Will’s brain was working furiously as he tried to make sense of what was going on. What did all this mean? Did this mean he wasn’t going to be killed. No, the mage Anna had said his life was indeed over, but she wasn’t going to kill him here and now. Maybe she had some kind of altar back at her lair and she was going to sacrifice him there. Or maybe he had to be sacrificed at a particular time. Will had heard stories about mages bathing in human blood and dancing around naked during solstice. Will hadn’t trusted the particular story since it’s source was toothless Tom after he’d had quite a bit to drink.

Will saw that workers in the manor were peering curiously at them through the creaks in windows and doors. A couple of soldiers shifted around uncomfortably as they walked into the courtyard. As soon as they walked in, Anna’s black stallion came cantering into the courtyard. Anna greeted the horse with a smile and stroked his nose. Anna turned around and saw that Messenia’s horse Lavender, whom Will had brought to the manor still tied to a post at the courtyard.

Anna gestured to Lavender and said “Take the horse Will”. As Will stepped towards lavender to untie her from the post, he half expected one of the soldiers to try and stop him. Will saw one of the soldiers quickly rushing back to the manor house, no doubt to ask for Lady Mildred’s instructions.Will untied Lavender from the post and climbed on her back. As he turned around, he saw that Anna had already mounted her stallion. Anna led her horse out of the courtyard and Will silently followed. He could still feel the connection to Anna through the bracelet and it was slightly nudging him to follow Anna and keep pace with her.

Night had fallen as Will and Anna made their way out of the village. It looked like Anna was taking the same path she came in to leave the village. As they moved past the stables, Will looked around hoping he might be able to catch a glimpse of Rowan, but it looked like Rowan wasn’t back yet. Maybe it was for the best that he did not see Rowan. The fact that there was nothing he could do to help would only cause Rowan further pain. They continued on the path to the forest and soon the lights coming from the village of Lamia were distant dots.

They were about to enter the outer forest. Will paused for a moment to take one last look at the place that he had called home for all his life. Somewhere in there were all the people he loved. Rowan , Mary and Cara. Will felt the sting of tears in his eyes as it struck him that he was never going to see them again. Wiping his eyes, Will followed Anna into the forest.

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

The path was barely visible for Will as they moved through the forest but even if it was pitch black, Will could make out where Anna was. He was tethered to her by some connection he didn’t understand. They rode for about an hour till they reached the ridge separating the inner and outer forest. Anna came to a halt near the ridge just as the half moon came out of the shadow of the clouds, bathing them in moonlight.

Anna turned to Will and said “Will, this may seem strange to you, but just trust me and follow me okay?”.

‘Follow you, yes, I have to since I have no choice, but trust you, I don’t think so’ thought Will

Will nodded to Anna to indicate he was ready for whatever the hell that was going to happen.

Anna led her stallion to the edge of the 70 foot sheer ridge and then suddenly her horse was climbing along the vertical face of the ridge. No, climbing was the wrong word, her horse was just walking along the vertical wall as if it was flat ground.

Will’s mouth popped open in shock as he tried to take in what was happening in front of his eyes.Will shook his head and blinked a few times to make sure his eyesight was working properly. Did Anna seriously expect him to follow her up the cliff. Anna turned around to look at Will with an amused smile on her lips as she said “Come on Will, just follow me”.

Will took in a deep breath as he led Lavender to the edge of the ridge.

As soon as lavender took the next step, Will could feel a rush of energy moving past him and he closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes, Lavender was standing on the vertical face of the cliff just like the mage and her stallion was.Lavender seems to have been adjusting much better than him as they continued their walk/climb up the ridge. Once he reached the top of the ridge Will felt the same rushing feeling again and they were now on top. As he looked down, Will couldn’t believe what he’d just done. Anna had moved forward and Will followed her.

There was a small path that led into the forest which they followed. Will forgot about his precarious situation as he took in the sights around him. He was actually in the inner forest. At about 50 paces away, a flash of gold caught his attention. He saw a lavian stag as it stepped out of the shadows to look at him, the golden veins along it’s horns glowing. But that was far from the only interesting thing, there were snakes on tree branches with silver rings around their bodies and squirrels whose stripes glowed an iridescent yellow. Geoffrey would’ve been so excited to see this, thought Will.

That thought sent a lance of pain through his heart. He would never see Geoffrey again.

As Anna was leading Will through the winding path, he noticed something. The vegetation was moving aside and creating the path as Anna was moving forward and the plants moved back into place behind him, erasing any trace of the path. He would never be able to find his way out of the forest.

They rode for a long time before Anna finally came to a halt in front of a run down, abandoned cabin in the middle of the forest. There were vines growing into it through the broken windows and snakes crawling on its roof.

Anna turned around to face Will and said with a smile “Home sweet home”.