Ghost of a Forgotten Past

Chapter 4- Three parties collide

Nathaniel woke with an ache in his right leg, the cut the Shadow had given him was only small but it hurt quite a lot. Stretching he rose made his way to the stream and drank deeply, as it was for Lanora the water was cool and sweet for him, but to everyone else it was quite bitter and cold. Nathanial was thinking about all that Shadow had said to him, "you seek something you do not know" he muttered to himself "therefore you shouldn't seek it" he brushed this aside and washed his face. Rousing the rest of the group they got ready, had a lean breakfast of sour berries and bread then and waited for Nathaniel to give them a heading " we'll go to the cliff and see if there is any way up" he announced " but I thought you agreed to leave and go home sir" inquired the older man called Dain, "the Shadow knows something and I'm going to find out what, weather your coming or not" Nathanial declared " yes sir" Dain replied in an under tone, " he came from a tree that is in that direction and he left in the same direction so he must live somewhere near those cliffs, and I bet he knows where she dwells" they all stayed quiet and followed the prince off in the direction of the cliffs.

It was three days into her journey before she came across the first sings of death within the forest. It started off with only a tree here and there but the closer she came to the edge of the forest the more things became brown and shrivelled, no longer were there lush, lime green ferns but dry brown flakes littering the ground, the trees carried little or no leaves their silvered trunks looking like white pillars in a giant hall and nothing stirred. Seeing the forest so void of life broke Lanora's heart, all these browns and greys made her feel glum and down, even Phantom had lost the spring in his step he usually had. Passing over a rotting wooden bridge, they heard a low snorting, growling sound coming from beneath the bridge stopping dead still at the other side of the bridge, they listened, and it came again followed by a blood curdling squeal that carried for miles in every direction.

Lanora's face grew pale, Phantom was frozen with fear, both knew what it was, splashing and pawing the water beneath the bridge. And they were proven correct because from under the very end of the bridge out bounded a *Blood Hog, its enormous mouth was wide open showing its huge serrated teeth and its face screwed up into a snarl, its gigantic pale red tusks shone wet with blood, it had recently eaten. A long black bristled tongue flicked over its teeth spraying hot gooey saliva all over the place. Staring hungrily at them with its bright green eyes, it apparently wanted more and they were the perfect prey. Large, fresh and new, it circled around them once, its huge trotters leaving great big holes in the soft earth, tossing its head from side to side threatening them with the deadly tusks and bluff charges it was forcing them back onto the bridge, Phantoms rear hoofs thudded dully on the decaying wood. As soon as his last foot hit the wood the hulking pig stopped. Lowering its hideous head and pawing the ground it charged for real this time aiming its deadly tusks for Phantoms soft belly, its own bulging barrel belly swinging from side to side. Booting Phantom in the gut Lanora got the frightened statue to move, leaping off the side of the bridge and into the water setting white foamy spray flying. They galloped off through the trees back the way they had come, Lanora looked around franticly for a place to hide or get away but it was no use, everything was bare there was no thick bushes and no rock tors, with the hog hot on their heels Phantoms speed was the only thing that would save them now.

Meanwhile the company came to the edge of the large ravine; they dismounted and lead their horses along the rim. Slowly walking parallel to the gaping expanse they came across a trail that stoped right at the edge. Looking across to the other side they saw the place where the rock was darker scratched and polished, Felix looked over the edge "whoa, you wouldn't want to fall down there" he exclaimed kicking a rock over the lip and never hearing it hit the bottom. They studied the distance they would need to travel, took a running start and landed on the polished part of the rock; they jumped it without their horses. Finding the well-used, worn trail through the overhanging ferns and shrubs they followed it looking around at the age old trees with their gnarled trunks, the chipped rocks with different colours showing and the glimmer of pixie dust coating almost every leaf. Once they had made their way to the cliff face Nathaniel followed it for quite a while passing the vine concealed cleft and turned back studying every inch very carefully, attempted to climb at several intervals, but never finding the cleft only smelling the feint aroma of the wild flowers and only finding a large patch of crystal at the bottom of the great peak. He looked up and down the cliff face, glints of spattered crystal glinted in a straight line down it was as if someone had a water bottle and had tipped water down the side from the top of the cliff. Dain ran his fingers over the crystal it had jagged edges as if it had been dropped on the stone and said "the top few pieces have been recently formed, it's so strange though there's nothing else around here to indicate any crystallisation process ever happened" Dain took out his Knife and lifted it off and put it into a small woollen pouch to study later.