The first thing Faro saw when he awoke was the treetops and sky. He blinked his big eyes and slowly tried to move. He felt like he’d been hit in the face with a blacksmith hammer. Slowly, groggily, he sat up. The next thing he saw was Maggie, the former Dark Human, a short distance away bending down over Thora.
From the looks of it, everyone had passed out like he had except for Maggie. This seemed suspicious to him, except for the fact that it looked like Maggie was now kindly helping Thora to her feet and brushing her off. Getting tenderly to his own feet, he slowly worked his way over to help up Lena who was closest to him.
“What…what happened to us?” Faro asked, reaching a paw down, which the old elf gladly took, using the leverage to pull herself up to her feet. “Why was that one not knocked out?” he asked, pointing his nose towards Maggie.
Lena rubbed her head, looking like Faro felt. “Well,” she said weakly, “we all passed out, and Maggie didn’t. She didn’t eat from the trees, so I assume there was some sort of curse on the fruit.”
Faro’s eyes narrowed at Maggie. He raised his voice in anger, “Maggie! Did you and the Dark Humans curse the fruit before you left to attack us earlier?”
Maggie was helping Mathias up, and just waved him off. “I told you, there’s a wood nymph here that causes mischief. You all were only out about five minutes though.”
Mathias gladly grabbed Maggie’s hand to help himself up, but now looked shocked. “Five minutes?” he asked. “It felt like much longer than that. I had time to relive a memory I’d all but forgotten.”
“Weird,” Tobi chimed in, helping himself up from the ground. “I had some kind of vision, too. I was in my tavern, and there was a man that looked like he’d had a narrow miss with an axe on the battlefield right…”
“...across his nose,” Thora finished.
Tobi stared at her, flabbergasted. “How did you know that, child? Did you have the same vision?”
“No,” said Thora sadly. “Mine was about the day my parents died. I was showing that man weapons. Sold him one eventually. I always wondered if he was there to distract me from saving my parents, or somehow knew the attack was coming, and distracted me to save my life. He gave me this weird coin…”
“This coin?” Tobi cut her off, pointed at the coin embedded in his axe.
“Yes, Andre. My most valued possession that I gave to you when you took me in. But this man, he was an odd fellow. Talked about the heir of the Evanian line.”
Now Lena cut in, her face stern. “There are many who believe that the line of the Evania family is still intact, and that an heir was hidden away during Cosimir’s attack. Many believe that somehow through that escape, the line has continued all this time, hidden away in a secret location, preparing to take back their throne and free Evania from the darkness.”
Mathias adjusted his glasses on his hooked nose and chimed in. “I’ve heard much the same, but in all my studies there has been absolutely no record that anyone escaped the slaughter. It is weird that this man was in all of our visions though. I saw him while I was tending to the natives on the mountain. He had said something about the all the blood that will be shed, and someone will be needed to heal body and spirit if the heir is to return. I thought he was just a madman wandering through. But you all actually saw him? Like in real life, you remember him?”
They all looked at each other, nodding. After a moment’s pause, Lena turned to Faro. Her face looked intense. “What did the man say to you?”
Faro was still reeling from the vision, and was still trying to gather his thoughts on what he’d seen. It was odd to have such a vivid memory returned to him after not knowing anything about his past since the accident. It was even weirder that they’d all met the same man, as though this wasn’t a random gathering of people, but fate bringing together a band of people that were meant to do something important.
“It was on the day that the Dungeon Lord Council was meeting to decide the successor to the throne if we were to be successful. Apparently I had overheard two guards who had eavesdropped on the meeting. The bald man with the gashed nose was one of the guards. Apparently he’d heard that my father was meant to rule on the mountain,” he said, a look of worry on his face.
Thora’s mouth fell open. “That means that you’re meant to be King of Incarta and heir to the throne of Evania?” she asked, perplexed.
“No,” Faro shot back sharply. “King of Incarta, maybe, but ruling Evania is not my destiny.”
“And how would you know?” Tobi chimed in. “You don’t remember a whole chunk of your life. Maybe you were more determined to hold a good and honest rule back before your injury. How do you know what your intentions were then?”
Faro furrowed his hairy brow. He didn’t like the question. What did he really know about himself other than the glimpses of information he’d gotten and this vision? It was infuriating not knowing what he was like before. Did he even have the same personality now? Had he always been willing to go gallivanting off on quests to save little girls he didn’t even know? Or was he a selfish, spoiled prince looking for power? Judging by the hesitation he felt as he’d lived out the vision, he felt that he was much the same as he was now.
After a beat, he spoke again. “Eli is obviously not meant to be the ruler on the mountain, but I do not feel that the Fate of Evania rests in me ruling over it. I will if I must, but when all of this is over, I feel like we will need to hold a new council and decide who is best fit.” He chuckled, “Especially if I’m still a lion. No one wants that ruling over the land.”
They all broke out into smiles. Their belongings had been scattered around the ground when they had passed out from the visions, so they began to gather their packs and weapons so they could continue on their way.
“How do we know this wood nymph isn’t just waiting for us to cast more magic on us out there?” Tobi asked leerily as they all stared into the trees.
“We don’t,” said Maggie. “But the horses are right here. Let’s get them untied and we can part ways.”
They all agreed and moved towards the horses. Faro was unsure as he approached the horse. When he saw them the first time they had seemed to disappear into thin air, but now he realized that was just the magic vision taking over his mind and sight. This time when he reached out to touch the horse, his paw landed on the soft fur and leather of the saddle. He was surprised that the horse was so calm at his touch, him being a lion-man and all. Apparently the fact that he talked and acted human was still able to set the horse at ease.
Carefully, he made to mount the horse, and was pleasantly surprised that the horse let him. He looked around and saw Mathias and Tobi mount the smaller horses as they were shorter and a better fit for the smaller men. Lena and Thora easily mounted their horses, and Maggie mounted her own horse that had been waiting for her here.
They all smiled at her and thanked her for her help. “Good luck on your trip home!” Thora said, cheerily waving to her.
Maggie sighed. “I’m not hopeful much is left there. The new ruler is probably worse than the last.”
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
This made Faro think back to his vision. Big, hulking, and yet oddly hesitant Eli, barely able to swing a hammer in a fight. He didn’t know what had happened between that point and the time of his rule, but there’s one thing he knew for sure. Eli had once been more hesitant than he was to have any position as important as the Ruler of Evania. It was hard to imagine that his friend from the vision had become a dark and evil ruler.
Faro decided to let this thought go and simply nodded to Maggie. “You should always hold out hope for the best,” he said to her.
Maggie nodded in agreement, gave them all one last smile, and took off on her horse back the way they’d all just come from. The party was a party of five again, and they all took off through the grove at a quick trot. When they came out the other side, Faro’s skin began to crawl. He couldn’t shake the feeling they were being watched.
Glancing over his shoulders back at the trees behind them, expecting to see Maggie, he gasped. Staring at them from up in an apple tree appeared to be a man’s face. The leaves obscured most of the head, but he could see eyes peering out at them, and a nose with a gash across it.
Faro blinked quickly to clear his vision and get a better look, but when he opened his eyes, the face was gone, and the trees were absolutely still.
***
Later the next day the party found themselves up on a high hill, looking down at a beautiful lake scene. Trees were spotted around much of the perimeter of the lake, though they were full of browning leaves, which was odd because it wasn’t the time of year for trees to change. Despite this oddity, the lake sprawled out as far as they could see to the left and right, and the cool, greenish water was quite a sight after just seeing flat land for the past day.
“Lake doesn’t look too bad,” said Tobi as he hopped down from his small horse. They had all decided to rest on the hill and take in some rations before heading to the lake. Thora was already down and digging in her pack for some of the dried meat, bread, and berries they’d packed for the trip. Mathias, ever the healer, was beginning to eye the ground to see what types of plants and herbs he could forage for his pack.
Lena was petting her horse when she spoke to answer. “Mournfall Lake is not a force to take lightly,” she said. “I’ve not been here in hundreds of years, but there are rumors of a great darkness beneath the surface. We must be careful as we find our way across.”
Faro eyed the lake as he bit into a piece of bread. When he finished chewing, he said, “If it’s so dangerous, would it not be better to go around?”
Lena shook her head. “No. It will take extra time to find our way around either way. The northern route would take an extra four days. Going south will take two, and would lead us through Zelira. We can cross the lake in an hour if we’re lucky.”
Tobi thought for a moment, nibbling on a piece of grass and stroking his beard. “Deadly lake or friendly elf kingdom. Even if it’s a little longer, seems we hedge our bets and go south, ay?”
For the first time since he met her, Faro saw Lena’s face go flush. “I may… or may not be banned from Zelira, punishable by death.”
Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at her. Lena seemed so by the book and perfect at everything she did, it was a shock to hear that she had such a harsh penalty set against her.
Lena looked at the ground as they all stared at her and kicked at the dust. “Well, I was banned when my father ruled there at least,” she said. “He’s since moved his rule…elsewhere.”
They all thought about this for a moment, but it was Thora who got it. “Umbra?” she asked, aghast. “Umbra is your father?” Lena nodded. “Then that makes you…”
“A princess of Zelira,” Lena said, looking ashamed, “and also Umbra's Veil, if you look at it that way.”
The silence that followed was palpable. No one spoke until Lena was ready to continue. “I don’t know when he left Zelira. I don’t know how he found the Veil, or what’s there. I don't even know how Mournfall Lake was created. It used to be called Lake Carana; lush and green. The bluest water. All I know about Umbra… my father… is that he was becoming darker and darker in his knowledge and magic by the day, and as a student of Solana’s Light, we had a falling out where he exiled me from Zelira.”
Faro wasn’t sure what to make of it. On the one hand the elf had surely saved his life several times already. On the other, having her here was making the mission harder. Not to mention Jarl had told him to come alone, and here he was with four extra people.
He decided it was more important to honor his new friend’s loyalty than the demands of a mad wolverine he didn't even remember. “We're with you through to the end of this,” he said to her. He looked around at the others for support and got nods all around. Faro wasn't entirely sure what had happened in her past, but it must have been traumatic because a single tear fell from the usually stern elf’s eye.
***
After they refueled on their rations they made their way timidly down to the lake. While it was a beautiful scene from a distance, the closer they got, the gloomier it looked.
Faro had thought the water was green from some kind of algae that had settled on top, but as they approached, the water was simply green, despite the bright blue skies above. Aside from that oddity, the browning tree leaves looked more sparse up close, and the trunks of the trees were blackened like death. There was no sign of life anywhere around the lake, so much that even the grass stopped at a certain point and just simply turned to blackened soil.
The oddity that stuck out to Faro was a raft by the edge of the water. Not just a small raft for a few people, but a big, wide raft with a rope attached that ran down into the water. He estimated the raft was big enough for three of their horses and them, which meant they'd have to leave a few of them behind. Before he could ask about the raft, Tobi asked the question that was on his mind.
“Why is there a raft here waiting for us? Is this a trap?” he asked, stroking his beard quizzically.
Lena opened her mouth to answer, as she always seemed to have an answer for everything, but it was Mathias who cut her off and spoke. “I've never ventured this far East before, but I've read that a ferry used to take people across the lake. The ferryman would bring people back and forth to the open-air church of Solana that lay in the pastures beyond the river. It was the biggest shrine to our God in all of Evania. A hundred miles square of lush green fields. Grass and gardenias as far as the eye could see. And in the center of this massive sanctuary was a giant statue of Solana, reaching up to the heavens, though not as impressive as the one Lena apparently built in Graeton,” he finished, eyeing her suspiciously.
Lena stared back at him pointedly, knowing he was still searching for an explanation of why she built the temple. Instead she decided to build on his point. “It was The Academy of Solana's Light where Umbra's Veil is now. My father, myself, and one of my brothers all studied there. I have no idea what dark and twisted evil he has turned the place into. I spent several decades learning there. And now…” she trailed off, looking sad.
Thora patted her on the back to comfort her. After a moment, she pointed out into the lake. “Do you think this is safe to cross, Lena?”
The elf stared at the raft and the lake. “I honestly have no idea. We'll have to board the raft and find out.” At that she looked at the party, the five horses, and then the raft, sizing them up. “I do know that we'll have to let loose two of the horses and double up riding on the other side. No way we'll fit on the ferry otherwise.”
They all agreed and set two of the horses loose, the smaller ones that Tobi and Mathias had been riding. After the horses trotted back the way they came and out of sight, they walked the other three horses on the ferry. Faro, being the biggest and strongest among them, grabbed the rope up from the water that was meant to pull them across, and started pulling on it with all his might. The wet rope was heavy, full of the slimy lake water. They had seen the post in the ground that used to hold the rope high above the water, keeping it dry, but it had been knocked sideways, much lower to the ground, causing the rope to sink down into the water.
The ferry broke loose from the bank with a loud snap, and off they went across the murky green lake. Faro was being taxed already by the extra weight of the wet rope, but was thankful that the tension was still enough on the other side of the lake that they could pull themselves along on the rope. As Faro pulled, the rest of the party stared out into the murky, green lake. The water was unsettling, neither reflecting the blue sky above them, nor letting them see down into its murky depths.
As they made it about thirty yards out from the shore, the raft came to a sudden, jerking stop. Afraid they’d struck something that would sink their raft, they all began to look around frantically for the obstruction to see if they could free themselves. And then Faro noticed that the water in front of them was starting to ripple. Something was rising up out of the green, murky depths.
They all stared in shock and horror as a corporeal form arose from the depths, floating in the air, its hand outstretched and bathed in purple light. Faro realized this being was using magic to stop the raft.
The form of the person gave off a dull, greenish light. It was clothed in sopping wet rags of what looked like it used to be a fine cloak embroidered with all manner of plant and wildlife patterns. The face was gaunt, not quite a skeleton, but with very thin skin stretched over the bone. The eyes were deep and gaunt. Faro noticed the pointed ears and long flowing hair, and saw that this had once been an elf.
A chill ran down the big lion’s spine as the thing opened its ghastly mouth and spoke.
“I am Amazadan, keeper of the lake. You will join us in the depths.”