While the air was warm, Kalil could feel a chill creep up his spine as he continued his path forward, the forest having a new, eerily silent demeanor to it that transcended the quiet and peaceful atmosphere it once held. A sea of charred stumps and blackened bark had taken the place of the trees which had once given the woodland its name. The bustling of wildlife that had once populated it were gone, and for all intents and purposes, perhaps never to return.
Any noise that Kalil did make as he walked forward rang off of the blackened trees with an eerie, empty sound. And as he continued onward, he felt a chill growing inside him, an overwhelming sensation of uneasiness as the reality of the situation became more and more apparent. The ground before him seemed to shift ever so slightly, as if a sliver of fear was lurking in his mind and demanding to be let out.
The air seemed to grow colder as he drew closer to the edge of the woods, causing him to pull his cloak tighter to himself as he continued to walk through the sparse layer of dead leaves that stood as a reminder of the forest's former glory.
Taking another step, his boots scuffling in the ash which coated everything as they moved across the floor of the forest, Kalil's eyes now fixated upon the dim light that was beyond the woodland’s exit. The light seemed to grow steadily brighter as he continued forward, as if it were the only thing keeping his mind away from the reality that lay beyond his reach.
And as the light of the exit grew larger, Kalil felt his heart begin to beat faster in his chest, pounding with an alertness he had never felt before, a fear of what truly lay beyond growing almost uncontrollably in his mind.
Finally, as he reached the light, it blinded his eyes, and for a moment, Kalil was left unable to do anything but stare at the brightness of the world which lay beyond. As his gaze broke through the radiance which stood as a barrier in front of the forest, he beheld the sight that met them.
A vast expanse of green was the first thing the youth noticed, his eyes wide with wonder as they darted around in an attempt to take in the full scope of his surroundings.
The sunlight that had brought him so much warmth in the forest was now almost blinding, and as his eyes adjusted, he noticed that the green of the grass and trees stretched on to the horizon as far as he could see, the blanket of greenery almost as vast in size as the sky above.
“Is this it...?” Kalil asked himself, his voice but a whisper. “Is this… the outside world?”
He glanced up toward the sky, his eyes stretching open once again to take in the brightness of the endless blue. The clouds looked almost like white mist, brilliant strokes of white that stretched on and on in all directions. The sun, which had so warmly embraced him in the forest, was now an oppressive presence, a barely contained warmth that seemed to burn his skin with an unnatural intensity, yet was unusually pleasant all the same.
"Is this what the world is like?" Kalil asked as he turned to face the forest once again, his eyes seeking something, anything, to help him in the perplexing new world which he now occupied.
How he wished he hadn’t.
He could not stop gazing upon the remnants of the grove’s entrance, standing still as though in a trance. The woods seemed to beckon him, like a lover that promised him a more familiar place. Except it was anything but familiar.
The forest had grown into a wasteland of destruction, vines and roots lashing out erratically towards him as his gaze settled on the trunk of an old tree, its bark long since burnt and now stained with a sickly-black substance.
Cautiously, Kalil moved closer to the tree, his eyes widening as he beheld a set of emblazoned footprints tipped with claws upon the exposed soil, neither human, yet not quite belonging to any wildlife which had inhabited the woods--or any that were to his knowledge.
The tracks were accompanied by the unmistakable sounds of something moving around within the shrubbery, no longer the peaceful symphony of birds and insects which had filled the forest as far back as Kalil's memory could recall, nor the deafening silence which had plagued them until now.
He didn't need a double-take to realize the prints were fresh, having been made only moments before his own.