Canto 2 Dark Woods

Keisha was sprawled out on the ground, with her cheek pressed into the cold earth. She opened her eyes, lifting her head to see a dark forest around her. The sweet and sharp citrus smell stung her nose, making her sneeze. She pushed herself upright, looking around the eerie and silver trunked woods.

“Where am I?” Keisha murmured to herself. She wrapped her arms around her shoulders to ease her comfort.

“You’re in the world of the Inferno. Specifically, the Dark Woods of the Illicit, a region in the Inferno.”

Keisha turned to see the girl, Verona. She was standing with a disgruntled expression on her face. Verona tucked a strand of her brunette hair behind her ear.

“I’m sorry, the what?”

The term was unfamiliar, and she hadn’t heard it in any books or on television.

Verona narrowed her eyes at Keisha. “How are you not aware of the Inferno? You wouldn’t be able to see me, otherwise.” There was a pause as she sucked her teeth. “Or perhaps you’re more than an Earthborne. There are others with profound abilities, like Guardians, out there—what is your parent name?”

“Uh, if you’re asking me my full name, it’s Keisha. Keisha Alighieri.”

Verona leaned into her, so the two were nose to nose. The bug-eye expression caught Keisha by surprise, blushing a deep shade of red. Keisha could see that the Iris’ of Verona’s eyes were like the darkening part of an ocean with a hint of gold.

“Is it true? You are the Daughter of Dante Alighieri, The Dante.”

Keisha wasn’t sure what she meant by that statement.

“Sorry? I don’t know what you mean. He’s my papá. He was a Professor that studied philosophy and foreign languages, but I haven’t seen him since he disappeared two years ago.”

Verona leaned away from Keisha. Yet, her skin prickled from their close encounter.

“And you know nothing of the Inferno or what you are?”

Keisha shook her head. “What I am? What do you mean?”

Verona stiffly nodded. “Yes, you, Keisha, are a Legacy.” Keisha frowned. “A Legacy is a child of a Shikari that maintains the balance and keeps supernatural creatures—known as Demi—from escaping through the veil to Earth. My father, Virgil, and your papà were some of the greatest Shikari’s in the Inferno, and it falls to us to continue the line.”

Verona stood to her feet. “But we should hurry. We shouldn’t linger in one place for too long.”

She held out her hand for Keisha. Her jaw hung open as her mind tried to wrap around the information that had been told to her.

“This…this has to be a joke, right? Is this a prank?” Keisha laughed. She looked around the looming shadowed forest that hovered over them, expecting cameras to pop out.

“A prank?” Verona didn’t smile. “You just came through a swirling portal of your own free will. Surely, this doesn’t seem like any prank an Earthborne would pull, does it? By all means, stray from the path and go see for yourself.”

Keisha pressed her lips. She figured Verona would let her, but she didn’t want to test the theory in case something did come after her.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Follow me,” Verona said and walked past Keisha and into the tangled grove of the forest.

The sharp branches caught Keisha’s afro and cut along her cheeks. She swatted at them with her hands and, after some time, lost sight of Verona.

Keisha was alone.

“V-Verona?” Keisha quivered and tip-toed along the black, frayed grass. She peered into the darkness, hoping to spy Verona’s lustrous brown hair. She didn’t want to see what lurked through the darkness of the woods.

Keisha gulped. She was shaking, and the silent creepiness didn’t calm her nerves. Everything was too quiet, and that was never a good sign.

The snap of a branch forced Keisha to spin around too fast and gave herself whiplash. She stared at the spot that had made the noise.

“Verona?”

A low growl drained the color from Keisha’s face.

A creature stepped through the grove on all fours. Its back was spiky, and its triangular ears were pushed back. The creature barred its fangs menacingly, and then four more pairs of yellow eyes emerged from the forest.

One creature jumped through the air. Keisha screamed and ducked, covering her arms over her head. She waited for the marring of the creature's sharp teeth to dig into her flesh, but instead, someone shouted, “Scintilla di Fuoco.” Keisha recognized the Italian word Spark Fire followed by a whimper.

Keisha removed her hands from her head and peered to see someone standing above her, shielding her. On closer inspection, it looked like Verona, but she wasn’t the same. This Verona looked more muscular in her arms and legs. There was a silver circlet on her head like a crown and a silver-plated armor, skirt, and caligae sandals on her feet.

She held a staff in her hands that illuminated a bright white light.

“Beasties,” Verona said to Keisha. “Pesky canines that scavenge for food. They rarely attack humans, but their bite can be devious—the only way to get rid of them is by light.”

The remaining Beasties left into the shadow of the forest as sparks of fire petered out. The smell of smoke and burnt hair lingered in the air.

Verona returned to her un-armored form in a flash of light. She held out her hand for Keisha to take.

“You need to be careful. You’re a long way from home, and you could have been killed.”

Keisha grasped Verona’s hand, and she stared at Verona, who tilted her head to the side.

“W-what was that? You changed into an armored lady and back again! Did you just do that fire trick too?”

Verona smirked. “The power of a Legacy—come on, we’re almost there.”

***

THEY REACHED VERONA’S VILLA after a moment’s walk. The roof was made out of thick silver bark, and the villa's frame was made with dark clay. Keisha and Verona had to move several hidden shrubberies that camouflaged the home.

The two of them walked inside, and dim lighting illuminated the darkroom.

A makeshift living area presented itself to Keisha. There was an oddly placed sofa and several shelves with portraits held together by a stick-made frame.

Keisha peered at the photos on the wall and gasped; the first she saw was her papà’s ebony features and another man with fairer features. Her papà’s big emerald eyes stuck out to her. Even if Keisha had not seen him for two years, the calm and thoughtful expression on his long face and his aquiline nose was easy enough to remember the way her mamma described him.

“T-that’s my papà, and he’s with….”

“Virgil,” Verona said. “My father.”

Keisha turned to Verona; she could see the resemblance in their heart-shaped face and shared eyes. While Verona’s hair was darker, and Virgil had sandy-colored hair, they both shared curly-haired genes.

Keisha continued to look at the photos. The rest were of Verona, and a woman, with the same brunette-colored hair she guessed was her mamma.

“My papà really was here, and he was…a Shikari? Why does he not have violet eyes? Wh-what else is there?”

Keisha tried her best to remain calm, but she wanted answers. An entire world had been hidden from her, maybe even her mamma.

Verona shrugged. “His lengthy amount of time on the surface would be my guess. His Shikari blood was trying to mold with him being on earth. My father told me Dante left the Illicit and the Shikari ranks after falling in love with an Earthborne. He never saw Dante again, until my father asked him for help…that was two years ago.”

Keisha's knitted her brows, frowning. Hearing Verona’s tone indicated something bad happened to her father.

“Where is he?” Keisha asked. “And your mamma?”

Verona pursed her lips and whispered, “They’re both dead. My ma died when I was young and my father died from a deadly sickness.”

Keisha’s blood ran cold, and a chill ran up her spine. Her stomach twisted in knots.

“If you want to save your mamma, you’re going to have to travel through the Illicit to get answers,” Verona said. “There’s someone who may know.”

“What do you mean by travel? I can’t even fight Beasties! How am I supposed to survive a place that I found about a few minutes ago?”

Verona smirked. Keisha didn’t like that glimmer in her eyes.

“You’ll train. You are a Legacy after all.”