She turned down several hallways, all illuminated by glowing plants of all colors and shapes. It felt like I was inside the body of some giant creature, so many living parts that worked together to make something bigger. 

After a few minutes of walking, the sound of Inza humming from time to time filling the air, we arrived in a more open room. The room was much larger than either I had seen before. The ceiling was easily 20 feet high, capped off with a dome of some transparent material. It did not appear to be glass, based on the fact that I could see it wiggle and squirm in some places. 

Sunlight shone down onto a long dining table. It was long enough to have certainly been fit for a king, though I questioned if a king would have a table made of living vines. Inza weaved around a couple of viney columns. Columns made of vines? Columns covered in vines? I didn’t linger long enough to tell one way or the other.

A chair at the head of the table moved outwards as Inza and I approached it. Inza sat me down gently in the chair and then waved her hand up in the air, causing the chair to push itself back in. Inza then sat down in a chair next to me. 

“Let’s get you into some clothing before we proceed.” Inza waved her hand, causing vines and leaves to cover my body, though no more than the vines covered her. I almost felt worse being scantily clad than wearing nothing at all. Oh well, at least I had something covering me now.

Amused at seeing me squirm uncomfortably, trying to adjust to the vines that now covered me, Inza let out a brief giggle before quickly regaining her composure and pressing on.

“The forest has many bounties, is there anything that you fancy for a late breakfast?” Inza placed her hand over mine on the table. She looked at me with kind eyes and a pleasant smile.

“I...Don’t know really. I have never foraged for food in the forest. I’ve only ever bought from the market. I usually eat eggs, vegetable soup, and bread. Things like that.” I couldn’t possibly know what such a vibrant place could have. The fruit I had eaten previously was like none that I have ever seen.

“Well, allow me to gather some of my favorites to treat you with.” Inza snapped her fingers and several vines began to take form into humanoid shapes, no taller than the table at which we sat. 

Their heads were giant, pink flowers. Small vines came out from in between their leaves with little orbs at the ends. They must have been their eyes. The rest of their body was a weave of vines that ebbed and flowed around throughout themselves. They stood at attention after they finished forming, facing Inza with a strangely resolute stance.

“Might you please gather some things for breakfast? Our guest here is quite hungry. The usual morning meal if you would please.” She reached over and patted the heads of a couple of the little viney creatures. Turning to me, seeing the perplexed look on my face Inza added. “Treants are lovely little nature spirits. They are friendly to most, and have little to do over the course of the day, so they are always pleased to lend a hand when asked nicely.”

The treants smiled seemingly, their flowers tilting out in a strange way, before waddling away and out of the room. I had to admit that they were rather cute.

My mind was aflutter with all the mystical things happening around me. Inza spoke again, breaking me out of my distractions. “Now, while they gather us something to eat, it would be prudent for us to have a talk. I am sure that you have many questions for me, and just as well I have many things to tell you.”

I nodded. “Many things have happened that I don’t fully understand. I believe you told me the truth, I could feel sincerity from you. But I...I don’t know what to do from here. I am alive, and you have assured me of Lormus’ safety. Now that I have made it this far, what do I do? I have neither the skills nor the means to make a new life somewhere. I’m sure that Lorn will scour the land to look for me anyway. Whether he takes me back or imprisons me for my betrayal, the result is the same in the end. I have no place to go.” Dejectedly, I looked downwards. 

“I have a means to help you with that somewhat, but that will be a matter for later. For now, just trust that I can help you start a new life. I will explain in more detail when we come to it.” Inza placed her hand on my shoulder assuredly. “There is also the matter of the prophecy. That would be more pressing to us for you to know, considering how personally it will affect you and the choices that you make. I would like you to have as much time to think about it as possible as we go about our other business here.” 

I raised my head back up and tilted it to the side. “The prophecy? You mean the one about Lorn and the demon lord? But, that has already been fulfilled.” My puzzled expression was met with Inza’s face adjusting to a more serious demeanor. 

“They would have you think that, wouldn’t they? Unfortunately, my wayward students were led astray by their own hubris. The truth of things escaped them, blinded by the glory that they thought had fallen upon them.” Her direct gaze while being serious carried an intense quality that weighed upon me, hardly able to do anything but listen to the words that came from her mouth.

“Are you… talking about the prophets?” I could only squeak out a small reply, trying to figure out what she had meant. The prophets were a sect of the church whose sole purpose was to seek the truth of the future. People came to them from all around asking about how harvests would be that year, if they would meet their true love, or many other such things that cause worry when thinking about the future. Of course, they also dealt in more important matters such as the prophecy that led Lorn to his journey to face the demon lord Abzorjek. 

The group has been around for hundreds of years. I didn’t know how long they had been around exactly, but it had been far too long across so many generations. Yet, Inza referred to them as her progeny? How old would that make her?

“Precisely the ones. Many years ago, their ancestors lived in this forest with me as I taught them the art of future sight. After a certain set of… altercations, they left and found themselves working for the church of this land. They became lauded as prophets for the kingdom, forgetting their original purpose to protect the land from an evil rising without warning and turning to little more than fortune telling.” Her face grew sour as she explained all this. 

“When they sent out the prophecy regarding Abzorjek, I was briefly relieved that they had caught such a thing. I thought that their bastardized cult might still have the makings of good in their ranks. Still, though their hearts aren’t completely corrupted, they have lost the depth of sight that my disciples once had. The prophecy came, but it was skewed to a different meaning.”

A worried look came across my face “What do you mean? Had Abzorjek not been vanquished that day Lorn fought against him? I saw him struck down before my eyes.”

“It is true that he was struck down, and that would have weakened him for some time, but without the fulfillment of the prophecy he will not be fully slain. He will find another vessel, and he will rise again.” A grim frown crossed Inza’s face and she looked off to the side thinking for a moment.

“A man would bear the weight of the sins of the world and find himself subject to the wrath of the demon lord Abzorjek. The light to guide him and save the world from destruction could only be found in the heart of his beloved.” Inza repeated the words of the prophecy. I remembered them now that she said them, though it had been some time since they were spoken to me. 

“He found that light didn’t he? I saw him cause a flash of bright light when he dealt the final blow, and he did so to save me from my imprisonment. Was that not what was meant to happen?” I was quite scared by this point and could feel my legs shivering from the thought of that evil fiend living again. He had caused such great pain to so many people, including my parents, before ending their lives.

“It was, unfortunately, but there was more. The prophets saw the visions up to that point and the words that came to them, but they stopped seeing and went no further down the path. The true blight to this world is yet to come, and it will largely be wrought by the very same man who they call hero. Your own husband will be the one to lead the hordes of demons against the surface races, and eventually those who dwell below.” She turned her eyes from me, not able to look me in the eye.

“No! Lorn is a good man. He has caused me some pain, but he has brought good to so many others. He has only been good to our son, and he has gone on several missions to help villages and towns from all over. How could he possibly do such evil when all he does to the world is help?!” I was exasperated saying this, my voice rising higher than it had in ages. 

Then, realizing who I just yelled at, I shrunk back and hung my head low. “I love him, and I have seen the good he has done. I just can’t believe that he could go as far as being evil.”

“Yes, it would be easy to quell the wrath building in him when he is to go on missions to slay demons, or to subdue bandits, or to hunt beasts. Yet, when he does not have these things to channel his anger into, look at what he does. The ‘wrath’ that the prophecy speaks of is the brutality that you have experienced. It was not the wrath of the demon horde, but the wrath imbued upon the vessel for the true awakening of the demon lord.”

“Vessel? You mean that the demon lord is inside him? Ever since that day he saved me? Gods, does that mean that our son has the essence of a demon?” I whimpered out a horrifying realization, pressing my face into my hands over my lap. 

“No, worry not for the life of your son. As I have said, he is under no impending danger. Danger will only touch him with the rest of the world should it fall to the evil of Abzorjek. The body of Lorn is his own, meaning the son that you bore is fully human. His soul however, is twisted and mixed. It becomes more corrupted by the day.” Hearing this lightened worry that had descended on me. 

“Now, the problem lies in his strength, of course. He was already the strongest man in creation, but now he taps into the powers of wrath that Abzorjek wields as well. I doubt that even all the greatest armies of the kingdoms would be a match for him. That, and I doubt we would be able to convince enough of the impending doom to come. The world has become obsessed with the prophets, and I do not have the power to reach them anymore either. My connection to the line of what are now called prophets has been severed.”

“Then, what are we to do? I doubt you would even bother telling me all this unless there is a chance that we could do something.” I was not the most knowledgeable, but there was too much going on here for me to believe this all to be one big doom and gloom story. Especially since she had told me that there was something that she could do to help me find a place to go.

“There is something that we can do. Or, more specifically, something you can do.” She emphasized you by touching my nose with the tip of her finger. “That leads back into how I can help you find a place to go. There is an old relic that is in my possession that will enable you to make a start towards gaining enough power to fight back against unimaginable odds.”

“You… you can’t be serious. I am, at best, a housewife. I do not have either combat experience or magic capacity. The odds would be similar to send a freshly broken pack mule to save the world.” I was completely lost. The most I have ever managed to do is learn to use basic magic tools. 

“You think too little of yourself. What did Lorn do before he went off trying to save the world?”

“... He helped his family run the general store.” I suppose the thought was not unimaginable. Lorn stocked the shelves of his family’s shop with goods to sell as a young man before being suddenly made a big deal. One day, the prophets personally came to our small village and asked him to come with them to train for the rise of the demon army. He was only 16 at the time. Then, 2 years later he killed Abzorjek. Or, he at least killed his body. 

“How long will it be until the future you see comes to pass?” If I am to get stronger, then it would certainly take some time. I know nothing of magic or combat, and I somehow doubt that I will be given masterful training like Lorn had received. 

“That would depend on many things. In some futures, months from now. In some futures, it would be about a year. There are not many where it is longer than that. There is even one that would be next week, but I think I should have already deterred that one.” 

My face fell as my jaw dropped. I was expected to become stronger than Lorn, that much already baffled me, but it was so soon. “There’s no way. I can’t manage something like that. You really think that I can grow to such heights in such a short time?” My voice shook as my mind was unable to cope with the information presented to me. 

“I will not lie, there are many futures in which you fail. That said, the only futures that exist beyond this moment where one might consider it to be a ‘good end’ are futures where you succeed in this trial.” Inza’s face was serious, staring right into my eyes and leaving no room for doubt or questioning. 

“What could I possibly do?” I was so unprepared. I hadn’t the slightest idea where to start with this. I was in a forest somewhere that I did not know, and I had no means known to me to get stronger.

“Again, we come to what I will have to explain to you a little later. For now though, it would be best for you to eat something. I believe my friends are coming back with something that will help with your empty stomach."

The treants returned with many colorful fruits, roots, nuts, and other things unknown to me. My stomach growled in spite of the spinning thoughts in my head. It might be best to eat something first after all.