Chapter 173
Dean
Dean stepped through the mirror and gasped. He found himself standing in the middle of a misty forest. The trees were massively tall and unnaturally straight. The ground had a thick layer of frost that crunched with each step. The sky was a murky gray and although Dean could tell that it was day, he could see no light source. The whole place felt artificial.
“It’s too quiet. It reminds me of Rhine Frost.” Damian groaned.
“I’m not noticing the magic drain, like I did on the elf island.” Drew said with a shrug.
Out of the corner of his eye, Dean saw Stormy nod in agreement. She bent down and held her hand over the land. She gave Drew a thumbs up that Dean interpreted to mean that the ground felt safe to her.
“Which way?” Damian asked as he brought his hand to his eyes with an exaggerated gesture like he was in a comedy routine. “You would think that if someone went through all the trouble of a complicated, cryptic, multi part prophecy, they could at least put up a ‘this way’ sign!” Dean chuckled and Stormy bit her lip to try to hide a big smile.
David rolled his eyes and pulled out his leather bound journal. “I think we might find a clue here.” He read the prophecy aloud again.
“A whole lifetime
Is but a day
One with magic
Has joined the fray
Fated to brothers
Love the only way
Life spark fades
Where ruin lay
A weapon to bind
For life to stay
From the future
To the past
Beyond the trees,
To the last
The rocks, the sand
Our fated mate
A foreign land
The Queen, the King
Servant and Jester too
A court of three
To see her through
One protected
One subjected
One resurrected
One perfected
One rejected
One to stay
Another to betray
The blood that’s all
A hearts thrall
To prevent the fall
Highest lake
Lightest sea
Dusky moors
Forbidden tree
Frozen waste
No time or space
In this place
You will find them
A shard of light
A heart of stone
To win the fight
Five as one
Wisdom, Shielding
Passion, Healing,
Faith, Unyielding
A mirror for revealing
As the goddess grows
The answer she knows
When all is lost
Her life the cost
A bond of brothers
To heal all others.”
David cocked his head to the side. He pointed to a section of the prophecy almost as if he regarded it as a map. “We are in a grove of trees. So this must be some kind of clue. Do we see anything that could be considered the last?”
All of the kindred began to glance around. To the north the faintest outline of mountains could be seen peaking between the trees. The sound of the sea drifted from the south. The West looked like a wall of white light save a mirror that seemed to be suspended from nothing. The east looked like nothing but forest.
“The last could mean the end of the land. The dirt ends at the sea,” Drew pointed towards the smell of the ocean.
“Or if we walked off a mountain, it would also be our end.” Damian grumbled. Stormy shot him a disapproving look. Damian walked over and hugged her apologetically. “Sorry, Angel. I’m hate not knowing what to expect and it’s made me cranky.” He said while she patted his arm with reassurance.
Dean considered the words of the prophecy. To him it had the ring of a riddle. If the words were metaphorical, and not a map, the last would make a bit more sense. The last wasn’t exactly a landmark.
“I think it’s a riddle and the last means the last of the trees. I say we go east.” Dean said and crossed his fingers hoping he was making the right choice. He saw Stormy nod.
“Works for me,” David said with a shrug. He pulled a compass from his pocket and opened it. He frowned and held it up for the Kindred to see. The needle was spinning wildly, first one direction and then the other. “That is not a good sign. I’ve never seen a place where a compass didn’t work before.”
Drew pointed to the trees. “We could easily get lost in there. What if we can't find the door again?”
Stormy noted his concern. She walked over and waved her hand near the door and a small fire appeared that bellowed yellow smoke into the air. Stormy immediately frowned, and her eyebrows looked troubled. She chewed her lip.
“What’s wrong sweetness?” David asked her.
Something is wrong with my magic. That’s not what I tried to create. I works. But it’s not what I intended. She waved her hand again a pink sparks shot from her fingers. She shook her head nervously.
“This trip just got harder.” Damian observed aloud.
“Maybe it’s just the area. Let’s try your magic again later, Love.” Dean said hopefully.
“I say the sooner we get on the road, the sooner we get home.” Damian shrugged and tightened his backpack on his shoulder before setting off in a general eastward direction.
The Kindred fell in around him. Drew clung to Stormy’s hand as they walked, while Dean took up the rear. He kept a keen eye out for danger as they went deeper and deeper into the woods.
“I found a path,” David said after they had went several hundred feet into the trees. They all began to follow it as it wound between tree trunks.
Silence hung heavy over the team as they moved. Dean normally would be cracking jokes but somehow it felt wrong to have a lighthearted approach. The work they were doing seemed almost oppressive.
Dean felt like they had been walking for hours. He noticed that Stormy’s shoulders were slumped forward with fatigue. “How about a water break?” Dean suggested.
Dean sat down on a fallen log. Stormy came over and crawled into his lap. He kissed her cheek before she laid her head against his neck. He knew that she was concerned that they were going the wrong way and he didn’t know that they weren’t. He wished he had the answers but he didn’t.
Stormy sat quietly for a while before her head snapped up. He eyes seemed to glow and she pointed to the east. Her eyes returned to the normal color and she shook her head like she was trying to clear it.
“Divine intervention?” Dean asked with a raised eyebrow.
Stormy shrugged. She got to her feet and headed to the east. The rest of the group got up to follow her.