Ceres and Nakir quenched the fire and made their way deeper into the forest. Ceres noticed that she could see extremely well in the darkness, and quickly attributed it to her new eye.

“If you and I can see in the dark so well, why not fly above the woods to look for this ‘friend?’“ Ceres pondered aloud.

Nakir gave a short chuckle and said, “If you think you can see through hundreds of trees as tall as mountains, be my guest. Even flying through this place is near impossible.“

Ceres looked up and, just as the villagers had told her, the trees were absolutely massive. Heavy, arching branches swayed with the flow of the wind much how ships sway against passing waves. Bits of debris and leaves fell all throughout the woods, creating a serene echo that only added to its mystique. The trunks, like thumbs and fingers of buried giants, jutted upward and stretched far into the sky. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that they very well could graze the lowest clouds in the atmosphere. Their height could easily blot out the sun if it was daytime. “How do normal people even make their way through here if it’s always dark?“ She asked.

“They use torches or fire magic, I think.“

Ceres's face morphed into a confused look. “Torches? Fire magic?“

Nakir then realized that he was dealing with a country bumpkin. “Torches are wooden sticks lit aflame, and yes, there is magic that produces flame. Bringing any fire into the Greatwoods is extremely dangerous, however. If these trees were to catch on fire the world would never again know darkness.“

They finally reached what appeared to be some sort of landmark. A solitary stone with writing on it stood in a small clearing.

Nakir began to read it. “Here begins the path into the warped woods. If you wish for an audience with me, proceed. Signed, Archizend.“

“What the hell is this?“ Ceres asked very politely. “Some kind of test? We don’t have time for this.“

“Calm yourself, little one.“ Nakir whispered, looking all around. The trees around them slightly swayed to the force of the wind passing through, but the trees ahead beyond the stone did not. In fact, many of them were vastly different shades than the normal trees and had many more branches, all growing out wickedly in a sinister form.

Ceres grew tired of waiting and being talked down to by a dragon, and so she ran straight into the woods ahead without another thought in her mind.

“Stop, fool!“ Nakir boomed as he ran after her, bumping into the jagged trees and hitting his head continuously where Ceres had run through without a problem.

Just further ahead, Ceres suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, eyes locked on a figure walking in the misty areas throughout the trees. The figure looked just like Asteria, and it was crying. The weeping grew louder and louder, forcing Ceres to take action and make a break for what seemed to be her sister.

As she grew closer, though, three beasts skulked out from behind some trees. They were of the same pack of shadowy wolves that had massacred her village.

Ceres once again was met with a foe and felt completely powerless. Without even a knife, how would she seek to redeem herself after failing her sister before? She noticed that at the ends of her new fingers were small razor sharp daggers. She knew what she had to do.

One of the wolves pounced at her in under a second, jaw open and ready to tear her to pieces.

She ducked just under its dark maw and threw her hand upward, all of her nails pointed in the same direction. The draconic arm easily cut straight through the beast’s belly and out through its back, blood gushing out of its wound and onto Ceres’s arm.

She pulled her hand back out of the dark wolf and peered down at its lifeless body on the ground. Even though she had managed to kill one before, this was the first time she felt as if she had a good chance against the creatures.

Just as soon as her confidence began to grow, Nakir finally arrived, bruises and broken twigs all over his body.

The wolves instantly ran at the sight of the black dragon, leaving a bloody Ceres and a tired Nakir alone in the mist.

Ceres was about to break the silence when another figure appeared amidst a well in the distance. The two wandered over until they were a couple meters away from the figure.

As it came into view, it was not Asteria, but a cat with nightshade fur and baleful eyes.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Ceres and Nakir instantly fell to the ground in exhaustion.

“You had me running around the entire forest for a cat!?“ Nakir roared once more.

“No, no… I swear it was her. It was my sister. Where could she have gone?“

Nakir then noticed that her entire right side was caked in blood. “Little one, are you alright? Are you hurt?“

“No, idiot. I had to defend myself back there, while you were running into trees.“

Nakir opened his mouth to respond, but closed it as he realized he had no worthwhile excuse.

“Silence.“ A dry voice emanated from where the cat was perched atop the well. The manner in which it spoke was unlike anything the two had ever heard. It enunciated every syllable and vowel without error, all in an eerie, raspy tone.

They both looked at the cat with furrowed brows. The cat simply glared back at them with the same ill-omened gaze.

“What is a hybrid doing in my woods? Why is the kin of the godbeast tearing through my trees?“

Ceres and Nakir continued to stare without saying a word. The world around them was now completely still and silent. The only thing that moved were the cat’s large pitch-black eyes slowly moving from Ceres to Nakir. The cat’s purple fur was a dark shade that shimmered under the dots of light shining from stars above.

“Are you… are you Archizend?“ Ceres broke the heavy silence, but could not hide the nervousness in her voice. Whatever this thing was, it didn’t seem anything like the cats she had encountered back home.

The cat’s eyes slightly narrowed. Its mouth distorted into a small, abnormal grin that struck an odd sense of terror deep in Ceres’s heart.

“Yes. Archizend is I. You are the first to say my name and still be standing like the trees around us. Tell me, Ceres, where is your sister? Where is Asteria?“ It spoke slow and thoughtfully, with every word feeling like a knife to Ceres’s throat.

She then noticed that the well the cat was sat upon was the exact same well from her village. Countless memories flooded through her mind in an instant. The peaceful days of gathering water under the light of a new day were still vivid in her mind. Were those days over? Was that going to be the last time she would ever see her sister again? These same painful questions clouded her thoughts once more.

A cold, raspy laugh brought Ceres back to the present. Archizend was quietly cackling, his figure still slightly enveloped in the inky mist that surrounded them. Eventually, he stopped and gave Nakir another shadowy glare.

“Tell me, Nakir, where is your sister? Where is Arkiel?“ The cat’s grin grew wider than before, its sharp teeth barely visible in the darkness.

The black dragon seemed pained by this question, as he already knew the answer. “You know where she is. She has served the Black Sorceress since before I had any memories of my own.“

Archizend’s grin vanished. His eyes seemed to grow even darker than before, something Ceres had thought to be an impossibility. “I see. The Black Sorceress…“

Silence fell upon the three once more. Ceres’s fear had begun to subside now that the cat had shown some capacity to communicate without sadistic intent.

“These vermin, the dark wolves that I led you to my dear hybrid, are an existence caused only by a human woman I once knew long before I had the ability to speak. You two seek the Black Sorceress. The mystery of your sister’s capture will be revealed upon finding her in the city of Aza.“

Ceres and Nakir looked at each other briefly, baffled by the cat’s extensive knowledge on seemingly everything. The cat spoke as if he knew anything and everything, past, present and future.

“Wait, what do you mean led me? Are you saying that the Asteria I saw back there… was you all along?“ Ceres questioned the wicked cat.

Archizend gave her a slow nod, his grin returning briefly before fading once again.

Sadness fell on her heart as this truth was realized, though she had had her doubts at the sight of her sister so soon after losing her. “So, you’re saying that if we find this sorceress, this woman you know, we will find Asteria?“

“In due time, when twilight is aflame and the ravens unravel a corruption deep within Aza’s heart, will you find your beloved Asteria under a dark sky.“ Archizend began to cackle and then laugh hysterically before jumping into the well.

When the two looked in, he was gone. The cryptic cat had vanished all while leaving the girl and the black dragon with more questions than answers.

“Aza,“ Nakir pondered to himself. “Of course she’s there.“

“Nakir, who is this sorceress? What is this city? What the hell is going on?“ Ceres covered her face and sighed a deep sigh.

“The woman we are looking for is an extremely powerful caster of high magic. She may be the most powerful mage in the world. I met her long ago in another life, so I do not remember her name, but if anyone could help us find your sister, it would be her. And the city? The city of Aza is a magical metropolis designed for the sole purpose of studying ancient magic. No one would have a deeper connection to high magic than her.“

Ceres did not understand many of the words Nakir had said, but she gathered that her mother and father had not told them of the outside world at all. “Back in the village, none of us ever left the Outlands unless it was to come here to hunt. I never knew the world was this large.“

Nakir looked down at the girl and pitied her. He knew he could not look at others as he did before now, like ants. This girl was his responsibility, and for some reason he felt a deep connection to her unlike anything he had ever felt in his lifetimes. “Come, let us find a place to rest. We’ve both had a long day.“

Ceres agreed and the two carried on, having braved the path through the center of the woods. What else lay in their way to Aza? Archizend’s last words to them weighed heavily on their hearts as they made their way onward through the forest.