Esterpine

Claire flipped through the pages of a leather-bound journal in her lap, admiring the hand drawn charcoal sketches. Each showed a different flower with exquisite shading and detail. Beside each flower was a description detailing scent, size, color, and more. Everything was written in the Sprite language. Ednuar. Reading Ednuar was much harder than speaking it. But she considered it an opportunity to improve her knowledge of the forest's flowers as well as its language.

She brushed her finger over a daffodil, shaded by a deft hand. It didn't look quite like the daffodils she was familiar with, but close enough. Zahreh. She whispered the word aloud.

Koldis sat in the armchair opposite her. He was reading too, a book on the history of Sprite weaponry. She stole glances at him, noticing the way his brow furrowed, the little frown that had taken up residence on his face, pulling at the corner of his full lips.

"It can't be that boring, can it?" She didn't bother hiding her teasing tone. He glanced up and threw her a glower. Answer enough, she supposed. She sighed and shut the journal, wrapping its leather ties around it and securing them. Koldis pretended not to notice, and flipped to another page. "I think tomorrow is the day," she said at last, studying him for a reaction. She'd been waiting to bridge this subject, wary of what he might say.

"Day for what?" he said, keeping his voice level. Feigned disinterest.

"I'm ready, Koldis. It's been two weeks. My use of Ednuar has advanced. I'm ready to try my first solo venture into the forest." He shut his book then, and looked at her. "Well? Isn't this the part where you tell me all the reasons why I shouldn't? Why it's too dangerous?"

He sighed. "How long do you wish to be gone, my queen?"

Her eyes narrowed. She shifted to better face him. "A day or two? Long enough to be alone, short enough that I don't starve if I can't summon my own food."

Koldis regarded her. "I suppose it's time. As much as I hate the idea of you confronting whatever darkness seems to be lurking—"

"We haven't seen anything like what we saw before."

"I know. And that's what worries me. It's there. I know it's there because I've sensed it from...It's there."

"From what?" she hedged.

"It's...not important."

"No, I think it's pretty important, Koldis. You've been acting weird. Something's bothering you. I have a feeling it's more than just the stag we encountered."

He leaned back. "I'd prefer we not talk about it." His fingers traced the surface of the book in his hands, sliding over the text stamped into the cover.

"Should I be worried?" She frowned. She didn't want to force him into a discussion he'd rather avoid. But it depended on how important this thing was, whatever he was hiding.

"No. I don't see why you should be. It does not concern you. Take your trip into the forest. But no more than two days. Any longer and I will come looking."

She snorted. "And get lost in the process."

"I'll drag Feowen along."

"Fine. Fine." She exhaled, relieved. He wasn't going to fight her. Probably because he understood that the sooner she accomplished what she set out to, the sooner they might leave. She wasn't so sure it would be that simple. But one could only hope.

* **

The following day, Claire set out on her venture. She stayed alert. She never lost her path. The forest created paths intentionally, leading its occupants where it pleased. She was a willing guest, allowing it to take her where it wanted. Hopefully the way back into Esterpine wouldn't be difficult, once she decided to return.

Time seemed to lose meaning. Without clear visibility of the sun, it was harder to sense. It could have been seconds, minutes, hours. But she was getting better at discerning the levels of light and dark through the mists, the shades of blue and green.

At first, it was pleasant, being alone. She hadn't a care in the world. This place was a part of her, and she, a part of it. With each beautiful flower or thriving tree, her body hummed, her skin tingled. The forest tear around her neck pulsed. She rejoiced.

But soon her thoughts drifted to water. She wasn't thirsty yet, per se, but she would be. So she kept her ears pricked for the sound of trickling. The forest's creeks were its lifeblood. Like all arteries and veins, it would have many, she just needed to find one.

As per Lord Marquin's advice, she did not bring a single thing with her. No weapons. No water skins. No food. Just the clothes on her back—a green tunic and beige pants—and soft boots on her feet. Though, she would have felt safer with her Sprite dagger.

More time passed. Her thirst appeared in full force. But more time still passed before it grew tiresome. She stopped for a moment, hands on her hips, taking in her surroundings. There wasn't a single sound that hinted at water. Maybe it wants me to pass out from dehydration, she thought to herself, trying not to let her growing sour mood dominate her thoughts.

I doubt the forest would try to hurt you intentionally.

She almost snorted. Trust Cyrus to be so optimistic. Did he forget the thing they'd encountered in the stag? The darkness?

I do not believe that was part of the forest. No. It was something else.

And that's what worried her. Worried Koldis. Worried all of them. Was it Kane? Was it his evil seeping into the purest place in Dragonwall?

Gods! She was so thirsty. It was hard to think about anything else. She glanced around again.

Perhaps deviating from the forest's path would be more successful—traveling through the undergrowth. It would be slow work, wrestling with bushes and vines. She parted the foliage before her and looked beyond, deterred. But...didn't the forest want her on this path? Wouldn't it change the direction if it wanted her to go a different way? And if she deviated, would her defiance anger it?

She sighed, trying to sound less irritated. "A little water would be nice." Maybe the King Tree would hear her. But for now, she would stay the course, going forward.

Soon, the path widened. She found a log—inviting, it was. Perhaps just a short rest. Despite winter approaching, she was hotter than normal and breathing harder too. She sat and took slow, deep breaths. When she had the energy for it, she looked up through the canopy of the trees. There was no real way to tell how late it was, but having left around mid-morning, it was sure to be mid afternoon.

"I can't learn magic if I'm so thirsty that I think of nothing else," she muttered, failing this time to hide her irritation. But maybe this was a test. It seemed unlikely she would be tested so soon. Still, she thought of the word for water, llayah, and its variations. Marquin always sang his magic, weaving words together to indicate his intent. Usually it was some witty form of Sprite poetry, and the prettier the better. Even with the small bits of magic she'd done, like creating Sprite Fire, there had always been a structure to her words.

She opened her mouth and tried a few phrases. Her voice was dry, raspy, but she forced herself through. And as she sang, her sounds grew steadier.

But of course, nothing happened. She scowled. Should she have been surprised?

Angered, she shot to her feet. "Fine. You want me to follow your stupid path? Fine!" So she started walking again. And kept walking.

Just keep going, Cyrus would sometime say. Thank gods she had a cheerleader in him. Just a little longer, he urged. The forest will provide.

It's what Marquin had said. Her mind jumped between logical and illogical thoughts. She even considered turning around. She could make it back to Esterpine by nightfall or thereabouts. And there was sure to be plenty of water in Esterpine. No. She had to keep going. She wouldn't dare let everyone witness her shame. Especially not Marquin, who'd given his blessing on this two day trip.

Water...sometimes she thought she heard it. But the moment she'd stop, the trickling sound disappeared. Was the forest trying to make her desperate? Was it hoping she'd perform Sprite magic when there was no other option left to her? Or was this something else entirely.

How long did it take a person to die of thirst?

You're not going to die of thirst. She almost heard the eye-roll in Cyrus's words.

I will if I have to go a couple of days without it. Scratch that. Soon I'll be too tired to continue on at all.

And she was—tired. It wasn't quite nightfall. But she'd gone what, six, seven hours without water? It might have been fine had she been stationary. Walking, traipsing through the forest, was thirsty work.

She played a game with herself. It was the only way to keep her feet moving. Each bend in the path, she pretended there'd be water. And each time she reached the curve, there wasn't. Still, she refused to let her disappointment, her anger, stop her. During this, she stopped often to catch her breath, to rest.

The light began to disappear. That's when she heard it. A trick, perhaps? She paused to listen, but the sound didn't disappear. Yes! Straight ahead. A faint trickling.

A near sob escaped her chest.

Trust. This had been a test of trust. It hit her then. The forest wanted to make it clear that she was to trust it to provide, even when things felt dire. It seemed so silly, so easy, when she thought of it this way. Why wouldn't her first test be something so mundane?!

She surged forward, using the last burst of her energy to run. Up ahead, she made out what was sure to be a creek bed. It rushed up to meet her.

A sob escaped her chest and her eyes blinked. She sank to her knees at its bank, and this time her tears did come. Tears of frustration. Tears of anger. The creek bed was dry. Empty. There was no water.

"I don't...I don't understand," she shouted, hoping the King Tree would hear her. "Why would you do this?!" She'd been tricked. A mean, mean trick.

Even Cyrus stayed silent. Perhaps surprised that the forest would be so cruel.

She gazed at the creek bed in the gloaming. Completely void of water. It only made her thirstier. There was no trickling sound, she realized. Perhaps that had all been part of the ploy.

"I don't understand," she repeated through her tears, breathing hard, too tired to stand. Shouldn't all the creeks in the forest bear water? Why was this one empty?

Call it.

What?

Call the water, Cyrus repeated. But she'd done that earlier, and nothing had happened. Yes, but perhaps you weren't meant to then.

And now? Was she meant to now? Her mind turned. But her thoughts were sluggish. She was tired. She considered rolling onto her back and resting.

Call the water, Cyrus repeated, keeping her alert.

Maybe he was right. Maybe this was the true test. She was meant to do this now, here, as surely as water was meant to flow through this creek. Had the forest halted its flow in anticipation of her coming? Was it waiting for her to remove the stopper?

She took deep breaths, thinking. Cyrus was right. He often exhibited more wisdom than she did.

...Water. She needed to summon water. Hadn't Lord Marquin summoned an apple seed when he grew a tree? The water lived somewhere. It simply needed to be coaxed, invited forth.

An idea took hold. She bent forward and plunged her hands into the creek bed. The sandy ground gave easily. She closed her eyes and sank her fingers into it, felt the coarseness against her skin. She let herself feel it—let herself sense her surroundings. The act of it removed some of her doubt, helped to clear her mind and push aside her thirst. She catalogued the words she wanted, the things she wanted to say to invite the water forward. Not a command. Never a command.

She opened her mouth and began to sing. "Stalle, eskh ayah seldah. Amah yaa. Hafa payst. Akis jaan." Come forth, from your fountain. Give life. Quench thirst. Flow free. These words felt right. She repeated them again, surer this time. And again, letting the sound of her voice conquer her mind, her thoughts, until there was nothing.

This bed deserved water. Deserved life. And the forest intended for her to bring it.

The ground rumbled then, gentle, but she felt it in each place she made contact. She heard the trickling, faint at first, growing louder. Her voice didn't falter. She continued singing, eyes closed, letting her ears fill in the world around her. Behind her eyelids, a whiteish glow appeared. She didn't question it, couldn't question it. Her thoughts were still too blank, too focused.

She started. Wetness washed over her skin, filling in around her sunken hands, loosening the sand. She kept singing. The water rushed and surged, trickling, gurgling, filling in the dry places in want of its presence. As it did, she felt the song flowing to an end. She felt the need deep within her to pull her voice down from its crescendo into something calmer. The water rose to her forearms, then elbows. Her words tapered off, the last note of her voice drawn out and faded away like a tendril of smoke on the air.

She opened her eyes and smiled. Her heart surged with pride. Water at last.

Well done.

She sucked in a breath at the sound of the voice in her mind. Not Cyrus's voice. It was someone else's—something else. It went silent as quickly as it'd come.

The king Tree, Cyrus said in answer.

"I...I did it?" She was so stunned that she didn't feel the searing pain along her mid back, along her spine. Not at first. Then she swore aloud, trying to twist, to rub the burning spot with her hands. A mark. That's what she would see if she had a mirror. Right down the middle of her back along her spine. And probably a similar symbol to Lord Marquin's.

But she didn't care to think of it. Instead, she plunged her hands into the babbling creek and began gulping down water. Gulping and gulping, all but choking. Gods, it tasted good. Pure, clean, crisp. She drank and drank, then rolled over onto her back, breath heaving, and stared up at the canopy above. A laugh bubbled up from her chest. She felt lighter, fuller, richer. Better than she'd felt in days.

***

Claire woke to birds chirping the next morning. Around her, the forest was alive, teaming with life. Shades of green and brown wove across the tapestry above her. She blinked, bringing it into focus.

Her stomach grumbled, rumbling with emptiness. She groaned and rolled over. She'd found a place not far from the creek after quenching her thirst. She'd been too tired to search for food in the fading darkness, so she went hungry. Now she was starving. Would it be better to set out for Esterpine, or search for food first—berries, specifically, since that's all she expected to find?

Yawning and stretching, she got to her feet. Her muscles ached. There hadn't been any comfortable way to sleep; she'd found a mossy place that was softer than some of the others. Still, her back and neck twinged as she moved.

Her stomach grumbled...again. The path was nearby, the same one she'd stumbled along as darkness had set in. If yesterday was anything to go off of, she decided to let the forest chose for her, resuming her walk along the path, back the way she'd come.

She came to her creek not long after. It was babbling away. "Quite a happy thing, aren't you? Especially now that you're flowing again." She almost laughed. Here she was talking to something so mundane—something that wasn't living and breathing. She smiled and sank to her knees, drinking deeply. It was crisp and refreshing like the night before.

A full belly of water sated her hunger, but not for long. She walked along. Time stretched. Hours passed. Her stomach continued its protest. She kept her eyes peeled for berries. The journal she'd read had mentioned quite a few species. Far more than the usual blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries she was used to. She'd had some of them during her meals in Esterpine. As hungry as she was, she would have taken any option.

Perhaps the forest intended to deprive her of food just as it had done with water.

This time, she didn't question it. She didn't bother trying to grow anything either. The magic would be too complex. She'd probably need to be a lot hungrier to try it. Plodding on, she tried not to think about food, but it was almost impossible. The harder she tried, the more she thought about it. And not just the food she'd had in Dragonwall, but worse. Big juicy hamburgers, pizza, pasta...Oh, gods! She missed it so much. Resolve set in. Once she returned to Kastali Dun, she'd drag Talon to the cookery and insist he join her. There were so many foods she wanted him to try. They'd cook all the foods people in Dragonwall would balk at.

A snort passed her lips. Talon, cooking. That would be a sight. But he'd do it—for her, he'd do it.

More time passed. The only benefit to that was, it meant she was closer to Esterpine. Closer to food. She'd promised Koldis no more than a single night. He was expecting her at nightfall on the second day, and considering how far she'd walked the day before, it would take all day to return. She'd also kept her mind closed to him, but promised to open it and inform him if she couldn't make it. She was determined to do this on her own—to avoid calling for him unless absolutely necessary. What could he do to help, anyway?

She was so lost in her thoughts of French fries and milkshakes and chicken nuggets that she didn't realize everything around her had gone silent. Completely silent. Not a good sign. She faltered, looking around. Nothing moved. Her breathing paused as she listened. She knew this sensation, recognized it, feared it. Her stomach tightened. The hairs on the back of her neck pricked.

Something isn't right, Cyrus said.

She huffed, despite the silence. No shit.

The path had directed her progress, and though she'd never deviated, she was certain it wasn't taking her through the same stretch of forest it had the day before. No, this was entirely new. Her heart thudded. Despite the chill in the air, she wiped her sweaty palms on her pants. She should have expected this, been cautious about it, but she'd let her guard down.

"I don't like this," she whispered, creeping forward. Was there any other way? Would she be better off sneaking noisily through the underbrush or sticking to the path? She remained alert, looking for the thing she most expected, something like what she'd seen last time she had this feeling: a stag tainted by blackness. Around her, the forest darkened, shadowed. A screech like metal grinding broke the silence. A sound unlike any other. No forest creature made noises like that, did they?

She shivered, rooted to the spot.

Dread seeped up from the forest floor and into her soft boots, up her legs and body, coming to rest deep in her chest. Her breathing heightened. Every fiber in her being screamed at her to run. Go back! Turn around! She looked behind her. Her eyes widened. The forest was entirely closed off. The path—gone.

"No..." She barely whispered.

Another screech sounded. Her instincts screamed again. Run! Hide! She surged forward at a sprint. Shadows sprang up around her, teaming. Black veins crawled along beside her, like what she's seen on the stag, coating everything, covering the trees. The trees thinned and she came to a stop, blinking, not quite believing. It was a clearing, but only because some of the trees around her had fallen, creating an open void. Everything still standing was...rotting. She couldn't move, couldn't take her eyes away, trying to make sense of the change. From healthy green to sickly shadowed. Her boots crunched. The ground was charred, as if burned. Pine needles and leaves, crisped. On the trees, the leaves dripped with an oily substance.

The clearing shuddered, heaving a huge rattling breath. This place was...alive. But it was also dying, fighting a battle, and losing. Shadows writhed, claiming. They reached for her.

Claws scraped against her back, down her scalp. She whimpered and stumbled forward, trying to get away. Her feet didn't go far. They became sluggish. The ground writhed too. It became tar-like, with its shadows, all trying to claim her. A sob broke from her chest.

"Koldis!!" She dropped her mental barriers and called to him, desperate. "Koldis, the darkness! It's here!"

"Claire? What's wrong?" His voice immediately reflected her fear.

"It's here. It's trying to get me."

"Where are you? What do you see?" Panic. Panic at not being able to help. She sensed it in his words.

Where was she? She could hardly describe how to reach this place. She could barely form words to describe what she was seeing. So instead, she sent him flashes, projections, images, all jumbled in her fear.

"Get out of there, Claire. Whatever it is, run. I'm coming to find you."

She didn't respond, she was too terrified. She lifted one foot and then the other. Wading across the clearing felt like trudging through molasses. Her breathing came in gasps between her sobs. This was not what she'd expected when she set out to learn Sprite magic. Not this—never this.

Something slashed her arm. The skin broke and blood seeped into her tunic. Writhing branches drenched in shadow reached for her. She heard screaming. Was it her own? She couldn't tell. It sounded...pained. The trees, she realized. They were sick—calling to her. The forest needed her, but she didn't understand why.

"Claire!" A voice shot through the mental fog in her mind. "Run!" it said.

She blinked as she reached the edge of the clearing, looking around. Taylynn raced in from the opposite side, dagger in hand. "It wants you not me. Go! Back to Esterpine."

Claire gasped, trying to breathe, trying to calm her sobs. "I—"

Another screech rattled the trees, angrier this time, perhaps at the thought of her getting away. Vines shot up from the surrounding undergrowth, teaming with black. In a blink, they twisted around her legs, her arms, pinning her in place. Pain erupted in the places where the vines touched her skin, burning, searing.

She choked on a scream, trembling. Koldis was shouting in her mind, but she didn't hear what he said. She couldn't think. Another scream ripped free of her chest. Taylynn shot forward, dagger flashing. Her voice lifted in song, but Claire was too frantic to hear, to listen to the magic. Only a few stanzas and the vines retreated, but only just. Blood dripped from Taylynn's arm.

Claire fell to her knees, gasping. She couldn't get enough air in. The world was spinning around her.

"You must go, Claire," Taylynn shouted. "I will be right behind you. Go, now. Back to Esterpine. The forest is not safe here. Go!"

Claire didn't need telling again. She shot to her feet, stumbling. She glanced once more over her shoulder, at the haze of white light surrounding Taylynn's body, casting her in a glow that almost hid her from view. Then she fled. 

⭐️🌟⭐️🌟⭐️

Hi Bookdragons! 

Happy Friday! Claire is definitely in deep water here! I had so much fun writing this chapter and transforming it from a magic learning experience to a dark adventure. Next week's chapter is going to be from Koldis's POV and it's called "Blood Lines" dun dun dun. Can you guess what that might signify? 

Things have finally calmed down for me after the VtR book launch. Which is good because I need to catch up on writing more KtG chapters! I'm only a couple ahead and I like to stay 6-8 chapters ahead so i'm shooting to write two chapters this weekend. Wish me luck!

Have a great weekend.

-Mel