by Logan Jacobs
“Well, be safe,” Mazne called while I headed out.
“I always am,” I assured her.
Chapter 7
It was quiet in the street beyond our estate wall, but there was always someone out and about in Ocadia, no matter the hour. Four older, peasantish folks could be seen both to the left and right as I exited our grounds. Another man was refilling the oil in the street lanterns near the blacksmith’s shop, and he was a burly man, with hair that fell to his shoulders and a naturally snarling facial structure that suggested he’d had a hard life.
I nodded to myself and made my way over as the burly man descended his ladder, and then I swung into him and bumped my arm with his back. The man lost his footing, and I grabbed his shoulder at just the right point so the skin of my hand grazed his neck.
“Oi, watch it,” he growled.
“Sorry.” I smirked as I righted the man, and I continued to walk without another glance.
As soon as I reached the end of the blacksmith’s shop, I quickly turned toward the back alley and walked with haste to the edge of the forest.
I felt myself begin to change in appearance with every step, and I started to get shorter while my breaths faltered a bit. The man I was mirroring was an unhealthy man who had weak lungs, and his legs would not take me as fast as I wanted them to, but his arms and chest were sturdy enough to leave me with plenty of strength.
I followed the path around the forest’s edge and waited for a sign to enter, but the more I headed south, the darker and less inviting it became. Still, I continued along in my mirrored form and talked to the trees as I went. I moved stealthily along the edge of the mostly sleeping kingdom until I eventually found myself in the far southern quarter where the majority of the blacksmiths and artificers were still sleeping. The smoke in the air was stale at this time of day, and the streets were generally deserted.
Then I heard it.
The subtle whispers from the forest that urged me to enter.
I turned and looked into the thick shrubbery that reached to my waistline. I glanced behind me to see if there was anyone in the area, but all around me was darkness. I pulled out my short sword and started slashing away the brambles in my path, and they retracted with a shiver, but allowed me to enter.
As soon as I did, their hushed breaths started to sound louder.
I turned back around to check where exactly the noise was coming from, and I saw the brambles regenerating behind me.
I could barely see more than the rustling shadows closing me in, and I couldn’t hear anything apart from the echoes that wisped around trees. Still, I started to trek deeper, and as I did, my head suddenly became lighter and my body became numb.
The forest was fighting me.
I held my hand out, reached for something to hold onto, and found some bark. I was only a mage, and with no power to fight off this kind of energy. My throat was starting close up, and I tried to gulp for air as I braced myself against the tree.
“It is I,” I whispered into the night. “The one Master Abbot has spoken to you of.”
The forest must have known it was me, or it never would have let me in to begin with, but I guessed the body I mirrored was what angered it enough to attack. It wasn’t assassin material, and I squirmed as I waited for the forest to release me from its hold.
“I swear to you, I am Dex Morgan,” I hissed. “Do not kill me, I am here under Master Abbot’s protection.”
The air in the Forest of Hud started to loosen its grip around my neck, though the pressure still felt immense. I coughed and spluttered, but I managed to stand up straight again after a few moments passed.
“Thank you,” I gasped and sheathed my short sword with shaking hands. “You may guide me to my destination, the Ardere of Ignis, and see for yourself that I have no interest in destroying your trees. I have no desire to take any animals, either. I am just passing through.”
The pressure in my lungs was completely gone now, and the nettles on the floor started to collapse as the grass flattened as well. Then the glow of worms and fireflies started to wink in front of me, and the shadowy path to my destination seemed clearer. The fireflies didn’t make a sound as they flitted around the enchanted trees, and they looked like a million tiny stars. The glowworms were the same color as the river when the light reflected on it, and they arranged themselves in two lines for me to walk down the middle.
I had a pathway to follow all the way through, without any trouble.
“Thank you for your assistance.” I nodded to the forest floor and above my head.
Master always had connections, but I wondered just how he had managed to make a deal with the Forest of Hud this time, and what price he’d paid for it. The forest could receive no money, it had no reason to be given food, and it was completely self-reliant, but there must have been something in this deal for the unforgiving place.
I walked for what felt like hours through the forest as I followed the flowing path of the fireflies and worms. My borrowed feet became tired and full of blisters, and my back ached like an old man’s while my stomach started to grumble. I veered off the path just long enough to find a branch that had already snapped off, and I used it as a cane to relieve some of the pain and carried on.
“I am hungry,” I sighed out loud. I hadn’t really said it for the trees, but as soon as I spoke, stillness fell over the enchanted forest for a long moment, and even the fireflies froze in midair.
I held my breath, but suddenly, a barrage of yellow eyes shone from the treetops. The forest must have told the creatures to stay quiet on my journey so as not to scare me, but now, they awoke and started to scream.
The eyes started jumping from branch to branch over my head and down the trunks. I couldn’t see how big the creatures’ bodies were, but their screams cut through the air and seemed to pierce even my skin. They were coming closer to me, and then closer again, and I tried to shoo them away, but the more I did, the less scared they were.
Then things started to drop around my head. They looked like balls, and when they dropped, they landed with a thump.
I skirted around the first few, and I was worried I must have said something that made the forest retract its deal to help me, but then I noticed, from the light of the glowworms, that whatever the yellow-eyed creatures were throwing looked like fresh fruit from the trees above.
They kept throwing them in my direction and screaming as they did so.
I knelt to the floor, carefully moved the swords and daggers out of my way, and ripped into the ripe fruit. I didn’t know what they were, but they reminded me of hawthorn and honey. I tore into them and plunged my hands into the soft innards, and I scooped out the food and tossed it into my mouth. I did this with another five offerings while the glowworms wriggled around me, and I was surprised to find myself completely regenerated with this light meal.
“I am full,” I said to the yellow eyes in the treetops. “Thank you.”
A slight breeze abruptly rippled through the forest, and within a matter of seconds, the eyes went dull again, and the world around me was quiet once more. I seemed to be alone again with the fireflies and worms, and the little guides pressed onward.
I continued to walk with a full stomach, and the memory of the creatures with the bright yellow eyes stayed in my mind. I could hardly believe how far I’d travelled into this strange place, and without the weight of the magic on me, I felt able to observe as much as I could.
Granted, it was still utter darkness beyond the glow of my guides, but I could smell the sharp scents of the enchanted woods, and its presence was almost calming to me after another half hour or so passed. The ground was spongy under my boots, and the breeze was gentle like a fairy’s kiss. Every frond that grazed my fingers felt like silk, and the few thorns I passed seemed to bury themselves out of sight so they wouldn’t harm me.
It was almost as if the forest was a loving place when it wanted to be, and I was musing about what it could be like to live within it
when a golden light began to glow through the trees ahead.
I was still hidden in the thick foliage, but there was no denying what awaited me.
It was a field that looked like it was made of pure gold, and it was so bright as I neared it that I had to shield my eyes. I stopped before I came too close to exiting the cover of the trees, and I quickly donned my first uniform.
It was the knight’s outfit from the Kingdom of Altaya, and I was relieved to find the chainmail wasn’t too loud. It actually didn’t sound like anything heavier than simple fabric, and it fit my bulkier form well while my sword belt hung neatly around the midsection.
Then I balled up my cloak, buried it in my satchel, looped the bag on my shoulder, and inched closer to the golden field ahead.
It was hard to see clearly because the color was so blinding, and it practically lit the early morning sky as if the sun had already risen. I knew this must be the field of gold I remembered hearing about as a child, but as I looked closer, I realized the field wasn’t really made of gold at all.
Instead, it was all smoldering like enchanted embers.
The burn looked almost tame and nondestructive, like it was sleeping, and I wondered just how many years it had constantly been lit for.
I peered over to the far left and saw the palace of Ignis that the Master must have been speaking of. I was probably around half an hour’s walk away from there. Houses were built around it, but the mighty field of gilded embers stretched all the way in front of me and beyond. To my right side was a more humble shack that was unremarkable, except that it was surrounded with flames and had fire burning from the rooftop.
I hunched over the shrubs to make sure no one was around before leaping into action.
It was still somewhat dim in the forest’s tree line, but from what I could see, none of Ignis’ followers were patrolling this area. The glowing field was pristine and abandoned, and I wondered why I had never been able to see the glow from the Ardere in the Kingdom of Ocadia before. Most likely, they’d come up with some kind of deal that kept the Ardere completely solitary out here.
Since no fire beings were in sight, I decided to maintain my appearance as a wandering knight, and I carefully stepped along the side of the field and to the unassuming shack on my right.
A tall wooden fence about ten feet tall surrounded it, and outside the fence was a circle of fire balls that were plump and aggressive.
Further along, I saw an opening in the fireball wall, and as I slowly got closer, I was surprised there wasn’t even a gate. It was just a gap in the two barriers with no other protection, and it looked like anyone could freely walk in.
This didn’t comfort me.
Anyone with a wall this violent and no need of a lock at the entrance was probably dangerous enough to devour any being who strolled in. For all I knew, this Ember Priestess could stand twelve feet tall with the strength of thirty men in her hideous, flaming arms.
I placed my hand on the hilt of my golden broadsword as I checked my surroundings once more. I listened for any sound, but nothing beyond the soft rippling of flames echoed around me.
Then I stepped forward and readied myself for an attack at any moment, and the gap in the fireball wall and fence led to a plot of grass that was surprisingly not on fire. Instead, it was lush, green, and fertilized, and it led to an open garden space at the back of the shack. The entire area inside the barricade didn’t look at all as small as I suspected, and the grounds appeared to be larger than the estate that housed all of us assassins.
To my side, a set of stairs led up to the cabin that stood on four stilts, and a quaint platform ran around it. The structure was made from aged wood, but the flaming roof appeared to have been forged from fallen stars. All around it were glowing, golden boulders that looked like planets just picked out from the sky, and beyond these, the grass was as green as algae even with so much heat in the area.
Still, despite the spectacle of the place, and considering the entire Ardere belonged to a former god and his disciples, I was expecting more.
The castle at the other end of the golden field was so much more extravagant than this place. In comparison, the shack was meager enough to belong to an exile rather than a priestess.
I shook off these thoughts and kept my wits about me as I pressed my body as close to the wooden fence as I could manage. The fireball wall on the other side was so hot, the air warped around me, and I could feel my skin was almost blistering from being even these ten feet away from it.
I looked up to the house, but it seemed empty. The windows were just as dark as the forest I had come from, and I kept my hand poised on my hilt as I silently went further into the garden.
I disliked this entire setup.
Offering myself up for discovery on purpose was something I rarely did for my work, and not having my bow on my back unnerved me even more. Unfortunately, my orders were clear, and it was for the best that I carried on with the initial plan, even if every one of my nerves was tightly wound.
Then I turned around the corner of the shack, and I saw a figure sitting on the platform.
Her back was to me, and she had wings folded against her spine. They were black and shaped like a bat’s wings with sharp hooks at the top, but they appeared to be made of a substance similar to the skin of a naga. They were almost iridescent, and the longer I studied the wings, I noticed they radiated a reddish tint.
They also belonged to an absolutely beautiful woman.
This I could tell without even seeing her face.
Whoever this woman was, she wasn’t flaming at all, and she looked human in shape and size. She sat with her legs parted, and her back perfectly straight, and her black hair was thick and long as it billowed from her head and pooled down onto the platform below her. The strands were so long, they wrapped around her battish wings, and the hair tucked under the black skirt she wore.
The fabric of her skirt was cut high at two points so I could clearly see her sleek pale thighs, and the sparse leather bralette tied behind her and seemed barely capable of sheathing the way her narrow waist accented the symmetry of her curvaceous figure.
I couldn’t help but stand there in awe of the being I had just laid eyes upon.
And I hadn’t even seen her face.
She was gracefully shaping off a dagger into a perfect edge, and she reached out and touched the tip with her long, paper white finger before she continued to work at the metal. Then she pushed the knife to her wing, and both the metal object and her wings began to glow blue, then red.
I was so mesmerized by the strange and exotic sight that I briefly forgot my task here, but it may have been the stifling heat getting to me. Sweat beaded my brow as my borrowed lungs struggled to fill themselves with the dry air, but I blinked myself from my daze as my sweaty palm tightened on my hilt.
I had no idea if I’d stumbled into the wrong place, but before I could make any move, before I could even plan what to do next, the beautiful creature on the platform spoke without even turning around.
“You trespass,” she murmured above the sound of flames.
My breath caught in my throat, and she whipped her head around.
Her eyes were a deep, amber-red, and she had black freckles painted across her small nose. Her pouty lips looked soft like dew drops, and her cheekbones were as sharp as the blade she held in her hand. She was absolutely stunning to behold, like no being I’d ever seen in the kingdom, but her features were too flawless to be of this world. Her red-amber eyes flashed too much with power, and they held more heat than I’d been prepared for.
In that instant, I knew this was Cinis.
This beautiful creature was the one I’d been sent here to kill.
Suddenly, her stare started to burn red, and her black hair started to glow like embers while her wings did the same. Then she stood up, and she strolled along the platform toward me.
The leather bralette I’d been admiring earlier tightly wrapped around her ribs while leaving
her toned abdomen and ample cleavage exposed. I couldn’t recall ever seeing a woman built as full and luscious as her, and her skirt wasn’t much more than scraps of leather in the front and back. Other leather straps clung around her thighs like an intricate garter, and the rest of her skirt whirled around her pale, perfectly muscled legs as she moved.
I couldn’t even think straight because of her ethereal beauty, but I apparently never had any element of surprise against her, anyways. She’d somehow known I was approaching, and now, I had to act.
Cinis wrapped her long, dark fingernails around her dagger and looked at me with her head tilted down and her eyes locked on me.
“Who are you?” Cinis asked in a surprisingly polite manner.
She had a husky voice that was deeper than I’d expected. Most of the other female descendants were catalysts of beauty and love, and they had higher, more lyrical tones because of this. Cinis’ voice sounded like it had been burnt, but the smoldering timbre was soft in a way that made it hard to swallow all of a sudden.
Then Cinis’ wings unfolded and blocked out the firelight around her. She was a truly intimidating sight to behold, and when I didn’t reply, she stepped even closer and leaned toward my face as she let out a long, soft sigh.
“Since you won’t speak, I will start by answering the question written all over your face,” Cinis asserted in a stern tone. “I sensed you were coming through the boulders. My embers tell me everything, but surely, you should have known I am tied to the ember fields, or you would not have come to find me at all.”
“I did not know,” I admitted, but I certainly wondered now why the Master hadn’t told me.
Then I realized he couldn’t have known. He would have mentioned it first thing, so why had Ignis’ representative never warned us this was the case. If Cinis could track those who approached her domain, it should have been the most important detail they brought to the table when they decided to hire our services.