II - Sigh of Smoke

Chapter 20 - Mistress of the Forests

The forest was so eerily quiet, but she could hear the faint whisper of the wind and the rustle of leaves as they danced to it. Her hands felt over the rough bark of one mangled tree, feeling the pain within it down to its roots and the earth around it. They rumbled with uncertainty, unmade from its peace. The earth itself was agitated, uneasy, and it was heard in the hesitance in the beasts and the birds, but at the glide of her fingertips they stilled. They calmed.

They recognized her touch, though she was nameless to them.

Her feet were soundless as she walked through the Barren Wastes, her billowing white dress fluttering at the embrace of nature. Her companions were still lost and locked away, mute within dreams or unable to show themselves when they wished. 

The heart of the boy king was removed from its cage of bone. That was why she could walk freely now, able to make contact with her followers without the struggle of trying to pass through the veil of existance and oblivion.

It was so very lonely waiting on her comrades. But she would be patient.

"You lost, Mistress?"

She turned slowly, eyes landing on a man with black hair and blue eyes, carrying a pipe between his fingers. His smile was filled with mischief as he pushed a large horse to her, a horse that belonged to a different era. With a flick of her wrist the horse bowed to her, fading into the breeze.

The man, Piper continued to talk. "Couldn't wait so you had to send Beth with four horses. A tad impatient, don't you think?"

"You were taking far too long," she said quietly, bending down and sifting through the dirt with her fingers. 

"Me? I think yer vessels were the ones takin' too long."

She let him sit in silence as she gently pushed her pale fingers into the earth, deepening the small dent as slowly as she could.

"So," she stood, dropping a seed into the hole she made before wiping her hands. "What have you discovered?"

"Hmm, not much." Piper puffed out a ring of smoke, the scent of burning herbs filling her nostrils. "There isn't much to tell other than the fact they hardly get along and it's cringe-worthy to watch. It seems though, from what I can tell, they have little to no contact with the dragons whatsoever. I presume that's your doin'?"

"Perhaps. And it seems the Eastern vessel was lost to the Arena of the Wickeds."

"Correct."

"Is that why you are no longer with them? Because of where she is? You can report to me when you sleep, when you dream, but you seem to have abandoned your post and have returned to me. That is not what I asked of you."

He bristled, spitting at the floor beneath him before scowling at the moon above. She had riled him, it seemed. With a sigh, she turned to him, brushing her hair from her shoulders.

"I understand you're sensitive about that place, but the Eastern girl is dying."

Piper shook, eyes darkening. "You don't understand."

"Understand what?"

"It was too hard to get out of there, and many died in the process. I travelled miles from it, only to make a round trip? I refuse to relive that Hell down in those cells. I bet they haven't even cleaned."

"You won't relive it."

Piper tensed, shaking his head as he leaned against the tree with his shoulder. "The people in that foul place can tell yer a Wielder from yer scent. It's unnatural, that place. It's disgusting."