Beyond the Forest

Sayren swung his sword in a wide arc, bringing down yet another enemy. This one had taken more force to bring down than his previous opponents, it had truly been a formidable foe. He turned to see those he had already defeated. They lay strewn about behind him, scattered like leaves after a passing wind. He had to admit, they had fought valiantly – for what little fight they had shown. He supposed it wasn’t their fault, how could they stand against a warrior such as him.

It had been a long battle, and he felt the weight of it in his arms and shoulders. Sweat beaded his brow, and he was breathing faster than usual. He squeezed the weapon in his hand tight in his grip once more before letting it go slack. It was an excellent piece of equipment, an artwork of natural craftsmanship that any good warrior could hope to wield.

Just then he heard the snap of wood, and the rustling of brush. Drawing him back to reality, young Sayren gripped the stick he wielded as a sword a little tighter. He stood at the edge of a small clearing, lush green grasses nearly tall as himself. Large thistle stalks lay broken on the ground, a sharp whack from a solid stick having led to their demise. Growing right up against the clearing, and wrapping most of the way around it, was a dense forest. The last of the clearing butted up against a small rocky mountain top, closing it off into a near perfect circle.

He heard the rustling again; this time he was sure of the direction it came from. He gripped his stick in both hands and crouched low in the tall grass. He slowed his breathing, focusing his vision on a large gap in the tree line. He heard more wood groan and then crack, as if giving way to a great weight. Then a gentle scraping could be heard, like rock sliding on rock. In the shadows, Sayren could see something large moving through the woods. He could see a long body slithering amongst the trees, so large as to be like a snake in grass. He could not yet see the beginning nor end of the giant creature.

He began following its direction of movement, towards his left. Then, the body stopped moving. He had been struggling to follow it through the trees before, but now that it lay still it was all the harder to see where the body ended and started again. He thought he had picked back up on where it lay, he then saw a short branch jutting up from it, revealing it to only be a fallen tree. He peered closer, looking for any sign of where the creature's body continued onto, when he felt a slight rustle of air on the back of his neck. Just as he began to register this, he heard a voice that puffed out like a gentle breeze on his mind say, ‘Boo.’

Sayren let out a yelp and jumped forward, or at least he tried to. Having been leaning so far forward, he ended up rolling over himself and onto his back instead. He lay there, blinking, looking up at the sky overhead. A large reptilian face peered over him, large orange eyes like flames, resting within deep forest green scales that made up the beast. It had a long, almost smooth face, with large spikes coming off the back of its head. Two of these spikes grew out from behind the creature’s jaw, and curl back around growing parallel with it, then stopping just shy of its chin.

It blinked at Sayren, making its fiery eyes appear to flicker like wavering campfires. Sayren blew out a breath and sat up. He turned and faced the beast, still sitting on the ground. He looked pointedly at the large reptile.

“Now how come you had to go and scare me like that?”

It blinked at him again, cocking its head slightly.

“Oh come on, you know I almost found you that time.” Sayren complained.

The beast rumbled slightly, and Sayren felt a slight tickle in his mind. Amusement, it was laughing at him. Sayren climbed to his feet, brushing himself off. He followed the beast's great head down its neck and to the massive shoulders that only just fit between the trees. The tips of two great wings, resting along its back, just poked out under the branches.

Every part of the green scales glinted in the light like the surface of a mossy pool in the sun. The rest of its body within the trees blended with the forest like it was a part of it. Sayren followed the winding body back through the trees with his eyes, finally coming back to the log he had mistaken for the scaly creature. The tail flipped up, from behind the log. Sayren groaned and turned back to the great winged lizard. He felt the tickle in his mind that told him the dragon was laughing at him again.

“Well, I’ll admit. I’m impressed.”

The dragon rumbled again, sending a tremor down its gigantic form, like shaking off water after a swim. Not a single tree or branch was disturbed by his movements. He knew that he only made noise for Sayren’s benefit. Otherwise, he’d scare Sayren unintentionally almost every time he approached. He felt that the lizard did that enough intentionally as it was. Not that Sayren minded, it helped him work harder on training his senses. One time he had almost seen him coming, almost. Sayren looked up into his eyes.

“So what brings you this way, Natüra?”

The dragon rumbled again, and Sayren heard the breeze-like voice in his mind once more. ‘Food.’ He didn’t actually hear the dragon say anything, it was only in his mind. It flowed through gently like a heavy breath, but felt deeper, like the voice one would expect a dragon to have.

“Oh, nice!” Sayren exclaimed.

They walked back through the woods together, with Sayren at the dragon’s side. Passing the tall and leafy trees, Sayren thought of the names he had given them. There was the darkwood, with a deep brown trunk so dark it almost appeared black. Then there were the sapbark trees, with the thick, almost impossible to get off sap oozing from in between the layers of its flakey bark.

Sayren had come up with names for many things in the forest, as well as the trees. He felt like everything needed a good name. Even Natüra had a name, not given by Sayren of course. But Natüra had given Sayren his name, teaching the power that a name gives. It is more than just a means of identifying a thing or individual, it also is who or what you are. Natüra had also gone on to explain to Sayren the power in granting or giving names, and the importance of the duty to do so. The giving of a name should never be a trivial matter, but a momentous occasion.

Sayren remembered well what Natüra had been sure to teach him. He hadn’t had the opportunity to name any younglings himself yet. But he was sure he too would discover a lone babe in the woods someday, just as Natüra had found him some 8 years ago. But for now, he would stick to naming the plants and small critters he found in and around their home.

Before long, they came to another small clearing. It too lay at the base of the mountain, but this one was slightly less natural. Natüra had taken to clearing more of the trees in this area to give more space for he and Sayren. There was a shallow pool cut out from the rocky base of the mountain, receiving it’s run off from the high clefs above. A larger crack ran a short stretch down the mountain, opening suddenly into a wide cave mouth. The cave was deep and had a high ceiling. When Sayren was there alone, it felt almost as open as the meadow he enjoyed spending his days in. But it quickly became as small as a rabbit’s burrow once Natüra snaked his body inside.

At the base of the cave, lye two such rabbits. Sayren still hadn’t figured out how Natüra caught the little creatures, and he would never give the boy a straight answer when he asked. Sayren set about building up a fire in the pit off to one side of the cave entrance. He then delicately skinned and cleaned the two rabbits, just as he had done dozens of times before. Natüra had explained and translated the basic steps to him some time ago, but Sayren had effectively learned by his own hand. The dragon’s wisdom was truly without end, but physical limitation was still something they had to work around.

The blade Sayren used was a fragment of a shining black stone, appearing almost as if the stone was wet and coated in a clear layer over the solid black core. Natüra called it obsidian, showing Sayren the larger clusters the fragment had come from. The larger stones themselves had seemed less polished than the fragment Natüra had sliced away for him. Although the short blade wasn’t nearly as strong as Natüra’s own claws, Sayren liked to think of the stone knife as his very own dragon’s claw. Even though a dragon would never be caught skinning its meal, Sayren still liked to imagine he was using his own talon to remove the hide.

A short while later, with his stomach full, Sayren dropped the remnants of his meal into the burning pit. It was truly a satisfying meal. By now, full night had set in, the black sky having creeped in over head like a dragon’s great wing covering the sun. Sayren wandered over to Natüra, dropped down beside the dragon’s shoulder, and leaned against him. He let out an appreciative sigh, as he rested his head against the dragon’s scales. On warm summer nights like these, when the weather was clear, the two of them usually opted to sleep outdoors under the brilliantly speckled night sky. With a breeze gently passing over him, the warmth of the dragon behind him, and not to mention a full stomach, Sayren quickly drifted off to sleep.

The next day Sayren found himself wandering the forest, swinging his stick-sword about idly. He had already defeated a large army of invaders, snuck up on a rabbit, and even spotted his favorite lizard. It had been a truly good start to the day. But alas, it was only late morning and he found himself wandering. Sayren spent much of his time meandering about the forest, learning its layout and discovering new little creatures. With Natüra living in the woods, there wasn’t any real predatory danger – as long as he stayed withing a few miles of the cave. That didn’t mean the surrounding forest was without danger, however. More than once Sayren had taken a tumble that Natüra had to come save him form. He had learned to be more careful, and to keep a better eye on his footing. But as would be expected of any adventurous young boy, he still played it close to the edge.

On this particular day, Sayren found himself wandering a bit further South of the cave than usual. He wanted to push his limits, to try and discover a new part of the forest. Or with any luck, a new lizard. As he climbed over a particular knobby tree trunk, Sayren heard a strange whine. He stopped, crouching against the trunk, listening. It came again, a low moan and a sob. It kind of sounded like the noise the mountain cat would make when it was baiting prey, but softer. Once he heard the noise for the third time, he knew that it sounded closer to a noise he himself had made after he had hurt himself. Someone was crying. But who? Sayren had never met nor even seen another person before, only his own reflection in the pool.

As the sobs continued, Sayren found himself creeping closer. The sobs became clear sad cries now, much like what he himself had sounded like after dropping his favorite rock at the time off the edge of a bluff. That was a sad memory, perhaps this person had lost their favorite thing too? Sayren knew all too well what that felt like, and he wanted to help this person. He pushed some low branches out of his path, trying to get a better look. Between him and whoever was here in the forest, sat a large boulder. He crept up on the boulder and started to climb it. He figured this way he could get a better look at who was here, without giving himself away first.

The boulder had a relatively smooth surface, but Sayren had plenty of experience with climbing. Using his hands and bare feet, he nimbly clambered up the back side of the rock. As he carefully crested the top, he didn’t immediately see anyone on the other side. He poked his head a little bit higher, and then heard a soft sniffle coming from just below him. At the base of the boulder, he now clung to; he could see the top of someone’s head. The first thing he noticed was the hair. It was a completely different color than Sayren’s own. Whereas his hair was a muddy brown, this person had hair like the sand found in one of the creek beds. Their hair also appeared to be longer than Sayren’s. Perhaps they didn’t have a good sharp obsidian knife like he did to cut it shorter? Maybe this was the thing they had lost?

Sayren attempted to peer a little closer, leaning over the edge of the rock. What kind of clothes were those? They looked so smooth, and there was so much of it. It almost looked like it covered their whole body. But then there were the feet, what was on their feet? Why would you cover your feet in the middle of the summer? It all looked rather bizarre, if he wasn’t so fascinated by this new material, he would have probably laughed at the absurdity of it. They sniffled again, spooking Sayren out of his study of the strange person and their clothes. He slipped on his right hand, sending him forward, over the face of the boulder. He slid down a short way, and the was propelled over the head of whoever he had been watching. His feet came over his head and he landed on his back with a sharp ‘oomph!’ Thankfully it wasn’t a far drop, but it still hurt.

The other person screamed when he first appeared overhead, and then gasped when he hit the ground. Sayren blinked, trying to clear his vision. Then, he saw the face of whoever had been crying peering over him. The first face he had ever seen other than his own. They looked down at him, upside down, blinking their bright green eyes. Green eyes, how strange.

“Are you- okay?”

He blinked, staring upwards. Had they just talked? He had never heard another person talk before, Sayren had never heard another voice than his own. Even Natüra could never actually be heard, everything he said was through the mind. Almost like hearing thoughts among his own, but with a separate identity. But this person had spoken, the same way Sayren did. It was a much softer voice, kind of like they were younger, but also- not. They certainly didn’t look that much smaller than him. Perhaps not everyone had the same voice? That made sense when he thought about, if you listened closely enough you could hear the slight differences between each of the birds, so why not people too?

“Umm, are you hurt? C-can you hear me?”

They sounded nervous, maybe a little scared. But they had stopped crying, so he supposed that was good. He bolted upright, nearly sending his head smashing into theirs. They let out a little gasp and pulled back. Still remaining sitting on the ground, Sayren spun around and faced this new person. They were certainly smaller than him, but not by much. And the clothes they wore covered them with a single piece from neck to halfway down the leg if they had been standing. And their hair was indeed longer than his own, much longer in fact. Sayren’s hair brushed his shoulders, but this person’s must have hung halfway down their back. It was also tied together, not a bad idea in his estimation. Especially if you didn’t have the means to cut it. Sayren saw they looked more scared than nervous and were about to either start crying or speak again.

“Oh yes, I’m fine. It wasn’t that far of a fall. Are you okay? Did you lose something? Why are your clothes so strange? And why is your hair so long, did you lose your knife? I have one, so you can use it if you like. Where did you come from anyway? I’ve never seen another person before, do they all wear such strange clothes? Are there more of you?”

They stared at him, seemingly afraid at first, but then they started... Laughing? It was a strange laugh, like a chortle. If Sayren hadn’t thought they were laughing at him he might have found the sound rather pleasant.

“Are you- laughing at me?”

“No, no. I’m not laughing at you; you just remind me of my little brother. He also asks a lot of questions.”

“Brother? You mean, there are more of you?”

They pinched their eyebrows together.

“Of course there are more of us, why wouldn’t there be?” They frowned. “Where are you from? I’ve never seen you before.”

Sayren stood up, brushing himself off.

“I live right here in the forest of course. Well, not right here, right here. A couple of miles to the North, with Natüra. Oh, I’m Sayren by the way. Do you have a name? I could give you one if you’d like?”

They looked to him, somewhat expectantly. If they hadn’t looked at his hand Sayren would have never guessed what it was they were waiting for. Awkwardly, Sayren put out a hand and helped the stranger to their feet. The hand was quite soft, not like a rabbit’s fur but like his own skin he supposed. But more like his under arm and not his own hands. Once on their feet, they brushed off the strange garb and while speaking with what Sayren was noticing, in a slightly different way than he did. Not just the softer sound, but they said the words a little differently as well.

“Sayren is it? Well my name is Tianna Roshen, I’m pleased to meet you.”

They bowed slightly, pulling their garb out to either side. Sayren had no idea what this was supposed to mean. Perhaps this was how all people introduced themselves? That was such a long name, longer than any Sayren knew. He bowed back, pulling the sides of his leg coverings out to either side as far as they’d allow him.

“I’m er, pleased to meet you too.”

Still bowing, he could hear them start to make that almost laugh sound again, before it broke out into unmistakable laughter. He stood up straight, feeling awkward.

“Did I not do it right? I’ve never done it before.”

They covered their mouth with one hand and waved the other out in front of them.

“No, no. It’s not that, it’s just. Well… That’s something only girls do, it’s called a curtsey. Boys are supposed to bow, like this.”

Crossing one hand over their chest, they bent at the waist and bowed towards him.

“See, like that.”

Sayren stared blankly. Not moving, nor hardly breathing.

“Are you okay, Sayren?”

“Did you say that only girls do that?”

It came out little more than a whisper. As if he lacked the confidence or the assurity to give it anymore volume. They looked at him, questioningly.

“Yes, of course only girls do that. Did you really not know?”

“So, does that mean. That- well you, a-are, a uh...”

“A girl? Yes, of course I’m a girl.”

They, or rather she, crossed her arms over her chest, seeming frustrated.

“Could you really not tell? I know that a lot of the other girls are prettier than me, but I didn’t think I looked that much like a boy.”

She seemed to grow sadder with each word, rather than angry. Sayren stuttered, trying to recover himself.

“What, no no. You are pretty, very pretty. I just, well I’ve never seen a girl before, so I was just surprised. That’s all, honest.”

She blinked at him. Then her cheeks colored a little pink, even visible under her tanned skin and the shadowy cast of the trees overhead.

“You think I’m pretty? Really? But wait, you’ve never seen a girl before? Are you really from the forest? And who is- Natura? Is that your mother?”

She said the name questioningly, in an almost clipped sort of tone. He tried to keep up and think of how to answer her questions. Did he think she was pretty? He thought about red-backed bird that he was always awestruck by and found the feeling to be similar. He did think that bird was pretty, beautiful even, so he supposed he did find her pretty.

“Yes. And no, I’ve never seen a girl before. But I know what they are, Natüra told me. And yes, I live in the forest. It’s Natüra.”

He put a lot of emphases on the second part of the name, dragging out the ‘oo’ sound. Then he laughed.

“Natüra isn’t my mom, I don’t have one of those. He’s a boy, and he’s not a person, he’s a dragon. He raised me and gave me my name.”

The girl, Tianna Roshen, just looked at him. He said it like he was serious, no differently than if he had said, ‘These are my pants.’

“A dragon? You’re serious?”

He nodded emphatically, showing no sign of an attempt at a joke.

“Would you like to meet him?”

“Meet him? You mean, meet your dragon?”

“Yes, but no. He’s not my dragon, he’s- well, my guardian? He’s like my parent but not.”

“Is it safe?”

Sayren laughed.

“Of course it’s safe, Natüra would never hurt anyone.”

She blinked at him; uncertainty written plainly on her face.

“Yes, I would like to meet you- er that is, Natüra. If you’re sure it’s safe?”

“It is, I promise.”

“Okay then, let’s go meet him.”

He grinned broadly.

“He’s already here, he probably heard you scream and thought it was me.”

“He’s here?”

She looked around quickly, now seeming to be afraid. She took a couple steps back, pressing herself up beside him, grabbing his arm in her hand. He tried not to laugh; he supposed if you’d never seen a dragon before it would be quite scary. He patted her hand.

“You can come out now, Natüra! Come meet Tianna Roshen, she’s a person like me. And she’s a girl!”

A big green lizard’s head poked through the trees, over the very rock Sayren had fallen from. He moved slowly, and quieter than any creature far smaller could ever hope to. Natüra peered down at them turning his head slightly to focus on them with one eye and blinked. Then came the breeze-like whisper in Sayren’s mind.

‘Girl is Tianna?’

Sayren knew it was a question, it felt the same way a question of his own did.

“Yes a girl. And no, not Tianna. It’s Tianna Roshen.”

He looked to her for confirmation, she just stared up at the big reptile. Her eyes so wide that Sayren feared they might fall out of her head. She nodded, slightly.

‘She, afraid.’

Sayren nodded, and Natüra pulled his head back a short ways. Giving some more distance between them. Tianna let out a breath.

“It really is a real dragon. Natüra, right?”

He blinked down at her, flashing his campfire eyes.

‘Tianna Roshen, lost?’

Sayren blinked, he hadn’t considered that until now.

“Are you lost?”

“What?”

“Lost, Natüra asked if you were lost?”

She looked at him, and then at the dragon, and back again.

“You can talk to it, I mean him?”

Sayren nodded slowly.

“Yes, you didn’t hear him?”

“N-no, I didn’t hear anything.”

“Huh, strange.”

“But yes, I am lost. I went for a walk into the forest, and I got lost. I have no idea how to get home.”

She started to sound sad again, even a little frightened.

‘I know, home.’

Sayren blinked.

“You do?”

“What, what is it?”

“Natüra says he knows where your home is.”

She turned to the hulking green giant, surprise and joy plain on her face.

“You do? Really?”

Natüra bobbed his huge head, flicking his tongue out as he did so.

“Oh that’s wonderful, could you take me there?”

‘Can, will. Tomorrow, night soon.’

Sayren nodded, then turned to her.

“He said tomorrow, it’ll be night soon.”

She seemed to lose some of her excitement then.

“But my parents, they’ll be worried about me, they’re probably worried already. I don’t want to sleep in the woods, that doesn’t sound very safe.”

‘Far walk, safer tomorrow.’

“Natüra says it’s a long walk, and it’ll be safer to go in the morning. Besides, you can stay with us tonight! Come on, it’ll be fun!”

Tianna finally agreed and followed Sayren back in the direction of their cave. Natüra walked off to one side, weaving in and out of the trees more like a snake than a lizard. All the way there, Sayren pointed out different trees and sounds, telling Tianna what he had named them. More than once, she had ‘giggled,’ as she had called it, at some of his names. She also informed him, much to his dismay, that many of these things already had names. He also learned that she came from a village, a real village. One full of people, dozens of them. Tianna herself lived on a farm with her older sister, younger brother, and their parents. He got a pretty good understanding of their ages from what Natüra had taught him. She, despite her smaller size, was nearly a year older than he was.

Sayren decided he had to see this village and all of these people for himself, it sounded like a much greater adventure than seeing more of the forest. He could meet even more people there, including adults. Tianna had flooded him with more information, and he with more questions than either of them could keep up with long before reaching the cave. Once there, and a warm fire was lit, they both quickly drifted off to sleep under the watchful gaze of Natüra.

When morning came, they both drank from the clear pool by the cave, and Sayren grabbed some berries for breakfast. Then they were off through the woods, following Natüra’s mental direction to Sayren on where to go. The dragon never strayed far from the two children, just close enough to be seen without having to search. As they walked, Sayren listened as Tianna told him more about farm and village life. She told him of tending to their two cows, a small flock of sheep, and helping her mother with their garden. All the new names and things excited him, he couldn’t wait to see it all.

It took a few hours of walking, but before long, Natüra had warned Sayren that they were approaching the edge of the forest. Natüra stopped there, telling him that he would wait there until he returned. Sayren walked to the edge of the forest and paused. He’d never been outside the trees before. Only within his small, outcropped meadow had he ever truly been out from under the trees. Tianna looked back at him, questioningly.

“Aren’t you coming?”

He stared for a moment, before nodding. With that she slipped out of the edge of the tree line and into the blazing sunlight. Sayren followed and then stopped right at the edge. He could see out past the trees now; it was so broad and open. As if there was no limit to how far the world could go, he could see for miles and miles. But just below him, sat a small farm. Sayren could see Tianna running across the open stretch of grass towards a woman, who Sayren could only guess was her mother. Even from here he could see the woman was weeping tears of joy as she took her daughter up in her arms. The commotion must have been loud enough because he then saw more people coming out, her siblings and father. They were all so excited to see her.

Sayren smiled, wondering what it must be like to have parents. He could see Tianna turning and pointing to him, telling her parents something. They looked to him with surprise and doubt plain on their faces. Sayren turned and looked back to Natüra, the dragon gestured with his big head.

‘Go, see soon.’

Sayren ran over and wrapped his arms around the dragon’s big snout.

“Thanks, Natüra.”

Then he turned and ran back towards the farm, stopping at the edge once more to turn and wave at the big green lizard. If dragons could smile, Sayren would say that Natüra had just then. And with that, he broke the tree line and went down to meet all of the people he could.