A Headstrong Youth
Part 2
Three days passed, all spent pretending that he accepted his master’s words. Yavan had kept an eye on him at first but had somehow decided that all was well despite Joren being, as a general rule, a rather poor liar. Maybe he was getting better at it? He wasn’t sure he liked that idea but disregarded its implications for the time being in favor of the task he had set for himself.
Yavan had gone out that morning to meet some neighboring villagers and instead of accompanying him, Joren was to produce the analysis of murky water samples they had secured the day before in various ditches and streams. However, he had no intention of losing his day in such a way.
Foregoing the usual fastidious procedure of working on samples one at a time, the youth processed all of them at the same time in one rapid sweep. He made use of the short waiting time to quickly gear himself, sporadically keeping tabs on his work to ensure all was well. By mid-morning, he was ready, and set off for the woods fully prepared for both an investigation or a fight.
The day was bright and sunny but the further Joren penetrated into the forest, the darker it seemed to become. As the trees appeared increasingly covered in the telltale black moss, it also grew thick and fat on their trunks. Tree leaves changed to darker shades of their original color and everything seemed to absorb the light in such a way that by the time the trunks were covered up to an adult’s chest in moss, the gloom had become oppressing.
Despite his regret at foregoing the necessities for a torch, Joren pressed on. Glancing about, he felt the weight of the strange silence as though it were about to swallow him up. Still, determined and dutiful, he did not shiver.
He did however jolt in surprise when a sideways glance fell upon a cavern that hadn’t been there a moment ago; one that had every aspect of the ground breaking out into a foul gaping maw of earth and stone.
Joren stared into the darkness and swallowed with more difficulty than he would care to admit. He couldn’t shake off the impression of looking upon a festering wound that had split the earth. Nevertheless, his resolve was unwavering and he stepped slowly towards the entrance in order to investigate, careful of where he trod. He overstepped moss covered protruding roots that crowded the ground and stopped just before crossing the entrance, unsure. There was something unsettling about the impenetrable darkness within that made him hesitate.
“You’re right not to want to go inside,” said a voice beside him.