The Uzan Crystal

by Lisa S. Buchholz

  "I wasn't sure if you were up yet and I didn't want to disturb anyone since last night was the first real night that I slept well in a few weeks," explained Elise. "I figured I'd give it another hour or so before I came to your room and I was about to come over when you knocked on the door."

  "I really didn't feel like getting up but figured that I couldn't stay in bed all day." She walked over to the bed and sat down next to Elise. "Did you notice that there aren't any fireplaces upstairs but the rooms are warm. There's a vent on the floor that the warm air comes up through."

  "Yes, I did notice. It's pretty neat. I asked Violet, the girl that brought us our things. She told me that they have a large fireplace downstairs and keep it stoked up most of the time. The heat from the fire warms the walls of the chimney and there are vents that line the inside wall of the chimney. Then there are bellows on the outside of the fireplace that they have hooked up to a water wheel which causes the bellows to pump, sending air through the vents where it's heated and pushed to the rooms. She said depending on how much heat they need, they adjust the fire and the water wheel," she explained.

  "Wow, that is neat," agreed Angelina. "Maybe we'll have to take a look at the set up before we leave. That would be great to have at Talenvar. Just think, no more having to keep the fires going all over the castle, just in one spot." She scrunched her face for a moment in thought, "I guess you'd have to have a really large fire to warm the entire castle, or maybe have a few here and there."

  "Well, since you know how it works," interrupted Lady Elise, "Can we head downstairs to eat? I think that large meal last night expanded my stomach and I need to eat more to fill it." She gave Angelina a smile.

  Angelina got up from the bed and held out her hand to Elise, "Then let's go. Maybe Heather and Lady Kathleen would like to join us."

  Elise grabbed Angelina's hand and they headed out into the hall. They tried both rooms but there wasn't an answer. None of the innkeeper's daughters were in sight so they decided to head down to the dining room. They figured Heather and Lady Kathleen must have awakened much earlier, already eaten and gone about their way for the day.

  "Well, ladies," Koren spoke up, a mischievous gleam in his eye, "we were wondering when you would be joining us. We were going to send Sir Matthew to rouse you from your beds and drag you downstairs if you weren't down here by the time we finished our ale."

  Sir Matthew actually seemed to blush at that statement. He took a swig of ale to hide his face. You could see from his eyes that he was smiling behind his mug.

  The men were laughing and carrying on. Angelina was thinking what an improvement this was over the past few weeks where everyone had seemed so solemn.

  The women took a seat beside Corbin and Koren. Sara noticed them and immediately had a plate of freshly scrambled eggs with cheese, fried chunks of potatoes and three slices of ham brought out to each of them. Then another platter was brought out with toast, butter and various jams. They were given freshly squeezed orange juice and milk to drink. As the women ate, talk was light and the subject matter was kept clear of anything to do with their journey. It seemed that everyone wanted a well deserved break from the mayhem. All too soon the journey would continue.

  Pendrake and Sir Taz had agreed that they should take a few days of rest and stay in Incaught. They could all use some time off to sightsee and rest up. Angelina and Elise talked to Lady Kathleen and Heather and since those two women had decided to stay in Incaught another week or two, they planned to take in the sites of the city together.

  It was at dinner the third day that Sir Asen suggested that they take the next day to get whatever supplies were needed, trade their recently acquired horses in for fresh ones and head out early on the fifth day. Most of the men reluctantly agreed. They knew it was time to continue, but they were enjoying the rest. Angelina was glad for Sir Asen's push because she was getting anxious to continue.

  The fifth morning came soon enough. The women got dressed in their riding clothes and packed the rest of the stuff away. After a hearty breakfast, the women thanked the innkeeper for their wonderful stay and gave him a generous tip. He insisted that it wasn't necessary. Angelina joked, glancing at two of his daughters and told him that he should take it because with all his growing daughters, he was going to need it. He smiled and thanked them. The women hugged Lady Heather and Lady Kathleen and wished them a safe journey.

  "We also wish you success in yours," said Lady Kathleen as she hugged Elise. "And do be careful."

  Chapter 37

  Carosell Forest

  They joined the group, tied their bundles onto the back of the saddles and mounted the horses. It wasn't long before everyone cleared the town and was heading out into farm country. The air was warm and the sky was sunny. It was a beautiful day. They journeyed for most of the day before stopping in the early evening to make camp. As Elise was removing her bedding from the horse she looked over at Angelina and they shared a look of disgust. They both weren't ready to start sleeping on the ground again.

  Everyone helped get the camp set up. They ate rabbit stew, bread and cheese and washed it down with water. Sir Matthew took the first watch and the rest gathered around the fire and rolled up in their blankets to sleep.

  It was toward the end of the next day that they came upon the Carosell Forest. Lord Ackbar reined in his horse at the tree line and stopped. "I know this is going to sound silly," he began as he turned toward the rest of the group, "but I'm not sure that we should travel through the forest."

  "It's just folklore," called out Koren. "We've all heard the stories, but I don't believe in them. It's something to scare travelers."

  "What stores?" inquired Lady Elise.

  "There are stories that if you enter the Carosell Forest," began Lord Farley in explanation, "that you lose your way and wonder aimlessly around in circles until you die of starvation and exhaustion."

  "Has anyone been able to substantiate these stores,?" asked Angelina. She wasn't having a good feeling about this at all. Just one more hindrance on their journey. "Or do we play it safe and go around the forest?" She knew they had all needed a rest back in Incaught, but because of the delay on the ship she again felt behind and wanted to get on with the journey and get it over with as soon as possible. Now another problem had come up and she was getting irritated. She didn't like to think about what was going to happen when they came face to face with Madina, but she wanted to at least get to it as soon as they could.

  "Well, we could travel around the dense part of the forest either left or right, but it's going to add days, maybe weeks to our travel," explained Sir Matthew. "I haven't been out this way for a good number of years so I couldn't tell you for sure how long it would take. Does anyone else know?" he asked.

  "Merk and I have been out this way in the past couple of years," explained Pendrake. "But we traveled the long way around to the north. It was probably twenty days at the most. I can't remember the exact number of days but the terrain was rocky and you had to go slow. The carriages that we passed were going even slower." He shifted in his seat and rested his hand which held the reins on the pummel of his saddle. "I've never traveled straight through before, and as you can see by how overgrown the road is, not many people have."

  "Anyone else?" prompted Sir Matthew.

  No one else had been out that way much and if they had it had been a long time ago and no one had ventured through the forest.

  "Can anyone tell us how long a journey it would be if we did go straight through?" Angelina asked as she got down from her horse to stretch her legs, Lady Elise and a few others doing the same.

  Everyone seemed to be looking around at each other, trying to get a feel for what they should do. No one seemed to know the exact time line on traveling straight through.

  "Well, as far as I can see into the forest, the road leads the way through. If we stay together and stick to the road only," Sir Taz began, "and I also mean that we do not leave the road to camp, we should be safe." He
noticed the uneasy looks. "I think if we start out early tomorrow morning and travel until dark without stopping at all, except when absolutely necessary, and continue in this fashion for the entire trip through the forest we should make it to the other side in no time. But since some of you seem reluctant, we should vote on it and stay together no matter what the outcome of the vote is. Does everyone agree?"

  "I do," Angelina spoke up first. "Whatever the group decides is what we should do."

  Everyone else agreed and a vote was taken. There were four in favor of traveling around and eight for going straight through.

  "If any of you that voted to travel around," instructed Sir Asen directing his comment to Thaddious, Lord Ackbar, Sir Matthew and Bishoff, "do not feel confident in traveling with us through the forest, I for one will not insist that you do. You can travel the long way and meet up with us at some point. It is entirely up to you."

  "No," responded Lord Ackbar. "We voted and the entire group goes on together. If you don't wish to continue on, then you can drop out and return home."

  "Isn't that a little harsh?" stated Angelina a little annoyed at his comment. "I mean if you don't feel that you should enter the forest you shouldn't have to or be banned from our group."

  "Lord Ackbar's right," interjected Bishoff. "We stick together. If we separate now, there isn't any guarantee that we would be able to catch up to you. We all began this journey together and we stay together, or like Lord Ackbar said, we leave now."

  "Fine, then that's settled," stated Corbin in a matter of fact tone. "We get settled in for the night and leave bright and early tomorrow morning."

  The group headed a little ways away from the edge of the forest and made camp. Lord Farley had purchased a few chickens from the last farm they had passed that afternoon and they were getting them ready to roast over the fire. Once everyone ate and things were cleaned up, they slowly dropped off to sleep. Sir Taz took first watch. Angelina lay awake thinking about the morning and if they had voted on the right thing to do. She was fearful that something might happen and didn't look forward to waking the next morning.

  They had a large breakfast of honey porridge, dried fruit, bread and cheese. They saddled up the horses, climbed on and headed for the forest. It was a quiet group that morning. Everyone was deep in their own thoughts and fears.

  As they entered the forest and started out on the overgrown trail, Angelina realized that she had been holding her breath, waiting for something terrible to happen. Now she looked around and realized that it was an ordinary forest with ordinary sounds and it was actually nice. The horses' footfalls where muffled by the thick layer of pine needles along the trail. She relaxed a bit and hoped that the other side wasn't that far away.

  They were probably an hour into the forest when Lady Elise gasped and reined in her horse. The sound of steel sliding from sabers was the next sound, only a split second from Elise's gasp. Everyone had stopped and was alert for danger.

  "What is it!?" hissed Lord Farley in a hushed whisper.

  "Look," Elise said as she pointed into the forest, not far from the path. There among the old fallen down tree limbs and moss was a skeleton. It was partially overgrown with moss, but the stark whiteness of the bones was unmistakable.

  "Okay everyone, just relax," Pendrake stated. "It's a skeleton and from the looks of it, it's been here a long time. Let's get on with the journey and forget about it."

  "Well," sighed Angelina as she relaxed her grip on the hilt of the dagger she was clutching, ready to draw it from is sheath, "I would agree with you Pendrake; however, it seems that we no longer have a road to follow."

  All eyes shifted to the way ahead. The path that had been there moments ago was now gone, vanished as if the forest swallowed it up.

  "I'm thinking now that maybe we should have traveled the long way around," suggested Angelina in a shaky voice.

  "Then let's turn around and go back," suggested Sir Taz as he was already turning his horse.

  "I also would agree with you as well Sir Taz," stated Corbin, "but we seem to have lost the trail behind us."

  "Okay, nobody panic," commanded Pendrake. "Stay together and we'll think of something. Nothing is ever as bad as it seems."

  "Yeah, right," Angelina muttered under her breath.

  "I heard that," whispered Sir Matthew. He did not like the looks of the situation at all. There was definitely something going on and it wasn't good.

  They talked it over and decided that the best thing was to get out of the forest. If they traveled straight back the way they came, they would clear the forest within an hour or so. After some debate, no one was really sure which way was back.

  "This is crazy," muttered Pendrake. "There has to be some sign to tell us which way is which. We can't all be confused and not remember which way to go."

  Unfortunately, that was the case. Even though they knew that they should be able to tell which way was which, it slipped from their grasp. They tried to look for hoofprints to see what direction they were going in but the forest debris had softened the horses' footfalls and no tracks were distinguishable.

  "This is what we're going to do," instructed Bishoff, "Sir Asen, Lord Farley, Thaddious and I will range ahead a short distance to see if we can get our bearings. We will stay within sight. If we find nothing to tell us which way is which then we will return to the group and we will range out in another direction and so forth until we figure it out."

  "I think that it would be a good idea," suggested Princess Angelina, "if you tie a rope to one of your saddles and the other end to this tree here," she continued pointing to a tree next to her. "That way if you do get out of our range of view then we at least still have something keeping us together."

  "Well, that does sound like a good idea," commented Pendrake, "but do we have enough rope to make a long enough line?"

  Everyone checked their supplies and five of them had a supply of rope. They tied the ends of each together. Once they had all the individual rope strands tied together they tied one end to the tree that Angelina had indicated and Sir Asen tied the other to his saddle and tossed the remaining pile on top.

  "I hope this is enough to allow us to range far enough away to get our bearings," stated Bishoff.

  "I guess we'll find out soon enough," replied Thaddious.

  The men slowly made their way into the forest. They weren't more than fifty feet from the rest of the group when they disappeared around a thicket of brambles. No sooner did the tail end of Bishoff's horse disappear out of sight when the rope went slack.

  "Sir Asen," hollered Sir Taz as he approached the rope now lying on the ground. "The rope went slack." When Sir Taz didn't hear a response he again yelled to Sir Asen. When still no response was heard, he and Pendrake shared a glance before Sir Taz began to pull the rope toward him. The rope continued to be pulled until the end appeared.

  Pendrake walked over and picked it up for a better look. He held up the end for the rest to see. "Look, it's as if it were cut with a knife."

  "This can't be good," Corbin said as he moved his horse closer to the rest of the group.

  "No, it's not," replied his father, his brow furrowed in thought. "I don't think that we should separate again. Whatever is doing this seems to be dividing us up and that definitely isn't a good sign."

  Everyone in the group hollered out the names of the people missing as loudly as they could. After a few seconds they waited for a reply but nothing was heard.

  "I agree that this isn't a good omen," replied Sir Taz. "From now on, we stick closely together. I'm sure Lord Farley and his group are fine," he said to reassure Angelina when he saw her distressed look. "They have been around a long time and I'm sure they've gotten themselves into worse situations than this one."

  "Well," interrupted Lady Elise, "I had never before been in any of the situations that we've been in since we began this journey and so far the majority of us have made it through. So we should take this in stride and do what we have to do to
get out of it."

  "Let's pick a direction and begin traveling. Then each time we stop, we should mark the ground showing the direction in which to begin traveling when it's time," explained Pendrake. "This way we will eventually find our way out and then we can think about what to do to help the other party. And hopefully this is what they will do."