Arthur and the Invisibles 5: Legend of the Forest

Chapter 7: Arthur and the Wolf

Archibald had certainly been right about the forest being nice during this time of year. The moment they had left the golden fields behind, everything around them was completely transformed. The sudden presence of the towering spears of nature provided a more sheltered atmosphere than that of the open grasslands, and in regards to the ground, there had been almost a perfect transition from a dense array of pale yellow veins to a comforting assortment of greens, browns, and oranges. And as the three of them continued onwards in no particular direction, Arthur could only think of one word to describe it all: Spectacular.

Dylan, apparently, was thinking the same.

"Wow..." He breathed, his voice positively dripping with awe as his head moved around and around, his eyes drinking in all the beauty the forest was showcasing to him. Arthur beamed.

"Every time I leave, I forget how amazing this place is." Arthur stated. Archibald, who was leading this small band of explorers, looked back at Arthur, his face gleaming with happiness at seeing him absorbed in nature once again. He was happy that his grandson, who without a doubt was the light of his life, was still the same. Although over these years of peril, challenge and adventure, Arthur had grown in both body and mind, he still retained the pure soul of the ten-year-old boy who possessed the strength, the smarts, and the courage to succeed where he had failed.

To put it simply, Archibald was happy that Arthur was still Arthur.

"I second that, this place is incredible. You don't see stuff like this back in the city." Dylan admitted.

"You're right." Arthur replied.

Arthur himself was also pleased about Dylan, and in essence, the fact that he was showing all the sings Arthur showed before his introduction to the world of the Minimoys. A love of nature, a fascination of the unknown, everything that Arthur associated with himself. He obviously couldn't judge how Dylan would react, he would have to wait until tomorrow. But since the day he had promised Dylan he could come back with him, he had occasionally doubted whether or not it was the right thing to do. But as he had told himself, Dylan was his best friend, and now he was almost certain that Dylan would love the Seven Kingdoms as much as he did.  

His grandfather being the only one who had known about the Minimoys well enough to talk to about them had been great to bring the two together, but Arthur was certain that having someone else his age to share the secret with would help put his mind at ease at times of anticipation such as this.

"Where are we actually going?" Dylan questioned, for the first time taking a moment to take his mind off of his wonderful surroundings, and back to reality. Archibald looked back at the two boys.

"You'll see." He stated, with a glint in his eye. While Dylan simply shrugged, Arthur for one was interested with the concept that his grandfather, who very often would let his childlike nature get the better of him, actually had an idea of where they were going. He smiled at the thought, remembering that his grandfather was still in every way the experienced explorer of Africa, just as he himself was still the hero of the Seven Kingdoms.

Although Dylan seemed to be focused on taking in his surroundings only, Arthur had noticed that over the short duration of their walk, they had been progressing, although almost unnoticeably, uphill, and that they were now moving back downhill. Although Arthur had spent a great deal of his time with the Bogo Matassalai studying this very forest, and he knew most of it like the back of his hand, his grandfather was leading them on a rather peculiar route, and he wasn't entirely sure where they were anymore. But after a short era of silence, the space beyond the trees was no longer dominated by just more trees, and a slowly enlarging gap of open sunlight was now visible among the wooden struts of the forest. As they moved closer to the opening, Arthur squinted to try and identify where they were, but there were still too many trees blocking his vision. So he simply carried on walking with the others, and eventually, the trees seemed to part in a natural and symbolic pathway, that led to their apparent destination: a huge lake.