Syform assured me that we were close, but it really felt like he was telling me that every few miles.
I couldn't understand the gravity of my promise.
I didn't want to understand it.
The thought of Russell succumbing to darkness gave me so much pain that I decided I was going to keep my promise no matter what it cost me.
After a long distance, the woods began to be left behind and there was only dry grass, almost dirt.
At some point, this place had been something else.
I could feel it in the air.
I even felt like I had been there myself.
'What happened here?' I asked very softly, trying to respect the silence of the place.
'The first war between the kingdoms of Bieno and Crescendo took place here. The two brothers raised their swords against each other here. It is said that the Gods were so angry that they would not allow anything to grow where the blood of those who were to be united was spilled. It is a cursed land, which for years remained uninhabited, until the magic faded and it became a refuge for those who had nowhere to go. There, further down the hill, among the ruins of what was once the brothers' palace lie hidden the outcast, the ones no one wants, the lost men and women.'
Although I wasn't convinced that this was a good plan, I couldn't help but think that what had been done to these people was unjust. Not only had they lost their magic, but they had also lost their place, their Kingdoms. I could not so easily forgive those who denied me their help when I needed it most.
And I suspected they would feel the same way.
'Syform, how will this continue? You said you would explain everything to me when we were reaching the Lost Kingdom, and from what I see, we are close.'
'What do you want to know?'
What I don't want to know would be easier to answer.
'The Tree of Life, Caelus, I need to understand everything.'
Syform hastened his gallop, as if he was trying to reach the destination before answering my questions.
'All the legends, stories, fables, whatever you have heard of the Tree are true.'
'So it's true that the Tree can fulfill any wish?'
'Many men and women gave their all to find that out. Yes my dear, the Tree can fulfill any wish. But it is not easy to reach it.'
'The tests right?'
'Yes indeed, there will be many tests that you will have to face. But that is why you must take Caelus with you.'
'What are those tests like? What do I have to do?'
In the stories they only named them as riddles, as rhymes that were repeated non-stop.
I couldn't believe it was all true.
The gallop was getting faster and faster but I kept up with it.
Lightning understood me, as if we were one, we moved to the beat of the wind.
Suddenly Syform stopped his horse.
I had to do the same with Lightning and slowly turn back to Syform.
'What was that?'
I didn't want to believe that he had decided to run like that just to avoid answering my questions.
'They were following us, but we could have lost them.'
I hadn't realized that someone was following us.
Maybe I did need help but I didn't want it to be Caelus.
I didn't trust any of them.
After what that wretched Rayn had done to us, the last thing I wanted was to ask them for help.
'This is how far I'll go with you, my little one.'
'Is that a joke?'
I looked around, and could see some ruins nearby. The rest was the same amount of dry grass that had surrounded us for several minutes.
'I told you I would escort you some distance. You have to get there and ask for help alone. That's part of it all.'
Annoyed, irritated, angry, I don't know what word best described me at that moment.
'Does it have to be him? Can't it be anybody else?'
Syform took hold of Lightning's rein, making him move very close to his horse.
'Listen to me carefully. You will go to the Lost Kingdom and convince Caelus to go with you. No matter what he says or does to you, you will convince him. You will repeat to him the words I whispered to you and if he still does not agree, you will give him this,' from his coat pocket, he pulled out a parchment wrapped in a red cloth.
'And what is this?'
'Never mind, you'll just give it to him and if he still says no, you must beg him.'
'I'm not going to beg him, if he doesn't want to come, I'll go alone.' Syform wiggled his head to the side.
'Gaia, you promised to do everything I tell you, so just... do it.'
I'd recognize that tone anywhere, it was an order.
He wasn't asking me to convince him, he wasn't advising me to do it either, he was commanding me to do it.
Why was this Caelus so important?
Why was there no other way to reach a happy ending?
Regardless, Syform was right about one thing.
He had promised that I would do everything he told me to do, and if not Russell would not be saved.
So I would obey him, I would obey him for the sake of preserving my prince's life.
'You should call him knight in shining armor, it's like a pet name I know he'd like to hear,'
Syform responded to my thoughts.
I got off my horse and waited for him to dismount his.
I hugged him without asking, I just did.
Syform could be many things. Irritating, difficult, incomprehensible, but I couldn't deny that he had always protected me. Because of my parents or because of me, but he had.
Before releasing me, he brushed his lips against my forehead.
He really loved me, I knew that even if I couldn't understand what was going on in his head, he was guiding me down the best path he had ever seen. Even if there was suffering, even if sometimes things seemed unfair, I trusted him to take me to a place where I could finally be simply happy. Nothing more and nothing less than happy.
'Be careful, little one,' he said getting back on his horse.
'Syform, just one more question,' I said remembering something I hadn't dared to ask.
'Tell me.'
'What was Russell's prophecy? Please tell me, it was the last thing he said to me, you know? I haven't been able to stop thinking about it.'
"Syform was right... he was right! You are the cause of all my suffering... you are the worst thing that has ever happened to me... you... I hate you Milaia! I hate you! And I wish you were dead! I will kill you! I will kill you!"
Those had been the words he had shouted at me before Rythel had knocked him out and subdued him to a spell to stop the darkness that was spreading through him like water on a cloth.
'Little one I don't think it's a good idea for you to know.'
'Tell me, I can take it.'
Taking the reins of his horse, I believed Syform would not respond to my request. But he never disappointed me.
Or maybe he was supposed to do so.
I wasn't sure.
Either way, he said:
' "The girl in the woods will seal your fate. Whether you want it or not, your life will change. She will bring darkness into your life, darkness that you won't be able to fight. The days and nights are going to be the same, and the boy you once were will never exist again. She will be your doom." That's what I told him about you, that's what I warned him. Take care Princess and remember, we write our own destiny and the possibilities are thousands. I believe in you, little one.'
He galloped away leaving me speechless.
Perhaps the best thing I could do for Russell was to get away from him.
After all I had been the cause of his suffering.
If I saved him, maybe the safest thing to do would be to forget about him.
Maybe I should let him go. But not before saving him.
'Alright Lightning, it's just you and me now. What do you say we go gain the trust of some villains?'
Lightning answered me, heading directly towards the ruins that Syform had indicated to us as our final destination, or rather, our starting destination.
Soon as I could tell, I was in the Lost Kingdom.
As I saw it from a distance, it was the ruins of a huge castle, but there was something else I had not been able to spot before. A staggering number of tents were spread out covering the holes in the corroded buildings. I couldn't see what was behind the ruins, but I suspected there was much more than met the eye.
'Get off your horse right now and put your hands on your head,' a female voice said to me from somewhere.
Even though I couldn't see anyone, I swear I heard that voice.
Was this the part where I could die?
Syform told me to listen to my intuition. And my intuition told me to follow a very risky plan.
'I'm looking for Caelus, I want to hire him for a job. I have money.'
The voice in my head stopped being just there. A person came flying down from the sky and stopped right in front of me.
'Well, then, welcome.'