"Don't go into that forest Mathias!"

"I can't believe you hike there Mathias, you could die!"

"Mathias, you're toying with fate."

"Do you know how dangerous that is Mathias?"

"Legend says those trespass against the spirits' will are destined to be killed."

Mathias had heard it all. From the day he was born on, he was constantly reminded and warned not to go into the forest that surrounded his village. The adults loved spreading the folklore that those who wandered into the forest never came back. Matthias had loved the stories as a child, but now that he was in his twenties, he was convinced they were just silly tales used to entertain the kids. Starting a few months back, Mathias had began hiking in the woods. Everyone warned him it was a bad idea, but he didn't listen. Fairytales aren't real. 

In his five months of hiking, he had never seen anything out of the ordinary, and he had even discovered a hiking trail that had been long forgotten. He figured the trail must've been used back in the day when their wasn't a road connecting his village to the rest of the country. Mathias's village was a peculiar place. It was supposedly founded by a group of dissenters who no longer wanted to live under viking rule around 1000 AD. The lore was that they had wandered through the forest for months until finally finding the village, an area where the trees had already been cleared, as if it were simply waiting to become a settlement. The founders saw it as a sign that the plot of land had been chosen for them by the gods, and so they made the village. Mathias thought it was a load of bullshit. 

The village had been a secluded establishment in the middle of the apparently "enchanted" woods until around 1500, when the Danish government finally discovered the village and claimed it as part of the Kingdom. The road was built soon after, and the village quickly turned from a barbaric society to a nice town with mythical folklore. The population never really grew larger than 700 people, so everyone knew each other, and eveyone shared a common culture. Mathias loved his cute little village, and all the people in it, but he wanted more. He had an adventurous spirit, and staying in the village and avoiding the outside world wasn't exactly his cup of tea. After he realized he wanted more than his little village life, he decided to take up his hobby of hiking. 

He had loved the idea of venturing into the forbidden woods, where the elder villagers would hang signs warning the children not to lurk near the edge of the woods, and put little statues to please the spirits. Every year the townspeople got together and had a festival honoring the spirits by lighting candles and singing old folk songs by the edge of the forest. After this year's festival, Mathias decided he was done limiting himself to the small plot of land he called home. 

Now, five months into hiking, he was proving his entire village wrong. He had never noticed anything strange in the woods. They were actually quite beautiful. If he stayed on the trail, he felt perfectly safe. Though he'd mercilessly deny the villagers tales of mythical beasts, he wouldn't dare wander off the trail. That was too risky. 

Though he hadn't seen anything magical or horrifying in the forest, he had found a lot of the statues and dolls that the villagers made for the festivals each year surprisingly far into the woods, as if someone had carried them there. But knowing no one except him was daring enough to hike the trail, he figure the wind probably just picked them up and moved them further into the forest. The only thing that had ever genuinely freaked him out was when he had gone a little farther than usual into the forest and found a child's beaded bracelet sticking out of the dirt. After that incident, he had decided to not to venture farther than that point. 

One day in April, when it was finally spring in Denmark and the snow had melted from the ground, Mathias decided it was a perfect day to go for a hike. In the winter, he found it a little harder to hike so he'd only go once a week or so, but now that it was spring, he was pumped to be able to go on everyday adventures. 

As he laced up his boots, Mathias noticed his mother staring dissaprovingly at him from across the room. "What's wrong, mor?" Mathias asked, looking over at his mother with a slight frown on his face. 

"Ikke noget, I just want you to be safe. You know those woods are dangerous. I don't know how many times I have to remind you before you stop tempting the spirits" his mom responded, furrowing her brow as she watched Mathias zip up his jacket.

"Are you serious? There's no such thing as spirits!" Mathias exclaimed, laughing as he gave his mother a comforting pat on the shoulder. 

"Matthias, there's a reason why no one goes into those woods. I know you've never been around when something has happened, but when I was younger, people like you disappeared all the time" she warned, shooting her son a concerned look. 

"Those are just fairytales, mor. I'll be safe, I promise" Mathias reassured, giving his mom a quick kiss on the forehead before rushing out of the door, not wanting to hear any more of his mother's stories. 

"Mathias-!" his mom began before Mathias shut the door behind him. He was done listening to other people trying to tell him what to do. If people wanted to spread childish stories about fairies and evil witches, they could leave him out of it. Mathias didn't care. Hiking was his only way to escape the dull familiarity of the village. 

As he began his walk across town to the edge of the woods, Mathias reached into his pocket and pulled out his lucky keychain, which was a small double-sided axe that had been given to him by his dad before he died. He always rubbed it three times with his thumb for good luck before entering the woods on his hike, and taking it with him made him feel like his dad was always with him. Without the keychain, he didn't feel safe. 

As soon as Mathias reached the start of the trail he took a deep breath and crossed the boundary of pebbles that had been a joint collaboration by the children and the elders during the festival to ward off evil spirits. Feeling the crunch of old leaves under his feet, Mathias smiled. Now that there was no snow, he felt more connected to nature again. It was coming back alive, and so was he. 

Mathias had been walking for a few minutes and enjoying the budding trees and little forest animals that scuttered across the trail before he suddenly felt a strong gust pushing him back in the direction of the village. He stood still for a moment before the wind stopped, and furrowed his brow at the strange and seemingly random gust of wind that had just hit him in the face. Mathias laughed at the unpredictability of weather and continued walking as he fixed his hair. His hair naturally looked like he had just come out of a wind storm, so when he actually did encounter some wind, he looked like he had been electrocuted. He continued walking for a few moments before another blast of wind hit him in the face. 

"What the heck!" Mathias muttered, growling as pushed his hair out of his face for the second time. Mathias continued on, this time with a little hesitance in his step. The weird wind had kind of freaked him out. The next gust of wind made him fly backwards, toppling to the ground at the sheer strength of the gust. This time, Mathias didn't even try to continue walking, he just stayed sitting on the ground, wondering what in the world could be causing such strong winds. He looked around the forest, not noticing anything out of the ordinary. He was alone with the nature and the animals, or so he thought. He reached into his pocket and rubbed his thumb over the axe again. 

He sat for a moment, shaking a little in fear of what would happen if he stood up. Would the wind carry him away? Why was it so strong? He shut his eyes for a moment, and that's when he heard the sound of a violin playing in the distance. He opened his eyes and looked around, but still, no one was there. The violin continued. Mathias listened. It sounded like it was coming from trees on the left side of the trail. The music was enchanting. Mathias had never heard anything so beautiful in his entire life. As his heart urged him to find whatever was making this beautiful noise, Mathias took his first ever step off the trail.