Enchanted forests and dark mages

[bakedtarts]

Lugh normally liked forests. He was already small and nimble, but the terrain offered an extra edge when he was fighting the larger, broader soldiers of Bern--ducking knights' lances and outpacing cavaliers was much easier with so many trees to weave between and hide behind.

But this forest had changed, somewhere along the line. No more patches of sunlight between the trees, no more daisylike flowers in the undergrowth or birdsong--he felt a chill as he searched for the other side. He couldn't even hear any enemies now... there was a path, marked out with pale stones. Should he follow it? He hesitated. It didn't look like the sort of animal or hunter's track he usually saw.

A twig snapped, the first sound he'd heard in minutes, other than his own footsteps. Instantly he threw himself behind a mossy trunk, clutching his tome and ready to throw magic at whoever was coming up behind him.