The Hunt for the Power Stones

Chapter 63 - James's Dangerous Decision

Queen Athina as we know is at Lake Mareotis all alone, she was let out of her cage to freely roam the abandoned castle. They knew she could not escape, there were no boats and the Lake was toxic. So swimming was out of the picture. But she was glad to feel a small sense of freedom.

James had heard of this place they were headed to thanks to some of his old hunting friends, he always felt like an outcast when he was around them, he always hunted for food and necessity, But then his "friends" began enjoying it too much and were hunting for sport. James did not agree with their Methods, so he left but on their last hunting trip, the leader of the group who was also the son of the King from Zorka. He had organized and planned for the group to go through the whispering woods, "There you happy, let's go kill beasts that deserve to die" he said, James was astonished by the plan and had agreed to come along – NOT TO HUNT – But to make sure they don't go overboard.

James was telling this story to our heroes while on their way there, they all stayed quiet and continued moving forward. This is the moment James began questioning whether he should tell them. But he took a deep breath and continued. "Malik I'm sure you have heard the story of the missing knights of Columbus that disappeared in the whispering woods" "Yes of course, it was a tragedy, 6 knights disappeared including the King's son from Zorka and he blames us for his loss." "Well the story is a tad different; it was actually 7 knights that entered those woods... "Who was the 7th Knight," asked Nathaniel "... Me..." replied James.

"What are you talking about? Everyone knows 6 people disappeared that day" replied Malik, " That's where your wrong, Everyone " Heard" that 6 people died but " I " know" for a fact what really happened" said James " Why didn't you tell the King before, why now? " asked Nathaniel " I'll tell you now, so after we had gone into those woods we immediately heard that iconic whispering sounds, but travelers say it is wind flowing through the trees, we saw a wild boar that had mutilated body parts, Jefferson "Group leader/Zorka's King's Son" had taken first shot and hit right on target. he found it pleasuring to hit the eye of their target. After an hour of hunting, I decided it was best to start heading back as the sun would start to set. Of course, he said no so we stayed, and just like I said that out appeared multiple abnormal and dangerous creatures. They could sense the presence of humans and we turned from hinting to being the hunted. I remember a period of 30 minutes of pure silence, all 6 of us were terrified except for Jefferson, he enjoyed the hunt too much" said James,

Our heroes all came closer as getting lost in the woods would be detrimental in their survival. Malik and his friends had reached a cliffside and were forced to stop, " How are we supposed to get down" asked Nathaniel, "Wait those trees, I've seen them before, stated Gabriel "THOSE ARE THE WHISPERING WOODS, JAMES WHERE ARE WE GOING!!!!" asked Malik frustratingly. "We have to go through those wood trees, it's the fastest way through to lake Mareotis," said James, "Plus, I was telling you what happened in those woods so we are better prepared" "Let's just set up camp right here and think of what to do next," said Malik. Our heroes tied up their horses, Nathaniel gave them all some food he gathered from the village, Malik and James set up a fire to keep warm and Gabriel had just sat next to the fire thinking and partially meditating.

Sun was down and faces were up, our heroes were all laying down near the fire. "So, what are we thinking boys?" said Malik, "About the cliff or crossing the toxic lake or fighting Adeline or the whispering woods were about to go through," said Nathaniel "AOOOOOOUUUUUUHHHH", a loud skin-crawling howl was heard in the distance, "well, we sure have a lot to think about and not a lot of time. James you got us here, think of a safe way to get us through here, Gabriel, you've got us through cliffs before, but this time we got horses so find a solution for that, Nathaniel find and think of a solution or method of fighting Adeline, there must be weak spots, you're a great strategist, and I will find a way to cross that damn lake and prepare for the even my brother and Morpheus are there. We still got a day of riding so we got time, James tomorrow you finish that story, get some rest men, tomorrow could get dangerous." Said Malik.