The Hero of Brookshire

Chapter Sixteen

Amere and Ewyn traveled from the Re'el village into the Hisarii Forest, reaching deep into the jungle. As they traveled, they came across the natural fauna that made up the forest. Colorful flowers covered the ground of the forest, lighting it up with endless scenery.

Amere could smell the freshness of the leaves rustling in the trees from the cool wind blowing through the forest. Amere could also smell the fresh bark making up the trees. Looking closer at the trees, Amere could see green moss growing and building up on some of them. Numerous bugs flew by Ewyn and Amere; a few touching Amere's soft skin as they traveled.

As they reached further into the forest, the tall trees covered the sun's rays beaming down on them. Only the smallest of beams could make it through the trees and shine on the pair.

The forest was still and all that could be heard was wildlife and moving tree branches. The pair had long passed the sight of the village and all the commotion from it went silent.

Walking further along in the forest, the pair could see a large lake in the distance. Its waters were crystal clear, sweeping in small waves as the air moved through it. It was also deep, reaching many inches down below the surface. The lake shone brighter as Amere and Ewyn got closer to it. It was as if it gave off its own light that illuminated the area around it.

"I think we've made it to the lake," said Amere.

"I believe you're right. Elorathorn and the other tribe leaders said that there should be centaurs guarding the lake somewhere nearby," said Ewyn.

"Well, we shouldn't be too far from them," said Amere.

Once reaching the lake, Amere and Ewyn looked across it to see two figures standing at the opposite end. Squinting his eyes, Amere could make out that the two figures were centaurs. There was a male and female centaur looking back over at them from across the lake.

The two centaurs had the upper body of humans with the lower bodies of a horse. Both of them stood tall on all four legs, reaching at least eight feet. They possessed long, pointed ears similar to the elves back in the Re'el village that ran out from both sides of their head. In their hands they carried bows and arrows firmly gripped in their palms. Both continued to look on at Ewyn and Amere, not taking an eye off of either one of them. After a few moments of watching the two, the centaurs began aiming their bows and arrows at them.

"Wait, don't shoot at us!" shouted Ewyn.

"What are you two humans doing here? How did you find this place?" asked the male centaur.

"We're here to close the portal that's been troubling the elf tribes of the Hisarii Forest. The Re'el's leader, Elorathorn, told us of where to find the lake and you as well."

"Portal? What portal? How do you know about a portal?" asked the female centaur.

"We've seen it ourselves. It's in a gemmed cave further back in the forest," said Ewyn.

"Regardless of a portal, this is not a place for humans to be entering. This lake is sacred, and we've been tasked to protect it," said the male centaur.

"We understand your hesitation in believing us, but you have to see reason. If the portal isn't closed, demons will continue coming out of it and terrorizing your kind as well as the elves."

"We've encountered no demons in our territory, human," said the female centaur.

"We only hunt in our territory that has been established by a treaty signed by our clan leader and the three elf tribes," said the male centaur.