Anchorite and the The Heart of Effie. Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN. SPIRIT OF THE FOREST

This was the first time ever Lairiel had seen a dead elf. She was the first to notice the body in the midst of thick bushes leading to a steep ditch in which a large forest stream noisily flowed. Lairiel did not know this dead elf, although even his relatives and friends would not be able to identify this corpse now. Rather, the unfortunate elf turned into a withered mummy. That's true, King Taurebeleg was definitely right: it was a murder, the work of the vampire. However, Lairiel could not and refused to believe that Colder had done it. Arron also did not think that his brother was involved in that awful murder. Approaching Lairiel and examining the corpse, he confidently stated that Colder could not have brought the victim to such a withered state even if he had succumbed to lust: the blood of the elves wasn't very tasty for vampires. Then the real cold cruelty was needed to gut the victim like that, and Colder was hard to call tough. Emotional, impulsive - yes, he is. But definitely not cruel.
Aegion and the Nameless lagged behind Lairiel and Arron a little. They walked slowly behind, talking enthusiastically. The deeper into the forest, the more fabulous and incredible place it seemed to any stranger who, by the will of fate, wandered into this thicket. The boy had enough time to consider everything that he could see in the area: the journey had already lasted more than two hours. During this time, Aegion told a lot to the guest, and not because he was talkative and frivolous, but because he understood that this child would hardly harm anyone, rather he needed to be protected.
'So I can’t understand one thing, shouldn’t the protection of the forest, set up by your father, exactly limit the entrance to your possessions? After all, the purpose of any barrier is to close the entrance, right? What's the point of letting enemies in at all and then not letting them leave? Too confusing, in my opinion...' asked the Nameless.
Aegion chuckled and smiled as if it was a question the elf had heard a million times before.
'Father's magic is unable to distinguish between a being with good intentions and one with bad intentions. If he had completely restricted the entrance to the forest, then this barrier would have been impossible to overcome in either direction. The king, of course, does not have a good disposition, but turning the whole forest into prisoners would be already too much...'
'But this is a real contradiction to your words, because if this barrier does not distinguish between good and evil, it turns out that the locals also have no way out of this forest. You are still prisoners here, actually' the Nameless continued.
'Not prisoners, no. But only those who were in the forest at the time the barrier was created. Everyone who crossed the border of the forest after - yes, for them the barrier is insurmountable. But, to be honest, the locals are not particularly eager to leave the forest. Previously, forest dwellers often traveled. Fairies, for example, were true adventurers. And you already know how it all ended: now their race is destroyed,' Aegion shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head bitterly. 'Everyone here is simply afraid of the outside world. Partly because the king himself inspires us every day to that, sets us up against the outside world, claims that outside the forest there are only enemies and death. Although, as we can see, the forest is not safe either. I don't believe Colder killed anyone. It was someone else, and he will pay for the crime against our people. When we find and kill him, we'll have to figure out how to hide you.
'What about me, by the way? Am I able to get out of the forest?' the boy asked.
'If you are a human, then yes, you definitely can,” the elf replied, looking at the Nameless with obvious intrigue. 'The barrier only works on enchanted creatures. I am very interested to know this myself. Still, if your story about fire from the palms is true, then it is unlikely that you belong to the human race, and this will make your story one of the most mysterious that I have had to face in my entire life.'
'What do you think I am, a wizard?' the boy asked with obvious irony. The question was, of course, rhetorical. The Nameless was certain that there was something magical about him. His own eyes couldn't deceive him.
Aegion looked at his companion and grinned with a nod. Of course, everything pointed to this. The elf saw his sister and Arron standing by the ravine and showed the boy the direction.
'But, on the other hand,' continued the elf, 'vampires, by their nature, do not have a passionate craving for the blood of supernatural creatures. The way Arron reacted to you shows that you still have human blood inside. And this paradox, as you know, baffles me. However, the magic of my father's barrier will help us to make it finally clear, most importantly, have time to do it before everyone knows about your presence here.'
'How long do we have to go to this barrier?' the boy asked.
'First we need to find Colder. But it won't take long. The davines will tell Lairiel where to go,' Aegion said confidently.
'What do you eat here? I would not refuse something edible...' the boy honestly admitted, looking at a tall bush, on which perfectly round yellow fruits of medium size were located. They looked appetizing enough, but the Nameless was not ready to experiment with an unknown fruit.
'Grab a few,' Aegion nodded approvingly. 'Elven apples. All the locals eat them. The taste may seem a little sour, but these apples can satisfy hunger with a bang.'
Frankly speaking, the boy did not really want to think a lot about how unusual this fruit is. He did not even notice how, at the touch, the yellow apples began to change color unevenly to some incomprehensible shades, as if the artist had dropped the palette and all its colors were mixed up. After eating a few ones, greedily and quickly, only on the third apple did the boy begin to feel the taste vividly. This fruit, in fact, could only be called sour with a stretch. The apple turned out to be hard and difficult to loosen. However, the fruit was very juicy, and moreover there was a slight smell reminiscent of vanilla from the elven apples.
'It's amazing here,' the boy admitted enthusiastically, picking another apple and catching up with his fellow traveler. 'Unusually beautiful nature, delicious fruits...'
'And vampires ready to taste your blood…' Arron added, hearing Aegion and the Nameless approach the bushes. 'It certainly wasn't Colder who did it. Look, he bit that elf again and again. As if abusing the victim.'
'Well, what are we going to do about it now?' Lairiel said dully, turning to her brother, who, frowning, examined the corpse. 'Colder was not found. Also this child... I can’t say that things are going well.'
Aegion, after a few moments of thought, answered his sister in an extremely uncertain tone.
'I think it's time to go back. The body is found, the killer fled. Father should put guards around the entire perimeter of the forest, cause I’d be chasing that vampire by myself all my life.. As for the Nameless...'
'He smells of human flesh...' It's heard from somewhere above.
A man was sitting on a thick branch of a nearby tree. It was almost impossible to notice him, and the travelers did not see Colder, because their eyes were completely riveted on the bloodless elf.
'Colder, bloody hell! We've been looking for you all day, scoundrel!' Lairiel exclaimed, although her emotions did not sound anger and resentment at all. Rather, the girl was glad to see him and was relieved.
'Just don't tell me that you were waiting for us here on purpose, brother,' Arron said indignantly, but with a little relief. 'And don’t tell that you screwed up and ate this elf!'
'Yes and no,' Colder grinned, frowning at the dead man. 'Calm down, brother. Look, take a cue from Lairiel. Of course, I am stupid enough to voluntarily end up in this forest, but not so stupid as to kill an elf right under the nose of the forest king. I knew the murder would be known shortly. I also knew that the king would send his offspring to do the dirty work so that the rumor of the murder would not go beyond the royal family. This predictability even has its own charm, in my opinion. I also know who the killer is, so you can start thanking me for doing all the work for you. It's our old friend Echless.'
Colder jumped down from the tree, deftly, almost like a cat, landing right on his feet. He immediately took a couple of steps towards the Nameless Boy, greedily inhaling the scent of human blood. Nevertheless, he did not plan to attack, he only sniffed. The Nameless understood this and showed no fear. The boy examined the vampire from head to feet, not hiding his curiosity.
If it was possible to somehow describe the appearance of this vampire in one word, then this word would be "perfection". Colder turned out to be incredibly handsome, as far as it was possible. His facial features were even and proportionate, his skin - perfectly pale, deep golden eyes and body - everything about this vampire seemed extremely attractive. A smile crossed the vampire's face.
'Did I miss something? Now we have a human child in our company?' Colder laughed. It was a very sharp and unexpected transition from a gloomy tone to loud laughter and undisguised irony. Calder glanced at his brother and added. 'And you don’t have to look at me like that. It's not my fault that Taurebeleg became paranoid and shielded himself from the whole world with this stupid magical wall.'
Lairiel walked over to Colder and hugged him tightly. The she-elf treated both vampire brothers well, so she was relieved to receive the news that they’re both innocent and someone else had committed the murder. Then Lairiel looked into Colder's eyes and asked.
'Do you know where Echless is now and why he came here?'
The vampire looked at his brother. Then he looked at Aegion, who was clearly restraining himself from some kind of emotion: it seemed that every muscle of the elf's body was tense at that moment. For a moment, it seemed to the Nameless Boy that Aegion was very angry with this vampire for something and was trying to calm himself with all his inner strength. In general, it was this way.
'Why is that stupid idiot sticking his head in here?' Calder chuckled. 'You know, my dear, at the moment when he tried to take his head off my shoulders, I did not have much opportunity to question Echless about his motives. However, you can ask him about it yourself.'
Colder raised his hand and pointed with his finger at a tall tree, old and wide. Black trunk was strewn with sharp thick needles, one of which hung a body, pierced by a point exactly in the middle of the chest. That was Echless, defeated by Colder.'
Echless was hard to spot with the unaided eye: the vampire's skin turned black, became the color of fresh soil, and against the background of a massive tree trunk, the body was perfectly camouflaged.
'That's a bad sign,' Aegion shook his head, glaring at Colder anxiously. 'A vampire from Evangard is here in the Enchanted Forest. Moreover, not just a vampire, but a servant of Taurentius... We need to ask him...'
'Listen, are you sure you can handle it?' Lairiel asked her brother apprehensively. 'Come on, let me do it. You will torture him, and he will still not say anything.'
'I won’t torture him...' Aegion chuckled and added, '...so much…'
'Aegion…' hissed Arron. He, too, felt uneasy. And it wasn't without a reason.
The young elf had a keen dislike for Echless: in the past, this vampire became the source of great problems for Aegion personally, and hatred still did not let go of the elf. That was why Lairiel was sure that Aegion would not miss the chance to gloat an enemy in a weak position.
'And I personally left Echless for dessert to you, Aegion.' Colder flashed an evil smile. 'Do to that bastard what he deserves.'
'That's too much,' Lairiel said.
'Things that Echless did with this elf is not too much? Look again, sister. Look, it's a real mutilated mummy!' thundered Aegion. The rage was building up in him.
The elf quickly approached the trunk, on the needle of which the blackened body of a vampire hung, took him by the shoulders and removed him from the place, throwing him to the ground. A few more seconds - and Echless's skin began to lighten, and the body - to take on a healthy look. The vampire gradually but rather quickly came to his senses, returning to his natural state. However, when Echless woke up and opened his eyes, it was clear that the strength returned to his body was nowhere near as fast as consciousness returned to his head. He groaned, tossed his head and so far unsuccessfully tried to move his limbs.
Without waiting another second, Aegion leaned over the vampire and, swung, drove his hand into his chest, right where the wound from the wooden needle was still oozing. Echless let out an eerie, muffled groan, and bloody drool sprayed from his mouth. Aegion looked with burning eyes straight into the bulging eyes of his enemy, obviously enjoying his torment.
'Elven freak…' Echless wheezed, having spit heavily at Aegion, but his spit did not reach the elf’s face and returned.
'Hello, Echless,' Aegion chuckled. 'You have no idea how glad I am to meet you. Always dreamed of seeing your painful death. And to become a participant in this execution is another privilege. But I promise you will die quickly if you tell me why you are here and why you killed this unfortunate elf.'
'You can finish me right now, because I won't tell you anything, brat!' the vampire threw back with a reciprocal grin.
'But I will still ask questions,' Aegion continued. 'And every time I won’t get an answer, I will squeeze your icy heart harder and harder until I crush it like some fruit of a rotten vine. It is said that this is the most painful death for a vampire. But you will, of course, know better. So why are you here in the Enchanted Forest?'
In an attempt to gasp for air and not choke on blood saliva, Echless’s desperate laughter was more like a painful cough, but the vampire still laughed, showing bloody teeth. He looked at his tormentor as if he were a child trying to reason about something he had no idea about.
'Your king is a blind fool. He will destroy both your notorious forest and all its arrogant inhabitants...' groaned Echless. “You will die soon enough, Aegion. Only a memory will remain of your forest, and even that will not live long. So go ahead and kill me. You can't be saved anyway.'
Aegion said nothing. He only smirked to let the vampire to continue.
'Still hiding your life from your father, right?' Echless lowered his tone, and his voice sounded cold and sincere condemnation. 'So brave, so bold. Is your heart strong? You have been hanging out with vampires, but you don't have the courage to admit it to your father or even to yourself. You hate yourself for that, don’t you? You do. You hate your life. You fear not enemies, but your own cowardice. Someday you will grow up and realize that I did you a favor on that day of the battle at Alvarton.'
'Then you almost ruined my life and the life of my family. Royal family! Bastard...' shaking with rage, hissed Aegion and squeezed his fingers tighter, which made the vampire let out another wild cry.
'Get ready for war,' Echless said through pain. 'It was supposed to be a secret, but there’s no changing it. Very soon, perhaps right now, a deadly army will rain down on the forest, and you will not all be able to hide behind your king’s useless magic. And you will not hide from punishment: Taurentius will soon possess all the lands of Abbaddon, and when that is done, my dear Aegion, there will be no memory of... YOUR. ROYAL. FAMILY.'
'What does Taurentius want? Why does he want to take over the forest? What is he looking for? Speak!' in horror, understanding the meaning of the words of the enemy demanded Aegion.
There was no answers. The vampire, having collected all the few forces, grabbed Aegion's hand and jerked it up sharply. The elf's hand came out of the vampire's chest, and a blue-red soft and cold heart was squeezed in his fingers. After that, Echless did not move anymore and did not say a word.
Lairiel walked over to her brother and literally dragged him away from the dead vampire. Aegion definitely needed this: for a moment he felt that he was not ready to put up with this death, that now he would attack Echless and inflict as much mutilation on the dead body as the strength of the young body would allow. But Lairiel came to the rescue just in time and brought her brother back to rational reality.
'All right, that's enough. Echless is dead!' snapped the girl, taking Aegion by the shoulders and shaking him hard. 'Better think about what he said before he died.'
It was not clear from Lairiel's emotions whether she was frightened by such news, rather, she simply could not believe that such a thing was even possible. Also, on the faces of the others, there was more bewilderment than fear.
'So the rumors that have been around for so long are slowly becoming reality,' Colder said softly. 'So if I were you…' the vampire pointed at Lairiel and Aegion, '…I would urgently advise your father to strengthen the borders with something more serious than an invisible barrier, which is not a barrier in the full sense of the word. Put a full block on the entrance and exit from the forest. Taurentius can crush you with just the number of fighters, even if they lose their magic when entering the forest.'
'I'm afraid Colder is right,' Aegion sighed heavily, tossing the vampire's heart into a nearby ditch. 'Lairiel, you will have to go to father. And as soon as possible. I'll stay with the Nameless. We need to see if he can pass his father's barrier. If not, and it turns out that he is a magician, then we will return home together. If this boy is a magician, his father would not dare harm him. Especially on the eve of the war. And you two...'
Aegion did not finish the sentence. Being incredibly excited, the elf turned to his sister again.
'Hurry up, Lairiel. The father must know everything.'
'About everything?' his sister asked. 'How am I going to explain to him how I even knew about this? After all, he will again revel in moralizing, which for him will be much more important than words I would say. Father never took me seriously, and he never will. Maybe you'd better go to him instead of me?'
Lairiel's words made sense, but Aegion immediately shook his head in denial.
'I have some unfinished business here,' Aegion gave Colder an ambiguous look. 'Yes. Father needs to know everything as it is. With the threat of a real war, he will not be scattered on family quarrels. Father, of course, is a kind of tyrant, but far from being a fool. He will understand everything.'
Lairiel walked very close to her brother, holding his shoulders tight.
'Don't lose your head, Aegion... ' she hissed softly, but this whisper was audible to everyone. 'I understand the real reason why you want to stay here and send me away, but please don’t forget that there are still things that father won’t understand even if the sky falls on our heads!'
'I know, Lairiel! I know!' said Aegion firmly. 'Go.'
'Be careful. Please,' literally begging, said Lairiel.
'He will be careful, he will,' Arron intervened, taking the girl by the shoulder and pulling her aside. 'And you, human child. Come all three of us, let's leave Colder and Aegion alone. I think they have something to discuss.'
'Thank you…' Colder hissed to his brother, though it was unclear from the vampire's tone and facial expressions whether it was sincere or sarcastic.
Arron decided he needed to stay close to his brother, as he didn't want to waste a few more days looking for him. He said goodbye to Lairiel with a warm embrace and in one big jump he was on a high branch of a nearby tree.
The Nameless decided to ask Lairiel about who Echless is and why Taurentius is unleashing a war. The she-elf was less talkative than her brother. Briefly and very dryly, the girl said that Taurentius had long been striving to get the possessions of the Enchanted Forest, though it’s still not clear why. King Taurebeleg himself was of the opinion that Taurentius had been looking for some artifact hidden in the forest, because there could be no other explanation for the desire of this dark magician to own the lands of the Enchanted Forest: magic was available only to forest peoples, and the inhabitants of the forest themselves would never serve a stranger, would rather die. Why the king decided that Taurentius was looking for some artifact remained without explanation. Lairiel's assumption remained much simpler.
'Taurentius has lost touch with reality and no longer sees the boundaries of what is permitted. His ambitions and actions have long had nothing to do with adequacy and a sober view of the world. So I think that this magician is simply out of his mind and enjoys the suffering of others.'
'Out of all your world, out of all the dissent and protesters, is there no one who stands up to this villain’s atrocity?' the Nameless was surprised. 'But he's not immortal, is he? Or immortal?'
'Only the mountinours, the mountain people, are still trying to do something. The rest are just hiding. They are waiting for someone to come and solve all the problems. The only problem is that years go by and no one comes. And we are still waiting and waiting.'
'Mountain people?' the boy asked.
'Yes. Brave and strong people. And, by the way, ones of those that my father hates fiercely. And makes all of us think this way. Although, it's no secret, if we, the forest people, teamed up with the mountinours, then on the battlefield we would have at least some chance. But alone it is hardly possible to defeat the army of Taurentius. Nobody has succeeded yet. Now, if Echless, that vampire, was telling the truth, we are in danger. Therefore, now I will take you out of the forest, and you run away from here as quickly as possible: war is not a joke. They die on it. Even lucky people like you.'
'Maybe my hands will be useful to you. They helped me out that ill-fated night, they can help you out in this battle too,' the Nameless offered and was immediately embarrassed by Lairiel's condescending look.
'Can you make the same now? Right here, set something on fire?' the she-elf waited for a pause of only a few seconds and continued. 'No? Well then, what can you do to help? Be useful to yourself: leave the forest and get the hell out of here.'
The Nameless had nothing to argue with this argument, and he simply lowered his eyes, continuing to walk.
'Why did your brother hated this vampire so much?' the boy suddenly asked. 'It seemed to me that it was not only about the dead elf. Does Aegion have a personal score with that vampire?'
'This story is old and very confusing. And it's none of my business, and certainly none of yours,' Lairiel stated sharply, but with a benevolent hint.
'I don’t think your brother should have killed him,' for some reason The Nameless had concluded, though he had no idea what he was talking about. The boy realized that the conversation was becoming awkward and looked away to distract himself from the tense pause.
'We will soon be at the edge of the forest. Please hurry up. What are you looking at?!' Lairiel said in an orderly tone.
'Wow, what else is this?' the Nameless was suddenly distracted, not even hearing the end of Lairiel's phrase.
The travelers stopped at a huge meadow, the same as the one where the boy woke up just recently. But this glade was full of delightful flowers with blooming fragrant buds everywhere, swaying even in the absence of wind. The petals of these flowers were as if strewn with diamonds, which shimmered and shone in the sun, and this could be mistaken at first sight for fresh morning dew in the glare of the rays. In the middle of this brilliant glade stood a huge deer, twice as big as usual. This beast was snow-white from hooves to the tips of branched horns. He looked incredulously at the guests who came in the midst of his serene walk.
'You have such huge deer in the forest...' the boy said in delight, carefully stepping forward, afraid to frighten away the beast. Lairiel pulled the Nameless back, making it clear that entering this clearing and contact with an albino deer was highly undesirable.
'This is the sacred meadow of the departed ancestors,' Lairiel added. 'The ashes of all sentient inhabitants of the Enchanted Forest are kept here. The remains of their physical form become part of the soil in which the bloodflowers grow. These are the sacred flowers. And the spirit of the forest protects them. He can appear in any form, but more often takes the form of some majestic animals. Now, for example, this is a deer. In fact, this creature does not have bodily incarnation, it is something like a ghost, a bunch of energy that can appear before our eyes. This sacred glade keeps the memory of our ancestors, and many come here to pray or ask for advice. The second one is redundant in my opinion. It is better to ask for advice from the living. So basically it's just a cemetery. Beautiful, but a cemetery. And definitely not the place where we were going to. Let's go. The southern border of the forest is very close. Fifteen minutes on foot - and we are at the goal.'
The boy felt a strange feeling: this huge snow-white horned beast was like a magnet for him. It captivated him in a completely inexplicable way. The Nameless did not even notice how slowly he began to walk towards the animal, which did not frighten him either with powerful horns or with gigantic size.
'Hey! Where do you think you're going, shorty?' Lairiel exclaimed, but for some mysterious reason she herself did not dare to step into the meadow. 'Come back now, in the name of the Five! It is forbidden to approach the spirit of the forest!'
Whether it was dangerous to approach this deer or not, nevertheless, the spirit of the forest was not at all going to flee or, on the contrary, show aggression towards the boy advancing in his direction. Moreover, the beast reached out to him with its large white nostrils, widening them, sniffing the guest, who had not even come close to the beast yet, continuing to slowly but surely walk towards the goal and looking straight into the sky-blue eyes of the spirit. This state was very similar to what the boy experienced at the time of his escape from Evangard: the body also made some movements that the mind could hardly control. Only, unlike that terrible night, there was no fear or panic now. There was a pleasant, tickling excitement, some even sweet anticipation. The Nameless did not even hear how, standing on the edge of the meadow in the shade of a tree, Lairiel ordered several more times quite harshly to leave this sacred place.
The bloodflowers were fragrant, freshness and even some kind of mystery blew over them. The brilliance of the petals of these flowers seemed to reflect off the surface of the deer's body, giving the impression that the spirit of the forest was part of one whole here with the flowers and the playful caressing rays of the sun. The beast took a step forward. The boy raised his hand and extended it towards the huge deer face. Fingers touched soft flesh that felt like fresh sour cream. Yes, as Lairiel said, it was not a deer at all, but something else: not a ghost, but not something belonging to the real material world either. The beast made a gentle, almost lulling sound.
With a touch, everything around disappeared. The boy seemed to fall into a dream, dark, but not at all frightening. Slowly and measuredly, the contours of a still unclear picture began to emerge. Again the meadow, immersed in warm sunshine and bright colors of nature. However, there are no bloodflowers, no Lairiel standing on the edge in the shade, and even the deer - the spirit of the forest - has disappeared somewhere. This meadow seemed so huge that even its end and edge could not be seen. The tall grass swayed in the light breeze. Beautiful outlandish winged insects with incredibly large wings flew from one inflorescence to another, certainly wanting to visit each of the million different local flowers. The air smelled of fresh strawberries and honeysuckle. It would be incredibly easy to feel happy in such a place, because it was heaven on earth that appeared in such a colorful vision.
The Nameless had already begun to get used to being in strange places for unknown reasons, so now he just walked forward, trying to find someone or something that would tell him the meaning of what was happening. Suddenly a tree appeared on the horizon. It's a safe bet that it wasn't there a moment ago. And suddenly - huge, majestic, one in the middle of an endless field. It was far away, yet close at the same time. The Nameless continued on his way to the tree, but already on the way he clearly saw and understood what was happening where the sky gracefully joined the earth.
Here, in the shade of the green crown, were two people. They were a young beautiful woman, with thick red hair and in a light, light long dress, and a small child, a boy of five or six years old. Probably her son. The woman laughed and played with him in carefree fun. The boy, like crazy, ran around his mother, waving his arms and driving the motley-winged butterflies from the flowers, laughing and shouting something incomprehensible. The woman smiled broadly and rejoiced at the warm rays of the sun, the serenity of pastime and the simple happiness of her child.
'You shouldn't be here…' a woman's voice was heard. It did not belong to the woman who lovingly watched the fun of the child, because she did not even know about the presence of a third person here. It was a voice in his head, coming straight from the Nameless' mind.
'But where? Where is my place? Tell me. Who am I?' The Nameless’s lips did not move. Apparently, in this place, thoughts have a way of sounding just like human speech has.
'Who are you? Are you the spirit of the forest?' suggested the boy, stepping forward, looking back and trying to see the source of the voice. Obviously, creature that sounded was invisible.
'Yes, you are right. I am the spirit of the Enchanted Forest. Epifanio is my name. I had been waiting for you. Who are you? You are the savior in the flesh. Your place is with those whose faith has not yet faded. Your place is to protect the peaceful and innocent creatures. I will help you find this place.'
'But what can I do?' thought loudly The Nameless, glancing again at the happy woman with the child.
'I let you into my domain only to show you the way. You may not remember this, but it was at my will that you found yourself in Abbadon’s lands. You did everything great. You arrived in the Enchanted Forest at the right hour. When our conversation is over and you will leave this place, you will not remember this meeting, as you forgot the previous one. However, when you get on the right path, you will have fulfilled your destiny. I am more than sure that you will not go wrong. You are the one we have waited so long for...'
'You... Did you send me here? To these places? But where am I from? Where are my roots? Where are my origins?' desperately thought the Nameless. 'I don’t want to go anywhere, I don’t want to forget everything again. Moreover I don’t want to be a savior at all. Bring me home. Restore my memory. I just a child. Nothing more...'
'Nothing but a child...' sounded a thoughtful voice. 'You have already proved that these words are false. Hundreds of thousands of lives depend on you. I will take you to the Firetree. Your nature will find the right path. We will see you again when the hero comes along.'
The boy could not answer. He caught the glances of a woman and a child, who had not noticed the guest until that moment. It was as if an invisible hand had pulled him out of this strange delusion back into reality. The boy literally collapsed on the damp grass of the meadow, as if up to that moment he had hovered a few meters above the ground. Little was clear at that moment: it was already night, sharp sounds carried through the forest, screams and cries were heard in echoes, and there were no more familiar faces or unusual deer here. Only a huge meadow strewn with dead bodies and a tree in the middle blazing with tongues of fire. The Nameless did not understand anything, his memory was clear again. There was only the heat that filled the boy’s body, turning into a hot magnet, reaching towards the red-orange tree, alluring and bewitching. The boy suddenly desired to give his flesh to the fiery flame of the crown of this mighty tree.