“Lord Kotal” Dedric said, “if I might intervene, I would agree with Miss Clarke and recommend Skuld to come with us, since her abilities with healing and medicine might be highly required.”
Kotal looked at Dedric and then turned to Prudence to realize she was not going to change her mind. He released a deep breath and then nodded. “Fine then.”
And so the company pushed their way into the forest. They rode for hours following the route of a narrow stream through the woods under the watchful eye of tree faeries. The only thing that could be heard was the relative calm of the forest, the sounds of insects and birds and the water gurgling in the stream.
“This way,” Genuss commanded and the group followed her.
“We must find shelter before nightfall. It’s a two-day journey to Penrith. We will have to camp in the forest,” Dedric suggested.
“Isn’t it dangerous?” Prudence asked.
“Look around. Where else could we spend the night?” Genuss replied.
“My legs are starting to go numb,” Prudence claimed.
“We cannot stop now. We have not traveled enough distance to rest,” Genuss exclaimed.
“She is right,” Dedric said apologetically.
They kept the pace of their march for a while but as they moved away from the palace, the cold began to set in and seize their muscles. They marched across the dark grounds in the same order they had when they left the palace. Genuss led the group on a white horse. Dedric, Skuld and Prudence had chocolate brown ones. Dunhill's horse was as black as the night about to fall. The frosted grass mixed with the muddy soil crunched beneath the horses’ hooves.
Prudence wondered what kind of beasts could approach them out there in the wild. Finally, the horses slowed down and they settled behind a group of old bushes.
Dedric got off his horse and took a small bundle hanging from one side of the frame.
Sooner than expected, the camp was assembled. A large tent rose around a bonfire that would be used not only as a source of heat for that cold misty night, but also to cook dinner.
The tent was very comfortable and was big enough for the whole group to fit in. On one side there was a table with bowls of different sizes. On the other side, two banks the necessary sizes to sleep in were located. They were covered with pillows and blankets. On the walls hung carpets inscribed with Elvish letters.
"Where did all this come from?” Prudence asked, shocked after setting foot inside.
“My dear Miss Clarke, meet Rosie, our magical tent,” Dunhill said in a funny voice.
“A little bit of magic here and there doesn't hurt,” Dedric added while he lit a few lamps scattered throughout the tent.
“Rosie has accompanied us in all our adventures, and has been our home and shelter on many cold nights in the woods,” Dunhill added.
“I will take care of dinner,” Skuld offered.
Dedric and Dunhill were so tired, each of them collapsed over a bank.
“I don’t want to take any risks. We will take turns to keep watch during the night, just in case,” Dedric instructed.
“I’ll take the first watch,” Dunhill offered.
“I’ll take the second,” Genuss hurried to say, trying to look as heavy-duty as possible.
A couple of moments later, Skuld let them know dinner was ready. They came outside and sat around the fire. There was a bowl with delicious pumpkin soup and a plate with roasted vegetables.
“How did you made all of this in less than five minutes?” asked Prudence, amazed.
“I have my ways.” Skuld smiled. “These are extremely magical seeds. The yellow ones are Mangium seeds. The purple ones are Excelsium seeds. At last, the red ones are Pandora seeds. These are the most powerful of them all. You can grow whatever you need out of them, even a delightful banquet,” Skuld explained to her. Prudence was astonished.
“Since we are about to enjoy such a wonderful dinner, we should make the ceremony now,” Dunhill exclaimed.
“What ceremony?” Prudence asked.
“We need to officially welcome you as members. It’s kind of a tradition we have to welcome new members on our first night on the road, since it marks the beginning of a new adventure,” Dedric said.
“Both of you, please stand up,” Dunhill said to Prudence and Skuld.
“Please extend a hand and hold it in front of you,” Dedric added.
“Will it hurt?” Prudence asked.
“As brave as always!” Genuss exclaimed in an ironical voice.
“No, I’m just going to slightly mark you. You can look away if you prefer to,” Dedric explained.
So he took Prudence’s hands and wrapped a golden string around her wrist. The string took life and carved beneath Prudence’s skin, leaving a mark with the beautiful symbol of the Company of the Rose.
Her hands started tingling immediately after that, like they were about to light on fire. Prudence released a sound of pain.
“What?” asked Dedric, concerned.
“My hands. I feel like they’re burning!”
Skuld hurried to take Prudence’s hands between hers and quickly made the warm feeling disappear. Once all was calm, the procedure was repeated on Skuld.
“You are official members of The Company of the Rose now,” Dedric said merrily.
After that, it was time to enjoy dinner. Prudence sat near the fire and ate a small food ration silently. That first day of trip was very tiring for all of them and they quickly finished their food. They found shelter from the cold inside the tent, desperate for some rest. None of them had trouble catching sleep that night, as they rested deeply, unaware of what was about to happen outside.
The White Forest was a dangerous place and it disliked visitors so much that it made them know they were unwanted. The branches of the trees began to creak as well as the roots, like they were taking life. They started moving with soft undulating movements, slowly snaking around the Company.
Suddenly, the forest became a labyrinth of wood and mist. The moving roots began to creep inside the tent in complete quietness. The Company was abruptly awakened by Skuld’s shouts of horror and pain, while she was taken by the ankle and dragged out of the tent and into the darkness of the forest. Prudence rushed to run after her.
A giant root tore the tent and took Genuss by the arms. Dedric and Dunhill were attacked as well. Genuss, who always slept with a dagger beside her bed, took it and began to sink it furiously into the root.
Both Dedric and Dunhill unsheathed their swords and cut the roots struggling to catch them.
Out in the woods, Prudence was tracking Skuld’s cries. She walked far away enough from the tent to not be able to distinguish the way back. In the distance, she noticed Skuld being swallowed into the bowels of a tree trunk. Prudence approached her and tried in vain to pull the roots to free her. She tried so hard and became so desperate that she did not notice what was happening with her.
“Prudence! Your hands—” Skuld shouted, amazed by the fact that her hands were on fire.
Unsure of what to do, Prudence directed the flames burning in her hands to the heights of trees, making them retract sufficiently to release Skuld from their grip. She fell into the ground, but wasn’t seriously injured. She got up to her feet and embraced Prudence strongly.
“That was amazing,” Skuld said, and they made their way back. Halfway to the tent, they found the rest of the group. They all were very concerned, especially Dunhill.
“I’m so sorry—I fell asleep. This was my entire fault. I should have been more attentive.”
“You can bet on that,” said Genuss.
“It’s fine. Don’t feel bad. Luckily, Prudence was able to free me from the roots by burning them with her newly unleashed powers.”
All of them went silent.
“She did what?” Genuss exclaimed, taken completely off guard.
“She burnt them.”
“Really? That’s great news!” Dedric exclaimed. Prudence smiled.
&nb
sp; “I could use a bit of your help to light the fires from now on,” Dunhill joked.
“It would be my pleasure,” she replied.
Once the safety of the tent was reinforced and Dedric took Dunhill’s place at the vigil, everyone went to rest again. That is, everyone except for Prudence who was too amazed and excited by what she had done. She could not stop playing with a tiny fire sphere that she spun between her fingers.
“Stop that!” Genuss shouted. “I’m trying to get some sleep. So if you don’t mind, stop lighting that thing on my face every two seconds!” she continued, and wrapped herself in a blanket.
“Why are you two fighting again?” Dedric asked as he heard the murmur from outside.
“She just can’t stand the fact that I am able to do something she cannot do.”
That night, Prudence slept with a smile on her face.
CHAPTER 8
Things could have gone worse—Skuld only got a couple of bruises that took her less than a minute to heal.
A couple of hours later, Prudence’s eyes opened to morning. What could have been a horrible nightmare was not. The cracked tent waved with the morning breeze and it smelled of mushrooms and fresh resin.
Skuld was already up, packing all sorts of seeds in a silk pouch. She threw them inside a bigger bag where she carried all of her potions. Dedric and Dunhill sharpened their swords and prepared to fight whatever the forest might throw at them. Genuss went ahead to inspect the grounds before them. The camp was quickly removed and they started marching sooner than expected, leaving the remains behind. Everyone knew that they needed to keep a good pace. They could not afford another night in the woods because the White Forest was too dangerous.
They felt threats could come from everywhere at any moment. The forest was alive and it was treacherous. That morning, they had to move against the wind knocking on their faces.
“We must follow the proper path or else we will get lost in here, and that is not part of my aims. I plan to have a decent rest in the coziness and safety of Rose Manor tonight,” Dedric said as he led the way to the beginnings of the marshes.
The morning hours passed really quickly and it was already afternoon when they caught sight of the swamps. The water seemed like a bright green carpet of grass, but it was not. There were trees emerging from it and who knows what else was underneath. The nice fresh scent of the forest completely changed as they got closer to the murky waters. Instead, a mix of mildewed wood, putrid plants and dead bodies gagged them strongly.
Although there were few marshes along and breadth of the Five Kingdoms, they were feared. Swamps were mysterious and unknown territories. No one had the will to discover much of them. There was no certainty about what kind of creatures inhabited there, except for the existence of giant snakes and Algaephemeras. The latter were small creatures of great beauty but also of great danger. Its appearance was a mixture of seahorse with seaweed, and its body was partially transparent as a jellyfish with a bright blue center like a jewel. Algaephemeras clung to the skin like a leech and then they got underneath it, burning and infecting the muscle meat. That was common knowledge, and it meant a great disadvantage for the Company.
“We don’t know this swamp and we don’t know what beasts might lurk in here,” said Dedric.
“Shall we cross on foot or riding?” Prudence asked.
“Riding, of course. We don’t know how deep it is,” Genuss responded.
“Depth is not the real problem—the bottom is. It could grab our legs and not let go,” Dedric exclaimed.
“Can’t we just avoid it?” Prudence asked as Genuss was getting into the water.
“So, all the courage you acquired last night is already gone?” Genuss muttered, annoyed.
“I only suggested that we could go around it rather than across it,” Prudence clarified.
“It will take too long to go around it. It would cost us to spend two more nights in here,” Dedric said.
The ground quickly turned to mud and they had to be very careful not to be sucked in by it.
“Let’s follow this stream,” Dedric commanded. “Water is flowing here. It must have a firm bottom, sandy or gravel.”
“Luckily the waters are shallow,” Genuss muttered.
They made it through the water while the forest became silent and the members of the Company grew anxious at every step, especially Skuld. She looked around repeatedly, still terrified by the incident of the night before.
“Have you heard that?” Skuld asked with a trace of worry in her tone.
“What did you hear?” Dedric asked.
“I think I’ve heard someone singing,” she replied.
“Everyone be alert and do not panic,” he commanded.
Prudence tried to remain calm, as her newfound power made her feel safer out there in the wild. Genuss struggled to keep her immutable role of leader and champion, always condescending.
Suddenly, there was something in the distance that caught Skuld’s attention. She looked more closely and froze at the sight of what she was seeing. She looked at the rest of the Company to see if anyone else had noticed it, but she was the only one. She then turned her eyes to that point again.
“Hmm—Dedric?” she stammered.
“Yes?”
“There is a woman hiding behind that tree,” she said as she gestured with her restless eyes toward the place.
All of them glanced over to see the woman, unaware of what was emerging from beneath the water.
“Nymphs!” Genuss shouted. From that moment, dozens of nymphs came out of everywhere, as if they were waiting to ambush the Company and attack them. They came from unexpected directions, from deep under the water, from behind the trees, even from inside them. The nymphs were spirits of nature that looked like women and were extremely beautiful, but also evil. Nymphs were believed to kill all of the men who disappeared in the woods.
As Dedric felt cold hands closing around his arms, he could not do anything to get rid of them. They were too many and they pulled him down from his horse and into the swamp. The nymphs were trying to drown him. The bottom of the swamp had swallowed one of his legs up to the knee. Dunhill went to help him, but he was tugged into the water as well.
Prudence jumped off her horse and struggled to get to Dedric, while the swamp dragged her into the depths. The water reached her neck and she could barely breathe. She grabbed his legs and tried her hardest to pull him free. While Prudence was tugging Dedric, she felt desperate to summon her powers. She internally prayed that something would awaken inside her to lead the nymphs away. Nothing happened, as if her powers never existed.
As Skuld went over Dunhill to help him, Genuss made her way across the nymphs while cutting the throats of a pair with her dagger on one hand. Prudence wasn’t getting such good results, as the nymphs appeared to keep coming and growing in number.
Dedric managed to take a dagger from his belt and stick it on the neck of one of the nymphs. It only made the situation worse. It was actually a big mistake, since two nymphs jumped over him and one of them bit him. Dedric’s neck started bleeding badly.
Even though nymphs did not attack women, Genuss disliked them for being such tricky and treacherous creatures. They used their beauty and lovely voices to whisper enchanting songs into the ears of men to fool them and make them follow them into the darkness of the forest, only to find a horrible death.
She disliked them so much she didn’t hesitate to turn to Dunhill and took his sword to slay another nymph, stabbing her in the stomach. But she didn’t stop there. She kept brandishing her weapons until she noticed that the creatures had started to retreat. They were actually walking away. Slowly at first, and then desperately escaping as a thick, black liquid spread across the water.
Skuld poured something in the water. It must have been something extremely powerful because of the way the nymphs screamed and sobbed in horror, and promptly disappeared. All of a sudden, the waters of the swamps became tamed and quiet once again,
but Dedric was left exhausted and seriously wounded. He pressed both of his hands to his neck to stop the bleeding. He felt drained, as if all of his life had been depleted.
It was time to make it across.
Genuss and Dunhill lifted the injured Dedric up onto his horse, and she rode with him.
“What was that thing?” Prudence asked, a little worried but relieved at the same time.
“Dracena Draco. It means dragon blood.”
“Do you really mean that thing you poured into the water was the blood of a dragon?” Prudence was astonished.
“Yes,” Skuld responded as if she was stating the obvious.
“Nobody told me you had dragons in this world!” Prudence cried.
“I always carry a little bottle of dragon blood with me, along with some other things. Would have brought more if it wasn’t so difficult to get and so expensive. I mainly use it to help heal wounds, and treat intestinal problems, you know? But fire is the main component of dragon blood, and everyone knows nymphs fear dragons. They can’t stand their smell. It repels a lot of creatures because of its strong odor.”
Once on firm ground, Dedric was placed over the soil so Skuld could cure him. She examined the wound on his neck and started searching for something in the little bag she carried with her.
“What is happening to him?” Prudence asked desperately as Dedric’s breathing became more agitated.
“He’s been poisoned. We don’t have much time.”
All of the members of the Company looked at each other, unsure of how to help and at the same time injured by their own attempts to fight the nymphs.
Skuld kept on searching among dozens of little bottles that were inside her bag, but nothing seemed to be of help. Suddenly, Dunhill’s pendant caught her attention.
“What are you doing? That's my dragon fang,” he protested as Skuld tore it off his neck.
“I'm sure you'll get another one.”
Skuld sank the fang into the wound and it began to slowly absorb all the poison circulating in Dedric’s blood. When the last drop of poison was absorbed, the fang became black and disintegrated into ashes.
The Elven Tales: The Company of the Rose Page 6
