Magic Born: The Uprising (Wattys2016)

Chapter Twenty-One: Light Glows Bright in the Darkest Places

                  

Chapter Twenty-One: Light Glows Bright in the Darkest Places

     When Adisa emerged from the tent, with two backpacks thrown over her shoulder, Ceridwen was mounted atop Artemis, waiting for Adisa to bestride Apollo. Ceridwen took one pack from Adisa and strapped it to Artemis's saddle.

"Ready...?" Ceridwen asked as she secured her bow, which was holstered on the side of the saddle.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Adisa tightened the restrains holding her whips to hips. "Actually, wait...How do we know where the Moonclover grows?"

Ceridwen smiled, and pulled a piece of crinkled paper from her saddle bag.

"The Mendaxa ruins. I went back to tell Rolland we were about to begin the journey and he said he forgot but we would need this map." Ceridwen slid the map into a pocket of her forest green cloak.

"What are the Mendaxa ruins...?" Adisa asked, and for the first time in her life her voice was laced in fear.

"Just another place, we have to go that will put us in peril." Ceridwen cracked the reins and Artemis raced out of the outpost's entrance and towards the dark forest. Adisa took one look around and closed her eyes trying to subside the anxiety thumping through her mind, and then raced after Ceridwen.

***

Ceridwen commanded Snow to fly ahead while the girls trotted through the forest.

"She's a beautiful creature." Adisa swooned as the setting sun knitted its way through Snow's feathers.

"She is, isn't she?" Ceridwen turned to reply, and noticed a tear falling from Adisa's face. "Are you alright?"

When Adisa released Ceridwen had noticed her signs of sorrow she quickly wiped away the tear. "I use to have a pet of my own...she was all I had, all that I loved, after Duzna murdered my brothers...But she was back at the castle when I left, and I know Duzna has slain her by now..."

Ceridwen threw a sympathetic gaze towards Adisa, but the dark Magic Born was staring off in the distance and didn't notice. Suddenly, Snow screeched and exploded through the canopy of trees above. Ceridwen and Adisa arched their necks as a fleek of white burst into a sea a green. Snow glide to Ceridwen's arm.

Snow and Ceridwen shared a metal link, because of Ceridwen's spirit gem, the ruby on the huntress's arm. Before Snow could tell Ceridwen why she called a blood curdling scream erupted from the distances.

Adisa locked eyes with Ceridwen and she nodded. The two girls slapped the reins and the horses bolted in the direction of the cry.

The wind hummed passed their ears as the sped towards the call. The tree and bushes merged into a mesh of brown and green, as the girl's raced through the forest. Hearts racing, blood catching fire, and souls trembling, the girls willed their steeds forward.

Another spine-tingling cry for help haunted the woods, as the girls emerged from the cluttered woods and into an opening in the forest. Ceridwen and Adisa yanked on the reigns and slowed Artemis and Apollo to a stop.

They stood in the middle of dilapidated village. A crumbling moss covered wall lined the tree edge, and circled the entire village. Rock and clay buildings, collapsing and deteriorating, were littered across the grounds, swallowed by massive roots and coiling vines. Dead flowers coating the entire forest floor. 

In almost the center of the village stood, directly in front of the girls, a massive temple, sporting overgrowth and shivering cracks.

Before the girl's had any more time to suck in their surroundings another squeal flooded the village.