The Mapmaker and the Road
The mapmaker knew every road in the kingdom except the one that had appeared overnight. He began to wonder about the secrets of the map. He searched through his atlas. Interestingly, all maps of the kingdom now had the road on them. The mapmaker knew he had not added the road, and he knew that the road must have appeared because of some magical cause.
The mapmaker was constantly questioned about the road, and he always said that he didn’t know what it was, what it was called, nor where it led. He began to grow curious. One day, the mapmaker disappeared mysteriously.
It turned out that he went to scout the road. You see, this mapmaker once trained as a knight. While the blanket of night was still uninterrupted, he strapped on his steel breastplate, put on his helmet, slid on his shinguards and boots, and grabbed his spear, bow and arrow, sword, shield, and a last-resort weapon. He took his trusty map and compass and headed toward the road.
The road led to the edge of a forest. The mapmaker approached warily, but that caution couldn’t help against what came next. The forest seemed to grow outward, and in the next second, the mapmaker was swallowed up by the forest!
The mapmaker knew he was doomed. This was the Forest of Secrets, where werewolves lived. He readied his spear and held out his shield. He stepped lightly, trying hard not to create noise even with his heavy gear. He was light and soundless, but the werewolves also had a sense of sight.
Just then, the mapmaker realized that it had been a full moon when he set out. Just his luck! But he knew the forest had captured him, and there would be no getting out until he killed every last werewolf.
The howl of a werewolf caught him off guard. It flew out of the bush and aimed for a quick infecting bite on the neck of the mapmaker. The blow was blocked by his shield, and his spear quickly flew back. One down! Three more werewolves charged from the bushes. His spear was still stuck in the first werewolf, so he quickly drew his sword and cut down one, two, and three.
He grabbed a matchstick and set some of his arrows on fire. He shot a few at the bush burning it up and killing all werewolves hiding in it. But one had circled around under the cover of darkness and undergrowth to pounce on the mapmaker.
The werewolf jumped just as the mapmaker turned around. The mapmaker pulled out his last resort: a poisoned dagger. He just nicked the werewolf, but it didn’t matter, since it was poisoned, and the werewolf would soon die of it. But, the mapmaker was infected, too.
After this night, the road disappeared from the map, and everyone thought the road had just been a dream. But little did they know, the road would always haunt them, drawing people to the forest and turning them into werewolves.