The Ringer's Tale: Vreda's Sacred Quest for Balance.

Vreda sat on the bench, arms wrapped around her knees. She stared dully at the ground, the shadows of the leaves and branches swaying dizzyingly in the wind. A grey afternoon had settled over the forest and a thick fog crept through the branches of trees. The rain had just stopped, but the ground was still wet and muddy with small puddles everywhere.

She didn’t like this place anymore. There was something wrong in these woods, she could feel it deep in her bones. And now that she was here, she was thinking about how stupid it had been to follow that sound for so long into this dark place where no one would ever find her if anything bad happened. Her fingers twitched nervously, scratching at her skin until it bled. She welcomed the sharp sting and drew her blood onto her fingertips to stare at it. It looked like nothing special - a simple red colour, a little darker than usual probably because of the cold and dampness in the air. But when she thought of what it meant, what it represented… It made her sick to her stomach.

Vreda pushed herself up with a sigh and ran her free hand through her matted hair before she started walking again, ignoring the ache in her legs. The ringing sound seemed closer now; it sounded as if it came from right behind the next tree trunk she would pass by. She had been following this strange noise for days now, until finally she entered this dark forest where sunlight never reached even during midday. It was hard to believe that only two weeks ago winter had just begun and everything was still covered in white snow…

The dryad’s voice echoed painfully in Vreda’s head as if he were standing next to her instead of being dead for decades by now: “You are an unusual child, Vreda… You can do things most people can’t do, see things most people can’t see… You will be guided by your nature… You will know what must be done...”

Vreda shook her head and sighed tiredly as she thought about it again. She couldn’t remember much about the man who once took care of her and raised her until she left him behind when she turned ten years old. He always told his stories about fairies, nymphs and dryads while they sat together at his cottage surrounded by flowers and herbs with a warm cup of tea in their hands… Those stories had fascinated Vreda then, but now they unnerved her deeply. And yet they held such a promise of power that made her follow them all these years despite herself - despite not knowing what they meant or why they were so important to him…

A rustle to Vreda’s right caused her heart to skip a beat immediately as she quickly drew out one of the knives from under her cloak and got ready to throw it at whatever disturbed her so close to all those monsters lurking within these woods. But when she saw what it actually was, Vreda almost dropped the knife from shock: A woman appeared from behind some bushes looking very dirty and exhausted - like someone who hadn’t eaten or washed in ages - wearing tattered clothes that barely covered her body anymore... But above all: The woman's eyes were pitch black and completely blank!

Vreda tightened her grip on the knife and felt goosebumps spread across her skin as fear crept up inside of her like an icy snake slithering up from underneath the mud on which she stood on… Instinctively, Vreda fell into battle stance because there could be no other explanation than that this woman was possessed by evil spirits!

But then something else caught Vreda’s eye: Two small black spheres were moving slowly towards them both from behind some trees nearby - one flew straight towards the possessed woman while another flew towards Vreda as if trying to direct its course towards Vredas chest… And suddenly everything clicked into place for Vreda: The two-folded nature of good and evil!

Without thinking twice longer, Vreda threw herself forward onto ground with all strength in order to avoid both attacks: One went past above while another splashed down next to where Vreda had just been standing moments earlier… In the same motion, Vreda rolled over herself into uncertain safety before getting back up again only to find herself facing against a girl swinging an axe in front of herself screaming bloody murder before throwing itself bodily against Vreda who barely managed to jump out of harm's way again by throwing herself backwards onto ground again with a panicked yell!