817 The Living Forest

If the Light Emperor knew that his daughter was plotting against him, he would realize how fragile his rule had been. After all, not even his family trusted him, but maybe they were the only people to know his true nature.

“You speak of treason, Princess,” said Lyle with a frown. “If I don’t arrest you here, I will be charged with treason, and my head will hang from the city’s gates. Your revelation is akin to giving me a death sentence.”

“Is your head worth one hundred million people?” asked Princess Ivory. “Merely muttering these words means my head would be on a spike too. However, the dogs will be here soon, so I need an answer before that.”

Lyle stared at the folded map pressed to his chest for a few seconds before grabbing it. The princess let go of it, and Lyle unfolded the map, examining it. Ilios was big, and Helios was in the center. If he wanted to visit one of these sites, “It would take me a day or two without teleoperations.”

“The Knights Commander cannot leave such traces,” said Ivory before she took out a golden badge and handed it over to him. It carried the Sun Emblem. “Take this as my token; even if you are caught, they cannot do anything to you.”

“They will report it to your father,” said Lyle with a frown. “If I misuse this token, it might end up having you killed for treason. Are you sure about this, Ivory?”

“My father might not be the best person, but I always thought he cared about his subjects. It might be ambition, pride, or whatever sin has plagued this nation, but it doesn’t excuse his actions. I am responsible too for taking care of the shit my father leaves.”

“A befitting mouth of a princess,” said Lyle with sarcasm as he examined the map. “I will do this favor, but only after investigating these sites and confirming that they are as you have claimed them. Then, who knows, the emperor might not be aware of it.”

“There are things you don’t know,” said the Swords Princess as she walked outside the tent. “I will stay here to cause enough distraction while you investigate the matter. Send your knights toward the arena.”

Lyle watched her leave as the advisors rushed down from the ship to reprimand her. These men and women with long robes were called Crows, whose job was to yap around royalties as their advisors.

While these Crows were annoying, they represented the connections between the noble families and the empire. Most of the crows were from renowned houses known as Named Lines, such as those that swore allegiances to the First Light.

After picking the nearest array, Lyle pocketed the map into his subspace. Of course, he had to send word to Rain as well since this matter meant he couldn’t smuggle the three with them. After all, this matter took priority.

As the knights started tormented by Ivory’s ruthless swordsmanship, Lyle turned into the wind and escaped his tent. He was sure the princess would cover for his leave while he did the quest she demanded of him.

Before he left the camp for good, he had to ensure that the three women would enter the capital without being seen. So he looked for Ishmael and Rain, who were escorting them through the defenses, and brought a storm to hide the three.

***

“We should have used the teleportation arrays,” said Marvi as the two of them walked through the thick bushes, making their way through the forest. “We would have been in the Yalveran Union already.”

“I had no destination before leaving,” said Oren as he cut the branches into pieces, and they regenerated as soon as he passed. “This forest is like an endless maze.”

“People call it The Living Forest because the plants move and generate ten times faster than normal. If you get entangled with their roots, you might be buried hundreds of meters deep before realizing it,” explained Marvi.

“And since the trees are so intertwined, I can’t use fire here,” Oren sighed before glancing at Marvi. “Can’t you carry us through the shadow realm or something?”

“I’m not a horse.”

“…not that kind of carrying,” grumbled Oren under his breath, and Marvi acted as if the question was never asked. The two entered this forest days ago but still had little hope of coming out of the other side.

As Oren pushed through countless leaves and branches, he suddenly felt he was being watched. His eyes darted everywhere to find the one behind it, but the branches were almost ten meters tall, making that feat impossible.

“Children snickering,” said Marvi behind Oren, giving the latter goosebumps. “There is something out there, and it’s not alone.”

“You are a scout, so I expected more of your acute observation,” said Oren as he retracted his sword. “Their hostility increases when I cut through the branches. Does this forest have some sort of guardian?”

“A funny thing to call everything a guardian when there is always the word haunting ghosts,” said Marvi with a snicker as his shadow blade began to form. “I can kill whatever gets close.” panda-n( 0 ve)l.com

“You just warned me about being buried alive, so hold your hand,” Oren said, raising his hand toward the shadow. “We are not here to fight, just to pass! Please show us the way!” called Oren toward the forest. There was no response except the hissing leaves.

“We should call the Healer Princess for this,” said Marvi while shaking his hand, and Oren sighed. Then, however, a singular and high-pitch melody suddenly tore through the forest, permeating the air around them.

The hissing of leaves suddenly stopped, replaced with the crunching sound of countless roots moving. Oren and Marvi inched toward one another as the wall of trees started moving around them until it opened a path.

“Am I the Healer Princess now?” asked Oren as the two stared at the scene with shock. “So, all we had to do was ask this nice forest to make way for us.”

“We didn’t ask the forest,” said Marvi while staring toward the sky. “It seems we asked those fellas.”

Oren followed his gaze and saw that the moving branches revealed two greenish figures who looked like children with branchy horns. The two horns had white leaves on them and lined the woody protuberance.

“Go through that path and never come back,” said one of the children as he pointed at the path he opened for them. “Otherwise… the forest will demand blood.”

Oren did not doubt the legitimacy of their threats. After all, who would control the forest other than children with branches for horns? In the end, he nodded understanding, and the two children disappeared behind the branches again.

“I told you, haunting ghosts,” said Marvi as he sheathed his blade. “I hate children.”

“Who would have thought that the former assassin hated others?” said Oren as he walked toward the path. “Let’s leave this place before nightfall. I have no desire to become this forest’s fertilizer.”

“Don’t worry, it will suck you dry before that happens,” said Marvi while following after him. “This forest covers almost a tenth of Ilios. It’s far bigger than any city and would take days to transverse.”

“That’s why I chose this place to hide the fortress,” said Oren. “You are talkative for a dead man.”

“The dead appreciate living more than the living,” said Marvi. “I had a brother once, I remember. We worked for the same dark guild for a while.”

“He died?”

“He died.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I died, too, at the hands of your brother and never hated him for it. Death is liberation from the prison of life. If you are alive, you care too much over your tiny little problems, like a fight with your brother.”

“You don’t know us, Marvi. We haven’t always been like this. There was a time when we fought every day, mainly because of my selfish wishes. I was too young to understand that life stopped being served on a silver plate and was shoved down our throats instead.”

“And how did that change?”

“I saw the loan sharks, which my brother sought because of me, beat him until I can no longer recognize his face. It’s frightening how much life can change in a mere three years. Arthur never blamed me, but I always knew.”

The two men walked through the forest, exchanging stories about their past. Oren saw Marvi smile for the first time as he reminisced about his brother’s antics and how much he wished the two of them had taken a different path.

Oren suddenly heard a whistle, and he looked upward to see a giant anchor flying toward them. It was hooked to a massive chain from somewhere, as if a ship was planning to take the forest as a residence.

“Shadow wall!” shouted Marvi as he struck the ground, erecting a giant shadow to shield the two. Oren summoned his armor as the anchor hit the shadow, causing it to ripple.

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