**Forest of spirits follows where the Epilogue of Havoc of Souls leaves off…this is the story of the silvani lucumo (the king of all the silvani) and a mortal huntress who stumbles into the Eternal forest where he rules. But there is something not right with the Eternal Forest as of late.***

The woods were possessed an eerie watchfulness. They had been that way ever since the wulkwos ravaged the world, throwing the worlds of men and spirits back together. Things still lurked in the world. Ancient creatures that had been half-forgotten as human civilization had proudly grown. Since the mist came, the things of nightmares and legends returned, and people began recounting the old lore of spirits and monsters in common fairytales. Forget Disney and sweet images of happy, playful beings. The old tales were darker and far more complex tales of the other worlds that men did not dare pass into. It was whispered about among those who knew, the wild places were full of watchful eyes and predatory teeth. The woods themselves were alive in a way that was beyond all modern reckoning.

Don’t go into the woods. People disappear in the woods.

That didn’t stop hunters. Many of the young men saw it as a challenge to court the dangers of the woods and bring back food. It was a matter of survival. Though the community joined in their effort to toil on the farms, it never seemed to be enough. So, the hunters chanced the forests, whether out of bravado or need. People had to eat.

  A lone huntress stood on a hill with her bow just outside the forest that bordered her town. Diana was wise enough to never trust the forest. When the mists came, enveloping the world in its impenetrable cloud, it let monsters loose on the world. The people huddled in their houses, trembling at the sound of every terrible cry that came from within the unknown void of the white barrier, waiting for the day that it would leave. When it withdrew, it left behind an expansive dark forest in its wake.

There had always been a small forested area that had provided modest game, but nothing like what had come with the mist. During that brief span it stretched out over the landscape swallowing everything in its path, miles of highway and grass fields until it crept within a short distance of the town and finally stopped. She didn’t know why it didn’t just swallow the entire town and just get it over with. The town itself was only a shadow of what it had once been as people clung desperately to what was familiar. They shunned the unnatural forest that stretched for miles in every direction. The forest meant death for the towns bordering it. All had the same rumors of disappearances.

The rumors were what made “sensible people” stay well away from the woods and the wide game trails cut through the woods by some unknown force. Even most hunters spent as little time the forest as possible, driving into the woods via that same mysterious path to quickly fetch any game that they could find. Even the most reckless thrill-seeker among them was afraid of what had come with forest. Fewer went by foot along smaller paths. It was a form of suicide to trust a forest where people went missing, no bodies were recovered, no cries were ever heard. It was as if they had disappeared off the face of the earth. In response, all those who went to into the woods banded together to hunt in groups…all except the huntress who watched as a vehicle rushed toward from the town.

The jeep pealed up the dirt road and swung into a sharp left, skidding and spraying dirt. The men inside let out excited shouts, their spirits high as they foolishly expended fuel. Diana huffed in amusement as she watched the vehicle disappear from sight into the tree line. She felt that they were monumentally stupid driving into the forest but couldn’t help but to enjoy their exuberance. She didn’t even mind that they excluded her from their hunting parties. She didn’t like relying on anything that she couldn’t control by her own hand. Technology hadn’t survived since the mist came, all that was left was flawed, dangerous remnants—gas powered vehicles when there was fuel to spare and guns, both with the habit of malfunctioning. She trusted neither with her safety.

Laying her bow across her shoulders, she hooked her arms over the ends of it and stretched as she took in the vision of the woods. It watched it, so she watched it back. It was only fair.

Despite the dangers, she could not hate the forest, nor did she fear it enough to stay away. Every breath brought with it the musky perfume of the wood, familiar and comforting. It had been her one sanctuary when madness struck the populace sending her fleeing to the secluded property she’d inherited from her grandparents. She’d had memories of childhood summers playing at her grandmother’s cabin at the lake and then later when she had lived beside it after her parents died and her grandparents took her.

Her grandfather had taught her to hunt and be self-sufficient in the woods near their home. More importantly, to respect the woods and the tales of the fae folk that he had so often entertained her with during their treks. She had those memories to cling to when the world went dark, and the thick woods had encroached to gather at the edge of the lake like a protective sentinel watching over her.

She wasn’t a fool, however. She didn’t trust the forest…or rather, she didn’t trust the beings that had crossed over to inhabit its dark depths. Still those beings had been more reliable in behavior than most people she knew. When the mists receded, Diana had been equipped to take care of herself.

She went in quietly and respectfully, made a small gift to the denizens inhabiting the woods near her home to leave her at peace. It was common sense really. A gift exchanged for a gift. Wasn’t that what all the old stories recommend. In turn, she stayed only long enough to check her traps or bring down game if she was so fortunate. She never ventured deep into the forests and never forgot to leave a small portion of the bloody meat behind as payment. Always she was watched and could feel the eyes of strange beings touching her, cold and alien…and always hungry. She never forgot to feed them.

Perhaps that was why she was left alone when others reported disturbances that plagued them. The sort of idiots who wanted to drive deep into the woods to hunt for game, intruding empty-handed. Let them. They were always chased out for their efforts, even when they managed to bring down game to carry with them in their escape. Diana had no such problems.

Dropping her bow to hold it gripped comfortably in one hand, she strode into the trees taking the same route she always took along the smaller game trails. The breeze ruffled her bangs and toyed with the long end of her braid. The lower three quarters was platinum blonde from her last dye job that faded abruptly into the lengths of her natural brown hair. She felt it swing behind her, safely out the reach of treacherous branches.

Just within the woods, it didn’t take her long to arrive at the fallen trunk where she left her offerings. As always, the immediate area was absolutely silent of life. Though ragged from where it split, the rest of the length buried in the grasses and brush to the left of it, the tree trunk was like a short pillar that came up to her hip when she stood in front of it. The papery gray bark of the birch tree peeled in numerous places. On the altar, dipped at a slightly angle in the only smooth part of the trunk, a small bowl and cup sat on it in the same place as always, never moved. Not once in the months she’d been coming into the forest had it been visibly disturbed, nor was there any trace of animal presence anywhere near it. Yet every time she entered the woods, the dishes were clean and waiting for her. A movement in the distance drew her attention and she squinted through the trees.

Nothing.

A puzzled frown marred her brow, but she bent to leave her usual offerings. In the bowl she placed a small hunk of bread and several strawberries from her garden. She removed the flask from the inner pocket of her leather vest and poured out the mixture she’d made earlier that morning of honey and milk into the cup. Returning the lid to the flask, she tucked it back into her vest pocket and stepped back from the makeshift altar. Her eyes scanned the trees surrounding her as she spoke.

“Whoever you may be, accept this small gift for safe passage in my hunt. A gift for a gift.”

She waited for the usual sign of acceptance, not daring to move so much as a step away from the altar, not daring even a breath. The branches rustled as a wind blew through from deeper in the woods, the limbs bowing slightly to her. Her breath left her in a loud exhalation. She never took it for granted that the whatever lurked nearby in this part of the wood would comply and was always relieved when permission came. On the same token she never breached the creek some few miles away that bisected the woods. Although it was possibly not a territory boundary, she chose not to take the chance with anything unknown at the other side.

Whispering her thanks, Diana strode deeper among the trees, heading toward where she knew that the fist of her traps awaited. The change in atmosphere was immediate. The moment she cleared the area and lost sight of the altar, birdsong burst around her, and the hum of insects filled the air. She relaxed moderately, as much as she could with the awareness of being watched skating over her skin. She’d become used to it, and so it had become more as background noise over the months.

The brushes rattled to her side with another flash a movement at the edge of her vision. Diana stopped and frowned at the spot. That was unusual. She waited to see if any animal would suddenly dart out, but all movement disappeared as quickly as it had come. Her skin crawled. She didn’t feel threatened in any way, but the feeling of being watched weighed far heavier on her than it had been even moments before.

Minutes ticked by and nothing further happened.

Diana chuckled quietly to herself in attempt to ease her nerves. She could be getting worked up about nothing. It was likely just an animal that caught sight of her and hid. It didn’t ring true, but she clung to it as she walked further into the forest and approached her trap.

The box trap was simple in design, ideal for catching small game. She knew that some hunters preferred to use snares, but Diana avoided the use of them. She wasn’t always successful with her traps, but she fell into a comfortable rhythm with the forest near her house.

Spying the box laying flush to the ground, her nervousness was forgotten, and elation filled her at the sight. Very slowly she lifted the trap, revealing a fat rabbit hunkered in place. Whispering her thanks, she dispatched the animal quickly, dropping it into the small leather bag that hung from her belt while she reset and baited the trap. She didn’t linger even a minute longer than necessary, immediately she moved off, striding through the brush. Diana didn’t want to test the conditional benevolence of whatever watched her. Instead, she visited her other traps, only two of which held animals. Another rabbit was added to her catch, providing a spare to be added to the slowly growing storage of meat in her freezer. The weasel, however, she released and watched as it darted away.

Pushing back to her feet from where she was crouched, Diana brushed her hands off on her pants. In the distance she could hear the jeep in another part of the woods, the sound of the loud engine carrying. She’d hoped to come across a buck, but that wasn’t going to be possible with those fools in the woods frightening away all the game. She scowled in its direction, kicking a small stone out of her path as she turned her back away from it and began her trek home.

The jeep roared in her direction, the distressed sounds of human screams of terror becoming apparent the closer it got, the sounds of terror alternately separating and merging again with the mechanical rumble of the engine. Her blood chilled and she stumbled over the thick root of a tree, startled at the sound. Catching her balance, just barely, she glanced around warily for but a moment. Her breath panted in and out of her lungs with increasing distress only to choke when the loud roaring of some unearthly beast broke through the woods, nearly eclipsing the noise of the fleeing hunting party. Whatever it was, the idiots were bringing it her way!

Jerking forward into a run, Diana darted through the trees at full speed. She hissed with displeasure, knowing without a doubt that her actions were stupid. She wouldn’t be able to outrun the jeep, never mind whatever was chasing it. All the same, she wasn’t going to stand about and wait for them to catch up either. The muscles in her thighs burned and protested as the trees whipped around her, half blinding her in mad rush.

Why the fuck did they have to come this way? And where the fuck was the treeline? Diana turned her head this way and that looking for anything all familiar. This wasn’t right. She couldn’t just run madly through the woods. She pulled to a stop, hissing between her teeth as she attempted to reorient herself. She’d been so close to the altar near the edge of the woods, she should have run right into it. Shaking her head, she squinted at the sun and cut to the immediate left. The altar should have been right there!

As she delved further among the trees, her a frown knotted her brow. Where was it? Her breath was starting to come out in short, ragged pants as she broke through unfamiliar brush. Had she somehow become turned around?

She could hardly think as she attempted to mentally backtrack the route she’d taken. The sound of the jeep roared closer as she gasped for breath. Every branch on the trees quivered and trembled as if something monstrous was moving through them. Clutching her bow tightly to her, her head whipped around as if trying to make sense of what she was seeing. The leaves quaked and shimmered and tiny living lights bounced all around the woods in a dizzying swarm. A bulge in the brush raced in a line toward her, filling the air with savage vicious snorts as it came closer. Diana shook her head in denial as she stumbled away.

This wasn’t her forest!