Aetherian(Part 1): A War Begins

Nyatar

 In a matter of days, Nyatar and Naevys managed to lead Trevor, Illyria, Julien, and Arthur to the western edge of the Shadowgrove's dense jungles. They were all relieved to see open, green grasslands instead of barren deserts for miles. On the horizon, they could make out the view of tall trees with thick trunks that were tall enough to touch the clouds. It was the Eternal Forest.

"We're almost there," said Naevys.

"Is that the forest?" asked Trevor, and Nyatar nodded his head.

"Once we get there, we'll have to be careful," Nyatar warned. "Every one of those trees is a fortress."

"Good thing we only need leaves from one of them, right?" said Arthur.

"No kidding," Illyria agreed. They went across the grasslands, and it was midday by the time they reached the forest, which seemed even bigger up close. Just the trunk of the tree was as wide as the Ivory Tower.

"How the hell are we going to scale this?" Julien asked.

"Watch this," said Nyatar. He placed his hand on the bark of the tree and recited a Fae spell. Suddenly, a thin staircase appeared on the trunk of the huge dragonwood tree from a flash of green light, spiraling all the way to the canopy, which was hidden in the clouds.

"The sooner we start going up, the sooner we get to the top, guys," said Naevys, and she was the first one to start up the huge flight of stairs. They stopped several times for Trevor, Julien, and Arthur to rest, which began to annoy Nyatar after a while, but they went a few hours at a time without stopping. The sun was almost setting when they reached a limb half as wide as the trunk, but with no leaves on it.

"We should stop for the night," Arthur suggested.

"I agree," said Trevor.

"It would be wiser to move on," Nyatar argued.

"They run out of energy a lot easier than we do, brother," Naevys reminded. "We should let them sleep."

"Fine," Nyatar admitted. "But we keep climbing at sunrise."

"Sounds fair," said Trevor. As the sky darkened, Trevor, Julien, and Arthur dozed off, with Illyria sitting by them, sharpening her silver odachi with a whetstone. Naevys and Nyatar remained on constant alert, standing with their bows drawn further down on the limb. Nyatar had explored the Eternal Forest before but hadn't climbed the trees to the canopy. The dangers on the forest floor were bad enough, and he could only imagine what awaited them in the leaves. Nyatar was more anxious than Naevys, though. She sat with her legs crossed as midnight came.

"Father will be angry with us, won't he?" she suddenly asked.

"Not if we return home," Nyatar promised.

"If we return," Naevys added. It was unclear whether Naevys actually wanted to return to the Shadowgrove kingdom since King Ethrion had enough of a reason to hate her.

"Father could forgive us," Nyatar hoped. "Sister, I know you and him don't exactly see eye to eye, but that doesn't mean you mean nothing to him."

"You know the truth," said Naevys. "He's hated me from the moment I was born." It wasn't surprising that she knew that. Nyatar was six hundred years of age when Naevys was born, and their mother died giving birth to her. King Ethrion had always blamed Naevys for her death and hadn't forgiven her.

"You still have a place in his heart," Nyatar promised. "That's why he didn't want either of us to leave."

"He didn't want us to leave because he doesn't want anything to do with what's coming," Naevys corrected. "If he had his way, we would do nothing as thousands died."

"He doesn't want his people to be counted among those thousands," said Nyatar. "Especially us."

"Brother, whatever darkness is coming, I will not stand by and wait for it to pass," Naevys asserted. "I will fight against it, even with our worst enemies if I have to." She was certainly more headstrong than many other Jungle Epsilon, probably too headstrong for her own good. As much as she was scared their father would be angry when they returned to the Shadowgrove, Nyatar wanted to try and convince his sister that he would accept her, but it was pointless.

"What will you do once we get the leaves from this tree, then?" Nyatar asked.

"I could probably stay with Trevor Karvine," said Naevys. "The survival of this country depends on whether he lives or dies, remember?"

"Right," Nyatar admitted. "I'll miss you."

"You, too," said Naevys. "But don't say goodbye until we're done here."

"Well, when the sun rises, it'll be midday when we reach the canopy," said Nyatar. "But that's only if we don't stop again."

"What's up there?" Naevys asked.

"We'll find out soon enough," Nyatar answered. "The sun will be up soon." When the sun rose, Illyria woke up Trevor, Arthur, and Julien, and they went further up the stairwell that wound around the tree trunk. By the time of midday, they were in the cold, humid winter clouds, almost to the leaves.

"We're almost there," Nyatar promised. As they went further up, they began to notice that the trunk of the tree was becoming thinner with each step they took. Soon, the stairway ended at a small doorway in the side of the tree.

"Come on," said Trevor, igniting his lightsword, and sneaking through the doorway. Julien ignited his silver blade, and Arthur drew Burn as they entered the large chamber of bark. There was nothing else that led to the canopy, and no leaves in sight.

"So, now what?" Arthur asked.

"I'm not entirely sure," Naevys answered.

"No, something's here," Trevor corrected.

"You feel something?" Nyatar asked.

"I'm not sure what it is," said Trevor.

"I do," said Julien. "It's a Fae construct."