The Elderine Stone (22 page)

“At least that’s one thing out of the way” Jason said “But I can imagine that the HardyHan Bridge is going to be nothing compared to what still lies ahead.

“That’s for sure, who knows what manner of creatures well see as we head north through the forests and into the mountains.”

Devon, Grimble and Sherbit had been following Jason and Emily for some time now
. Earlier in the day they had managed to catch up with them and had followed the two friends from a safe distance. Devon pulled Grimble onto a side path that was no more than a hunters trail. They could see the bridge in sight and felt it was best to take a different route into the forests. They were not going to risk crossing that bridge, they had heard rumours of people disappearing.

Devon knew these lands well, his father was a keen hunter of wild beasts and they often visited the northern plains on the borders of the Elderine Woods. Jason had a fair instinct of where to go when needed. Fortunately on this occasion he knew of another way to cross the river, and at the same time get to the forest. His fathers hunting lodge. It was built right next to the river, and had its own private bridge for crossing. Not many common folk knew about HardyHan Bridge, but even less knew about this royal hunting lodge, though it was suggested that this was most likely due to the magic that Master Talathin had enchanted around it, keeping it hidden from the eyes of anyone who would seek it, or accidentally uncover it on their travels.

Devon led the way to lodge. It wasn’t that far of the main path, though it was surrounded by quite a few large trees, shrubs and dense foliage. Even without Master Talathin’s magic, it would be almost impossible to see it with the naked eye from the path.

The lodge was deserted, the king had called all his servants and gamekeepers back south when the beasts started to grow in number in the north. The area was still considerably safe, but the king didn’t want to deal with any unexpected incidents.

The lodge was still in good condition, Devon pushed the door open. There was no reason to have it locked as only those who were permitted to be there could see it.

The door creaked open. Grimble followed Devon in as they walked through the lodge. The small private bridge lay at the back of the building. The only way to reach it was by passing through the lodge itself. Devon led the way through the narrow wooden halls, passing by trophies of the king’s previous hunts. Devon reached the back door and pushed it open, the bridge rested in front of them, spanning the gushing river. Behind the bridge lay the Elderine forest darkened by the canopy above, shielding any light from reaching the leafy surface. The mass of trees looked unmoved.

They walked across the bridge and into the green darkness of the forest and headed north. They didn’t need to follow Jason or Emily now, they knew where they were going, and at this rate, and thanks to the route they took, they could reach the temple at exactly the right time to defeat the Dark Lady. They headed towards their assumed victory, swinging the bag containing Sherbit back and forth.

Emily and Jason had only a short walk through the
northern part of the Elderine Forest in order to reach the Mingus Mountains, but it was still a considerable distance. This was especially so, having travelled for quite some time beforehand. With night fast approaching the friends felt it would be best to settle down and find some form of shelter at the edge of the forest. What they really wanted to do was reach the edge of the Elderine Forest then rest. Emily and Jason were both very tired from the journey so far, and any place looked like an idyllic place to rest for the night, but something kept them moving, they really didn’t want to risk spending the night without armed protection in this end of the forest. Resting at the forest edge would grant them the benefit of being protected by the trees of the forest and also let them cast their eyes on the goal that lay ahead in the Mingus Mountains.

They continued to walk northwards through the forest, both holding an arm up to protect their faces from any low hanging branches, that seemed to snap back on them. The ground was covered in fallen leaves, a mixture of dark browns, dusky greens and a few golden orange and yellows. It had probably rained here a few days ago, as the ground felt soft and moist, the canopy above had shielded the sun, preventing the ground from drying out. It was a miracle that anything could actually grow on the ground Emily thought, as she wondered if sunlight had ever made far enough to the ground in this particular area of the forest.

The Elderine Forest was probably the oldest living natural creation in the lands. It had been around from the early ages. The forest had been planted and carefully guarded by the Elderine Order, as a sign of respect towards nature. The forest blossomed and so did the magical powers that the order controlled. The forest continued to grow as tides of men passed over the lands, building cities, from the mountain face, to the shore, it watched on silently as great city of the Averinites fell to the hatred and jealousy of Caleb, powerless to protect or save its creator.

It watched silently as the darkness grew in the North, it stood firm whilst evil grasped at the powerful nature magic. The evil entangled itself around the forests northern borders. Yet even though the forest felt so much pain for the loss of its planter, and the loss of the Averinite people it stood motionless, not even swaying in the gentle breeze. It was almost as if the forest knew that evil had conquered the Temple City of Elderine. But it didn’t need to take action, instead the forest watched as the people of the region played out their roles, waiting with perfect patience.

So many years had passed since the Lord of Darkness was imprisoned within the Elderine Stone that the people of Hasparia had almost forgotten the threat of the darkness that had spread across the land. It had been thousands of years since Caleb had marched on the Temple City, and now it was the turn of Jason and Emily, but for completely different reasons. They were following the path that had long been foretold, but in this age, an age were man no longer followed the Righteous Order of Elderine but the New Order, an order were twisted minds controlled the very essence of society. But they couldn’t stop them now. If those who opposed them won, then the world would never be safe again. The evil would grow, the Lord of Darkness would be released, and no one would be able to stop him. Jason was the only chance left.

They continued on, there was no turning back now. They could feel the uneasy presence of evil around them. The forest was quiet, darker than usual, this made them more uneasy, but they had to continue on, neither wanted to spend the night within the woods, Jason least of all after his encounter with the worg not so long ago. He was more than sure that any creature living in this end of the woods, would be much bigger and much fiercer. They both decided that reaching the edge of the wood before nightfall would be the best thing they could do, they picked up pace and headed towards the forests northern edge.

Devon lead the way into the Elderine forest, their route was dark, but they could still see well enough to walk through the maze of trees and forest undergrowth
. There were a few hunting trails that led off into the forest in various different directions, none however led north. Devon had to push back branches and shrubs with each step, still grasping tightly to the end of the bag in which Sherbit was held. It wouldn’t take too long to reach the other side of the forest, but it was getting dark.

Devon had never been allowed out of the lodge at night, his father always said it was too dangerous, he argued with his father every hunting night, until one time, his father returned with only one other member in his hunting party out of the four who went with him. Devon could remember the night clearly; his father had returned in a cold sweat, fear drenched his whole body. The blood on his clothes not his own, but of fellow hunters,
bar the doors!
He could remember his father shouting,
close the shutters! It’s coming!
Devon could remember every moment of the events that night. It was dark. He heard the howls from outside. It was no beast that he or his father was familiar with. It was no dog, no wolf. It wasn’t even a werewolf rare as they are, but something different, something unseen or heard before. It pounded at the door,
thump, thump, thump
the maids were crying, and rocking back and forth, the guards stood ready with their spears, Devon’s father stood at the door, with his protector, Devon crouched in his bed. The beast left the door, it could be heard running around the lodge, rubbing against the wooden panels, looking, searching for another way in, there was another pound at the door, a howl, then silence, the beast had left.

Devon swallowed hard, as he nervously looked around to scout out the area, looking for any sign of a large wolf like beast, he quickened his pace, he wanted out of the forest before he had a chance to meet whatever killed his father’s hunting friends, and scared him so much. The night was cold, and silent. Devon knew the north end of the forest was normally quiet at this hour, which was strange for most forests, but being this far north changed things, creatures must have sensed the proximity to evil and moved south, some remained, but not even they could be heard. This made Devon more nervous than he was previously.

“Lets get a move on, we have to get out of this forest before night falls” Devon said continuing to look around

“Scared are we?” Sherbit said from within the bag, taunting his captors.

“
Don’t be stupid you slime-rag you, I’m not scared. We just have to catch up with those two, before we lose them.”

“
Oh that’s ok, because I heard a growl back there, thought it was that oaf, Grimble’s stomach, but no I am sure it was a growl, or something big, something nasty, with sharp teeth, and an empty stomach. Something that’s coming our way!”

“
Shut up before I leave you hanging from one of these trees!” Devon shouted back.

Sherbit made a howling noise from within the bag, and then laughed. There was a brief moment of silence, then in the distance a howl, a bone chilling howl, much like the one Devon had in memory from that night in the lodge.

Whatever it was, it was coming their way and fast, Sherbit giggled evilly,

“
This is fun.”

“We have to get out of here, now!” Devon screamed as he started to run.

The beast was running towards them, gaining on them, closer and closer. Devon didn’t dare look back. He didn’t want to see his predator. He didn’t want to stare death in the eye. The path forward was the way to survive. They had to run.

It wasn’t long before Jason and Emily saw the welcoming sight of the forest edge, the sight of the night
sky. They continued to walk in the direction of the forest opening, the gap widening with each step they took. Soon they saw the foot of the Mingus Mountains, giants of solid rock that stretched up into the night’s sky, disappearing into the darkened clouds. In the distance they could see torches flickering.

The sight was eerie, the area was still, there was no sound coming from any creature, fear encompassed this area, nothing wanted to be here, including Jason and Emily, but now they had no choice.

Jason looked around for somewhere to rest for the night. They now stood at the edge of the wood, the trees had become distorted, they looked twisted with the presence of evil, they had darkened bark and little or no leafs. Jason spotted a large rock that lay leaning against a smaller one. It would make a perfect shelter from the nights howling wind.

Emily gathered some dead wood from the ground, to use as kindling, and walked over to Jason who was now slouching down against the larger rock.

“
We can rest here tonight, I don’t feel comfortable but I doubt there are any Inns around.”

Jason tried to pull a smile, though being honest to himself he was afraid. He tried to look confident. He could now see the ruined temple in the distance, the flickering lights against the cold stone halls, where he would soon walk, to meet the Dark Lady.

Emily could see the fear in Jason’s eyes. She could only imagine how he felt, a stranger to this world, landed with a quest that he is unfamiliar with. But she had faith in him, now though she could only comfort him and help him relax. She lit a fire and sat down.

“
Jason, tell me about your world.” Emily said trying to lift the mood

Jason who was now sitting on top of the rock looking toward the temple in the distance, slid down and sat beside Emily.

“
It is very different from here, we don’t have magic, but we have machines that do things for us, we have buildings taller than your Accuro Terradea tree, maybe even ten times as tall and taller” Jason paused and smiled as he watched the expression of Emily’s face change to utter amazement, then he continued “We have machines that drive us around, or fly us in the air, we can even talk to people thousands of miles away by using a machine called a phone.”

“
Oh we can talk to people too, well some people can but they need to be really powerful wizards or witches and use a responding stone. Jason your world sounds amazing!” Emily exclaimed. “Those machines sound very useful. A world without fear, it must be a great place.”