Bloodline

A knight's tale - part 7

Zircon observes the compass, watching the way the leaf moves, standing in the middle of the firepit and in areas of the clearing. The leaf on the compass moves wildly in some areas and stays facing the center in other areas as he paces around the area. "Seems as though the compass does work, but the magic of the forest also works against it, throwing me off pace..." he begins to move where the compass shows east, but when he gets to the edge towards the trees, the compass spins wildly. Seeing this, he moves back to the firepit, thinking to himself, "The compass doesn't work near the trees but works in this clearing...maybe the magic of the trees isn't as effective in this area, though why wouldn't the trees just move and stay in this clearing...?" Moving around areas of the clearing again, he observes the leaf and watches as some areas cause the leaf to spin more than other areas, taking note of it in his mind.

'So some areas around here have some sort of magic that is affecting my compass as well,'
Zircon thinks, and begins to look at the ground where his compass spun the most in the clearing. "Maybe there's something here that can assist me..." He says as he begins to dig into the dirt with his hands, focusing only on the dirt to the point he can't see the shadowy figure moving towards him from the trees. He digs as fast and as deep as he can, coming across what seems to be a smooth stone, and begins digging around it. He begins to uncover more dirt around the stone, but comes to realize the stone is actually a skull, part of the top broken away and the jaw in pieces in the dirt. "Maybe died in combat, probably fell down after their jaw was hit with a blunt object, maybe a club, and eventually had their skull cracked in when they tried getting up...but what kind of person is able to do this much damage...?" He thinks, finally getting up and seeing the figure move to him. He stands still as the figure comes into the clearing, shambling and using a sword almost like a cane. "Who digs up my best friends grave with the intent to steal from his corpse?" The figure says with a raspy voice as they come into view.

A knight in rusted and damaged armor comes into the clearing, their sword having clear signs of wear and tear. "Are you Colonel Shaul?" Zircon says from the grave as he steps out. "It's the man who laid him to rest before you dug him back up...You best have a good reason for stealing from a dead mans grave, though I may not look like it, I have guarded this area for years, the people of the trees keep this area sacred and secret from others..." Zircon reaches for a pouch on his belt, but decides not to grab anything from it, walking towards the knight. "I have been stuck with my friends in this forest for at least a few hours now, and when one who is a magic type ran off towards some strange force with us trying to catch up, I came upon this clearing, and found a note written by Colonel Shaul, wishing anyone who found this area good luck." "So you've given me a reason you're in here, but you haven't specified why you were digging into Shauls' grave, so explain it to me clearly." Zircon moves toward the grave and picks up his compass, showing it to the knight. "I have made a homemade compass that points north, but whenever I move close to the trees or in some spots of this clearing, the compass goes wild, and I have a suspicion of how this works." The knight nods and walks next to Zircon, looking into the grave. "You must be after the amulet that Shaul had worn, it had some strange magic to it that seemed to guide him to the right place at the right time, but I haven't figured out why it took him here, nonetheless why it stopped working for him after that." Zircon looks at the knight, and back into the grave.

"Well, whatever the reason was, I think that amulet may help me and my friends out." The knight looks at Zircon, a distasteful expression on him. "So you'd leave me behind huh...? I knew you westerners were cruel..." Zircon turns to the knight, confused, "What do you mean, 'westerners'?" The knight turns away from Zircon, walking towards the trees as they seem to open up a path for him. "I am from the Kingdom of Fire and Storms, the kingdom of the east, and if I recall, I heard some news from traders that got stuck here recently that our kingdom has caught itself into another war, this time with your kingdom. I have been stuck here since the old king, Ranseith, took the title of king in our region, but I know of the corruption of the king that took our castle by force..."

Zircon kneels as the knight goes on, explaining how his squad was sent to scout the areas near the forest to possibly establish a village to act as a front. The knight goes on to explain how they went into the forest with the purpose of scouting an area to move into western territory, but got trapped as the trees moved in their way and separated them, scattering them and leaving the knight in the clearing. "For a while I was alone, then from what I assume was a few months later, Shaul came into the clearing, wondering on how to leave, and for a while I stalked him from inside the trees, as they cannot move from their spot in the ground until a month after their next move. Though they shifted to keep me from remembering where I was, I stalked Shaul until strange figures ambushed him, and beat him to death. I came out from my hiding place, and decided to interact with these things, turns out they were normal people that were stuck here for far longer than anything that decided to stumble inside here." The knight sits down, setting his sword down next to him, and sighing. "Turns out these people have adjusted to life in this hellish forest, and they were people from your kingdom that were left behind after they stumbled far too much into it. After some explaining, I was accepted into their society, and now I live amongst them.

Zircon nods as he stands, letting out a sigh. "So this is where the missing people went...All those lives, trapped here because they lost their way out." He looks up into the only clear signs of sunlight from the open canopy of tree branches and leaves, and back into the grave. "And there was no way out because the forest decided they weren't allowed to leave, what a cruel fate to end up in..." He goes back into the grave, and digs up to the skeletons neck, digging up a strange looking golden amulet with a strange shaped gem in the middle and walks to the knight. "So this led Shaul to his death, but it led him to so many other things before as well...Once I make it out with my friends, we'll come back to you, and maybe get some of those people out as well..." "Give me the amulet, I'll show you how Shaul seemed to get it working." The knight extends his hand, Zircon almost giving him it before stepping back.

"Wait... you said you were Shaul's best friend, but you said earlier that you stalked him and even watched those people murder him!" Zircon steps back, grabbing a dagger from his belt and standing in a fighting stance with the amulet in his other hand. "He didnt deserve the fate he ended up in but what else was I going to do...! I would've ended up dead if I did anything but wait, and they nearly did kill me too if I didnt explain where I came from! Now, if you will just give me the amulet, I can get us both out! They're coming and if we dont get out soon, we may end up like him in the dirt before we can do anything else!" Zircon keeps stepping back, thinking to himself as he looks at the knight and then back to the amulet, while shadowy figures appear around the trees.