Eros

Into the Wild - 61

Alora looked to the horizon, where a sunlit green plain at the edge of Anerock merged into the darkness of the Damzuari Woods. Trees with healthy brown trunks, and branches abundant with verdants leafs started the forest, innocent and inviting. Over the line of their lush peaks though, the forest ascended, growing thicker and wilder. Focusing her eyes to the distance, she could even see where the green gradually darken into a red, like a pool of blood seeping into the woods.

"The Blood Woods, where the Vineclaw, leader of the Eastern Tribe, resides, and where we are head." She said and pointed to Kaido and Sir. Joreh, the Paladin Roxwell sent with her. He had swarthy skin, thick, dark curls, and a square, bearded chin. Like all Paladins, he was built with muscle to support his black-plated, bronze-fringed armor. An Ebonsteel shield was strapped to his back, and a black sword to match scabbarded at his hip.

"Are you certain leaving the horses behind was wise? The town is not too far, we can still go back and get them." Sir. Joreh said.

"I am sure, the journey through the woods will be hard enough without the clumsiness of horses." She had mentioned it before, that's why the soldiers with them were footmen and archers. They were well trained and equipped, but meager at the number of two dozen. Roxwell may have given her more, but she was keen to get there faster than a larger force would.

"How long will it take to get there?"

"Another week if you follow my lead, if you don't, only Damuzar knows." Alora said, irked by how often the Paladin doubted her. Joreh scratched his beard and nodded, then went to exchange a couple words with the sergeant.

Kaido stood beside her, wind pushing his loose shirt against his muscular frame, brushing the black strands of hair from his face. He gazed to the forest, and she wondered how far he could see, enhanced with the dose of blood she gave him this morning.

"What should we expect, traveling through these woods?" He asked.

"What should you expect?" Alora looked to the woods, and smiled. One might've been bitter if he knew what's ahead, but she wasn't. The Damuzari Woods were her home. "Anything."

-

Starting in the Damuzari Woods, Kaido saw the soldier's anxiety. Their hands stayed close to their weapons, eyes shifting, searching. Strange stories of the forest must have dripped in their ears ever since they were children. In all of Aros, it was common belief that any man to stray in just a little too deep will never return. At least not the same as he was.

At first, the trees were real gentlemen. They parted a broad path between their deep brown trunks, cast a pleasant shade with a ceiling of flourishing branches, and coated the earth with grass so soft it just invited the next step. Some were fooled into a sigh of relief, but Kaido knew better, seeing how Alora pointed her gaze ahead.

Soon, the trees grew bigger and meaner, as they taught them trees could be. The roots bulged out, the branches swooped low, and vines lounged on them like snakes, tangling the way. As the soldiers lifted branches, staggered at roots, and cut angrily at vines, Alora glided through. She was gait as smooth as a feline's, ducking beneath and skipping over obstacles without even noticing.

Kaido watched her, her rounded backside clenching firm in her trousers, her slender hands spreading for balance, and her silver hair spilling behind her, silken and lustrous. He also liked when she turned to direct them, voice clear on lush pink lips, and eyes confident in verdant radiance.

Guilt tugged at him, trying to remind him of Siera. Under the blood trance, it was easy to shrug it off. Siera's spiteful words, icy eyes and sanguinary, naked body will return to haunt him once it fades.