“Don’t leave me alone with her,” he said with panic in his voice as he looked over his shoulder at Floret “She keeps saying how she’s always wanted to marry a prince.”
“That’ll bring Rootlings and oomans together won't it?” giggled Shaya.
“That’s not funny,” Rowan was unimpressed.
“It’s a bit funny,” smirked Jinx as she sat on Shaya’s shoulder.
Oakmore stepped out of the mass of little wooden folk and walked into the centre of the dirt patch. The crowd grew quiet, and the music stopped.
“My fellow Rootlings, today marks a historic day. Today oomans come to Rootling Village for first time in long, long time. Today, we no fear oomans, today oomans friend of Rootlings. Ooman Prince Rowan,” he gestured towards the young prince. “As a token of friendship with you and other oomans, please join me and accept token of our bond,” he held out his little hand.
Rowan looked around and quickly realised that the whole village was staring at him. Shaya gave him a light push, and he walked over to the chubby Chieftain. Oakmore handed him a necklace. It was made of dark brown and green vines braided around each other. Hanging from it was a shiny leaf, but it was solid like it was made of glass. It was a deep red. As Rowan moved it around, it caught the light and shimmered like crimson diamonds. It was mesmerising, the prince stared at it as the red lights twinkled. It was beautiful.
“I’ll treasure it always my friend,” Rowan held out his hand, Oakmore shook it vigorously, with a proud smile on his face. Rowan draped the necklace around his neck and looked at the pendant again, it truly was stunning, but it was more than that, it was special. He nodded with a smile and walked back over to Shaya’s side.
“Now friends,” Oakmore threw up his hands as he addressed his audience “As a celebration we grow new garden, we call it Garden of Arrolyn. Sing my friends. Sing.”
Suddenly the musicians began to play their instruments, a wonderfully upbeat tune that seemed to lift the spirits of everyone there. Every Rootling in the village started to sing, long, beautiful notes. Then something miraculous happened. Every single Rootling began to glow as they sang. It was so bright it was as if dawn had come early. Shaya, Jinx and Rowan all stood stunned as they watched the magnificent beauty before them, they were speechless, they were awe-struck. Then from the dirt that Oakmore stood upon, colour began to appear. Quickly hundreds of flowers were climbing out of the ground, tumbling over each other there were so many. All reds and yellows, they bloomed and glowed like the tree children who summoned them.
As the song came to an end, they all applauded and cheered, as they’re glowing bodies returned to normal. Where there was a dirt patch ready for planting moments before, now sat a vast flower bed of sweet-smelling splendour. Oakmore took a bow and gestured to the musicians to continue playing as he shuffled off the flowerbed, careful not to trample any of the new plants. The band began a new piece of music, and the audience started to dance. All twirling and spinning and bobbing up and down, the visitors laughed and smiled as the celebration got into full swing.
“This is amazing,” said Jinx grinning from pointed ear to pointed ear.
“It’s called the blossoming ceremony,” said a very excited Sap “It only happen on special occasions.”
“It’s incredible,” smiled Shaya
“Thank you. You like it, Rowan Prince?”
Rowan was holding his pendant in his cupped hand and smiling to himself. He let it dangle from his neck again and looked down at Sap.
“It’s wonderful Sap, thank you for bringing us here.”
“You welcome Rowan Prince.”
The prince knelt down and shook the little tree child’s hand. As he stood up again, he got a tap on his back. He turned and looked down to see Floret smiling up at him, playing with one of her flowers on her head.
“You want to dance princey?”
“Well I-, You see-,” Rowan stammered.
“I bet you good dancer.”
Rowan instantly became flustered. His lips twitched with the intention of speaking, but his words fell at his feet.
“He can’t,” Jinx popped up between the two of them “He’s just promised Shaya a dance.”
“I what?” he turned to her in astonishment.
“Yeah, he what?” Shaya said surprised.
“Yes, you did your highness,” Jinx gave him a stern look.
“Well, I,” The prince stumbled again, his face getting very red.
“If you not dance with her, you dance with me,” Floret went to take the prince’s hand, and he quickly recoiled.
“No that’s right, I just forgot, thank you, Jinx,” he said as the little sprite stifled a giggle. He turned to Shaya and held out his hand.
“Would you care to dance?” he said with a pleading look.
Shaya hesitated for a moment. It would be funny to say no and watch him stumble around with an overly excited Floret, but she wasn’t that cruel. Finally, Shaya took his hand
“Of course, your highness.”
The two of them quickly walked off to where the rest of the Rootlings were dancing. Jinx tried not to burst out laughing at the two of them awkwardly holding hands. Floret watched them angrily as they walked away.
“You could dance with me maybe?” asked Sap in a nervous quivering voice as he held his hand out.
“Don’t think so,” Floret huffed and stormed off.
Sap dropped his hand and his head lowered. Jinx could tell immediately he was upset.
“I’ll dance with you Sap.”
“Really?” His head shot up, his big brown eyes seemed to twinkle.
“Of course,” she took his wooden finger in her tiny hand they began to dance.
“Thank you,” said Rowan as they found a spot to dance, surrounded by the tiny trees spinning each other back and forth to the beat of the music.
“You looked so scared,” Shaya laughed.
“She’s relentless,” he turned to see Floret sat on her own watching them intently. “Look, she’s staring at me.”
“Come on then,” Shaya sighed with a slightly strained smile. She placed his right hand on her left shoulder and his left on her waist.
“You realise I can’t dance,” he said.
“That makes two of us your highness.”
“Please, it’s not necessary to call me your highness.”
“Really?” Shaya was surprised.
“After everything that’s happened over the past few days, I think we can forgo formalities. Rowan is fine.”
“Very well, Rowan,” Shaya smiled.
They began to sway back and forth to the upbeat tune and moved their feet quickly, taking care not to step on each other’s toes. Rowan watched his feet as he attempted to keep up with the rhythm. They turned and spun and laughed when they messed it up. Shaya lent back holding Rowan’s hand, he nearly dropped her. They weren’t very good at all, but they were having fun. Laughing and joking with each other, any awkwardness had lifted, now the music and the celebration had taken them away, they forgot all their troubles and were able to enjoy themselves as they danced into the night.
They had ended up dancing for an hour, then they mingled with the townsfolk. Some interesting characters lived in the village, like Orchard a green Rootling with a small tree sticking out of his head which had tiny apples growing on it. Another one was Shrubett who had a long branch like nose that kept poking people as he danced. There were so many of them, and they all wanted a piece of Shaya and Rowan, they were like local celebrities. They chatted, they ate, they laughed, it was a fun-filled evening. After a few short hours, it was time to call it a night, they were tired, and even though the celebration was still going on, their eyes were beginning to droop.
They said goodnight to Oakmore and thanked him for a wonderful evening. The Chieftain apologised for his earlier behaviour for what must have been the fifteenth time, mumbling “Damn bird” under his breath. They got the feeling that Gerald got the blame for a lot of Oa
kmore’s mistakes. Floret insisted that Rowan had a dance with her before he went to bed, but he declined as he was exhausted. They said goodnight to all and began walking back with Jinx who was atop Sap’s twig covered head.
“That was fun,” said the little sprite as she twirled around on Sap’s twigs.
“Yes it was,” said the prince.
“Did you enjoy your dance?”
“Yes,” he said looking at the yawning Shaya “I did.”
“And you?” she asked the young girl.
“Yes, thank you.”
“And you?” she asked Sap as she bent over his forehead and dropped down in front of his eyes.
“Yes thank you, pretty Jinx,” he giggled, “But-,” he trailed off.
“But what?”
“I really did enjoy dance with you, but I would have-,”
“You would have liked to dance with someone else as well?”
“Yes.”
“Who?” said Rowan intrigued.
“He has a thing for your girlfriend,” beamed Jinx.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” Rowan snapped.
“Why does Floret like you Rowan Prince and not me? I loved her for years, but she barely knows I here.”
“Well that’s her loss Sap,” said Shaya.
“It is?”
“Of course, if she doesn’t dance with you, she is missing out, right Jinx?”
“Exactly,” agreed Jinx “I danced with you, and it was wonderful. She doesn’t know what she’s missing. Silly girl.”
“Thank you,” Sap giggled, and looked away, a little bashful.
They arrived at Sap’s little hut, Shaya thought it somehow looked even smaller than before. It didn’t matter, they were all so tired, they didn’t mind having to squeeze inside. Sap’s bed was a hammock that hung from the ceiling, he climbed up the vine ladder and lay down. Jinx lazed on a small pile of leaves Sap had left on the windowsill for her. Shaya and Rowan lay on the blankets they had brought with them and curled up next to each other. They all said goodnight to one another, and within a few minutes, the quiet squeaking snores of Sap could be heard.
“Good night,” Shaya yawned and turned away from the prince and rested on the surprisingly comfy floor.
“Good night,” echoed Rowan as he looked at Shaya a moment longer before turning away and snuggling up in his blanket. Their dreams were of music and colours and laughter, of joyful times with friends.
Chapter Ten
The Poisoned Woods
There she was, trudging through the murky darkness, one heavy, fatigued foot in front of the other. Elle looked back at Benjin, wrapped in long thick vines. He hadn’t made a sound, not moved once. Every so often she stopped to check his pulse. It was weak, barely even there anymore. She was going as fast as she could, but it had been hours, and now, her pace had slowed to an unbearable crawl.
Some of the green tendrils from the mandrake tree had snagged on rocks and snapped. If any more broke, Elle would be pulling the old bear by his arms. The mountains were close now, she had finally entered Volanti Province, but there was at least another mile or two to go. The Peaks towered above her, they seemed so close, she could see even in the gloom of night, the white snow that covered them.
Her arms and legs were quivering now, she had almost gotten used to the dull throbbing ache that ran through her whole body as she had hauled Benjin. The vines were rough, the constant grating against her gloved hands was really starting to hurt. She could feel the leather of her gloves being slowly stripped away and the plant rubbing and digging into her palms and fingers. The breeze was cold, making the sweat on her brow feel like melting icicles trickling down her face, it was worse when it ran all the way down her back. The further north she went the colder it got. Volanti Province was much higher than central Arrolyn, it always felt as if it had its own microclimate, so the weather was permanently wintery. She had been dragging her slumbering cargo higher uphill for the past hour. It hadn’t taken long for her to lose all concept of time. Now she had no idea how long she had been walking. Her exhaustion told her she would have to stop again soon. Not even she could travel all night, let alone dragging a bear of a man like Benjin Greyborn.
“Have I mentioned you’re heavy?” She shouted over her shoulder angrily.
Another vine suddenly snapped in her hand and sent her stumbling forward. She landed on her hands and knees and a blast of pain shot up her injured arm.
“Enough,” she gasped out loud “Enough,” she flopped onto her side next to Benjin and pulled off her gloves. Her fingers and palms were red raw and starting to blister. She pulled herself over to Benjin to check his wound, there was no change. It looked as if he had been stabbed with a flaming spear. In all her battles over the years, she had never seen anything quite like it, it was no ordinary injury. It was something unnatural, given to him by a demon.
“Greyborn?” she shook him gently. His skin was cold and clammy to the touch “Greyborn, wake up I can’t carry you anymore. So either lose some weight or wake up old man,” she said breathless, with a hint of exhausted anger. Elle knew he wasn’t going to wake up, but that didn’t stop her from shaking him desperately. “Come on. On your feet soldier.”
He looked as if he was dead. If it weren’t for his weak pulse and shallow breathing, she would have been convinced that he had died sometime in the night. Through bleary eyes she scanned the area, looking for somewhere to spend another restless night. It was all open fields of grass and babbling streams. Further ahead she could see the first patches of frost, the glistening white tips of the knee-high grass, like a sea of knives. If she didn’t find some decent cover, they would freeze, the temperature had already started to plummet. Elle could now see her breath in the air, like miniature clouds vanishing into the night.
“Come on now,” she went back to uselessly coaxing Benjin from his coma “Wake up you lazy-,” suddenly Elle stopped.
She heard a steady, odd sounding noise. Like a dull thud one after the other. Looked around, she couldn’t see anything except for the icy stream, and the occasional white tree rustling in the wintery breeze. The noise grew louder, a constant rhythm, then it was joined by others. There was nothing, not a thing she could see that would make such a noise.
Then it hit her. Wings. She looked up to see three creatures above her, their massive wingspans flapping steadily as they watched. They began to descend, and she could see their yellow eyes piercing the night's gloom. They were like shadows, shapeless in the dark. All she could focus on were those eyes. Elle got to her trembling feet and pulled out her sword. The blade slipped from her shredded fingers and clanged heavily against the freezing ground, she couldn’t even hold her weapon anymore. She clenched her quivering fists defiantly and stood her ground.
Come on then, her mind roared, I don’t need a weapon.
♦ ♦ ♦
The whole village had come out to see them off. Shaya and the others had packed up their belongings, stepped out of Sap’s hut and were greeted by an army of Rootlings cheering, whooping and clapping. They had thanked them all and were ready to leave when Floret handed Rowan a present.
“Take this princey, I make it for you,” she handed him a wooden bow made from the strong bark of one of the many trees. It had been scored smooth and tied off with red vines. She gave him a quiver and arrows also. The quiver was made of intertwining cream coloured reeds, and the arrows were sharpened until they were razor sharp.
“Thank you, Floret,” he said and gave her a quick hug “Thank you very much.”
“I want you to stay safe.”
“I will.”
She walked over to Sap and looked down at him “Give me your stick,” she said abruptly.
Sap looked at his crewed attempt at a spear and begrudgingly handed it over. She promptly threw it on the floor and picked up another and handed it to him.
“I want you to be safe too,” she said.
It was thicker, stronger, a proper spear with a sharpened ti
p. The blunt end was covered in thin orange tendrils that snaked their way up to the tip.
“You made this?” Sap said as he looked at the intricate work that had gone into it.
“I did.”
“Thank you, Floret, it perfect.”
Floret smiled at him “You’re welcome,” she walked over to Shaya and stopped for a moment “You already have sword,” she said sharply, then went and stood next to her father. Shaya was taken aback and looked at the prince who simply shrugged his shoulders. Oakmore took a step forward and raised his arms.
“We wish you good luck friends. Please bring Sap home safe, he good Rootling,” he nodded at Sap, who was moments away from crying with happiness “Be safe, we hope you find what you seek.”
They said their goodbyes and left the beautiful Rootling Village with smiles on their faces. They followed little Sap who took an immediate right, heading deeper into the forest. Oakmore had told Sap where in the east woods they would find Shale. There were apparently six stone totems on the very edge of the woods, near the rock face of the southernmost mountains in Arrolyn. Sap knew the place well, as he used to play there often before Oakmore had forbidden Rootlings from entering the east woods. He would spend his time running around the columns, climbing up the trees there and swinging from the branches. What he didn’t know was if they followed the rock face a little further, there was a passage through the mountains, if they followed that path, they would find Shale.
After a few minutes, the cheering from the village stopped, and they all suddenly felt entirely alone. They shared the fruit out between them for breakfast, it was mostly berries and oranges with the odd plum.
It was nearly an hour before they started to see patches of the sickness that Oakmore had spoken of. The further they walked, the more dying flowers they saw, and the darker the trees became. After a while, it was as if all the colour in the woods had been stripped away, stolen. The whole area looked like it had been set ablaze, as if a roaring fire had ripped through the woods, leaving ash and cinder in its wake. But no fire had come, this was pure darkness.
The Shattered Moon (A Divine Legacy Book 1) Page 14
