Chapter 250: Glimmer Grove

 

  The trees of Glimmer Grove were quite different from those of Vulture Woods. Stryg was accustomed to gnarled trees of ashen bark and crimson leaves that dyed the world red when the sun shined above them. 

  Here the trees were straight and their canopies reached a hundred feet high, dozens of large branches spanning from their brown bark. Their leaves were a mixture of greens with flecks of fluorescence that glowed soft in the night, nothing like his forest home.

  The sounds also differed. There were always noises lurking in the dark in Vulture Woods. Growls of beasts skulking in the underbrush, howls of wolf packs roaming through the land, and the impatient squawks of enormous vultures waiting on their gnarled branches for their next meal to drop dead.

  Stryg hadn’t seen a single animal larger than a fox roaming through Glimmer Grove and he only heard the occasional rustle of a squirrel skittering through the trees. He understood that the hunters were leading them down a safe trail, but still. This all seemed too… harmless? He wondered if this was why Plum came to this place. She had never cared much for conflict.

  Walking under a forest canopy, feeling the grass brush past his feet, being surrounded by trees, Stryg had thought all these things would make him feel comfortable, as if he was back in Vulture Woods. But instead it only made him long to see the red canopy of Vulture Woods even more than usual.

  He was beginning to grasp why Glimmer Grove and Vulture Woods were considered different forests, despite bordering each other. 

  What am I complaining about? I’m still alive, aren’t I? he sighed to himself. He leaned back on the tough bark of a tree and glanced about the makeshift camp.

  A couple of bedrolls and a small fire were all they had. The group of hunters and mages had left the majority of their supplies back at the edge of the forest. Not that there was much left in that campsite either, the dragon had destroyed practically everything and everyone there.

  Few had gotten out completely unscathed. Less than a dozen hunters had made it out at all. Their centaurs had all scattered at the dragon’s attack and none had returned. Fortunately, Stryg’s classmates and professors had all come out alive. Gale and Loh had suffered some injuries, but they were doing fine now.

  However, Ismene was still unconscious; she rested on one of the bedrolls near the fire. Callum and Freya took turns casting healing spells over her, trying to keep her stable long enough for them to reach some proper healers in Undergrowth. Stryg wished he could help, but Loh stopped him from interfering, assuring him that Ismene would make it.

  The sight of the stern, but kind old woman lying unconscious bothered Stryg more than he liked to admit.

  Loh walked over to him and rested her hand over his shoulder, “Don’t just stand all broody over here, you’ll scare the hunters. Let’s get you warmed up. Maybe a bit of food too.”

  “...Right,” Stryg nodded numbly and let Loh drag him next to the fire.

  Food was scarce, the hunters had managed to kill only a single deer in the woods. They were skinning and preparing it now to cook over the fire. Stryg would have thought the hunters’ inability to gather more food spoke tremendously to their incompetence, but after the loss of their tribe, or guild as they called it, he refrained from voicing his opinion.

  Astrid, leader of the hunters, stoked the campfire while she occasionally glanced at the camp's surroundings. Tauri sat around the fire, her knees huddled close to her chest. Vayu and Cornelius sat on a stone bench the dwarf had made with his green magic. Lysaila and Gale polished their blades with rhythmic measured strokes in the firelight.

  Sylvie held her hands out in front of the fire for warmth and twisted her lips with a sigh, “Summer is almost here and it’s still so damn cold.”

  Cornelius chuckled, his breath a white wisp in the frigid night, “This is nothing. You should visit Frost Rim someday. Even on the summer solstice you can’t walk about the city without wearing a thick fur cloak.”

  “I’ve been to Frost Rim and all I can say is that I understand why you left,” Sylvie shivered.

  “Hey, it’s cold, but it’s home,” Cornelius smiled half-heartedly. “I miss it…”

  “I’m sorry but is no one going to talk about what we saw out there?” Callum spoke up. “I mean, that was a dragon, right? We saw an actual real life dragon, not four hours ago! When was the last time a dragon was spotted in Dusk Valley?”

  Vayu sighed, “I’ve been hearing rumors of dragon sightings in the valley, more so than the usual… I never thought they might be true.”

  “We should probably write down everything we saw and send a report to Hollow Shade,” Tauri said. “The city council and military need to know what is happening,” 

  “What’s there to say?” Gale muttered. “The dragon came, we couldn’t stop it, and it killed most of us…”

  “And then something killed that monster,” Astrid said grimly.

  The group suddenly grew very quiet, the crackle of fire the only noise amidst the silence.

  “It happened so fast. I thought the dragon was going to kill us,” Cornelius swallowed. “And then, bam, a flash of light, and the dragon was dead.”

  “What was that?” Freya mumbled.

  “Whatever it was, I’m just glad we’re alive,” Sylvie rubbed her arms.

  Stryg pulled his black cloak taut over his shoulders, “It wasn’t just a ‘whatever.’ ...It was Lunae.”

  “Lunae? The goddess?!” Cornelius burst into laughter. “Kid, even if the gods are real, which is doubtful, what makes you think they would ever come to save us, huh?”

  A consensus of grunts and nods rang through the campfire.

  Stryg fidgeted, “I don’t know… I really don’t know. I’m the last person Lunae would ever want to help… But I know what I saw. The pillar of light… it came from the moon.”

  “I saw it too,” Tauri nodded. “I don’t know why or how, but Lunae saved us, all of us.”

  “Hmm, I’m not sure the gods are even out there,” Vayu sighed. “But I don’t really have a better explanation either.”

  Freya shook her head, “Like anyone’s gonna believe that we saw a dragon. What are we gonna tell people? That we just so happened not to get eaten by a dragon after it killed everyone else, and that Lunae also just so happened to strike down the dragon from the sky like some fucking fairy tale?”

  “I don’t know what saved us, but we got lucky…” Lysaila said darkly. “That dragon was young, a few centuries at best.”

  “What? How would you know?” Loh narrowed her eyes.

  Lysaila drew her fingers across her blade in a slow manner, “I grew up in the jungles of the Amber Realm. Dragons flew across the sky, terrorizing the lands and its people below.”

  “I’m sorry, Miss Beautiful, but I call bullshit,” Cornelius chuckled. “Either you're over 300 years old, in which case you’re the oldest youngest-looking lamia to ever grace existence, or you’re not from the Amber Realm.” Cornelius looked around the fire, “Am I right?”

  The hunters looked away, none dared aggravate the deadly lamia. Vayu, Tauri, and Loh shared a glance of uncertainty. Sylvie turned quizzically to Callum and Freya for answers, but they both just shrugged.

  “I believe her,” Stryg said quietly.

  Lysaila's tail stiffened at his voice, but she kept a calm expression.

  Cornelius shook his head, “Kid, the Schism happened three centuries ago. The realm bridges were lost, all of them. We lost contact with the other realms. Who knows if they even still exist?”

  “The realms are doing just fine, I’ve seen them,” Lysaila said.

  Cornelius laughed under his breath, “Fine, let’s say for a second that you’re telling the truth. How did you see all of this? The realm bridges are gone.”

  Lysaila’s lips curled back in a thin line, “There are other ways to travel between the Realms.”

  “Such as?”

  “...The chrome gates.”

  “The fabled chrome gates,” Cornelius conceded with a nod, “Okay, it's technically possible. Except there were only a few gates ever built on the Ebon Realm and they were all destroyed. Even if one somehow had survived, it wouldn’t work. Not anymore…”

  “One did, I traveled through it,” Lysaila smirked.

  “Yeah, righ-”

  “Cornelius, close your mouth,” Loh snapped. “We’re not here to argue like children. Lysaila, you said the dragon was young? Why?”

  Lysaila tightly gripped the handle of her longsword and stared out into the darkness with a wary gaze, “Because I’ve seen it… an entire dragon brood. I’ve seen hatchlings, juveniles, adults, even elders, and I saw her…” She shivered, “...I saw a dragon lord.”

  Gale stared at Lysaila, baffled. She had never seen the deadly lamia so terrified, “...What happened?”

  “...What always happens when a dragon takes to the sky,” Lysaila’s hands trembled. “The dragon we saw tonight was small compared to their elders. If it had been an elder dragon, none of us would have escaped.”

  “Well, that’s terrifying,” Sylvie swallowed.

  “Elder dragon or no, if Lunae really did save us tonight, then no beast or monster would have hurt us,” Tauri said.

  “In the Amber Realm, dragons are seen as divine creatures, dragon lords are worshiped as gods,” Lysaila said. “Are you still so certain your precious moon goddess would have saved us?”

  “I believe,” Tauri said resolutely.

  Lysaila’s forked tongue slipped out and tasted the air, “So this orc is crazy, got it.”

  “Stryg, you’re a Sylvan goblin, why aren’t you saying anything?” Tauri kicked his foot.

  “Huh?” Stryg blinked.

  “She’s your patron goddess, right? For once act like a good student and back me up here,” Tauri clicked her tongue.

  Loh smiled to herself knowingly, but said nothing.

  “I was born under a moonless night, my tribe said I was a bad omen,” Stryg said wryly. “I don’t think Lunae cares what I say or think.”

  “Can’t you at least be a little pious? Defend the goddess’ name when people insult her, dammit!” Tauri frowned. 

  “Not really my problem,” Stryg said.

  “Lunae saved us, it is your problem. You owe her that much and more,” Tuari said, annoyance clear in her voice.

  Stryg shrugged, “If Lunae really did save us, then I was just caught up in the rescue, a small byproduct of her divine intervention. I’m grateful to be alive, but I haven’t forgotten the past. I know what Lunae thinks of me and it isn’t worth much.”

  “You all really are a bunch of heathens,” Tauri groaned.

  “I’m not,” Callum said, offended. “When we get to Undergrowth I’ll make sure to stop by an ebon temple and make an offering to Lunae and the rest of the pantheon.”

  “Good,” Tauri nodded with a proud smile.

  “We still have a few days before we get to Undergrowth,” Astrid said. “I suggest we rest while we can. We don’t know if there are more dragons roaming the area.”

  “Agreed,” Loh nodded. She glanced at her companions, “After we eat, get some sleep, I’ll take the first watch with some of the hunters.”

  Stryg and his classmates nodded without a word.

  “If you say so, I’ll gladly take you up on your offer,” Cornelius smiled.

  “My dire bear and I will take the first watch, Loh,” Vayu said softly. “You’re still injured, we need our general in top shape.”

  “...I’m not your commanding officer anymore,” Loh said begrudgingly, but she laid down on her bedroll and closed her eyes.

~~~

  The hunters did not sleep that night; they held a vigil in honor of their fallen brothers and sisters, whispering silent prayers for the lives lost. Tauri joined them and led a war prayer in Bellum’s name as the daughter of the martial Great House Katag.

  In the morning, the group packed up their few belongings and began their trek through the woodlands. As the days passed by and they traveled deeper into Glimmer Grove, the forest’s green leaves began to change into dark shades of purples and pinks. At night the leaves glowed with soft pink and purple luminescence.

  Sylvie and Freya loved the mystical atmosphere of the forest. Callum had even claimed to have seen a fairy flitting through the trees, though only Sylvie believed him.

  As for Stryg, he hated all of it. The forest was too bright at night, it bothered his eyes. The others said they enjoyed the bioluminescence, it illuminated the dark woods and made it easier to travel at night. Stryg disagreed, he could already perfectly see in the dark. And now there was nowhere to hide. Worse, they were all perfectly visible to any predator that might blend into the surroundings, just waiting for an unsuspecting prey.

  On the fourth day, the small group of travelers broke through the tree line and reached a large grassy clearing. In the distance stood a menagerie of buildings sprawled around large and small trees alike. 

  Stryg cocked his head to the side deep in thought. The city was still a few miles away, but even from here it seemed very different than Hollow Shade. The City of Shades had been built in the precise, methodical strokes of the ebon lords. But the City of Thorns seemed as if it had grown out of the ground itself, like saplings sprouting out from the tall grass, vying against each other for sunlight.

  “So this is Undergrowth…?” Stryg muttered.

  Loh laughed and pulled his arm, “Come on, you haven’t seen anything yet.”