The sky was grey. A thick cloud of ash blocked the sun, not letting any sunshine through its barrier. It was deathly silent in the Forest of Despair. It seemed like there was no sign of life whatsoever. A small piece of ash drifted towards the ash-filled ground slowly like a snowflake. It drifted down until it kissed the cheek of a young woman, lying in the center of a burnt home with no clothes. The moment the ash touched her, her dull green eyes snapped wide open, dilated and then contrasted. A small gasp of breath escaped her.

She sat upright and then cradled her head in her hand. Her waist long black hair fell in front of her in a mess of tangles and ash. She felt as though someone was bashing rocks against her skull. She bit her pale lip and waited for the pain to subside. After what seemed like ages, she lifted her head and looked around. Not understanding how she came to be in such a place, unclothed, she thought back. No memory of the event occurred to her. She tried to think back further, but then she realize she could only remember two things: Her name, Jenevi, and someone named Malcolm.

Jenevi looked at the floor next to her and saw a black cloak buried in the ash. She pulled it out, stood up on her wobbly legs, and then patted the cloak down before putting it on herself.

Where do I go? She thought as she gazed towards the forest. The trees were tall and thick, and she wondered if she'd even make it out.

One thing's for certain, she continued thinking as she took her first step out the burnt home. I need to find Malcolm. Whoever he is.

Jenevi walked in circle after circle, somehow always coming back to the house. Grunting in irritation, she gave it another go. She got distracted when she noticed a red flower sticking out of the ground that she failed to miss the previous times. She walked over to it and squatted to get a better look. The petals were red, the stem was brown, and the thorns were yellow.

"Poisonous, but can cure foot fungus when crushed and combined with boiling hot water and ginger." She surprised herself with this sudden knowledge, but stood up and continued in what she believed was another circle.

After trying to take different routes and failing, Jenevi was about to give up when she heard a twig snap in the distance. She strained her eyes to get a better look as she balanced herself against a thick, dark tree. Ants were crawling up and around it, but she didn't pay attention.

It's a horse, thought Jenevi with a sigh of relief after hearing it trot in her direction. I can ride it out of here or something.

Through the thick foliage came a black unicorn. Its dark mane was swept perfectly to one side and turned into dark sparkles as the mane came to an end like a waterfall. The thick black tail did the same. The horn was gray and the point looked sharp and deadly. The coal black eyes of the large beast bore into Jenevi's green ones.

She, for some reason, felt no fear. In the back of her mind, she knew how rare and dangerous unicorns were. She knew that they would kill anyone they disliked without hesitation.

The unicorn just stood there, then neighed. He stood up on his hind legs as he pawed the air, and then the majestic animal slammed his hooves on the dirt, ash flying away from him, and then pawed the ground. He then started walked back and forth, and then Jenevi realized what he was trying to do.

"Great," she muttered, "I'm going to follow the pretty unicorn out of the forest."

Jenevi followed, but the unicorn made it hard for her since he would rarely stop and wait. Jenevi's feet were already covered in cuts and bruises, but she pushed forward, though annoyed.

"Hey!" she called after ducking under a tree branch. "Will you wait? I don't have hooves, if you haven't noticed!" Jenevi stubbed her toe on a rock and frowned. She looked down to see her large toe bleeding all around the nail.

The unicorn came trotting back, seeming concerned. In front of Jenevi, he laid down, as if waiting for her to climb on his back.

Jenevi glared. "So now you decide to come back and give me a ride?"

The unicorn looked straight into her eyes. My generosity only goes so far. You better get on before I change my mind.

Jenevi jumped a bit when she heard the deep voice echo in her head. She shook her head and then looked back at the unicorn. "Was that you in my head just now?"

Do you see any other unicorn around here? Now please, get on. I am not a patient animal.

Jenevi breathed deeply before stepping towards the unicorn. Up close, he was much bigger than she expected. She had to jump in order to get on, and she wrapped her arms around the unicorn's thick neck for support.

My name is Orin, said the unicorn as he stood up and turned around.

"My name is Jenevi," said the girl, still holding on tight to his neck.

After a few moments of silence through the ash-filled forest, Jenevi asked, "Do you have any idea what happened to me?"

Orin didn't respond for a while, and Jenevi thought that he wouldn't answer her at all, but then he simply said, I'm sorry. All I know was that there was a lot of fire.

Jenevi finally saw light through the trees. She sighed in relief.

This is as far as I'm going to take you, said Orin as he knelt down. I hope you'll be fine on your own from here on out.

"Thank you, Orin. You've been a big help." Jenevi watched the unicorn trot away, back into the darkness.

The sun was still up, but Jenevi could tell it was mid-afternoon. When she stepped out of the forest, tightly covering herself with her cloak, she looked up and realized that the sky looked blue. It seemed as there was no trace of the ash-filled sky, but the proof that she had was sprinkled on her shoulders and in her hair.

When she turned to look straight ahead of her, an old woman was suddenly there. She had floor length white hair that looked messy and tangled. Twigs and leave, and maybe a bug or two, were nestled inside. She was bent over, wore plain brown rags, and her nails were long and dirty. But what startled Jenevi the most was that she had no face. When Jenevi examined the woman closer, she noticed that she did have a mouth, but it was on her throat. The chapped mouth was slightly open and made a noise that sounded as though it was sucking in the air around it. Its teeth were yellow, crooked, and some were missing.

Still stunned by the sudden appearance, Jenevi stayed quiet.

"Jenevi," came the woman. She extended her name longer than necessary. Despite her appearance, her voice sounded like one of a young woman's.

Jenevi couldn't help but stare at the mouth.

"Jenevi," the old woman started again. "Powerful you are. Yes, powerful indeed. You wield the power of the night, I see. Your memories gone, but they shall return. When they do, your mind shall be turned. On a battle field I see you, cold and dead, but you will be lying on a victorious bed."

The old woman stayed standing in front of her before hobbling off into the forest. Jenevi turned to look at her with her mouth slightly opened. She had a hard time processing the words that were thrown at her. But one thing bugged her the most.

I'm going to die?

She almost felt like she was going to puke. She didn't want to accept it. The old woman could have just been a crazy old lady and just talked nonsense.

But then how did she know my name and that my memories were gone? Why did she have no face?

She ran back into the forest, sure that she would catch up with the old women after seeing her slowly walk. But when Jenevi got back inside, the woman was nowhere to be seen.

Finally letting it go after a few deep breaths, Jenevi went back out.

She walked, still not knowing where she was going. Her feet were still sore, and she was getting tired of walking around in only a cloak. Jenevi looked at the sun and saw that it would be setting soon, and when she looked back down, she saw the silhouette of a small house. Smoke was coming out of the chimney.

When she came to the wooden door, she hesitated before knocking a few times. When she got no response, she called out.

"Excuse me?" she said. A sudden gust of wind came and she tightened her grip on her cloak. She was feeling slightly cold. "Please," Jenevi pleaded. She looked down at her feet covered in cuts, bruised, and blood.

The door opened just a crack.

"What do you want?" came the voice of an old man. It was high but sounded scratchy.

"All I really need is clothes, sir, if you have any."

"Clothes?"

The door swung open, revealing a very short old man, about half of Jenevi's height. He was wearing thick glasses, had a thick mustache, and he combed his thin white hair over his bald spot. When he looked up at Jenevi, his face was pinched in curiosity.

"All I have is this cloak…" said Jenevi self-consciously

"Oh..." said the man as he adjusted his glasses. He looked down at her feet and noticed how bad they were. His brows furrowed. "Come inside, girl," he said as he stepped out of the way. He waited for Jenevi to come inside before shutting the door behind her and bolting it. He then stepped in front of her and asked, "Now how in the world did you manage to destroy your feet like that? What happened to your clothes? Where did you come from?"

Jenevi took a few moments to think up lies. She knew that if she told this man the truth, she'd be out of there in an instant.

"I was robbed. They hit me on the back of my head, and when I woke up, they left me with only my cloak and I can't remember anything but that moment." Jenevi hoped that the man wouldn't want to find a bump on her head that wasn't there.

"I see…" said the man. "That is quite unfortunate, girl. Do you at least remember your name?"

"Jenevi."

"You can call me Harris. Please sit. I need to get some things to help clean your feet and prevent infection."

"Thank you, Harris."

Jenevi sat down on a thick wooden chair at the kitchen. She noticed that there were only two seats at the table, and she wondered where the other person was. When she scanned the room, she noticed how dusty it was, like they haven't cleaned it in ages. There was a dead daisy on a windowsill. It looked extremely fragile as it drooped down towards the ground. On one of the small counters, there was a picture frame that was placed flat on its face. Jenevi realized what that meant and felt the corners of her mouth go down.

Harris came back with a bowl of warm water, a small towel, and a strange looking blue flower. Its stem was orange and the thorns were black. When the old man knelt down in front of Jenevi, he dipped the towel into the large bowl, wrung it, and then started cleaning the girl's foot.

"I'm sorry for your loss," said Jenevi silently as she watched Harris work away. He didn't stop cleaning for a second.

After a few moments of silence Harris said, "My wife passed away a couple months ago. She died of heart failure."

"I'm so sorry to hear that."

When Harris was done cleaning Jenevi's foot, he took the strange flower in his hand and plucked one of the petals off of it.

"This flower is called Shia. It is-"

"Not easy to find, but can be found on mountains. The petals can heal flesh wounds as they burn it."

"That's right. But it's going to sting quite a bit."

Harris placed the petal on Jenevi's wound. It made a sizzling noise as smoke came wafting out. Jenevi kept her face straight and didn't show any sign of pain. When Harris took the petal off, the wound was gone.

The old man got up and started putting things away. He came back and said, "Lucky for you, my wife liked to keep things, like clothes. I'm sure I can find something of hers from before that will fit you."

Jenevi didn't know how she felt about wearing the clothes of a dead woman, but she didn't have much of a choice. She followed Harris to the back of the house which was lit by a small window decorated with white, transparent curtains.

In front of the window was a small wooden door, which Jenevi figured was the closet. There was no other room in the small hallway. When Harris opened the door, Jenevi could see what was in the dark room thanks to the light coming from the window. It was dusty and full of cobwebs. A large black spider skittered across the wall, hiding from view. Several clothes were hanging from skinny hangers while some were folded neatly in a small pile on the shelf. There were also some shoes scattered across the floor. It seemed as though no one has opened the closet door in years, which Jenevi was sure of.

"I'm pretty sure there is something here…" mumbled Harris as he looked through the clothes.

Jenevi looked around nervously. The idea of wearing a dead woman's clothes were still making her jittery. While Harris was still looking Jenevi said, "Harris, I swear to you I will return the clothes once I find something else later on. I understand how much your wife meant to you and I can't imagine how weird it would feel to see her clothes on me."

"My dear," started Harris as he turned around with a dress in hand. "I am old and not a sentimentalist. I feel my time coming, and I will meet Sarah in the next world soon enough. I won't mind if you kept the dress, and Sarah sure wouldn't either. She was a kind woman. I've always wondered why she picked someone like me to be her husband."

"You're kind too, Harris. You let me in even though you didn't know me."

"It was a feeling, I suppose. I don't know how to explain it. Talking to you about Sarah has cleared my mind, and I couldn't imagine talking to someone else about it." Harris handed Jenevi the dress then said, "You can try her shoes in there. I'm not sure about the size though, but I think it'll come very close."

"Thank you so much, Harris."

"You're welcome. You can use my room to change. It's back down the hall, first door on the left."

They both left. Harris went outside and Jenevi went into the bedroom. She gently closed the door behind her and looked at her feet again. They almost looked as good as new. Jenevi unfolded the dress in front of her. It was long and would no doubt go a bit past her ankles. It was tan in color, and had short sleeves. There were small patterns hemmed along the edges, but other than that, it was plain. Jenevi had no problem with it. She easily slipped the dress on.

Jenevi went out with her cloak in hand and went back to the closet to find some shoes. She slipped on a pair of leather shoes, which were a little tight, but they would have to do for the time being. The young woman put her cloak on and then went out, looking for the old man.

He was looking out into the distance a few feet away from the house with his hands behind his back. He turned around once he heard Jenevi's footsteps approaching, smiled and said, "I'm glad it fits. How are the shoes?"

"They're not that comfortable, but I will get new ones once I have the chance."

"I want to give you supplies before you head out."

"Oh, no thank you. That's not necessary. You've done more than enough, but what I need now are directions to the nearest town."

"And supplies. But don't you want to stay the night? It's getting dark here pretty quickly."

Jenevi sighed. "I will take the supplies, but I really don't want to trouble you any more than I have. I will be off the moment I'm ready."

"Very well then."

The two of them went back inside. Jenevi sat down while Harris went around with a shoulder bag, putting in food, a map, and something Jenevi couldn't quite see.

"I'll give you the Shia," said Harris as he put the flower in the bag. "Just in case. You'll need it more than me, anyways."

"Thank you."

Jenevi stood up as the old man handed her the bag with a small smile. "Thank you for your company, Jenevi. The Shining Village is southeast from here, and will take you about four hours on foot. I would let you borrow my horse, but someone stole him the previous day."

"I can't thank you enough, Harris. You've been so kind. I won't forget you."

Jenevi left as she put up her hood with the door slowly closing behind her.

As the sky got darker, Jenevi realized that she was more alert than she has been earlier. She assumed it was excitement, but the way she could now see things made her doubt it. What couldn't be seen at night could be clear to Jenevi from a long distance.

Jenevi heard footsteps. They weren't anywhere near, but she could hear it clearly coming from her left. She looked in that direction where there was the figure of a man coming at her. He was running, and he something in his hand.

It was a long sword.

A bit shocked, Jenevi stayed where she was. When she got back to her senses, she decided to stay and fight. Once he was close enough for them to be face to face, Jenevi took note of his gruesome features. His mouth was twisted into a permanent scowl. His dark hair was messy, and some parts were stuck to his sweaty forehead. There was a deep scar running from his eye brow and curving towards his nose, and his hazel eyes looked desperate. But what worried Jenevi the most was that there was a splatter of blood across his face.

"I've been following you since you left that old man's house, but not before I had the pleasure of killing him. Now if you please, hand over that bag and I will be on my way." He smirked as if knowing how much the old man meant to Jenevi.

Jenevi blinked. She stared blankly at the man, processing what he just said.

He killed Harris? She thought. But I just said goodbye to him not so long ago. He took care of me not so long ago! He was so nice! Why would he kill Harris?

"What's wrong with your eyes?" asked the man all of a sudden.

Anger flared up in Jenevi. She felt herself breathing heavily. Her hands were clenching and unclenching. Finally, she punched the murderer in the face. The movement was so fast that the man didn't have time to register what happened and stumbled back hard enough to fall down. He quickly got back up and gripped his sword. He swung it at Jenevi, but she quickly moved out of the way. Jenevi grabbed the man's wrist that was holding the sword and twisted it back.

The sword was dropped, but Jenevi didn't stop there. She twisted harder so that there was a sickening sound of bones cracking. The man cried out in pain. Jenevi then turned around and kicked her opponent in the stomach, sending him on the ground. She took his sword that was lying next to her feet and walked up to the man with the tip of the sword dragging behind her.

The man turned from his back and started to crawl his one good arm, even though he knew it was pointless. When Jenevi got closer, her turned back around and pleaded. "Please spare me! I just need to feed my young boy! He's sick!"

Jenevi said nothing as she held the sword above her head with her two hands.

"Please! His name is Jared! We live in the Shining Village not far from here! I will give you anything, please!"

The sword came flying down, making contact with the man's throat. Jenevi quickly removed the sword and blood squirted out of the man's flesh. His eyes were wide open when he died. They were wide with fear.

Jenevi didn't even bother to close them.

She dropped the bloody sword and continued on her way, shocked by how well she fought, but she kept her face blank. She couldn't help but feel like she lost someone she cared about before Harris. Jenevi then remembered what the murderer said. He asked what was wrong with her eyes.

"What's wrong with my eyes?" Jenevi wondered out loud.

There was a pond nearby that the young woman approached. She crouched down. The water was clear and lit by the two bright moons. Jenevi gasped.

Her eyes, from a dull green, were now neon in color. They lit up just as brightly as the moons did. Jenevi took off her hood to get a better look, but was stumbled back with another big surprise.

Her hair looked as though it were made up of black flames.