In a world divided into three races since ancient times, there have been three kingdoms. The first kingdom is the kingdom of the gods and sits in the heavens ruling above the other two. The second is called Amaryllis and filled with the prosperous...
She destroyed us She chased us into these woods She wanted to destroy us He stopped her though He used the last of his power To keep us safe
~Song of the Woods
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"It was eerily silent."
The type of silence that warned that something was wrong.
No birdsong echoed through the trees that had once again grown thick overhead after two days of traveling, their interwoven branches blocking out even the strongest rays of sunlight. It had been like this ever since yesterday morning, and Honey was beginning to yearn for the sun's soft rays.
No wind whistled through the pine branches, filled with dark green needles despite it being the middle of winter, singing the song that had been trying to pull Honey into the dark trees ever since she was just a child. There were no signs of life, just shadow and darkness, and the gentle rolling of the cart's wheels down the dirt path they'd been traveling without seeing anyone else.
Perhaps the Mutare traveling down the path had sensed them somehow and had made the decision to stay clear of the strangers to the Wild Woods. Or perhaps they didn't travel at all, preferring to stay in the safety of their cities.
Who knew what other horrors lay within the dark pines just off the path, praying on those foolish enough to venture from the dirt path that curved through the Wild Woods trees, providing safe passage for any who needed to travel from town to town. Honey couldn't help but wonder who had carved these paths out, many years ago.
Dai was asleep, or was at least resting, his head on the bags of flour he was usually perched atop of and body curled up in the small corner of the wagon. His breathing was steady, barely able to be seen from underneath the cloak that seemed to swallow his small frame whole.
The cart rocked slightly as they traveled, the white stallion faithfully pulling the cart forwards, it's reins grasped tightly in Lukas's hands. Lukas kept a careful eye on the road, all the while edging the stallion forwards, to keep pushing, as the god of the flames didn't want to stop until dawn.
They traveled by night, just like any other traveler they might meet on the road, and Honey had steadily gotten used to the new sleeping schedule. Honey closed her eyes, letting herself be warmed by the darkness behind her eyelids, and the silence in the air. It was nice. Peaceful.
For the first time since Honey had entered the Wild Woods, she felt herself relax, her body at ease in the silence, knowing that nothing was going to jump from the shadows seeking her blood. In the darkness behind her eyes, and the silence in her ears Honey could pretend she was anywhere. That she wasn't in the Wild Woods.
That was when the silence was shattered.
The sound of battle was foreign in Honey's ears yet she still knew what it was. There was a loud cry from each of the colliding armies, then the sound of swords clashing against each other. This all happened so suddenly it took a moment for Honey to realize what was going on.
Yet, once she did, she couldn't stop the fear from pounding in her chest. The battle was so loud it even managed to wake Dai, or perhaps he had never been sleeping at all, because he shot up, his muscles tense, and ear pricked as he scanned the trees in search of where the noise was coming from.
Lukas, however, did nothing. Just continued guiding the white stallion down the path as both Dai and Honey waited for him to do or say something in a tense silence, with the cries of battle echoing around them. "Are we not going to see what all the noise is?" Dai asked.
"Do you really want to?" Lukas asked. "You could get killed the heartbeat we get too close," he warned, although he doubted it. Dai possessed magic and was more than capable of defending himself.
"I'll be fine," he huffed, turning away.
"We need to go," Honey said. "You claim you want to stop a war, well the first step is to stop a battle," she spat, her words firm.
Lukas smirked, and Honey realized that he wanted to go as well. "Okay," Lukas agreed, his gray eyes, lighting with a dark fire. "We can go, but we're being careful," he stated. "Since one of us doesn't know how to fight and the other might get a sword through his heart for just being there," Lukas said, as Dai pulled the hood of his cloak to cover his face before making the tsking noise.
A noise, Honey realized the young Mutare loved to use. The Fire God then snapped the reins, and the white horse gave a loud whinny before taking off down the path, pulling the small band of travelers towards the sounds of battle.
"Have you ever seen a battle before?" Dai asked, and it took a heartbeat before Honey realized that he was talking to her.
"No," she admitted. "Where would I have?" she asked. "All of the battles are fought in the Wild Woods these days, and no sane Lekki enters them without a good reason," she said, her mind on her brother, then herself. The had both entered the Wild Woods, for reasons that she believed to be good.
"How strange," Dai murmured to himself. "I've witnessed countless battles over the ages, and so have so many other Mutare. It's almost like a way of life," he said.
"Have you ever fought in any?" Honey asked. It was a question pulled simply from Honey's curious mind, yet Dai stiffened as guilt nipped at his soul. He had done things that were better left forgotten, yet he knew that he would never forget.
"Yes," he said. "But that was a very long time ago," he said, glancing around nervously, yet Honey was confused by his words. He wasn't much older than her if he was even any older at all. What did he mean, a long time ago? It couldn't have been that long ago, could it have? "But I prefer to watch. I have been a simple observer after that," he said.
"So you have fought?" It was Lukas who asked the question, unable to hide the shock in his voice. "But you don't anymore?" he asked, shaking his head. "Your stories never add up," he stated.
"No they don't," Dai said. "But neither do yours," he said. "A god who wants peace, but is willing to kill any Mutare that gets in his way?" Dai asked, shaking his head. "I don't know how the Rose Book will help you, but..." Dai trailed off as they made a sharp turn, and Lekki, Mutare, and god all found themselves staring at a battlefield.
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