A Kingdom in Half Light

Chapter 22; Until the Deep-Lands Call

I built a hut suspended about halfway up a tree, it was reached via a ladder and a gutter had been constructed to collect water. I spent three months there, in an amazing haven of heights and peace. It was on the fifth day after mid summer that there was a call from bellow. It rang in my head like an unspeakable oath, “The earl request all to leave these woods, or face death.”

I stuck my head out of the door to see what was happening, bellow me a man stood holding a scroll, he was quite young and had an air of assuming people will do as he says.

“And what if those who live here refuse?” I asked.

“As I said,” he said smugly, “Or face death.”

“Why does he wish us to leave?” I asked.

“He does not allow people to know his own business,” sad the man, “Even I do not know.”

I had no choice, and so left that night carrying the few things I had, and these were only things that I had found in the forest. A deep-lit moon certified its watch upon the land and then settled down amongst the stars. It stayed there and mocked me as I walked below, waiting for the sun to overthrow it upon the morn.

A cloud drifted slightly and blindfolded it; I carried on, not caring for where I might be headed. Soon I saw a ruined wall with what seemed like a tower looming out of the trees, the forest was almost at its end by now, but it was still as dense and lost. As I came closer I realised it was indeed a wall, and that it was smashed through allowing me past. The stone itself was dark and had lines of quartz trickling through it, as though a snail had crawled over it. I moved on and then the forest stopped, it did not slowly go, it just stopped, as if it did not dare go any further.

The night sky began to dwindle and a pinkish light crept over the horizon. I lay down and had a deep rest, a rest that lasted for some time, as it was evening before I awoke once more. The moon was yet again to mock me as I walked, I had not glimpsed the suns might for a whole day, a long and terrible day.

Soon I could see a shadow on the horizon, as I grew nearer I saw that it was some kind of monument, like a well but pillars stood around it. Next to the pit there was a stone, small and almost unremarkable, almost. There was a crown engraved into it, it had worn with age and was almost gone, but it still gave a sense of power, and a sense of fear.

I headed southwest for a few miles, until I reached a tree, it was huge, and yet rotting, most of it had gone and there was just a trunk that stood against the wind. I sat down at its base and leant against it. The bark had decayed making it even, I felt a slight warmth, this was odd as it was quite a cold day. I stood up and looked around there was nothing, even the earth seemed like a weakened ghost. I looked up at the very most peak of the shattered trunk, still there was nothing there, but, I looked again, why was the trunk shattered? It seemed to have been burnt around the edges, there was no way to climb up and see, so I climbed one of the near by trees that almost reached the trunks height. And I looked across, there seemed to be a glow, an orb, it was strange, then my head became clear and I made sense of what I could see. There was a skeleton clutching at an orb in the top of the tree, it was more a scattering of bones but it had evidently once been whole.

I tried to jump across and, though I did not quite reach it, I got a good foothold into a notch in the trunk; I reached up and felt the shattered wood beneath my fingers. Looking up I saw it was only inches away and I tried to pull myself up, unfortunately the wood broke and I almost fell. The next time I found a sturdier looking piece and managed my way up.

The orb was large and seemed to buzz with an amazing energy. I cautiously put my hand out but the orb was light to the touch, placing all my fingers around it I pushed it safely into my backpack.

I climbed down from the tree to the ground where I felt safer, and so began examining the orb. It glowed a beautiful reddish orange and had lettering engraved on it. I tapped it with my finger and the colours seemed to swirl around that point. Placing it back in my backpack I continued on, heading in the same direction that I had been before. And there I found marshes, deep empty marshes, lost of all their worth.

I made my way around the edge of the marsh, heading clockwise, and then south. I saw a ruin upon the hill ahead, it seemed to have once been a castle but had long since passed its days of war. Massive craters from catapults littered the site, along with skeletons and armour, the buildings themselves were wrecks; they had been smashed and were crumbling away.

I took shelter in the main keep where a few of the east rooms seemed quite untouched except for some cracks. There was no furniture but the floor was stone not wood so had fared much better than it might have. The walls were draped in damp slime from the rotting boards above and some water had dripped onto the floor where it formed puddles. I placed some rags on the ground to sleep on and lay there, I was not sure why I could not sleep, but sleep I did not. There was a tap tap of water from above and the squeak of unseen rats moving it the shadows. It was not until the moon had begun its decline from view when I finally fell into my sleep, and I only slept for two hours.

When I once more was awake without any hope of sleep I left, there was nothing of good left here, just the doings of evil.