The Forest of Cigam (IV)

Incase you missed Part One, Two or Three.

Over the next couple of days, the town became eerily quiet. I guessed it had a lot to do with the ashen forest nearby. All the wildlife and creatures that had inhabited it moved on to greener pastures, literally.

The only problem I saw was that my cash cow had burned to a crisp. Now, I needed to find a new source of income before my riches ran out.

So that morning, I took a walk to the market in hopes of finding inspiration for my next profession. Most of the stalls seemed to be cleared out or not yet open, which was quite peculiar since it was almost noon.

But the longer I stayed out, the more people came out to do their daily business. The whole town seemed hung over with everyone nursing headaches and talking in pained whispers.

I was just about to head home when a voice called out to me.

“There you are,” Jasen shouted from across the marketplace and then jogged up to me with an ashen expression of exhaustion.

“Um, yeah?” I said with a furrowed brow in confusion.

“I was at your house and you weren’t there. I checked the tavern, and you weren’t there. This was the last place I thought to check.” He explained through laboured breaths.

“Okay,” I replied with a guarded expression, not sure what to expect.

“I need more of that… Stuff.” He explained cryptically as he looked around to see if anyone was listening in on our conversation.

I glanced around too but saw nothing suspicious, then began walking home. “The tree burned down, I can’t make anymore.” I explained with exasperation.

“Okay but, can’t we just find another tree?” He asked with a breathless voice.

“Another Tree of Life?” I asked in confusion.

“Yeah.” He agreed with a blank expression.

“No.” I stated, “Unless you know of one? But I doubt that there is another one in our valley.” I explained in annoyance.

“Okay fine. I just need one more vial.” He stated in desperation, barely keeping pace with me as we exited the market.

“Like I said, I don’t have anymore so-“

“What about that vial I gifted you?” He interrupted, his eyes delirious with hope.

“What about it?” I asked.

“Did you drink it already? Could I just have a sip? I’ll pay you for a full batch if I could get just one sip.” He sputtered all of that in one breath.

“Yeah… I drank it already.” I lied, not bothering to watch his expression as I did so.

“All of it?” He asked in shock.

“Yeah,” I confirmed as I continued to walk.

“Okay, well, I’ll figure something out then. Maybe someone else knows about another Tree of Life. I’ll get back to you.” He rambled and took off in the opposite direction.

Which left me in the silence of my boots scraping against the dirt road as I headed for home.

Moments later, I entered my dwelling and closed the door behind me. Then walked to my bedroom, where I kept my last vial of Life Serum.

There it lay, on my dresser, right where I had left it. Untouched, but it still glowed at me with temptation.

It had only taken a few more days for the news of the serum shortage to become common knowledge. No one hid their use of it anymore. As the townsfolk became more frantic for their next fix, word had gotten out that I was the anonymous source. Which was a problem, considering the events that followed.

Part Five: