Carcere Forest

Carcere Forest - Part 2

The following hours were horrifying. The once beautiful room, carved out from Rex Saltus, now a prison barricading me from freedom. With the doors bolted and guarded day and night by pairs of soldiers, I rake my brain for ideas of an escape route. Pacing the room for hours and imagining the frightful face upon my father when he finds out I'm gone. But right now, I really have know clue about how to escape my prison. On the third sun, I can feel my rage slowly braking its cage. So I bash the locked window with clenched fists as way to take out my inside flame. Suddenly blood streams from my hand as I see a large piece of glass piecing my flesh. Trying not to scream, I tear a strip from my tunic, and tightly wrap it around the throbbing hand trying to stop the bleeding with pressure. Once the pain dulls slowly, I jerk my arm in front of my mouth and scream the pain away. Turning my head towards the window and I see a shard of glass missing from the sheet of glass. Seeing my escape route I quick tie the makeshift bandage and jog to the window.

A faint breeze slightly shake the trees as glass rain down Rex Saltus from the shattered window. Swiping the remaining glass from the sides of the window I slowly swing my legs out the opening. Sitting on the windowsill bewildered by the magnificent sight of the forest traveling as far as the eye can see. I can see tiny dots over seventy metres below my hanging feet representing people. Reaching out for a handhold, I prepare the reckless climb that either way will change my life

forever.

Bits of loose bark tumble to the ground as I place my feet in foothold after foothold with my hands closely following behind. Giant branches shoot from the trunk and slowly but suddenly curve up towards the sky. Suddenly the piece of tree bark I'm desperately clinging onto gives way, which disrupts my balance and sends me tumbling down the sky tree. Air rushes against my face as a slowly gather speed. Leaves smash against my face as I try to cling onto the branch. My arm slams against the wood and I can hear bones shift beneath my skin, but no scream can escape my fear frozen mouth. The town underneath becomes visible to my tear stained eyes. My vision fails me when my face gets filled by a bunch of leaves which push the air out of m already empty lungs. Speed decreased my the branch almost stops my fall, but I topple off the branch and tumble into open air. As the ground rises towards me, the pressure's to much, and my vision blacks out.

My head is throbbing painfully as my eyes flutter open. Putting my hand on my forehead and feeling the intense heat warming my hands. Not removing my hand, I peer around the in the gloom at my abnormal surroundings. Dark coloured walls loom around me, with shelves after shelves of old books with ruined titles and covered with layers of dust. A small light shines dully from the cracked wood ceiling. It was a small glass half circle, with the faint flickering of a ever burning green waxed candle flickering eternally in its small domain. I attempt to swing my legs over the side of the wooden framed bench equipped with a small soft square beneath my head and a woollen blanket draped over me. I feel a sudden pain burst within my leg and I collapse to the ground with a grunt of pain. Suddenly the door open creaks open. A young man walks in briskly, dressed in a grass stained Arietem skinned tunic and pants, and wearing a pair of crimson fingerless gloves. "I see your awake," he gestures to me lying on the floor steering wide eyed to me. Pushing myself into a sitting position and reply, "who are you?"

"All you need to know at the moment is that I'm here to help," he sits down cross legged opposite me. "I found you in the bushes, about twenty metres off the western side of Rex Saltus wearing that Protega berry bottle around your neck."

My hand shoots to my neck just to feel the smooth glass bottle pressing against my shivering neck. As my fear starts to increase, I ask fearfully, "where am I?" A deep sigh escapes the mouth of the young man. "I'm afraid that my secrecy is vital, and telling a Viridi princess my whereabouts would be betraying the whole point of hiding." Suddenly ignoring the pain in my leg, I bolt for the open door past the hopefully surprised man. All of a sudden the man raises a single hand, and my body freezes in mid stride. "I'm sorry ma'am but your not allowed to leave at this time, it wouldn't be right." Moving his hand a fraction left I start walking back to my first position on the floor.

Suddenly a large thudding sound fills the room. "Goblem's teeth," he swore as the thudding sound gets louder, "they've found me." Rushing over to the bench and throwing it towards the door with a gesture of his hand. Standing up I ask, "who've found you and what are you doing?"

The man clenches his right fist, and the lower part of the wall behind the makeshift bed explodes with a rush of energy. Bits of singed wood fly past my body and clatter to the floor, leaving and dark whole in the hole. Turning his head towers my he answers, "saving our freedom," and ducks into the hole disappearing from sight. Looking nervously at the hole when suddenly the thudding sound turns to a thundering crack, and he sound of little pieces of wood clattering to the ground. A part in my head, tells my to go back to Rex Saltus and sit through my punishment. Strangely another part of my mind (which has been clouded with fear for the last couple of hours,) tells me to follow the man into a life of adventure, action, and freedom. About a dozen Viridi soldiers charge into the room, with swords drawn, and bows at ready, with only empty air to confront them. The smell of damp soil and feeding grubs fill my nose as I crawl through the tight tunnel towards anywhere imaginal. Suddenly light fills the tunnel as the passage surfaces beside a recently overturned rock. Stepping out into the forest, I look around for the young sorcerer, the forest is deathly quiet with the occasional sound of bird song braking the silence. I was alone. Cursing at the abandoner, I sit down on the overturned rock to think about my next moves. Suddenly a gleam of steel shoots towards me, and leap off the rock to see a silver throwing knife slice threw the air where I was standing. A lone figure steps out of the trees and a mossy cloak, hood pulled over his head, with two more knives in hand. His glare piecing me, his mouth moves with a blue, "who are you and what are you doing here," raising his throwing arm into position, "he said there would be three." His voice streaming through my mind. I speak with equal tone and speed, "my identity is not your concern, and I was lead here my a young sorcerer escaping from the authorities."

the man lowers his knives and pushing off his hood to reveal jet black hair, and emerald green eyes. A slight grin appears on his face, "I'm awfully sorry your majesty, I meeting a few friends here to discuss some private conversation, If you don't mind, I can gladly escort you back home, to Rex Saltus," the grin widens "your father must be very worried about you."

"Cut with the titles marksman, and tell me who that friend yours is, and why is he on the run."

" If you wish you majesty..."

"I said cut with the titles"

"alright, we heard voices about your predicament, and we were thinking, that you would be the perfect companion for a little job that we are about to undertake."

Curiosity spreads across my face, "who's we?" Suddenly a dark voice erupts from the trees the young sorcerer walks comes into view, followed by a heavily armour soldier with his forked tongue flickering wildly. "I hope you didn't tell her to much Caenir," "I'm not to sure if she'll accept,"

"don't worry Galador, she already has." I stare at the three men standing in group talking about strange things, trying to listen to their conversations. I pick up the words escape, supplies, freedom, and beasts. I start walking towards the group, "where are you people planning on going?"

"good listening" Caenir grins, we going to Vita island."

"wait, isn't that..." suddenly it hits me, these men are planning on escaping the forest, to be the first Viridi in the last three millennia's to taste the clean air outside the forest.

"and we were think you might want to tag along."