Aveyond: The Lord of Twilight

Chapter 27

The party pushed on, the landscape turning unfavorable with each step they took. Soon enough, they were in thick snow, though the air was silent, so they were just leaving behind foot-deep footsteps. Even the vampires seemed as helpless as them, except for the cold. Eston seemed to really know the way well, as he guided them through the innumerable forks that the way presented. The forest did really have a certain vibe. It was imposing, as though it could sense them.

'We have been lucky' Eston said as they stopped under a ledge. 'It's rare these days not to have blizzards, but I don't want to be caught off guard'

He rummaged through his supplies and drew out a thick rope.

'Tie us up, everyone!' he called.

Tei'jal sulking, each one of them wound a turn of the rope around themselves, Galahad still being the last in line. When sure that they were secured, they set off again, cutting their way through the snow.

Twice, they saw a wolf, but it did not dare attack, probably seeing the number of people. Around noon, the sky still looked like dawn and a slight wind had started to blow, making it even more difficult to move. Eston instructed them to have a short break and lunch, to which no one disagreed. Magically, somehow, he still managed to produce a fire in the icy cold, which seemed god-sent.

The weather and the landscape changed much over the next hour. The foliage had considerably thinned and a strong wind had already started to blow, and everyone was now glad of the rope that was tying them. Mel could only see Stella's hair ahead of her, and Eston had completely vanished from view. Her teeth chattered as she pushed the snow, which was now almost knee deep in some places. Some time later, the string slackened and Eston came running back.

'The road ends here!' he shouted over the wind. 'We have to retrace a few miles and go through the cave'

'Why didn't we do that earlier?' Mel shouted back.

'It was worth checking!' Eston yelled, barely audible as he made his way backwards.

Around almost half an hour later, they reached a cliff, with no apparent sign of any cave. The wind here was almost absent, owing to the shield provided by the tall vertical rock.

'Over here!' Eston shouted, pointing to a wall. He somehow slipped inside, which Mel later saw was a small gap between two plates of the cliff, just wide enough for one man.

'We could have done this earlier' Mel said, having just squeezed her way through. Both Eston and Edward were holding lanterns in their hands, casting a dim glow on the rocky walls of what appeared to be a tunnel.

'There is something here' Tei'jal said, appearing from the entrance.

'Yes' Eston said stiffly. 'And let us prey we don't find it, or it doesn't'

'What is it?' Stella asked. 'What is this place?'

'This is a man-made tunnel' Eston explained as they started walking slowly, Mel feeling better than the forest outside. 'It's abandoned now'

'Why?' she asked, needlessly.

'The tunnel was created a long time ago, by enemies of the kingdom, to provide supplies to the army which had laid a siege to the capital. Construction started before the war was even planned completely and took years to complete. It is an entire network of man-made caves that lie before us'

They trudged ahead, careful of tripping over the uneven surface. Their steps slightly echoed, making Mel slightly uncomfortable. The walls had unmistakable signs of erosion by water, a proof that there had been no ice in these parts at some point.

'The scheme worked, to some extent. The siege laid by the western kingdoms when the tunnel completed lasted for almost ten years, though finally the army withdrew'

He stopped and carefully took a few steps ahead. The next second, he waved at them to continue. They had reached a kind of clearing, where the pathway branched off into four ways.

'Two of these lead to a hundred foot drop, to make sure that anyone who goes there doesn't return'

'You know them, right?' Edward asked, looking apprehensive. Eston chuckled.

'It's not for the first time that I have come here' he said, taking the far left path. 'So, now, the tunnel lay unused for almost fifty years, a time long enough for the forest to make it it's own'

'But that could have happened even if the people did use it' Stella said.

'No' Eston said, shaking his head. 'Istir is not like any other forest. It knows itself, and the travelers who traverse it. As far as possible, it protects them. But it needs it's space. The forest was displeased when the tunnel was dug, and so it lost no time to reclaim it when it became unused'

'How do you know it was displeased?' Mel asked.

'The people who dug it... could dig it from the start to the end, without anything happening to them. That was totally unexpected, since these rocks are often known to collapse. And then when they finally emerged successful, they were all killed. Poisoned'

'What does the forest have to do with that?' Mel frowned.

'It does. They were poisoned by cherries, which everyone else also ate. Only the diggers died'

Everyone went quiet, trying to imagine the scene.

'Like I said, the forest is different. Strange, if you prefer the word' Eston said, his old demeanor returning.

'So what's in here now?' Stella asked.

'I wouldn't be here if I could tell you that, I guess. I can tell you though, that I once found an arm, a freshly severed, bleeding human arm inside these very caverns and I can remember only running without looking back when I took a step away and the hand disappeared into something in the shadows. It was years, before I could muster the courage to come here again'

They walked on, trying not to imagine the horror of what they had just heard, hoping they wouldn't encounter anything of the sort. As they ventured deeper inside, vines and cracks began appearing in the walls, and Mel could again feel the same feeling of something imposing that she could feel in the forest. Their walk was uninterrupted for about an hour when-

'What?' Eston exclaimed as the rope became tight. Mel looked back. Tei'jal and Galahad were both looking in the same direction, a strange, worried look on their face. Tei'jal's arm was outstretched, the pale fingers pointing towards them.

'What is it?' Galahad whispered, which Mel could bearly hear. The dead silence pressed her from all sides. 'It can't be...'

'It is not possible' Tei'jal whispered back, in a voice that made everyone's hair stand up.

For almost a minute, they stood still, Mel's heart throbbing like mad. Finally-

'Run' Tei'jal whispered. 'Get on me, quick!'

Without warning, Mel felt a jerk in the forward direction and the wind in her ears. Tei'jal had grabbed her in one arm, and she could vaguely make out Stella in the other and they were moving faster than ever before. A flash of white light dazzled her.

'Faster!' Tei'jal shouted, in a tone that further increased her heartbeat. It continued like that for almost another minute, when suddenly she was thrown out into the white outside, landing into the trees, hitting her leg heavily on her side. Getting up just in time, she saw Tei'jal fire one single arrow inside the tunnel, which was followed by an explosion.