The Razing of Roses

I’m much happier with this chapter, because I feel like something actually happens here. I was getting lost in my own story because nothing was being explained and I was stressing myself out :”)

BUT, once again I surprise myself with a chapter I wasn’t expecting, and was completely unplanned. I guess Part One will just never end because I keep creating more work for myself :”D

We’ve made it to page 50 lads!! God knows how many more to go. Judging by how long the shortest part is, I’d say many, MANY more.

Previous Chapter

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The Razing of Roses

Klo awoke from a dreamless sleep to the sound of wind chimes. His face pressed against the soft grass, he opened a yellow eye. He’d spent the whole night down by the lake, his various possessions left out before him. They didn’t quite bring the same heart shattering sorrow they brought him last night, but looking at them still stung. It took too much effort than it should have done for him to rise from the ground, finally looking into the branches illuminated by the blue glow of the lake. Hundreds upon thousands of wind chimes hung from the branches. Each varying in size and tune and for the first time in a while, curiosity overcame him. Leaving his belongings and his satchel where they were, he crossed the grass onto the sandy lakeside to a low hanging wind chime. There, hanging from the bark was a circular stone, smooth apart from the initials engraved. O.L.F, carved in flourishing handwriting. He cupped it gently with his hand, sending a delicate tune from the chimes dancing across the lake’s surface. He looked to another, smaller in size but similar in design, a higher pitched song gracing his ears. Once again, initials were carved into stone, but it was less smooth, and a little jagged around the edges, the initials spelling N.H haphazardly carved into the surface, as if the process had somehow been rushed. Tilting his head, he peered into the various branches overhead, each bearing it’s own fruit of stone and metal, singing in the breeze.

That was something else that had piqued his interests. Where was the breeze coming from? He couldn’t imagine, this far below the Crimson Forest floor, they’d experience much turbulence. And yet there it was again, carrying the song of the wind chimes on it’s back, brushing his face with the comion of a mother. It was unlike anything he’d ever seen or heard of before, and he quickly realised that seemed to be a running theme throughout his journey so far.

His journey. The thought filled him with worry. Where was he supposed to go from here? He was in a foreign land, with foreign people, travelling through a foreign forest to a foreign town. He was so lost. But, he knew he had a direction. Throughout the weeks of travel through the forest, he’d forgotten. He’d allowed his mind to be clouded by grief and sorrow. He allowed himself to become stuck, broken. Unhinged. He didn’t know what changed. Perhaps it was a decent length of sleep in a place he knew he was safe. Perhaps it was the glowing crystals and gems beneath the water’s glassy surface. Perhaps it was the now comforting thought the voice in his head kept suggesting.

’Revenge.’

He didn’t hear it from any other voice other than his own. That was his direction. That was his goal. Something had snapped in his mind. The innocent boy from Rosewood was gone. He couldn’t find any semblance of contentment within his heart anymore. He would be content until that man was dead. Until Zvana Leikt had paid for what he’d done with his life.

’Avenge.’

Once again, it was his own mind’s voice. It was the first time he’d heard any variation of the word since Rosewood’s massacre. But he had a direction. He had a purpose once again. He would just need a little help. A sharp pain in his hand dragged him out of his own mind, causing him to look down. Shining gems of liquid scarlet had formed in his hand. He’d pierced his own palm with his claws with a similarity he could have sworn he’d seen before.

“These waters have a calming essence to them. I often find myself wandering about the clearing, or dipping my feet into the cooling lake.” A gentle, regal voice caused Klo to turn his head, immediately bowing as he realised he was in the presence of the Forest Mother. She’d changed drastically since he’d seen her yesterday. Where her hair was bright auburn, it now fell a chestnut brown, her gown now as white as the antlers crowning her head. The same seasonal gems still glinting from the crest. His confusion must have been evident in his face, because the Forest Mother simply laughed elegantly, her voice ing the choir of chimes.

“My appearance changes with the seasons. Yesterday was the final day of autumn.” She gestured a pale hand to the canopy far, far above them. Too far for Klo’s eyes to see.

“The leaves of the forest will begin their descent today, leaving their branches bare. A cycle so sad, but necessary for new life to begin.” She came to the water’s edge, either not noticing, or pretending not to notice Klo’s bag and possessions out on the grass.

“This place too has a certain sombreness to it. I’m sure you’ve noticed the chimes. They’re rather hard to miss.” Klo nodded, cautiously stepping up beside her. Once again her height had changed. She seemed shorter than she was yesterday. “Here in the Wooded Kingdom, we believe that when a loved one es, their spirit is released into the wind. We create wind chimes with the initials of those we love, allowing their spirits to communicate in the ways of sound.” It was almost as if the Forest Mother controlled the wind. The chimes seemed to rise and fall with her speech, as if being orchestrated.

“It seems we have many souls with us here.” She smiled to Klo, two pointed canines glistening in the glow from the lake. A whirl of already fallen leaves spiraled in the centre of the lake, as if responding to the Forest Mother. She placed a hand on Klo’s shoulder, much like she did before. “You must have questions, child of the ancients.” She removed her hand, turning away before offering her arm. “Walk with me. I would like to offer what information I have.” Klo looked back briefly to his possessions on the floor, before he too turned away, taking up position next to the Forest Mother.

“Very well.”

꧁ ꯦ꧂

The two walked for some time, through the towering trees, down a path well trodden perhaps by the Forest Mother herself. She told him of the Forest Children, of their beliefs in the High Guardian of life Fawn. She seemed bemused by his early fascination with the Guardian, as he told her of his father carving statuettes for him, and of his mother.

“So you’re fascination with Chaos started at a very young age then?” She asked, carefulling stepping over a large, moss covered root. Klo nodded, offering a hand to assist her.

“Yes. As soon as I'd heard of The High Guardians and Chaos, I was enthralled. As was my friend Ru-” He cut himself off, his throat clo. He couldn’t even stomach saying his name. The thought of how pathetic he was sliced through his mind. The Forest Mother seemed to catch the change of mood, and switched subjects slightly.

“I have to say, I’m quite surprised. The favourite Guardian among most young boys seems to be Celias. I’ve seen it time and time again with our own.” She mused. Klo snapped his head in her direction. Celias. The first of the Nine. He only just now ed Ruže’s words.

’Take the road through the Crimson Forest. Get to Pacificae and find Celias.’

The memory shook him as he clenched his fist, once again drawing blood from the fresh wound on his palm. He could do nothing other than stare at her, eyes wide, mind frozen. The Forest Mother placed a hand on the side of his neck, concern etched in her fair features.

“Klo? Are you quite well?” She asked. Klo felt a small pull on his mind, before a warm calmness settled over him. Why was he so worried? Everything was going to be fine. Everything was going to be sorted. A strange tranquility soothed his nerves, before something pushed firmly against it. Some force, that was much larger than anything he’d felt before. He felt it push against the calmness, effortlessly driving the tranquility from his mind. The Forest Mother recoiled, snatching her hand away from his neck, now staring back at him in confusion. Klo shook his head, the force receding back, but to where he didn’t know. He just knew he couldn’t feel it anymore.

“I thought you said you lacked Chaos?” The Forest Mother narrowed her eyes in suspicion, rubbing her hand. Klo looked down at himself in disbelief. Unable to comprehend what just happened.

“I- I do. I’ve never had any Chaos. I’ve tried all my life to summon just a lick of power and nothing ever revealed itself.” His insides started to squirm. He knew in some rarer cases Chaos wielders showed their powers later in life. Maybe he did have Chaos. All this time it was just hiding within him.

With her look of suspicious confusion showing no signs of fading, The Forest Mother placed a hand against Klo’s neck again. He felt the same pull on his mind, and his bubbling excitement fizzled out, replaced with the same soothing calm.

“Try and fight back against it.” She commanded, and something in Klo didn’t allow him to refuse. He tried with all his might to feel anything other than the unnatural stillness. But whatever force had awakened in him wasn’t returning. She took her hand away from his neck, but no excitement returned. Only disappointment. Now her suspicion had dissolved, leaving only concern behind.

“What are your dreams like Klo?” The drake was taken aback by the question, pausing a little before answering.

“They’re… not exactly dreams. I rarely have pleasant dreams nowadays.” His voice was quiet, but the Forest Mother allowed him time to form his sentences. “I often have one of three. Most of them relate to-” His throat closed up again. Seems he couldn’t talk about Rosewood either. Or his parents, he couldn’t tell. He sucked in a deep breath. “Relate to my village. Sometimes I just sit and watch as a rose turns to ashes. Sometimes I relive the death of my family.” He released the breath, clenching his fist again as he realised he was shaking, the stab of pain cutting through the pain in his heart. “And the third is… much harder to explain. I’m surrounded by darkness, before it starts to suffocate me. These… tendrils, climb up my body and into my nose, my mouth, by ears. I can’t breathe, I can’t talk, I can’t scream. I’m helpless, and I-” The Forest Mother once again placed her hand on his neck, realising he was losing himself in the memory of his nightmare. He settled, his breathing slowing back down from the ragged breaths he’d started rasping. “Thank you. There’s a giant claw that extends from the dark. It looks like it reaches out from a wall of murky water. It envelopes my body and I can feel the crushing weight in my chest before I wake up.” The Forest Mother fell silent, seemingly lost in thought, though her expression hadn’t faded. Klo listened as a bird chirped somewhere in the trees above. It had only just occurred to him how out of place it seemed. It could have been the strange daze he’d been in for the last couple of weeks, but he couldn't the last time he heard the merry chirping of a songbird. All he could was the malicious cackling of a murder of crows overhead as he walked seemingly endlessly in the Crimson Forest.

After a few minutes of the Forest Mother being silent, she looked up at Klo. From the look on her face, there was something very, very wrong.

“Klo. I’ve only ever heard of this once before. It’s incredibly rare for beings from the Realm of Souls to breach the gap between. But in your case, you are being scouted. A being is searching for a place to dwell. A place to house. And from the sounds of it, this being is likely a demon from one of the Nine Infernos.” Klo felt his breathing once again quicken. “Demons of Chaos are classified as Malevolent Ones, but I'm sure you already knew this. The lesser demons are often referred to as the Darar. But Greater Demons tend to have names. And I don’t think the one you are seeing is a Darar, Klo. From the descriptions you have provided me with, it appears the Greater Demon Igel is scouting out your body.” Her sombre tone caused Klo to pause. He’d only heard of the nine Greater Demons in ing. Each born to combat the High Guardians, created by Bane, the High Guardian of death during his exile underground. Igel was a Greater Demon of shadow and fear. Punishing those who’d lead damnable lives with his suffocating tendrils of darkness, instilling paralyzing fear into his victims. The Forest Mother went to put her hand against his neck again, but stopped herself. “This is serious, Klo. Incredibly serious. I need to send word to Celias in Pacificae. He’d know how to combat this…” She once again fell into thought. A question formed in his mind, one he’d been dying to ask since hearing Ruže’s words.

“How can a High Guardian be living here in the mortal world? I thought those who didn’t fall in The Blue Ruin now lived in The Hale, far above this plain.” The Forest Mother looked on at him with sympathy, a look he didn’t exactly appreciate.

“Ah, my child, this is not the real Firstborn, but merely a dragon who takes a similar appearance to Celias himself. Either his parents had a sense of humour, or strongly worshiped the High Guardian enough to name their child after him, I’m afraid I don’t know. However, Celias is the overseer of Pacificae. He has been for generations, or at least for the centuries I have ruled over the Wooded Kingdom.” Klo blinked. This was the first time the Forest Mother had eluded to her age. “He has been a great friend to the Forest Children, offering us his wisdom and when my people have been under threat.” Klo watched as the surprisingly imposing figure of the Forest Mother stepped up to a nearby tree trunk, knocking on the wood in a series of taps. There was a short period of nothingness, just the gentle rustling of autumn leaves, before Klo’s ears picked up on something. A pitter patter of hurried footprints could be heard scarpering down tree trunks. Klo looked up to see a much, much smaller drake scampering down the various branches, tufts of fur blowing back as he leapt from tree to tree, finally landing by the side of the Forest Mother. The little creature was unlike anything Klo had ever encountered. Light brown in colour, with two stumpy brown horns sticking out from the fur atop his head. Its body was sleek, all but for two noticeable features that stood out from his otherwise normal appearance. One being a small, scaled creature nestled around his neck, seemingly oblivious to the rather dangerous method of travel. The other being the entirety of his back right leg seemed to be engulfed in a black, oily liquid. It reminded him of ink in a way, the way it was crawling over the little drake’s back.

“You called?” He sounded young, much younger than Klo, who had never seen another drake other than his parents. The Forest Mother’s expression softened as soon as she set eyes on the drake, as if she was seeing her own child.

“I did indeed, little one. Klo, this is Hei, my personal messenger.” The little drake puffed out his chest proudly.

“Nice to meet you, mister. I’m Jake Hei, but everyone here just calls me Hei.” He beamed up at Klo, before turning his attention back to the Forest Mother. “How can I be of help?” He asked, his entire body stock still, as if every ounce of his energy was focussed into listening to the Forest Mother.

“I need you to send a message to Pacificae for me. Tell Celias I'm sending a drake his way that needs help. Klo can tell him the details when he arrives.” She looked to Klo, who nodded in response. Hei looked between Klo and the Forest Mother. It was clear he wanted to ask something, but seemed too anxious to do it in front of Klo. The Forest Mother smiled, crouching down next to the little drake, allowing him to whisper in her pointed ear. Klo wasn’t sure what he said, but the Forest Mother cupped either side of the messenger’s face, and kissed him on the forehead.

“Just this once, my child.” Hei seemed to be satisfied with his answer, beaming up at both of them, before almost ing he had a task to do, and began scampering back up the trees with impressive agility. The Forest Mother stood up, watching him go. Klo couldn’t help himself.

“What was that?” He asked, expecting her grace to simply refuse the question. But she hummed a smile.

“He wanted to ask if he could use what he refers to as his special power. You saw the black, ink-like substance enveloping his back leg, yes?” Klo nodded. “Well, Jake came from a line of surprisingly powerful Chaos Wielding drakes, able to change their form without being one of the rare shifters of this world, using the substance on his leg. However, he lacks the power and control his ancestors possessed. I knew his mother, Nala Hei. You can find her wind chime back by the lake.” Klo paused, ing the haphazardly made wind chime hanging from one of the branches. N.H. A thrum of melancholy echoed through his body. “She was being hunted for her Chaos. Her husband had already been taken, and she couldn’t bear the thought of her child being taken as well. She arrived at my doorstep, bloodied, panting. She begged for me to take him in, something I did all too willingly. I offered her a place amongst my people, but she explained how her hunters knew she existed, and could track her down. But for Jake, this could be his only chance to live a good life. Reluctantly, I let her go. Jake was too young to the events in great detail, but saw me making a wind chime for someone I lost one day. He wanted to make one too, for the mother he never knew.” Klo then understood. The chime wasn’t made haphazardly, but by the untrained hands of a young drake, honouring the spirit of his mother. He saw the glint of sorrow enter her eyes as she continued. “I brought him up like I would my own. We discovered his powers together, but as the years went by, I began noticing something. Each time he changed his form, the black substance enveloped his limb just a little more. He’s oblivious to the connection between his Chaos and the growing ink, and often doesn’t understand why I have to limit the usage. But he’s a good child, and though I can see the disappointment in his eyes, he knows I have good reasons. He trusts me implicitly, and that scares me a little bit.” She seemed to shrink a little as she spoke, and Klo knew he was witnessing the Forest Mother open up about her insecurities, but he could find nothing to say. He could offer no comforting words.

It was obvious, however, how used she was to gathering her emotions. In a blink of an eye, she was back to her regal self. “Come. It is almost noon. I must attend a meeting in an hour, but there will be a reading of the High Guardians’ Story tonight, as it is the first day of winter. I would like you to attend. I will send one of my guards down to escort you to the Reading Hall. Until then, you are free to roam around as you please.” Klo lowered his head as she turned away to walk back the way the two had come. “And Klo.” The drake looked up to see her head turned in his direction. “Please be careful. I’m worried about your dreams. Igel is a nasty demon. Don’t succumb to your shadows Klo. May the light of Fawn shine down upon you.” He was unfamiliar with the phrase, but something compelled him to reply.

“And on you.” He said. She raised a fair eyebrow, though Klo couldn’t tell whether she was amused or impressed as she walked away, leaving him with a lot to think about.

-End of Chapter Seven

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(Word count for this chapter: 3459)

Hoooooooweee. This is possibly one of my favourite chapters. I’ve had this idea about wind chimes for a while, and I thought I was either going to introduce them for the Tribes of the North, or the Forest Children. The idea suited the slightly more sophisticated, calmer Forest Children. I have other ideas for how Galvaskauss and her people honour their dead.

Anyway, once again thank you so much for reading. Your makes all the hard work worthwhile. It’s so uplifting to see people enjoy what I write, and it gives me hope for the future ^-^

Here’s your free heart :heart:

-Flameborne :fire: :cactus: