Johnnas brazenly stood in the forest, feeling the cool night air, smelling the odor of rotting leaves. Frankly, he’d spent his entire life in the forest, and rarely left it. He enjoyed it greatly. He was abandoned as a child when harsh time came upon a noble family, which had lived in the great castle upon the grand hill just outside the forest.

Thing would have been different, had it not been for some inexplicable events. Plain Johnnas would be Earl Maxwell Red-Tooth of the castle Ironhand of Yewing forest. Instead, he lived in an old, worn-out canvas tent hitched up to a dead tree; under the impression his name was Johnnas of Yewing forest.

He did not mind a bit.

Not that he knew.

Today he was off to a meadow his mentor- whose name he had never known, – had warned him about. He thought of the man fondly, buried under his favorite yew tree.

It was alright, he felt. He had gone to that meadow every night for the last ten years, and, besides, he thought, no-one would trifle with he.

For he was legend, the great man-beast of Yewing forest. His mentor had also taken this mantle, and his mentor before he, and his before he, until it went so far back the people of the area saw him as some kind of immortal.

Everything from his matted brown hair to his dark, fearsome eyes to his long, lean frame bespoke a life of survival.

Tonight he stood staring towards the north, and the ruined castle Ironhand that was in that direction.

Now, Yewing, or, for that matter any forest was not a kind, happy, nice place to live in that time. There were ravenous wolves, highwaymen, bandits, and all manner of criminals, some sane, but most not.

Johnnas did not worry about any of the dangers, for the forest was HIS home, and he was the lord of his own little realm, content as any emperor. He also wore thick leather armor, carried a fine blade he had pilfered from the dilapidated castle and a fine yew bow of his own make.

As he turned south toward the meadow, a loud BOOM echoed across the forest. Johnnas thought nothing of it. Strange old men dressed in odd clothes often came to forests to do odd things. As he proceeded to his meadow, the sky suddenly clouded up. Under his breath, Johnnas cursed those “Magies” or whatever they called themselves.