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NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN

Author Introduction: In these clips of the week I am mainly going to be sharing with you bits of stories that are from a fantasy world that I've had in my head since highschool. Eventually I would like to turn the clips into something, such as a cartoon, comic or a movie. When I write the clips it will be mainly to express a scene or a scenario, not a perfect piece of english mastery, so when I post it will generally be unedited, unfiltered. I hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think!

I think that this is my best clip so far and I'm happy with the result. I'm sure it could use some serious cleanup but I'm happy to have gotten it fleshed out.

Platinum Arts Clip Of The Week #3 (Created 3/11/07):

The Shimmering Forest

Their horses were exhausted as they sped through the grasslands. Ashlynn's horse was whining and groaning as it painfully pushed forward. Balek was worried that it was going to topple out from under her. He knew that they only had a little travel left and they were still in open ground. Balek realized that they only had one true course of action, to escape into the Shimmering forest. To the north and south was more hilly grasslands for quite some time, much longer than they had. Dust clouds were visible to the west as the demons moved quickly after them.

“We only have one recourse, we must travel through the shimmering forest,” said Balek.
“No, how can we? It is haunted!” said Ashlynn.
“What would you rather do, have the demons catch us and have their way? Our horses don't have much longer, and traveling north or south is a sure death.”

Ashlynn wasn't sure if she was more scared now of the oncoming demons or the thought of traveling into the shimmering forest. She had heard of people entering and never returning. It is rumored to be a cursed forest haunted by ghosts and evil creatures. It gets the nickname shimmering forest for people who have passed by at night and seen balls of white light illuminating the forest from deep within.

It wasn't long until the edge of the forest appeared over the horizon. The dust clouds in the west looked smaller and it appeared that they had put some more ground between them and their pursuers. As the forest came more into view Ashlynn began to fully understand why the forest received such a reputation. The trees themselves looked foreboding. They were green and lush but there seemed to be a darkness lurking beneath. It was a strange sensation, especially to get from something so tied to nature as a tree, but the presence was overwhelming. It felt as if the darkness from the shadows of the trees would come alive and pull her in. As if some great presence rested in those shadows, waiting to pull her and her friends in.

When they neared the edge of the forest, the horses would go no further. The party had no choice but to move forward on foot. Fear was vividly painted across the faces of Baren and Ashlynn. Balek however had an _expression_ of anger. Ashlynn realized it because he wouldn't let himself feel fear, and that even the thought of being afraid made him angry. He wasn't going to let his fear get a hold of him and instead turned it to rage against anything that would do them harm.

“Let's go!” Balek shouted. Baren and Ashlynn slowly followed Balek's lead into the forest. Balek was fiercely shifting his eyes about the forest, looking for any signs of a threat. They traveled for a ways without any event. This worried Balek even more because they had encountered nothing at all, not even any sign of wildlife. The trees were completely quiet save a small damp breeze that carried through the forest. No birds sang, or creatures hopped, nothing. The intensity of the sheer quiet was almost maddening. They were now deep within the forest and they felt completely engulfed by the trees. Soon they reached a small clearing which they met with some relief. Then Ashlynn let out a bloodcurdling scream. She put her left hand over her mouth and pointed towards the opposite edge of the clearing. Baren noticed what she was pointing at and started walking backwards in terror. Balek quickly motioned for them to get directly behind him and he put his arms to his sides to keep them behind him. He looked visibly shaken but refused to budge. Across the clearing stood what appeared to be a statue. It was of a frail old man that would have been naked save for a white rag that draped out his waist. The skin was flesh colored but looked pale and sickly. The old man was missing eyes and a deep void existed where they should have been. The _expression_ across his face was an ugly frown and his arms hung to his side. The party did not want to move forward. That statue radiated a foreboding presence that was overwhelming. They were half expecting the statue to come alive when suddenly its frown turned into a hideous smile. The teeth of the old man were rotten and most were missing. Even though the old man's eyes were missing he was staring at them with a gaze that was strong enough to stop them cold. The old man just stood there staring at them, his smiling widening even more. Then he began to cackle at them. The sound was inhuman and sounded like a high pitch scream of someone being tortured but with amusement mixed in. With a gurgling type of sound that made seem as if there there was a huge wad of spit in the old man's throat.

The old man then sprang forward. His speed was unearthly, moving faster than the party could see. Balek sprang forward at the old man but he had not even finished a step forward before the old man was already halfway across the clearing.
“Balek, no!” Ashlynn screamed! As she screamed the old man had already reached Balek. On the old man's hand huge claws protruded and his hand moved towards Balek's neck. Balek didn't even have enough time to react by putting his hands up in defense. Suddenly the old man stopped and stood in front of them, gazing at them with the lifeless eye sockets.
“You are Balek?” the old man asked. Balek was trembling and did not respond. He was still in shock at how fast the creature before him had moved. He had never seen anything like it. He never felt so helpless and over matched.
“Oh, pardon me, is this better?” The old man then transformed into a beautiful looking man. His eyes were dark blue and his hair was as black as the forest shadows. He body was slender yet toned. The party seemed to be even more frightened with the suddenness of the transformation. Balek stared at the man wide eyed with his jaw dropped.
“You have nothing to fear, I'm not going to hurt you,” said the man. “ I didn't recognize you Balek, but I have been told of your coming. I apologize for the rude greeting.” Balek finally mustered out, “Who are you?”
“There isn't enough time for that,” said the man. “You must move forward through the forest. It will do you no more harm, but I see you have brought company. I have been informed of their arrival as well. Keep moving and I will do what I can to slow their advance.” The party was still in shock but Balek urged them forward. He wasn't sure who the man was but was thinking that perhaps they served the same master. Balek and the party moved quickly through the clearing and into the forest as the man stayed behind. Balek looked back and saw that the man had resumed his old man form and that he was standing at the edge of the clearing again. Not long after Balek and the party had passed through the demons arrived. The hunter demons with their handsome humanlike faces, and four claw tipped hands and batlike wings were the first to arrive. The old man began cackling and the demons hesitated at first and then sprang towards him. The old man then became a blur. Moving from side to side so quickly that it didn't seem like he was moving, but rather appearing in different places. His claw tipped hands moved from one hunter demon to the next in a rapid fluid succession. The hunter demons had no time to react and in desperation began clawing wildly, often times tear into one other another. Several times a hunter demon connected with the old man and an arm or leg would fall from the old man's body. The old man showed no slowing down when this happened and would move to his next victim fully intact. The unearthly screams of the hunter demons filled the forest. Then a loud roar filled the forest and the hunter demons fled back into the forest. As they fled a larger creature emerge. It was a smog demon with its long clawed for legs and tail that was as long as its body. Its dull red slit eyes looked towards the old man. It opened its mouth filled with small pointed teeth and let forth a massive black cloud of vapor. The old man moved quickly to avoid it but the sheer vastness of the cloud and speed that it came forth caught some of him. He gave out a loud painful yell as the acid burned into his skin and he disappeared into the trees. Then a loud cackling was heard.
“Leave my forest. Even if you have to kill me you will have to contend with my master.” the old man's voice said but it seemed to be everywhere. Then in a blindly flash of light the old man sped towards the smog demon. His hand moving towards the creatures neck. Just as quickly the smog demon turned his teeth towards him caught him out of the air. The smog demon then crushed the man's chest as he screamed in pain. Then the smog demon flung the lifeless body to the side and moved through the forest after the humans.