Sentria: The War for Askeran (Book 3)

Chapter Nineteen: Phantom Castle

The walk was surprisingly easy by all accounts. Though there wasn't an obvious path to tread, the bare redwood trees were spread out enough giving us space to chart our own path without submitting to the demands o a trail. We left promptly after the Village of the Wind refused us entrance and Princess Ilya and I were now following Eldwyn as he felt his way to the Great Tree. He had been quiet ever since we left, and I could nearly sense his emotions just as much as he sensed the shifting winds.

I sped up and reached out to him, "Eldwyn, how are you?"

"I am well, knight," he said, "only pondering."

"I have faith that you will lead us through this."

"I might not be as certain as you. I've never been to the center of the Winding Forest."

"Then let me be certain for you." I held his hand firmly to let him know of my belief.

He looked up at me and smiled wearily, like the sun trying to break through gray clouds and I smiled back at him.

"So, tell me more about this heartstone. I had never heard of it before."

"It's rarely spoken about," said Princess Ilya. "I had only ever seen it writ once in a fiction about relics."

Eldwyn added, "The heartstone is the literal heart of the Winding Forest. It lives in the Great Tree that appeared when Bronte did. It's said that only those that are true of heart are allowed to possess it, granting them good fortune throughout all their days, but those that enter inside must face a trial before receiving it, and when it's taken, a new heartstone grows in its place."

"We will claim this heartstone," I said, moving a branch out of our path. "I know we will."

We spent days traveling through the forest, traversing all kinds of terrain. Some areas were rocky and sloped steeply, while others were flat and monotonous recurring scenes. One area had a collection of large blackstones in a circle and I could feel their mysterious power emanating from them. I considered calling steeds to make things go by quicker, but Eldwyn told me that he needed to feel every step of the way. A horse would get confused and he had to put all his concentration into this.

We passed by a foul-smelling bog on the third day that bubbled and belched and we all held our noses as we passed by it. At night we found a safe space, set up our tents, and gathered around a crackling fire to eat and talk. Princess Ilya told us a story of a historically accurate young woman adventurer from Askeran who had traveled to Cairon many centuries ago to learn of their ways and origins and grew to love it. Such literature wasn't allowed in the southern realms, but the north were more accepting to such ideas.

When that night was still young we went to sleep to wake up at first light to try again with a full rest. It didn't seem like we were going anywhere, but I knew that Eldwyn would see us through. He always did.

"We are close, I can feel it," Eldwyn said midway through the day. This area was moist and evergreen with groups of roseberry bushes clustered together.

"Oh, good," said Princess Ilya with a skip in her step.

I smiled too, but it went away upon the ground beneath our feet shaking. We all stopped and looked at each other. The trees and bushes around us began to move and it sounded as if they were crying out in pain. Dark flecks rose from the ground like black snowflakes and we all knew that something was deeply wrong.

"This isn't right..." said Eldwyn, holding his chest. "The wind has been corrupted."

The winds whipped up around us, nearly knocking us off of our feet, and we ran through the forest as the ground continued to rumble. The plants swayed dangerously back and forth as some of the bushes were pulled from their roots and swirled around us, still screeching. Giant oakwoods fell and shook the ground even more. We had to jump over the giants in our desperate attempt at escaping this mayhem.