Chapter 28: Hermia’s Trial
Phantasia had seen the forest during her night time vigils atop the church, but this was her first true encounter with it. A testimony to those who sought to restore life to the wastelands, it spread towards the horizon, its heart a dense – almost tropical – shrine to nature.
“It’s called Torhout Forest,” said Korrigan, balancing on a moss-covered rock and gesturing with wild sweeps of her slender arms, “One day, like three hundred years ago, this tribe called the Donara abandoned the Neon City and brought with them secrets of restoration, which they used to create the forest and help it to grow, totally brining back life to the wastelands! Awesome story, huh?”
“Ain’t just a story, though,” said Ceres. She prodded her chest with a prideful thumb. ”I just so happen ta be descended from that tribe. Pure-blood Donara an’ guardian of the forest, I am!”
“Ceres has lived in the trees all her life!” said Korrigan, admiring the purple-haired girl with puppy-dog eyes, “She’s some kind of crazy awesome tree spirit! You should see her home, it’s amazing! It’s built between these three great pines and there’s this really elaborate pulley system for getting up there, and a zip line for getting down, and its all really dangerous but so cool and I’m really jealous and want a—“ Ceres slapped her on the back and her stern glare caused Korrigan to blush and hide behind her blonde locks.
Phantasia wanted to tell the girls about the forests of the Wind Queendom, which she’d been reminded of by the wall of woodland in front of her. The trees here paled in comparison to the giants from the Innerworld but, unlike their ethereal equivalents, they had a strong impact on the flow of life. The mana flowing from the east was the strongest in Torsten, and it said a lot about the town that by the time those streams left to the west through the old industrial sector they were weak and corrupted. Unlike its parched opposite, the forest reached out to embrace Phantasia’s spirit with soothing energies uncorrupted by human intervention.
They entered through a archway formed from two slopping birch trees, which was enchanted with a form of protective charm Phantasia’s ethereal senses could pick up on.
“Always remember to enter the forest through this door,” said Korrigan, “It’s a special gateway put here to protect the forest from intruders and evil spirits! Ceres, tell her about the magical gate!”
Ceres’s face flushed with embarrassment. “Korrie, you know I don’t like talkin’ ’bout that stuff,”
“But it’s so cool! Phantasia, don’t you want to hear about it?”
“Sure!” she replied, wondering how much – or little – these girls knew.
Ceres winced and took a deep breath. “Well, it’s not a very exciting story, but basically the gate is the only way to enter or leave the forest without – I know this’ll sound weird – without setting off an alarm. A magical alarm that only a few people can hear. I know, it sounds stupid…”
“It’s not stupid,” said Korrigan, “It’s awesome!”
At least that explained the charm. Faeries used similar enchantments to protect their most precious secrets from unwanted attention. A barrier around the Water Palace would alert the Royal Court if an unidentified intruder penetrated it, and there were stronger barriers still in the palace itself. Given that the barriers were cast by the Queens themselves, only someone of greater power could sneak through without detection – and there was no one more powerful than the Faerie Queens.
I think perhaps:
“formed from two slopping birch trees,”
would better read
“formed from two sloping birch trees,”
Maybe.
thanks for sharing; the story is great – nailbiting waiting read the next bit.