by Kyle West
“Had my mother lived, something would have been done,” Isaru said.
“I do not blame you, or Haven, for what has happened,” Enrei said. “Indeed, here in the North, there is a prevailing sense that all will fall in the coming years. Perhaps people will see the truth when Northold itself is under siege, but as of yet, the Mindless have not been so bold.”
“Nava was attacked just a few weeks ago,” I said. “There were three dragons, and people were even killed.”
“I hadn’t heard that,” Enrei said. “That is deeply troubling. But that makes me fear even more for the north. All the kingdoms and tribes will be fighting for their own survival, and not mutual survival.”
There was a sense of defeat in Elder Enrei’s voice, and that made me feel as if there was no point in even fighting. I couldn’t let myself give into that feeling.
“The reversions can be healed, Elder,” I said. “It was healed at the Sanctum, and it can be healed here. As Isaru said, we will tell the Sanctum of your need and all that we’ve seen.”
“That would be a start,” Enrei said. “The journey from north to south has become more dangerous, and it discourages regular communication. All the same...it does not excuse the silence of the South. Our welfare is also theirs, after all.”
At this moment, Skandes approached from the direction of the hall’s entrance.
“This is as good a moment to leave off as any,” Enrei said. “And I’m sure they are eager to be clean and get some rest.”
“We must leave as soon as we can,” Isaru said. “Our mission is urgent and must be seen to as quickly as possible. All the same...I would wish to see Dreamlake with my own eyes. Is it far from here?”
Elder Enrei’s eyes widened. “It is a two day journey north, but it is very dangerous. While the Mindless no longer occupy the village, they are rampant in the area, and our patrols do not range that far anymore. Take my advice and do only what you came to do...whatever that is. For it will be far safer than going to Dreamlake.”
“It’s probably off our path, anyway,” I said. “Thank you, Elder. For both your hospitality and what you have told us.”
“Think nothing of it,” He nodded toward Brother Skandes, giving us over to him.
We followed Skandes outside to another hall that was smaller. Within it, there were several wooden tubs, circular in shape, two of which were filled with steaming water. Isaru told me to go first. At first I thought he was just being polite, but then I realized I probably needed it a lot more than he did.
While he waited outside, I did my best to hurry, even if all I wanted to do was sit there and wait for all the soreness to melt out of my muscles. I soaped myself thoroughly until I was sure every bit of blood, dirt, and stink was out of me. The state of the water afterward was disgusting, so it was well that that they had filled two tubs.
After a time, I dried off, got dressed, and returned to the main hall. Only a few of the brothers were still in the common hall, speaking in low voices. The fire was low and the xen lamps mostly extinguished, and only a few candles produced the rest of the light.
I made my way to the shadowy stairs to the second floor and found my way to my bunk. I lay down, unable to believe how comfortable an actual bed felt. How strange it felt to even be clean.
I turned on my side and was instantly asleep.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
THE NEXT DAY WAS A free day, so I dressed in pants and a plain shirt and hood before leaving the Palace alone. I only told Isandru where I’d be, that way if my parents asked, he would be able to give an answer. I wasn’t forbidden to go into the forest, though I was judged harshly for it. My mother preferred that I stay inside, even if I enjoyed being outside more.
Before long, I found myself walking along the crystalline shore of Lake Makar, in my usual route to enter the Eastern Forest. Instead, though, I kept walking, following the shoreline north. It took me a good hour, but before long, I was standing before the edge of the Northern Forest. I didn’t know what brought me here, because I rarely came this way. It was hard to walk its trails, which were often overgrown and disused. People preferred the other forests, since they were more beautiful and easier to walk.
Still, I found myself following the main road out of the city that led north. There wasn’t much to the north – a few estates and villages, but all were small, and not much thought about by city-dwellers. The Northern Forest also had a reputation of being the least prosperous area of the Crater, and the woods were so thick and wild that many often forgot that people lived up here, myself included. The houses were made from wood more so than grown from the xen.
It wasn’t my aim to find any of these villages, but go into the forest itself. I found a trail and let my feet take me where they willed. Soon, the forest became dark and brooding; the trees were thick and twisted, and the canopy let through very little light. Still, life was abundant. The background buzz of insects was intermittently interrupted by the calls of birds. The air was warm and damp, and almost like trying to breathe under a sheet.
Once, all the forest in Hyperborea had been like this. Over the years, Sages had regrown and repurposed the other forests for human use, with an aim to do the same for the Northern Forest. However, this had never come to pass, and these days, the Northern Forest was just let to grow wild and free. While the plants in every other direction of Hyperborea had been grown to cooperate, here there was only competition – taller trees spreading their vast limbs to take all the light while smaller trees wilted and died a slow death over years, or even decades. And on such trees, moss and fungus grew, as maggots might feast on a dead carcass.
One got a sense of not only life, but death. The forest was one of decay along with being one of growth. There were no rules here; the circumstances of a tree’s birth often said whether it died or thrived long before it had the chance to spread its limbs.
I tried not to think of how true to life that was.
The Northern Forest, as such, was not a place for lofty thoughts, and perhaps it was my own mood that had drawn me here more than anything else.
An hour into my walk, the trail ended at a small, but deep, spring of ichor. Silverwoods grew so thick around it that it was difficult to even squeeze my way past them. It was as if they had greedily grown around it, fighting for every last vestige of life the liquid gave. In reflection of that, the pool was small, and had never been allowed to grow to its full potential. It reminded me so much of what Elder Marius had told me, about how Hyperborea was sucking the Sea dry. Even so, the spring selflessly gave its energy to the surrounding trees, but in return, it wasn’t permitted to grow larger and give more. If any more trees managed to squeeze around the spring in the coming years, it might disappear altogether. Then, all the trees would die.
I found a root of one of the largest Silverwoods, a root which delved right into the center of the spring itself. I took care to stay away from the surface; with preparation, the strongest Prophets could “walk the Xenofold” by immersing themselves in ichor springs like this, although the practice was always dangerous and there was the risk of losing one’s memories. And in this day and age, it was little-practiced, because Aether allowed Prophets to do the same thing with less risk.
All the same, in those older days, many Prophets deemed the risk worth it in order to gain access to revelations that would otherwise be barred to them.
And there on the root, I closed my eyes and sought Silence. Time passed in a state of calm, at first, but then, questions began to grate at me.
Why aren’t you here? Why aren’t you answering me? What do I need to do?
I did my best to ignore the thoughts, focusing on returning to my breaths. Even so, it felt as if nothing was forthcoming. I was tempted to just give up and abandon the attempt, as I had done so many times before.
But instead, my trance became deeper, to the point where I felt as if my mind was floating upward. I felt anxiety at this, but I didn’t stop. I knew, in the back of my mind, that this was a new exp
erience that might open new possibilities. If I just followed it, despite my mounting fear, I might learn something new.
Then, there was a sense of unbalance, followed by falling. My stomach seemed to fly up into my throat, but still, I remained in the trance. This was followed by a warm sensation covering me entirely.
It was only here that I opened my eyes to find myself in a sea of pink.
I’ve fallen into the spring.
It was my final thought before everything in front of me changed.
THE EDDIES WITHIN THE ichor swirled, coalescing into an image of Hyperborea.
Only...it looked different. Under a star-filled sky, fires tore through the city, while beyond it rose a great tower that had not been there before; a tower from which a single beam of light shot directly upward into the heavens.
The city was being destroyed, only I didn’t know by what.
Streams of arcing light fell down from the sky, exploding in plumes of fire and smoke. Screams were carried on the wind, discernible even at the distance from which I stood.
What is this?
And I watched as more explosions fired, as towers fell, as bridges crumbled. Was this some prophecy of the future? If so, was there any way to stop it.
And yet, the high tower to the city’s north – the tower that wasn’t present in the real world – remained untouched, too far out of bombardment range to be affected. That bright beam of light was unnerving, and I couldn’t decide what it was.
And then, there was a voice in my head. A female voice, and one I knew to be Annara.
The city is going to be destroyed, and its destruction will signal the beginning of the end. The Xenofold will weaken, and the Beacon will be lit. Even now, that signal crosses space, but what dark Xenomind will it find? I don’t know when this occurs...far in the future, I think...but if I could just pin down the year, it would serve as a warning for future generations, so we don’t forget.
I was hearing her thoughts rather than her speaking to me directly. And yet, she didn’t know I was present.
Can...can you hear me? I thought. Or are my thoughts only finding silence?
Annara continued. My words might be the only defense. They must be entrusted with the Seekers, and they must be kept safe forever. There are always complications, but it’s the best I can hope for.
Annara, are you there? Can you hear me?
Four hundred years. It seems like an eternity, but four hundred years is more than enough time to forget. There is...the failsafe. I will do everything I can to make sure everyone remembers Xenofall. But when I return, will the world recognize me as I am? Only my words will prove it. Everything counts on my words.
Trying to reach her was useless. Even now, the prophecy was fading, and I found myself again in the spring of ichor.
I swam to the surface and hacked out all the ichor I had drawn into my lungs, replacing it with the stuffy air of the forest. The ichor dripped from my face in a single entity, consciously rushing to rejoin the pool. I swam to the shoreline, and what was left of the ichor on my clothes and skin congealed off and slid to rejoin the spring’s smooth surface.
There, I lay, completely stunned. It was a revelation I had never expected to see, and it lent Elder Marius’s words all the more gravity. Only, I’d had a prophecy, proving his words absolutely true.
The city would be destroyed, but it wasn’t the death of the Sea of Creation. It was those arcs of light that seemed more like weapons than anything else. A war, perhaps. But war with whom?
It was only then that I realized what had happened. I had fallen into the ichor spring, and it was possible that there would be side-effects. I had been perfectly balanced on the root, so the fact that I had fallen was surprising in itself. It was almost as if I had been pulled into the spring. If that was true, then had the spring wanted to give me a prophecy?
Looking into the sky, it was already getting late. I followed the trail back, not reaching the Palace until sunset. My clothes were dirty, and I walked in a daze, both from physical and mental exhaustion.
I made my way to the guest wing, and knocked on the door to Elder Marius’s chambers. It wasn’t likely that he was there, since he was usually outside his rooms, but I needed to tell him what I had seen as soon as possible.
To my surprise, he answered, and as soon as he saw my state, his eyes widened.
“Princess Mia! What’s happened?”
“I’ve had a prophecy,” I said. “You are right. About everything. The city is going to fall.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
THE NEXT DAY WE AWOKE, ate breakfast, and were lowered on the lift until we reached the forest floor. Isaru led us away from Auberin and into the forest. The plan was to continue southeast until we reached Northold.
We picked up the Pilgrimage Road, little more than a trail, here. In this day and age, Auberin was the end of the line. In older times, the trail had gone further, cutting east until it reached Ragnarok Crater. However, according to Isaru, the road had disappeared over the years, lost to the decaying flatlands known as the Withering Waste, which formed the northern border of the Wild. The Waste ran along the southern edge of the Northern Reversion, which went on for as far north as xen still grew.
On the way, I related my latest dream of Mia. It was the most interesting one to date, because Anna herself was in it, even if she hadn’t spoken to Mia directly. It was her famous prophecy about the end of the city, and yet, I was more interested in Anna’s words. Four hundred years seemed to factor in, along with Xenofall. I knew they were related, but not how. So much of it seemed like gibberish. Four hundred years until what, or from what?
We left off the speculation about an hour into our journey, when Isaru suddenly paused. He had been walking behind me for a while, so I turned to look back. He was looking at the trail, seemingly for no reason.
“What’s up?” I asked.
He looked at me. He looked lost. “I keep thinking of my mother. About Dreamlake. I keep thinking of what Enrei said...”
I could see where he was going, and I was already prepared to argue against it. “Dreamlake is north, Isaru. Northold is south. Maybe we can find the Invi somewhere around there.”
“I might never see Dreamlake with my own eyes,” Isaru said. “And it is only two days north. They gave us plenty of food and Northold isn’t far. At worst, we’ll lose four days.”
Four days was a lot more than what Isaru was making it out to be, and we both knew it.
“Isaru, this is a really bad idea. The town was destroyed, so what do you think we will find?”
“We’re doing this for your parents. Can’t you just spare a few days for my people?”
I couldn’t believe he just went there. Both Isaru and I had a stake in this, but I had to admit getting this mission done was probably more important to me. It was my parents’ lives on the line, after all, while Isaru was mainly interested in the Prophecy.
“It’s just a few days, Shanti,” he said. “Please.”
As much as I hated it, I didn’t want Isaru to blame me for missing a chance to discover new information about his tribe’s past. And if I were in his position, I’d probably want the same thing.
“Fine,” I said. “We’ll do it. But if it’s dangerous at all, we are turning around immediately.”
He brightened. “All right, I’ve been thinking. According to the maps I’ve looked at, Dreamlake is northwest of Northold, and if the Elders told us that Auberin was pretty much directly north of it. That means we have to head northwest.”
“We’ve already been walking for an hour,” I said. “Couldn’t you have brought this up earlier?” Isaru went quiet, and I knew then that he didn’t have a good answer for that. “Whatever. Let’s get moving. I don’t want to lose four days. Hopefully, Dreamlake isn’t that far if we move quickly.” I frowned. “Wait. You said it’s northwest. Wouldn’t that just take us back into the forest?”
Isaru shook his head. “No. At least, I don’t think s
o. The forest is west, and as long as we head far enough north, we should be able to go around it.”
“How do you know that forest doesn’t stretch all the way up to Dreamlake?” I asked. “Elder Enrei said everything had been taken over by the reversion. Even if it’s not forest, it’s going to be dangerous.”
“I’ve wanted to see Dreamlake and Invia my whole life,” Isaru said. “I’m not going to be denied the chance, no matter how dangerous.
I sighed. “I know you won’t.”
We stood there in silence for a long moment. I was thinking about taking back what I said, now that I was thinking of all the needless danger we were going to put ourselves through. The thing was, though, Isaru didn’t see those dangers as needless. For him, going through them was a necessity. Even if I disagreed, there was a chance he would just go on his own, anyway.
“Let’s get moving,” I said.
WE BACKTRACKED OVER the next hour, finding the stream we had crossed yesterday. Somehow, we overshot the mill, and instead followed the water where it flowed from the north. To my surprise, the forest abruptly came to an end, revealing a wide, xen-filled plain, at the end of which rose a line of pink-tinged mountains set against a bright blue sky. Only a few clumps of xenotrees and low cliffs broke up the monochrome pink of the plains, and the stream was soon lost in the spread of land ahead.
Still, though, we followed the stream because we had little else to go on. At times, we would see a faint trail cutting through the pink of the plain. Isaru said it was the remains of the Pilgrimage Road, though it would be years yet before it completely went away. Apparently, the Road diverged at some point, with one of the forks heading north to Dreamlake, while the other headed east to Hyperborea. This part was still visible.
We somehow found ourselves on this trail heading north. Up here, the land seemed truly empty. Not empty of life. There were birds, small mammals like chipmunks and squirrels, and large lizards with hues so vibrant that they stood out starkly, even against the brightly colored xen. Glowing green mushrooms grew in the shade of cliffs and small caves, and fiery-colored reeds filled the banks of the stream, which up here had a slower current.