Sentinel

Chapter 15 - Luke the Tree

Dedicated to Curader, the first guy who started consistently voting on every chapter.

---

Chapter 15 - Luke the Tree

---

"How much further, Skye?" asked Tayne. 

She didn't bother turning around to answer him, keeping her gaze focused on the path ahead--or rather, the path she was making ahead. Branches and leaves bent to her will, leaving a corridor in the undergrowth just big enough for the mounted Silverborn group to pass through before it closed behind them. 

"Not much further," said Skye. "But I can't guarantee it. Trees are hard to communicate details with, surprisingly enough." 

Tayne accepted the answer and fell back into silence. Skye had insisted on leading the group, but he could see how she slumped in the saddle. More than once, she swayed to such an extent that he was sure she'd fall. Despite his doubts, Skye remained determined, even if every so often her hand would rub her forehead before quickly dropping back down. 

They progressed onwards with only their white-flame torches and Skye's occasional green glow for light. As they moved further inward, Tayne began to notice the surroundings change. The trees were younger, the ground flatter and several walls that had long since been claimed by the vegetation. 

Sure enough, it wasn't long before they reached the heart of the once-town, a large, open area, but it wasn't what they expected to find. 

"It's clear," said a bewildered Luke. "Not to mention clean of the plants." 

"Not only that, but the wardstone's charged," said Wrain as he approached the carved crystal structure. "Which means someone other than us has been going around charging them. These smaller ones barely last a year, if they're lucky."

"Well, they keep out corruption," said Luke. "So I'm not going to complain. Means we don't have to clean out the demons before we sit down. Speaking of which..."

The Silverborn followed Luke's lead, quickly setting up a small camp scattered around the wardstone. When asked if campfires were allowed, Tayne agreed wholeheartedly. Deities knew they needed the comfort of fire right now, and it wasn't like their position was a huge secret anyway. Small demons that fit through the gaps in the vines Skye left untouched had skittered among the horses legs, making nuisances of themselves the entire way here. 

And so, it was huddled around the fires, wrapped in their bedrolls that the Silverborn found themselves in the middle of the first night on the shadow cycle, unable to sleep despite the tiredness embedded in their bones. The sole exception to the rule was the Advisor, who curled up in a bedroll right beside the wardstone. 

The Silverborn sat, staring into the fire. No one spoke. None wanted to bring up their lost companions, Tayne included. Everyone knew who was with them and which bodies they'd left behind. Tayne took one look at the faces of his knights and knew that, if they wanted to make it through tomorrow, they needed to focus on what they had left: the positives of this situation they couldn't reverse. 

It was Skye that reinforced their morale. She flitted between the groups, sparing words for each and every Silverborn and their horse before offering to heal the worst of their injuries. By the time she returned to the campfire Tayne sat at, she was utterly exhausted. 

Skye gave Tayne a tired smile when she caught him looking at her. 

"I'll live," she said with a sigh. 

"If you want to rest, we'll keep watch," offered a Silverborn on the other side of the fire. "You've done enough today." 

Skye shook her head. "The trees are still there. I think if I fall asleep now, in the middle of the forest, I might wake up having sprouted leaves and have bark instead of skin."