A Tale of Three

Chapter 5: Tests

Cyrene woke up gasping for air. The moss beneath her was soaked with sweat, and her irritated skin burned. Her eyes darted around and quickly landed on Ares and Otium. She sighed in relief and tried to shake off the fragments of the dream. It had been so vivid. The colors, the sounds, and the way the wind stung her pelt almost seemed to have been real. Cyrene cut off her thoughts at that. There was no way she had traveled all the way to Proleum in her sleep, and no way that could have been real.

"Cyrene, you look as if you've seen a wraith," Otium laughed from below. Cyrene smiled sheepishly at her sister, and let the last strand of the dream fly away.

"We have no time for these jokes," Ares grumbled, lifting his head from his paws. He leapt off the branch in an easy movement, and landed on the ground with a thud. Swinging his attention back towards them, Ares waited for them to join him. Cyrene flared her nostrils, and lazily pulled herself onto the ground and next to her brother. Otium landed next to Cyrene with a thump.

"In a hurry to be in Anglo?" Otium yawned, curling her back down.

"Yes, I am in a hurry to be in my glaring," Ares answered blandly. "Just as you should be for yours."

Otium briskly laughed.

"So, are we ready to go to the Night Tree?" Cyrene asked while stepping forward and back again.

"Yes," Ares answered with enviable determination. "And we are heading there now. There is no time to spare for morning chitchat."

"Do you even know the way?" Cyrene questioned, peering at Ares. Otium nodded at her question before turning to face Ares too.

The brute shook his head, and without an answer started walking away. Cyrene and Otium scurried after him.

As she followed, Cyrene threw one last glance at the tree behind them. It stood a good few feet over the others, as if it was watching them depart. She locked her eyes on it, unsure whether she was happy it was disappearing or sad. It was full of splendid memories, like her first bird caught, and first time making Otium laugh. But in its roots also hid the cruel words uttered, and Ares's brutality as he refused to accept her as a living being. An invisible balance teetered in her mind, but Cyrene never had a chance to decide, for Ares's voice broke through her thoughts as he yelled.

All day they trekked, stopping only for a few laps of water at a small river. The trees started to close in. Pathways narrowed, and their voices stopped as conversation became boring. As they came closer to the Night Tree, the dark pine trees started to clear, letting a few drops of golden sunlight break through the canopy of leaves and cast yellow beams down. As they continued on, the beams became wider and more common, and the deep foliage started to thin out. The gaps between the trees soon became long enough so that they could walk next to each other, allowing them the chance for small chatter. By the time the sun had almost set, the trees had completely cleared, filling the dark forests of Atra with a sun-bath.

Cyrene peered down at the grass she was treading on. Its light depths stained her paw as she crushed it, mixing with the darker stains from Abandoned Atra. The panthress tilted her head as her attention turned towards the ground. The grass lit up the forest in an emerald green light, a direct contrast of the pine-green grass she was used to. Shaking her head in wonder, she turned her muzzle back up and ran to her siblings.

As the trees became almost completely thinned out, Cyrene turned her attention to the distance. Dark wood had started to appear at the edge of her vision, leading up to a canopy of emerald leaves. Cyrene took a deep breath before turning to Ares.