The sun was only moments away from rising and everyone was experiencing the in-between phase of being awake and asleep, as they had all been for the last couple of hours. Since the sun hadn’t quite made it over the hills yet Hildegard closed her eyes once more, hoping to get in a last quick power nap before they rode off.
During this power nap she felt something dark creep up her spine, she felt uncomfortable but should couldn’t seem to shake it nor open her eyes to see the morning break. A better way to describe it, however, is not that she couldn’t open her eyes, but rather that opening her eyes did not break her from her dream and nowhere did she see a means of escape. She looked every which way she could, there was only desert. In the distance to her right, from the corner of her eye, she could see a old barren tree with wildly chaotic branches. The though came into her head to walk towards it, but found that before she even finished the thought she was already standing beside it, her hand extending to touch the darkened bark.
She inspected the tree carefully. She noted how it was tall with many splitting branches, though barren of leaves and its entire bark was black as soot; she could barely tell whether the tree had bark at all. Suddenly the tree caught fire from the ground up into the tips of its smallest branches, filling the void left by its lack of leaves.
“You are too late princess,” The tree spoke in a deep tone, “The prince is in another castle.”
Hildegard flinched and recoiled only to find herself awake once more surrounded by silence. The guard squad was still diligently faking sleep and she couldn’t sense a single animal in the vicinity. She rose to her feel, packed her stuff and readied her horse.
“It’s time to leave,” Hildegard shouted to Svetlana, “We don’t have much time.”
Svetlana got on her feet quickly enough, followed by Rickard, while Boris was still lying down. Rickard gave Boris a light kick. Though he protested, Boris got up. All three of them quickly joining Hildegard and readying themselves.
“Why are we in a hurry?” Svetlana asked as she got on her horse.
“The prince may be in danger.” Hildegard replied.
Though Svetlana was a little confused at where this sudden intensity was coming from, she treated any mention of the prince’s wellbeing jeopardised with the utmost importance.
“I cant explain it to you in any way that makes sense right now,” Hildegard said as she motioned her horse to get going, “I fear we may already be too late.”
Though Hildegard was the first to set off, it wasn’t long before Svetlana caught up to her, Rickard and Boris close behind.
All four of them were now galloping at full speed towards the caste of Solace. If they hurried and took as few rests as their horses could take, they could make it there before midday.
By the time they had gotten about halfway through their journey across the plain, Svetlana noticed a messenger hawk was circling high above them. They stopped as to let it land. It bore a message with the king’s seal, never a good sign. Quickly Svetlana opened the message and read it to herself. Her look turned serious. She put her free hand on the grip of her sword. Everyone else did the same, no weapons drawn yet. The atmosphere turned tense.
“Our prince has disappeared,” Svetlana shouted at Hildegard, grip on her sword tightening, “Tell me everything you know, now!”
“This doesn’t have to get ugly,” Hildegard started as she slowly and visibly removed her hands from her daggers, “I understand that as prince’s guard you are upset. I will tell you all I know, but this information must stay between us.”
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Svetlana, Rickard and Boris gave each other glances. Svetlana released the grip on her sword. Rickard and Boris followed suit.
“Look, I don’t know a lot,” Hildegard continued, “And truth be told I’d have liked to speak to the prince first, as I cannot know who’s involved.”
Svetlana, Rickard and Boris nodded in agreement, they would listen and keep quiet and hear her out.
“About a month ago I had ventured into the forest to hunt. At the time I was pretty certain I knew where I was. Both our kingdoms have explored these woods for a long time, so I’m sure like us you have decent familiarity with it. So I don’t imagine you’d have a hard time believing that I know how to hunt about the woods.
“Well, I was chasing the tracks of a rabbit, eventually chasing it into a part of the woods that seemed unfamiliar, a place I had not been in before. The atmosphere was heavy, the light was time and only a few rays of light did make it through the dense canopy. In fact, the light coming through what little gap there was between the thick black leaves seemed as blue as moonlight, despite it being noon at the time. Somehow I had lost my way and needed to get my bearing, so I looked for higher ground. This is when I discovered a small building, some shrine or chapel, yet another things I had never seen before, not in these woods. It was clearly not big enough to use to see above the trees, but something drew me towards it all the same.
“I eventually entered the chapel, after making sure it was not trapped, but found it dark and empty. The room had nothing inside it, and was designed to immediately draw your attention to the only feature that was present in the room, a small alter made of rock with on it a small bowl. Inside the bowl lay a stone which didn’t seem to be made of the same material. I tried to pick it up but couldn’t get it to move at all. I then looked for any writing or marking that could explain what I am looking at but there was nothing. When I could no longer find anything else to do I walked out. No sooner had I stepped outside the chapel that I found myself back in a part of the forest I was familiar with, the chapel behind me mere moments ago, gone. I returned home empty-handed in more ways than one.”
Svetlana, who up until this point had remained quiet while patiently waiting for Hildegard to tell her store, decided to interrupt.
“That’s all well and good,” She stated boldly, “But this explains nothing so far. And I’d like to add we have never found any such structures in these woods.”
Hildegard, mildly irritated at being interrupted just before what she considered to be the important bit of her story, decided not to continue and instead prove a point.
“Alright then,” She began, “Your prince got sick about a month ago, did he not?”
Svetlana’s facial expression showed some concern then softened, she eventually nodded, head hung low.
“He did get sick,” Svetlana admitted, “Last we saw him, two days ago, he had not yet gotten better.”
Hildegard silently nodded.
“I suspected as much,” Hildegard began, “I too have been ill since, and I’ve been experiencing nightmares ever time I sleep since then.
“I believe these nightmares have meaning, but I cannot make sense of it alone, this is why I needed to see the prince, confirm, compare.”
Svetlana looked at Rickard and Boris, got a silent nod from both of them before nodding to them in acknowledgement.
“Princess,” Svetlana began ominously, “I do not wish for you to think we deceived you intentionally when I reveal this, but when we met yesterday we were actually on our way to your kingdom ourselves. The prince had been having nightmares that tortured him for weeks and barely slept at all. He sent us to find you.”
Svetlana took a deep breath and decided to let her guard down somewhat, meeting the princess under these circumstances could not possibly be a coincidence.
“It is still somewhat suspicious that we were on so similar a mission,” Svetlana said, “But let’s say I believe you, what could the prince’s nightmares possibly tell you?”
Hildegard hesitated, she wasn’t actually sure what to expect from a conversation with the prince. Nevertheless she would tell them exactly what she thought.
“I don’t know,” Hildegard admits, “I have so many types of nightmares, some don’t make sense, some seem almost prophetic. Some depict a wizard and a witch, maybe? There is a kingdom, too, one I don’t know and have never seen. And there is a darkness so violent it rips the world apart. I feel like something is wanting to prevent your prince and I from meeting.”
Boris mumbled something to Rickard, who in turn got closer to Svetlana, whispered in her ear. She took a moment to ponder. Finally she looked around and pointed to a formation of rocks in the distance, far to one side of the valley and away from their destination.
“Let’s head to those rocks,” Svetlana said while pointing, “We’ll take a short rest there. We’ll tell you what we know about the prince’s nightmares. We’ll decide how to proceed after that.”