Sentria: The Age of Adventure (Book 2)

Chapter Fifteen: Healing

The storm had died down for the most part as we traveled eastward into Petia Forest with the Wind Riders. I kept glancing at Eldwyn who was being carried by Talyn; had it not been for the injuries I sustained I would have offered to do so myself. I assumed that Talyn was the leader of this company, even if no one would refer to him as such. All of his men looked to him for direction and, although we had just met, I saw a lot of myself in him. He was like a reflection in a placid lake. He carried the weight of taking care of those around him, but he kept it within and used it to power through.

"Do you know what caused the storm?" I asked him. "We have reason to believe that it was made by magical means."

"I'm afraid that I don't," Talyn said, staring forward. "But we think that a dark force is at work in these lands. The landscape shifts sometimes, and not in the same way that the Winding Forest does."

"I thought so," I said, frowning. "The maps I read as a child never referred to a waterfall on the Ansel River. Have you noticed any ravencrows since you've been in this realm?"

"I have not," he said, looking at me. He was tall and stared stoically behind dark eyes, and yet there was no darkness within him. Only goodness. "Only swallows and red robins."

"We mustn't stay very long," whispered Prince Lucas into my ear. "Once Eldwyn is back on his feet we must continue to the Rose Castle."

The Wind Riders' forest den was in a circular clearing slightly lower than the area around it. It was greener there than in other parts of the forest, as if their presence had blessed the lands with growth. The makeshift homes were tents around a circle of large white stones. On the opposite side of us was a bigger building made of logs that looked reminiscent of a church.

"It's not a castle," said a short relic who skipped along. "But we like it."

"It's more than enough," I said to him with a smile.

Prince Lucas and I walked up to the wooden church with Talyn as the other relics dispersed.

"I'll wait outside," said Prince Lucas, and I entered inside with Talyn.

It was dark and only a few drops of light made it through the spaces of the logs. Hung on the wall in the back was a wreath made of lily flowers. I had expected to see some symbol of Bronte, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Is this your place of prayer?" I asked.

"Yea, it is," he answered.

"Where is your symbol for Bronte? A sculpture or markings? The way that Eldwyn talks about him he's supposed to be everything to you."

 "He is everything, and that means that he is everywhere." He set Eldwyn down on a bed of large bayleaves in the middle of small white stones. "These white stones—"

"I know," I said, "they have healing properties if a ritual is performed...Eldwyn told me."

He then closed his eyes and cupped his hands above Eldwyn. Ice appeared in his hands in the form of a candle flame and it glowed bright blue, providing us with needed light.

"How did you do that?" I asked as he set it down next to Eldwyn.

"It's from the light of my soul," said Talyn, "Eldwyn will be able to do it in time." He waved his hands slowly around Eldwyn's body and closed his eyes. I stood still, watching him work and not wanting to upset his process. After nearly a minute, Eldwyn's eyelids fluttered open until he was wide awake.

"Eldwyn..." I said, and a smile began to form on my face.

Talyn placed his hand underneath his head and lifted him up slowly. He then leaned in and kissed Eldwyn on the lips and my smile faded in that instance. My heart broke one-thousand times ever. Anger rose within me but I held it in. I knew that I hadn't the right to be angry, but I hated the sight of seeing Eldwyn with someone else.

They stopped kissing and Eldwyn said, "Thank you," to Talyn.

I shuffled around a bit and said, "Eldwyn, I'm glad that you are well...please, rest."

I left the wooden church in a hurry and kept walking, I didn't care where I was going.

"Prince Darren!" yelled Lucas from behind me, but I was too angry to respond.

I kept walking and walking until tears welled up in my eyes and they had to fall. When I was far enough away from the den, I screamed so loud that it hurt my throat and blackbirds flew away. I found the nearest tree and slashed at it with my sword, sending chips of wood flying everywhere. It was a pain that I had kept buried for a year. I thought I had grown, I thought that I was mature, but at that moment I felt like that same boy who couldn't come to grips with his feelings. I wished I could just put it all away and have what I wanted like an insolent child.

"You'll dull your sword," said a voice from behind me.

I turned around quickly with a pained look on my face. It was Lucas. I was too emotionally drained to hide it anymore.

"I don't care," I said, holding my sword down by my midsection.

Prince Lucas walked up to me and gently pushed down my hand to lower my sword.

"I know what you're feeling," he said.

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do," Prince Lucas rubbed my arm and held my gaze. "I'm not blind. I know that you care for Eldwyn ever since you first arrived with him at Stargon. I meant what I said when we had tea and I can be understanding. I truly love you, I do. You might not love me in the same way and that's something I can live with. Our arrangement forces us together, but that doesn't mean that we have to be without happiness. All that I ask is that you open your heart enough to love me in the way that you can."

Before I could reply, I heard the sound of something approaching and I turned around thinking that we would be surrounded by marauders again. Instead, they were two horses whose brown coats glistened in the dusk.

Prince Lucas gasped and asked, "Did...did you call them here?"