Chapter Sixteen
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Chapter Sixteen
Beneath the Unquiet Forest, Arborview - October 6, 4:36 a.m.
The exam would commence. All those around me tapped their pencils, chattering in anticipation with friends. I sat there serenely, in silence.
The proctor had traveled from town to town, city to city, kingdom to kingdom, to proctor exams. It was our turn in Arborview, he would take our completed exams to Eastvale for judgment and shortly after we'd know of our verdicts.
He warned students in his refined tone, "The exam you're about to take will determine where you stand academically and which academies and universities you are most suited to attend. This examination cannot be re-taken, so it's crucial that your paper represents your truest abilities."
Some students eyerolled, clearly disinterested in the prospect of college and considered the mandatory examination a waste of their times, most of my peers only had aspirations of tending to their family farms or specialty stores, some dreamt of saving up enough to attend our local school, only a few had lofty dreams of being the first in their ancestry to leave town, to study at a prestigious academy. Me? I hadn't thought much about my future but wanted to demonstrate my abilities to their fullest in the booklet in front of me.
"You may proceed."
"What part of 'no' don't you understand, Moss?" It was the only time she snapped.
I didn't understand any of it. "But mother, I was told that if I was accepted into the Imperial Dragonbourne Academy or Ildiss' Institute for Aspiring Magi, then that means I have a promising future. And I got into both, and more!" Excitement filled me, I was the only student in my class who managed acceptance into either universities.
"That's very impressive, Moss, but your home is here. Future schooling would only put you in harm's way, your father would be devastated. We wouldn't forgive ourselves if something happened to you while studying in another town or kingdom. A long, happy life here is much better than a short, dreadful life elsewhere. You'd understand this better if you considered my position as your mother, and you as my only child." In the end, the only harm was you.
My heart sank but I felt special, my mother truly worried for me and wished security for my well-being, security nestled in Arborview with her and father forever. "I understand."
"And don't forget," she added and looked toward her incomplete crochet laying on the desk, "that we're both very, very proud of you."
Flashbacks played in my head, scenes starting and re-starting as I analyzed them in an attempt to figure out where I had miscalculated my mother's motives. I still had so many questions - why would she say that having my freedom taken away would be inevitable? And why was I even here, confined more so than upstairs in my bedroom? Isn't being indoors enough? I didn't get any of this.
Was it true then, my mother was part of the Dark Council, a witch or sorcerer of some sort? She said it herself, it had to be true, my body still felt tired and weak from the spell she had used on me, its bright crimson glare clear in my memory. I had so many questions I wished for answers to, and I searched memories in hopes of a clue or answer, but found none.
I thought I heard shuffling of an individual nearby. I didn't even care anymore what would happen next, what worse could happen? I had been left here with a mere, rusted chain shackle bound to my wrist and speechless, no one had come here for me since mother had snapped and used magic on me. I wasn't even sure how I ended up in this room, like this.
The veiled curtain contained a person behind it, his hair like the sun. A warlock, perhaps? An ally of the Dark Council? Without a care, I continued to lay on the rug and remain lost in my thoughts tiding in and out - did father have any clue that this was going on? Was he a warlock, like this man? He knelt down beside me and I closed my eyes, frightened of what sort of spell he'd put on me now - was this part of mother's plan? I hadn't energy to fight and let him come nearer without retaliation, maintaining my silence and focusing on my thoughts.
The rusted shackle fell apart in his hand and he tossed it and the broken chain into the litter of odds and ends dotting the curtained room, it clanked against the wood floor.
"Come on, get up, we need to get out of here - now!"
I stood up and observed him, everything felt like it was teetering in and out of reality and dream, and my hunger ached from lack of food, nothing this abnormal had ever occurred to me and now I had my shackle removed by this stranger.
"It's you!" Me?
"Me?"
"Yeah, thank goodness, I can't believe it's actually you. At last! I'm so lucky I sensed your aura or else I never would have found you. You were supposed to be a guy, but this works too, you're definitely who I'm looking for." What was he talking about? Aura? Supposed to be a guy?
Without responding, I observed this stranger, he clearly didn't look like anyone I'd ever met in Arborview, no one here looked remotely like him.
He seemed upbeat about everything, like he had reached a goal of some sort, my mood the opposite of his. "Let's get going, then! We have a ways to go but luckily I've mapped this underground system out all night while searching for you, it's been so quiet here, too quiet. Man, I can't believe I found you!"
He motioned for me to follow him, he appeared hospitable in addition to his relieved demeanor. "Come on, let's go! You can just follow me a bit behind if it makes you more comfortable. Damn, these witches are such hoarders with all of their crap everywhere."
What was I supposed to do, stay there where I'd surely meet my mother again and her Dark Council? I wanted answers, I wanted so much to confront her, but I wanted safety even more so.
Memories of the red luminous beams sparkling from her fingertips and my collapse thereafter were enough to motivate me to follow this complete stranger, whoever he was. I followed him past the junk that lined the cobweb-ridden brick walls, antique bicycles, and freshly planted rose bushes covering up remnants of bone scraps.
The floorboards creaked beneath my slippers and I tiptoed behind him, wondering how long this place had been around here for, with all of its random artifacts lining the walls. Did the Arborview government know of this place? The red roses looked artificially beautiful, even I knew roses with such beauty couldn't thrive without proper sunlight in this underground chamber.
A set of stairs awaited us at the end of the hallway and the man motioned to me, "Alright, I'm going to climb this ladder first. This'll get us closer to freedom and out of this flea market junkyard. You climb up after me, okay?"
If he was a warlock affiliated with the Dark Council as I had initially suspected, why would he mention us leaving this chamber toward freedom? I was so confused and I needed answers.
"Wait," I said.
He took his hand off the ladder, "Yeah?"
Thoughts raced through my mind, I hadn't really spoken to this person and felt even more timid than normal. I nervously blurted, "Are you an ally of the the Dark Council?"
An awkward expression formed on his face, his gold hair shone under the candle lights above. "Uh, yeah, sure. I'm best buds with the Dark Council, and I came here capture you for magical gain. Man, you really don't have a clue."
"So that means you aren't a warlock?"
He laughed, "Not even close. I'm a knight, from Eastvale. Now come on, let's climb up this ladder. Hanging out in this deranged flea market making idle chat doesn't settle well with me."
A knight from Eastvale? Eastvale resided on the eastern coast of the main continent, the colorful illustrations from local greeting cards depicted Eastvale as surreal, with floral plants trailing tall buildings, hustle and bustle with aristocrats in the most genteel garb, and the sight of yachts crossing the coastal waters at all hours, their bright nautical flags in the zephyr. I wondered what this knight was doing in Arborview, and what he thought of Arborview, I followed him up the ladder.
Several corridors passed by and we traipsed in silence through a forest of ivy, narrow metal walls rusting from the sewer water flowing, only one light shone in this passage and the leaves glimmered.
The knight broke the muteness, "Just this last flight of stairs and we're almost outta here, if I remember it right. Pretty sure this is right."
How could he possibly remember his way through this maze-like passage? This place seemed as though it was intricately plotted out and must have been utilized by quite a lot of individuals, judging by the piles of junk scattered. I wondered if all of Arborview was sitting on a lengthy underground passage connected to ones like this.
The last set of stairs lead us up into a final room with rotting foliage on the walls, boots that looked small enough to fit my feet resided by the equally red door. Still I sauntered silently behind, my heart racing and uncertain as to what to make of this situation.
The door clicked open when his tanned hand turned the knob, "Okay, here we go. This should be the Unquiet Forest outside, if I recall. Damn, maybe I should sign up for the Dark Council, I could be their navigator for all of the exploration I've done tonight! I wonder if they take guys like me."
I looked at him with worry, I so hoped he was truly a knight of Eastvale and that this wasn't a trap, I'd never even been in the Unquiet Forest before. Fear overwhelmed my face.
"You know I'm just joking. Let's get going, I'm so over tunnels and Arborview."
Outside, an owl of some sort screeched and crickets shook the forest with their commotion. My classmates spoke of romantic rendezvous in the Unquiet Forest during their summer breaks and I deemed there was nothing romantic about this forest, it was too lurid to host any romantic vagary and seemed eerie with the trees blackened by the nighttime sky.
Glancing up at the sky, I noticed daybreak approaching through the coral hues faintly branding the horizon. This is it, I thought, I had wished only days ago with autumn cusping that I too would transform, like the seasons. Here I was now, and while the changes weren't ones that I brought upon myself, I knew that they were changes nonetheless.
The feeling was overwhelming, goosebumps crawling my skin as I realized my life was suddenly in motion, metamorphosis. Weakness conquered me and the lingering feeling from the spell mother had casted nights ago returned.
"Hey, you! Are you alright? Girl?"
My vision blurred and my knees trembled, conceding defeat in allowing my body to stand and saunter. I didn't wish to burden the man guiding the way in front of me, I attempted to combat my frailty. I collapsed, it was the crimson invocation mother had casted on me all over again as I sank into unconsciousness, my last view was of the knight turning back to examine me, his silhouetted face filled with concern.
Stars glinted in the morningtide above and I felt like a caterpillar trapped in a cocoon, a forced slumber in silk that would result in my re-awakening as a butterfly. Or so I thought.
Continue to Chapter Seventeen
Return to Chapter Fifteen
Note: I hope you all enjoyed! :) I had a lot of fun creating clutter and taking pictures for this particular chapter!
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