Sentria: The Knight Prince (Book 1)

Chapter Two: Shards of Ice

The golden sun was setting as the relic and I walked deeper into the Winding Forest. I demanded that we needed only speak when it was absolutely necessary. All I required from him was direction, a pointed finger, or brief words of confirmation so that I could find my horse and escape from that wretched place.

We were in a small valley, dense with fog and becoming more frigid by the moment. Snow had been falling for an hour and the difference from the warm day to that icy night was unnatural. I attributed it to the wicked spirits of the forest. There were many a rumor about that place; the dark rituals that the early relics conducted spread beyond their time and created curses of all kinds. The deeper you journeyed, the stronger the magick got—or so we were made to believe.

"Are we close?" I asked, grunting to punctuate my frustration as we left the alley for a field of bare trees

He didn't answer and my frustration grew tenfold.

"Relic, I asked you a question."

"You said not to speak, knight," Eldwyn said with a smile.

"I said only to speak when absolutely necessary."

"And now it's necessary?"

"Yes, it is." I gestured emphatically with my hands, unable to restrain myself. "When your High Prince asks you a question you answer him. Now, are we close to my horse?"

"I don't know," he said straightly.

I stopped walking and turned to him. "What is the purpose of you if you aren't going to lead me to my horse?"

Eldwyn stopped, keeping that same smile on his face from before. Even in the growing moonlight, his eyes glowed like a never-ending fire. "Because it's fate that we met each other. I can navigate you away from dangers and protect you against beasts with my abilities. I can hear the songs upon the wind and follow their directions, but I can't magically track your steed."

"Then I might as well leave you behind," I said, pointing in the opposite direction. The heavy flapping of wings broke the quiet night.  The whoosh of air made the naked trees rattle in the distance. "What was that?" I looked up in confusion, uncertain of which airborne animal big enough to cause such a stir.

"It's an ice owl." Eldwyn took slow steps toward me.

"HOOT! HOOT!" said the owl lowly.

I heard the bird above me and searched for it in the gray cloudy skies, but I saw nothing. It must have been hiding behind them.

"That's why the temperature dropped."

"Relic!" I screamed, "You should have warned me of this!"

"You weren't clear enough in your orders, knight."

"HOOT! HOOT!" said the owl again. It sounded like a threat.

A large shadow passed over us, and a gust of wind followed that nearly knocked us over. I looked skyward again and I saw it. The silver-winged giant bird soared over us and came back around, descending closer to the ground. Its eyes were big and yellow and its beak was a sharp hook that looked like it could carve into a tree.

"How do we kill it?" I asked, slowly backing up.

"We can't," he said, backing up as well. "I can't conjure a strong enough gust and the firebugs in my satchel are not for battle."

"Then, what do we do?"

"Run!"

Eldwyn and I ran away from the owl, breathing heavily as we pushed ourselves in the thickening snow. The flapping of its wings dispersed the snow around us, creating a white world that was hard to see through, and all the while it continued to hoot at us.