Between the Veil and Crown

Kylin 17

When they reached the road, they stopped long enough only for Marta to hop from Wylett to her own mare. Then they were off again, keeping up a breakneck pace down the path. The whole time, neither of them spoke to each other. Occasionally they would glance over their shoulder, untrusting of the lack of vines whipping through the forest after them. They had a silent agreement to ride through the night, determined to reach the base as soon as possible.

By morning, the breathing of their horses was ragged, and their coats were drenched with sweat. But the base was on the horizon and the feeling of being chased hadn't left either Kylin or Marta. The pounding of Kylin's heart had prevented him from hearing his surroundings clearly. Now able to catch his breath, he could hear sounds of Rangers gathering at the bottom of the tree.

Encouraged by this thought, Kylin urged Wylett to give his last bit of energy. Wylett tossed his head in annoyance, but obliged. Not to be left behind, Marta's mare sped up slightly as well. An eternity later, they arrived at the tree to find Ivelios gathering a small group of Rangers, possibly to start yet another investigation. Ivelios turned to greet them as they approached. When he saw their condition, his eyebrows raised in alarm.

"What happened?" he asked sharply, leaving his horse by the tree and hurrying over to them.

Marta slid off her horse and almost completely collapsed to the ground, her knees buckling at the sudden need of their use.

It was then that Kylin said perhaps the dumbest thing of his Ranger career. "The flower's alive."

That caused Ivelios to stop short and tilt his head, mouth slightly open in confusion.

Thankfully, Marta expounded on Kylin's brilliant description. "We found another one of that orange flower coming back," she said. "Turns out it's part of a much larger, very predatory plant."

There was an uncomfortable silence as both of them realized someone had to report the bitter news they had not taken the time to process until now.

"We . . . we have reason to believe that it was in the middle of- we believe it's responsible for . . . for Harn's disappearance," Kylin faltered.

His words hung in the air like a heavy fog. Behind Ivelios, Kylin could see the expression of the other Rangers turn from concern about Marta's and Kylin's conditions to looks of horror or grief. Ivelios's own face darkened at the news. For a moment, nothing was said. There was nothing to say.

The moment passed when Ivelios took a deep breath. "I need you two to rest up, as well as your horses. Then I am going to need you to lead me and some others to this plant." He raised his voice, so it was clear this was a command to all, and not just Kylin and Marta. "In the meantime, no one takes the path to barrier, especially not alone. I'm not going to have any more disappearances."

Kylin realized he was still mounted and slid off Wylett. Even though it was Wylett who had done all of the hard work, he found himself out of breath.

"Let's give you nice, long rest," he whispered to Wylett as he brought him to the stables.

Kylin had resolved to sleep in his own room. However, after getting Wylett settled and exiting the stall, he found himself so exhausted that the thought of climbing the stairs and walking all that way to his room far up the in tree was tiring in and of itself. It was much more manageable to enter the stall with the clean bedding used for the horses and fall asleep in the bedding.