Heartstone

We're off to see the Dark Enchantress...

Arwin

Arwin and Yaz camped that night in the now otherwise unoccupied nymph tree circle. The next morning they returned to the road and resumed their quest to find the princess. Next stop: the home of the Dark Enchantress.

Eventually, Yaz brought them to a halt. The proper path turned south, and a brown wooden signpost crookedly stood at a fork. The main sign on the post was large, with clear, neat writing in white paint. It was obviously well-maintained.

The Esteemed Magicist Beers

Hero of the People

Travellers Welcome! :)

—>

A second sign hung below it, faded and worn, the wood very old and weathered. The original lettering, just a name and an arrow, was in black paint that had partially faded to gray over the years. Other writing had been added in fresher, pink paint, much of it all in capitals.

!!!BEWARE!!!

EVIL!! Dark Enchantress

Iff you value yer lifes KEEP OUT

<—

Arwin looked at the second sign with a raised brow. "Who uses pink for a warning label? Well, admittedly, the pink does go well with the black, but still." He looked at Yaz and pointed left toward the Dark Enchantress. "So...this way?"

"Looks like it."

"Lead on then, my friend." Arwin waved for Yaz to go first.

The forest continued, vast and deep, no doubt hiding a world within a world. But the path carved through it like a narrow hallway and they saw little other than the trees and bushes immediately around them.

Arwin really enjoyed the nature around them. "It's too bad the forest is so thick that we can't see much. I'll bet it holds all kinds of mysteries, creatures that I've never before seen or even imagined. I'd love to see them all."

"Some of those creatures would no doubt be predators," Yaz pointed out.

"Uh, well, then I'd love to see them from afar. Maybe just the cute ones up close."

The trail here was no more than a pair of faint, old wagon-wheel ruts winding their way through crudely hacked vegetation that was once again becoming overgrown. The non-magical path did not look regularly maintained or used. Here and there, branches and even whole trees had fallen across the way.

Arwin wondered if maybe the Dark Enchantress didn't use the road much. Did she rarely leave her castle? Or did she have other ways of travelling? Perhaps she had a cadre of flying monkeys to carry a palanquin. Or maybe she could teleport.

He hoped the rumours of her vile nature were greatly exaggerated. Or that she wasn't home, and they could quickly and quietly sneak around and then flee. Not that that would happen. He doubted she went for long walks in the swamp and left her castle unlocked behind her. Lacking a better plan, however, they would just have to take their chances.

"You know," Arwin said as they walked, "you were right about the nymphs?"

Yaz looked over with curiosity. "Oh? How so?"

"I was pretty down after what happened with my ex. But after some experiences in the Blue Region and then all that fun with the nymphs, it feels like I've put some distance between me and the past. And I don't hate myself as much as I did."