Midas

“Please, not here… not now.”

The night air was cold and unforgiving on thirteen-year-old Ada Rolfe’s skin, as she lay freezing on the rigid earth, lost somewhere amidst the miles of dense forest.

In a way, she knew she should’ve expected this. The chances of her surviving through the accursed forest alone were extremely slim, the chances of her siblings and sickly mother surviving without her even lower. It was this thought that Ada feared more than the threat of death looming in the breeze, chilling her to her bones every time it blew past.

12 hours ago she set foot in the forest, with the sun still high in the sky before it disappeared above the densely packed trees. Before she’d entered into the shadowy thicket, she took one last look at her family’s cottage, where her mother lay on the brink of death, and her young siblings watched the process helplessly. Ada knew she may be her family’s only hope of survival, and if she failed to make it through, they would all fail to make it through.

It was this knowledge she used as motivation to walk the unmerciful path of the wilderness, miles through the woods to the cabin of a healer called Midas, ostracized from their village long ago due to accusations of being involved with black magic. Midas had been acquaintanced with Ada’s father before his death, and had been close with their family until then.

The last time Ada had seen Midas was three years ago, at her father’s funeral. After that, he disappeared into the forest. Ada’s mother refused to speak of the death or how it happened, and probably never would.

Of course the primary reason to visit Midas was to get medicine for her mother, but Ada also hoped that maybe he could clear up some of the obscurity surrounding her father’s death. But now, as she lay near-death on the forest floor, strayed far from the path, she feared maybe she would never know. Another wind blows in, and Ada shivers even more vigorously. She is out of strength, cold and tired. The sound of some large creature rummaging through the forest can be heard behind her, but she doesn’t care.

She thinks about her mother, so sick she’s unable to get out of bed, always slipping in and out of consciousness, and is afraid that she feels the same- too fatigued to get up, too hopeless, and too afraid. The forest is big and dark and full of the unknown, she would probably end up better dying, lying against the tree than mauled to death by some wild animal.

Ada felt herself slipping into sleep, closing her eyes and her mind drifting off, thinking about her father and his experience in these woods, the enigma of his death. He was healthy and strong, there was no reason for him to die so quickly. While Ada’s mother had a tendency to avoid the woods, her father thrived in it- on multiple occasions bringing her along with him to hunt. He taught her to use a bow and arrow and how to stay safe in the woods. If only that knowledge was applicable now.

Ada drifted off while thinking fondly of her memories in the forest with her father- they never went very deep in the woods, definitely not to the point where she was now. Looking back, it felt similar to swimming playfully and happily in the shallow water of the beach, unaware of the tide underneath and the bleakness and ruthlessness of the open ocean.

She wasn’t sure how long she slept, when she awoke to the sound of a branch breaking in half right behind her. Her eyes flew open, and suddenly she experienced a sinking feeling in her chest. The sense of a wicked and evil presence crept up on her, something unlike she had ever felt before. Paralyzed with fear, Ada knew she had to get away, but couldn’t find it in her to move a muscle.

She sat leaning against the tree for what felt like an eternity, still freezing cold, still hungry and tired, but filled with a sudden adrenaline and fear that she’d never experienced before, but still couldn’t bring herself to move.

The sense of dread grew more overwhelming each second that she sat doing nothing. Something in the dark was aware of her presence, something malicious, something evil and innate to the heart of this forest.

For a second, Ada was afraid she had already lost, that she was already doomed to die, to leave her family behind, to lose all hope of her mother ever recovering or ever finding out what happened to her father. The air around her grew more frigid, and Ada closed her eyes again, for what she truly believed would be the last time ever.

She sat waiting for it to consume her, already accepting her fate and already given up, when she heard a sudden sound, somewhere in front of her. In the trees above, she could barely make out a barn owl from the faint light of the moon through the trees. The owl stared at her, calling her, as if it were telling her not to give up yet. As though it were beckoning her to follow it.

Ada could only stare at first, but when she heard another branch break somewhere behind her, she jumped up and sprinted after the owl, unsure of how she found the energy inside of her. The owl jumped off the branch and flew deeper into the woods, Ada running after it. She almost felt that the owl wasn’t running away from her chasing it, but leading her somewhere, instead.

Ada wasn’t sure how long she had been running when she found the forest path again, but her lungs were burning with pain. She collapsed on the ground to catch her breath. She stayed sitting there for a bit, relieved, still tired but carrying a new kind of energy and a new kind of motivation. When she opened her eyes and stood up, the owl was gone, and the sky a faint blue.

Somehow, she knew she was in the right spot, and started down the path as the sun began to rise. Not long after, she found an old cabin the path led to.

She walked up to the door and knocked, and Midas answered.

Ada explained the situation with her mother and the medicine she needed. Midas happily obliged, and asked her concernedly how she’d gotten here safely on her own.

Ada didn’t explain all that had happened, because she didn’t really even understand herself. “I guess it was just luck.”

Before Ada left, Midas said he had one thing to give her, and that he should’ve given it to their family three years ago. He handed Ada a box.

“Inside is your father’s belongings. I’ve been meaning to give these to your family since his funeral. I apologize for not doing it sooner.”

“Midas… Do you know how my father died?”

“Ada, there is something most people have been reluctant to tell you, but considering you’ve already survived through the forest once, it’s better that you know. There is a dark force contained in this forest- an ancient evil that has been here since the beginning of time. You are very lucky to have survived through the night. Inside the box, there is also a vial which contains material to keep the dark force at ease. As long as you keep that with you, it won’t bother you.”

Thanking Midas for his help, Ada then set off, but not before looking in the box herself. In it, she found a journal of her fathers, and a barn owl feather.