Quiet Courage

9

"This is the Majsper Woods?" Cienn asked as he and his friends looked up at the expanse of dark, foreboding trees before them. Kain nodded. Cienn gulped at the expanse before them. A shiver ran down his spine as something cried out in the murky depths. "And we have to go through this?" Cienn confirmed again, even though he knew what the answer was.

"It's not so bad. Most things leave you alone in the woods." Charna said reassuringly.

"Most things," Kain echoed. Which did nothing to assuage Cienn's growing fears.

"Besides, you're travelling with two of the strongest mages in the rebellion. You have absolutely nothing to worry about." Cienn returned her smile but didn't really feel it. They entered the forest cautiously, their mounts skittish and frightened by the gloom. Their travel was slow, picking out animal trails and clearings from the undergrowth. Cienn constantly heard the shuffle of creatures in the forest around them. The whole wood seemed to ring with a sense of foreboding. He felt like they were intruding.

"I can't believe this is the same forest that we travelled along out on the plains." He said as they travelled, looking up at the enclosing canopy.

"After the fall of the old line the Majsper Woods seemed to erupt in animosity and danger." Kain explained from behind him. "The first Adessa King tried to send troops through the forest to Bylis but none of his battalions ever returned."

"Everyone at court always called it a place of monsters." Cienn observed.

"Rightly so. Monsters live in the forest just as much as any other animal. As our master Kain already told you." Charna said from up front. Cienn blushed. He'd almost forgotten about he and Kain's conversation the day before the festival. "But don't worry. The rebellion has been moving troops and goods through the woods for generations. We'll be perfectly safe." As if to contradict her a loud, earsplitting cry called out from the gloom.

"Perfectly safe. Right." They moved on a while in cautious silence. The woods for the moment seemed mostly benign, the only close sounds that of birdcalls and normal nature sounds. Soon the silence became stifling for Cienn and he began to ask more about their destination, the "ruins of Bylis".

The first thing he learned was that the actual heart of Bylis wasn't a ruin at all. While actual ruins did dot the outskirts and made up the majority of the rebel encampment, the actual city of Bylis was within the mountainside itself. It was the home of the Elementals he knew, but he didn't know that it was mostly underground.

"It was once a great city of mediums, back near the beginning." Charna explained, which peaked Cienn's interest. "It was in ruins when the Elementals arrived, but they saw potential in its expansive caves system to erect their powerful spells of Ordeal."

"Ordeal?" Cienn asked.

"It's how an Elemental gains their powers Cienn." Kain explained. "When an Elemental has been discovered and trained they enter the Chamber of the Ordeal to pass their final test and win the blessings of their Elemental God."

"What happens if they don't win?" Cienn wondered. The silence that fell after answered his question. "Oh." He said. "So the Elementals built their city into the mountain?"

"Yes," Charna answered. "They reused some of the greater temples and buildings closest to the entrance to the caves but mostly they just used their power over the Earth to change the mountainside to their whims."

"But if it was once a city of mediums does it have anything else in it besides Elemental magic anymore?"

"Of course." Kain said as he used a break in the undergrowth to swap places with Charna. Cienn wished they would let him have the chance to lead or tail the party. "Do you remember the tunnels behind the Chamber of the Ordeal Charna mentioned?" Cienn nodded, even though those days in the forests around Loris seemed like another lifetime now. "Those tunnels are known as the Chambers of Time. Any and all prophecy known within the realms of the worlds came from those tunnels. They tell the future and the past of all the ages of man."