The Blade and The Bird

Chapter 4

What Sidra could tell from the old map she had taken from Selene's room the night before was that Yariky was to the Northeast of Moros. She'd taken the trails hours ago, the sun setting behind her as she walked. Sidra considered walking through the woods in the dark, but she knew from experience how the trees seemed to twist around at night leading people off the trail. She'd have animals to worry about as well, though the Mystics had been rounded up and killed, there were still bears and cougars that walked around these woods.

With just enough light remaining from the nearby sun she walked several paces into the trees to her right, she discovered a set of boulders leaning against each other and a thick, gnarled tree that hovered above them. It would make a decent shelter for the night, it wasn't her bed, but it would have to do. With nearly two days without sleep, she wouldn't have a problem sleeping there for the night.

Sidra had packed a small blanket into her bag before she had left. Just in case, she had thought, but it was coming in handy now as the sun went behind the trees and the chill of the night began to creep in. She had on her thick boots and jacket and it was still early enough in the fall that she didn't need to worry about freezing to death. She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and leaned her back against the boulder closest to the tree.

As she sat there beneath the tree she couldn't help but look up at the gnarled branches. They were eerie in the night, each one twisted in on itself like broken bones, a dark silhouette against the moon. There were a handful of green needles near the very top, where the tree had tried to survive what looked like a wildfire, but even those took on a strange shape under the moonlight. The way the branches twisted near the base towards the boulders left Sidra nearly invisible to the rest of the forest and she felt safe enough for the time being to get some rest.

Sidra had learned a lot of her hunting skills from her father when she was younger, it was some of the few memories of him she distinctly remembered. She thanked it now when she pulled her coat closer against herself and nestled into the base of the tree. As Sidra closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the rock, the wound she'd bandaged the day began to bleed ever so slightly through the fabric again. Sidra slept on, the dripping wound unnoticed as it blood ran from her arm onto the dirt below as she slept.

**

Sidra was startled awake by a loud snap directly in front of her. She stood up quickly and pulled her knife from the belt, still disoriented from being asleep. It must have been a couple hours, as the moonlight was starting to fade behind the mountain and the shadows seemed much darker than they had before. There was nothing in front of her where the noise had come from, so she spun around looking as best she could through the dark.

Another loud snap came from in front of her and she swiveled back around. She had just enough time to realize it was coming from the tree before a massive branch fell down right where she had been sleeping. Looks like her father's hunting skills hadn't warned her about old trees. She didn't like the noise either, if anyone was around it would draw attention.

The branch began to shake, and she took a step back, as it began shifting form. This looked like more Magick, forbidden in the country, and she didn't want to be near it for a second longer. The entire tree seemed to be moving, the roots digging their way out of the ground, and the branches cracking and shaking under the movement of the tree. Sidra stood there in awe as the tree seemingly pulled itself out of the ground and shifted, moving several feet away, where it dug the swirling roots back into the earth and remained still. Where the tree had been moments before was now a hole in the earth. She could make out narrow tunnels that twisted into the ground where the roots of the tree had been. In the center of the hole, covered in a thick layer of dirt, appeared to be a coffin made of thick metal.