The Kingdom of Broken Glass

Sick

(Amon's Point of View)

The sun shone brightly in his eyes, nearly cutting off his vision. He had been one of the last people to enter the meadow ahead of them. Something felt off. Everything here was perfect. It was like this whole atmosphere had been hand drawn and painted onto the land.

They had been told not to stay together, everyone had to go off on their own. Liza had been one of the first people to immediately take off running into the woods. She made a joke with him and Julian before she took off and quickly disappeared in the trees. A couple of his newer friends here had been fast to follow her, everyone wanting to explore this new beautiful area.

Amon was almost right behind them, only hesitating when he caught a glimpse of Nathaniel catching Julian's arm. He wasn't supposed to see this interaction and it was obvious that Nathaniel was trying to be discreet. Julian's face slowly dropped as Nathaniel muttered something to him in a hushed tone. Amon saw the sun reflect off the small blade that was pressed into Julian's hand.

Amon debated breaking this 'no partners' rule just to ask Julian what that was all about, but decided against it when he saw that he was suddenly one of the last people still there. Not wanting to be noticed, he continued to plunge forward into the trees ahead of him.

Considering there were about twenty five students that came to this outing, there was absolutely no one around him. He barely even heard the animals. The forest was entirely quiet. Every now and then he could make out the sound of leaves crunching, or a twig snapping, but that was it. Suddenly wishing he had brought a weapon of his own, Amon pressed his hands into a nearby branch. He closed his eyes and focused on feeling the magic surrounding the tree. The way Raysa described it is that everything and all matter is surrounded by an individual magic. All you had to do was reach out for it, and you could maneuver or twist the power inside of it.

Amon pictured the branch forming itself into a spear, long enough that he wouldn't have to get too close to anything to defend himself. He opened his eyes to see the branch that he held in his hands morphing into something new. The end formed itself into a sharp point while the rest of the branch became smooth in his hands. He easily broke the newly formed weapon off of the tree and tested the point. Sharp. Sharp enough to kill.

He held his newfound weapon close to his side, keeping his body on edge so that if anything were to happen, he would be able to move fast enough to defend himself. Once again checking the area surrounding him, he dredged forward.

It wasn't long before his worries began to dissipate. Maybe Nathaniel was just trying to scare Julian into being worried. It could have been another one of his tests for all Amon knew about it.

After walking for quite a while, a couple of paths formed ahead of him. Through the path on his left side, all he could see were more trees. The path on his right however looked like it eventually opened to something else. Letting his more curious side get the better of him, he decided to test the right path instead. It was very odd how he still had not come across anyone else.

The opening became clearer as he walked. Amon started to see a field of pink peeking out from between the leaves. It was enticing, and he couldn't bring himself to turn back now. Deep down inside of him, he knew that Raysa would not have brought them here just to have them walk through some trees. There had to be some ulterior motive, some test that they were supposed to pass. Nathaniel would not have armed Julian for no reason.

As he stepped through the last line of forest, the expansive field of pink daisies presented itself. The clearing went on for miles and Amon could not see an end to it. The colour was breathtaking. Never in his life had he seen nature so beautiful before. He was careful to bend down and get a close up on these flowers before entering the field. He wanted to be sure that it was okay for him to step through.