The golden sun was setting as the relic and I walked deeper into the Winding Forest. I demanded that we needed only speak when it was absolutely necessary. All I required from him was direction, a pointed finger, or brief words of confirmation so that I could find my horse and escape from that wretched place.
We were in a small valley, dense with fog and becoming more frigid by the moment. Snow had been falling for an hour and the difference from the warm day to that icy night was unnatural. I attributed it to the wicked spirits of the forest. There were many a rumor about that place; the dark rituals that the early relics conducted spread beyond their time and created curses of all kinds. The deeper you journeyed, the stronger the magick got—or so we were made to believe.
"Are we close?" I asked, grunting to punctuate my frustration as we left the alley for a field of bare trees
He didn't answer and my frustration grew tenfold.
"Relic, I asked you a question."
"You said not to speak, knight," Eldwyn said with a smile.
"I said only to speak when absolutely necessary."
"And now it's necessary?"
"Yes, it is." I gestured emphatically with my hands, unable to restrain myself. "When your High Prince asks you a question you answer him. Now, are we close to my horse?"
"I don't know," he said straightly.
I stopped walking and turned to him. "What is the purpose of you if you aren't going to lead me to my horse?"
Eldwyn stopped, keeping that same smile on his face from before. Even in the growing moonlight, his eyes glowed like a never-ending fire. "Because it's fate that we met each other. I can navigate you away from dangers and protect you against beasts with my abilities. I can hear the songs upon the wind and follow their directions, but I can't magically track your steed."
"Then I might as well leave you behind," I said, pointing in the opposite direction. The heavy flapping of wings broke the quiet night. The whoosh of air made the naked trees rattle in the distance. "What was that?" I looked up in confusion, uncertain of which airborne animal big enough to cause such a stir.
"It's an ice owl." Eldwyn took slow steps toward me.
"HOOT! HOOT!" said the owl lowly.
I heard the bird above me and searched for it in the gray cloudy skies, but I saw nothing. It must have been hiding behind them.
"That's why the temperature dropped."
"Relic!" I screamed, "You should have warned me of this!"
"You weren't clear enough in your orders, knight."
"HOOT! HOOT!" said the owl again. It sounded like a threat.
A large shadow passed over us, and a gust of wind followed that nearly knocked us over. I looked skyward again and I saw it. The silver-winged giant bird soared over us and came back around, descending closer to the ground. Its eyes were big and yellow and its beak was a sharp hook that looked like it could carve into a tree.
"How do we kill it?" I asked, slowly backing up.
"We can't," he said, backing up as well. "I can't conjure a strong enough gust and the firebugs in my satchel are not for battle."
"Then, what do we do?"
"Run!"
Eldwyn and I ran away from the owl, breathing heavily as we pushed ourselves in the thickening snow. The flapping of its wings dispersed the snow around us, creating a white world that was hard to see through, and all the while it continued to hoot at us.
"Get down!" yelled Eldwyn, and he pushed me to the side and jumped in the opposite direction as an ice beam cut the ground between us, sending frozen bits of debris into the air. "This way!" Eldwyn ran in another direction as the bird passed us and I ran behind him, shielding myself and the relic from the falling ice chunks with my Sentrian shield.
It was harder to move in my heavy metal armor, but I couldn't relinquish them. I'm not a spellcaster, all I had was the protection of steel and I had to hold onto it. I pushed myself and reached Eldwyn and understood his plan. There was a hole up ahead that looked big enough to accommodate us, but it was still a great distance away and I could hear the flap of wings drawing closer.
"I don't think we can make it..." I huffed between frosty breaths.
"You must have faith, knight," he said with a smile, like this was some childhood game.
I heard the charge of the beam, the gathering of ice shards in its open beak clinked above us, and I just knew we were doomed. The hole was too far and the blast would be too fast and too brutal for us to escape its' wrath.
"Hold on!" screamed Eldwyn, who grabbed me with one arm. "Bronte, auk em braun!" he spoke the old tongue and a powerful gust of wind shot from his other hand, throwing us forward into the air. The ice owl's blast hit the ground behind us and the force pushed us further ahead.
We landed closer to the hole and we scrambled to our feet as more ice debris fell down and stabbed the ground. Eldwyn and I dove into the hole just as the giant bird swooped down to peck us and we rolled into the cavern. We lied on the ground next to one another not moving, just breathing heavy sighs of relief.
"I told you," Eldwyn said.
"It wasn't exactly an easy task," I replied, masking my waning fear.
"The best things in life hardly ever are."
I heard the flapping of the owl's wings cease after a minute and stood up. I could scarcely make out anything in the darkness of the cave, save for the moonlight that poured into the opening.
"Can you conjure light?" I asked, looking around at all the darkness.
"For a mortal who hates magicks," said Eldwyn, "you certainly seem to want to rely on them."
"Since I have to travel with a relic, I might as well make good use of him."
"Here," said Eldwyn. I could see his vague silhouette as he reached into his satchel and pulled out what looked like a glass jar. He shook it three times and five firebugs lit up, thereby lighting up our cavern. Around us were rocky walls covered in crude carvings. They were large symbols that I couldn't make out clearly; they looked like nonsense to me and at the other end of the space was an oval passageway.
"Good," I said, having caught my breath and regained my nerve. "Tell me, why didn't you simply create a portal for us to escape through?"
"My wind comes natural, it's a part of me like a limb. Portals require immense concentration and I haven't completed my training yet. We could have ended up in the middle of the Amber Sea or one-hundred feet in the air."
"Hmph." I crossed my arms. it made sense, but I still didn't like it.
Eldwyn walked closer to the entrance of the tunnel and said, "We should go in here."
"No, we should return to our path and continue the search."
"But we were led in here for a reason, and when a path opens for us we should follow it."
"That is senseless. We need to return to higher ground and keep moving. The longer we wait, the harder it will be to find him."
"The winds have brought us here for a reason. We're in the Jade Caverns. They were made by the Titans of long-ago that will bring us to the Mirror Lake. When we reach it, you may ask where your horse is, and it will tell you."
"The winds didn't bring us here." I crossed my arms. "This is our shelter. My horse would not have come through here."
"Nothing is a coincidence. Trust me. I may not be able to port, but I knew when the winds have something to say and they are speaking loudly."
I scratched the back of my neck and sighed loudly. "Fine, but if this leads to a dead-end, we are to return to our original path."
"An agreement has been made, knight," he said and walked to the center of the space, lying down with the jar of firebugs set next to him. "We should rest for the night. We'll need our strength."
"Fine," I said, and I took off my armor piece by piece. "Tell me, why do you call me 'knight'?"
"That's what you are, aren't you?" he asked.
"No, I am the High Prince and I should be addressed as such." I took off my armor and placed my sword and sheath closer to the wall so that I was in my white tunic and tights. I yawned and lay down beside my things, doing my best not to shiver too terribly in the drafty cavern.
"But you wish to be a knight."
"Yes, but there is an order to things. One cannot call themselves something because that's what they simply wish to be. The world doesn't work that way."
"And why is it then that you call me relic?"
"Because that is what you are. A relic, a sorcerer, a spellcaster, a warlock."
There was a long pause between us, but it felt personal somehow. Like he wasn't waiting to think of something, but that he wanted me to understand what I had just said.
"Then why did you ask for my name when we first met?"
I paused then, but not for the same reason as Eldwyn. I needed time to think, and I didn't want to face the truth of that particular cave.
"You should come sleep next to the firebugs. They will offer you some warmth."
"I am well enough here," I turned my back to him, holding myself.
"Come now, you won't become a wild relic by sleeping next to one. I promise."
"Fine. If it will quiet you." I walked over and lay by the jar of firebugs. He was right, the fires that burned on their backs warmed me up, but I didn't wish for the relic to know. That would have made him all too pleased with himself.