merrin sat on the wall of the apple orchard and waited for the sun to finally set. Soon the guards would stop patrolling the area, their fear for what lurked in the trees at night outweighing the minimal compensation they received from Lady Machelle. But Merrin wasn’t worried about these so-called ‘dangers’, he’d spent enough time in the dark of the forest to know that the only thing to be afraid of was the wild animals, and they never entered the orchard.
Well, apart from the squirrels and birds, but Merrin was at least ninety-nine percent sure that he could beat a squirrel.
He heard the gate creak close, and the light from the last guard’s lantern began to disappear down the path back towards the town. As soon as the guard was out of sight, Merrin grabbed the empty lantern that was by his feet and grabbed the tinderbox from his pocket. He opened up the lantern and blindly fumbled to ignite the the candle inside.
As he did so, he felt a sudden chill in the air beside him. A wet, cold feeling brushed over his hand and began to wrap around his wrist. The coldness seeped into his bones and began to run up his arm towards his chest.
‘Ryth…’ Merrin said in warning. ‘I need to light the lantern, otherwise I can’t see.’
The coldness disappeared as Ryth withdrew his talon-like fingers from Merrin’s wrist. Once the feeling was gone, Merrin was able to light the lantern. The orange glow illuminated the edge of the forest…
[to be continued]
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