| Chapter Four Realm of the Mages
Lora had surprised Jack upon his return to the campsite with an
exquisite meal awaiting him. Stunned, he took in the familiar
sights and smells of the traditional dishes of his homeland, and even
though the were set out on a flat stone rather than a table, he had
never seen such finery.
"How... Where?" Jack asked, mouth agape as Lora looked up at him from where she sat. "You dream and you remember," she said, in an almost sheepish voice. "You long for the familiar, and you recall it in great detail." "You can see my dreams?" "When one dreams as loudly as you do, yes." Jack wasn't sure how to take that, and as he had a seat next to the rock, he looked over the traditional Japanese breakfast laid out before him. "Where did it come from?" At this, Lora smiled, meeting his eyes unflinchingly. "The air, the earth, the water--everything. I am the three-hundred-and-fifty-year-old Guardian of a forest that bridges space, time, and reality itself... don't you think I have the ability to conjure breakfast?" Jack smiled at that and started eating, Lora meerly watching for a few moments before wandering a few yards away. "How much farther is it until we reach my time?" Jack asked after finishing off a bowl of meso soup. "At our current rate of travel it should only be a few more days," Lora said, staring off into the distance. "But any unexpected problems or encounters could delay us." "You expect we will meet enemies on our journey?" Lora looked at him, viridian eyes glinting oddly in the morning light. "Shall we say, my realm is not called the Forest of Shadows for nothing. It is wise to be cautious at all times." After breakfast, they broke camp and started on down the path, the journey this day being considerably more straight forward than before, Lora only making one sharp turn down the unseen "threads" of her forest. As they progressed, they walked mostly in silence, Jack content to enjoy the scenery and peace of the natural world around him, but as they traveled, he began to notice a disturbing change in the forest. The trees grew thick and gnarled, their bark becoming so dark as to be almost black, as though they had been burnt and twisted by unseen hands. The sky above became gray, the foliage an odd purplish color, and where birds flitted through the trees, they gradually gave way to flying reptilian creatures Jack did not recognize. The whole forest had turned into a warped and blackened version of its former self, and the very air seemed to prickle with anxiety. "What is this place?" Jack asked at last, cringing away from one of the flying lizards as it dove near his right shoulder. "The realm of the Mages," Lora replied, her voice holding a hint of bitterness. "We have crossed through several realms already since the journey began, but this is the first we've gone through that's really notable." "What's wrong with the trees?" Jack inquired, briefly resting his hand on the trunk of a gnarled, unrecognizable species of tree. To his surprise, it didn't feel dry or sooty, but solid and rough as any tree's bark should be. "While some worlds suffer from a lack of magic, this realm sufferes from an overabundance of it," the Guardian explained in her dulcet voice. "It warps everything--the creatures, the people, and even my trees." "Why not simply move your forest somewhere else, then?" Jack asked, puzzled. Lora stopped and looked at him, and for a horrible moment, Jack feared he'd said something wrong, but the Guardian gave him one of her small smiles and put his fears to rest. "I could no more remove my forest from this world than I could remove the stars from the sky or the waves from the ocean." She rested her gloved hand on the trunk of a nearby tree and smiled fondly. "Magic may have warped their appearance, but these are still my trees." Jack nodded in understanding. "Even though this world is dark and dangerous, it is still a part of your forest?" he clarified, and Lora nodded, smiling at him. It was in that moment, as Lora was looking at the Samurai, that the familiar whistle of an airborne arrow reached his ears. Before he could react, Lora let out a cry and stumbled backwards, an arrow protruding from her right shoulder. Jack watched in horror as the Guardian swayed on her feet then sank to her knees, on hand clutching the pierced shoulder. Jack rushed to her side as the sound of galloping horses approached them from both directions on the path. "Jack!" Lora wheezed. "Mages--run!" Jack frowned. "I will not leave you here," he argued, drawing his sword and getting to his feet as he faced back the way they had come. Lora gripped the arrow shaft in her hand, a strangled cry escaping her lips as she pulled it forcefully from her shoulder. The blood flowed for a second or two, brilliant red against her pale skin, but it slowed to a trickle within moments. Casting the arrow aside, she pushed herself unsteadilly to her feet, drawing the black blade from nothingness again. "You're a fool, Jack--don't get yourself killed for my sake!" "I will not leave you!" Jack repeated more forcefully. Lora frowned, but her attention was focused on the hoofbeats coming from ahead. Almost simultaneously, two riders on horseback in heavy armor appeared, one from each direction, both carrying heavy crossbows at their sides. As Jack took a defensive stance, Lora just stood their, her sword held loosely at her side and her head bowed. The archer facing Jack raised his crossbow, a bolt already loaded and ready to fire. Jack yelled ferociously and charged forward, leaping into the air with his sword over his head. At the same time, the archer facing Lora began to raise his crossbow. Lora's head snapped up suddenly, her emerald eyes blazing with a fiery green light. Charging forward, she brought up her sword, green energy rippling across the obsidian-black eyes. Jack flew at the archer, dodging away just in time to avoid the bolt launched in his direction. Landing on the ground on the far side of the mounted mage, he glowered before leaping again, his sword flashing brightly as he sliced at the archer. Lora darted right suddenly, an arrow missing its target and burrying itself in the earth. The mage followed her motions wordlessly, new bolts materializing in the crossbow without need for a quiver or loading. One after another, arrows followed in her path as Lora darted towards a tree, leaping up and kicking off of it so that she flew through the air straight at her assailant. The mage Jack fought against blocked the blows of his sword with the crossbow, but little by little, Jack whittled it away, the mage making one last desperate swing with what was left of his weapon before Jack swung the Samurai blade and severed the mage's head cleanly from his shoulders. Jack watched the mage archer slide from his mount, the horse spooking and galloping off into the forest as the body fell lifeless to the ground. Looking up, he saw Lora launch herself off of a treetrunk, the mage archer unable to react in time before her black sword pierced him straight through the breastplate of his armor. The mage fell back to the ground from the force of impact, Lora landing in a crouch over him, her head bowed, silver hair spilling over her face. The archer sputtered and choked behind his helmet, his gauntleted hand reaching up, shaking and jerking as he tried to grab the Guardian's throat, but it fell abruptly and the mage was still. Lora rose to her feet, drawing the blade from the mage's corpse and sheathing it back into air once more. Jack rushed to her side once more as she swayed on her feet again, hair still covering much of her face. He caught her just before she collapsed, her hand once more on the wounded shoulder. Without a word, he scooped her into his arms, charging down the path Lora had been following, his instincts telling him the proper way to go. After several long minutes, the dark and warped world of the mages gave way once more to the pristine, green forest Jack was already so familiar with. When at last he felt he was a safe distance from the realm of the Mages, he laid Lora down on a soft patch of green moss, his eyes full of concern and regret. "Lady Lora?" he urged, bordering on panic as her eyes remained closed. Slowly, she opened her eyes, gazing up at him wearilly. To his shock, he saw that her emerald eyes had turned an odd shade of gray, and her pale skin looked sickly rather than polished. Mortified, Jack turned his attention to the wound, gently prying her hand away from it to study the hole left by the archer's bolt. The wound looked as though it had been formed by a hot brand, the skin around it charred and black, dark veins leading away from the injury. Perplexed and worried, Jack looked into her eyes again. "What is it? Poison? How could an arrow do this to you?" "Worse... than poison," Lora gasped, struggling for her words, her expression pained. "Iron. It is my poison. The arrow was iron." Jack frowned, nodding once before tearing a strip of cloth off of his gi, pulling a bundle of herbs from its folds and preparing a bandage. He tied the bandage securely around Lora's wounded shoulder, wincing slightly at her look of excruciating pain. Finally satisfied that he had done all he could, he sat down next to her to watch over her. "They won't come...not for a while," she said in a weak voice, startling Jack. "You... surprised them. They won't make a move until they know how to deal with you." "Good, then you have time to rest," Jack said gently, gazing down at her. "I'm sorry, Jack," Lora told him, her eyelids heavy. "I fear this will delay your journey home." "Don't speak," the samura replied, gently resting his hand on her forehead. "Just rest." Jack had fully intended to stay awake day and night until Lora was well enough to care for herself again, but within a few hours of Lora slipping into sleep, Jack followed. The forest itself seemed to scheme against his efforts, every gentle breeze through the canopy of leaves, every murmer from a nearby stream or hoot of an owl seemed to sing him a lullaby he could not resist. As he drifted off to sleep at last, he thought to himself, but I have to watch over Lora. Then, quite vividly, a voice seemed to answer him--you do her no good if you're exhausted. Sleep. And he did. The next morning Jack awoke to a surprise greater than anything he'd thus far encountered in this strange forest. As he opened his eyes to see the light of early morning filtering through the trees above, he realized he felt something draped across his middle. At first he thought it may have been Tut--the cat had slept on him before on one occassion, a fact which made him feel greatly honored for reasons he couldn't understand--but no, it wasn't any cat. Lifting his head and looking down, he saw Lora pressed close to him, her right arm draped across him. Startled and lightly amused, he just watched her sleep, loathe to move her even if he felt like getting up himself. After what seemed an eternity, Lora's eyes opened slowly. For a moment or two, she just lay there, so still she may have still been asleep, but her eyes traveled slowly upward, meeting Jack's amused gaze with an almost mortified look. Eyes wide and cheeks flushing pink, Lora slowly pulled her arm away and sat up, looking away from him sheepishly. "How is your shoulder?" Jack asked gently, sitting up as well and wondering at Lora's sudden bashfullness. "Better, thank you," Lora said, and though her voice was still groggy from sleep, it was clear she'd regained much of her energy since last night. Turning her to face him, Jack redressed her wound with a fresh scrap of his gi. He frowned when he saw that the wound had not improved at all overnight, and in fact the black tendrils spreading out from the injury seemed to have increased in number and size. "Your wound doesn't seem to be healing well," Jack observed, looking at Lora with an expression of concern. "It's better than it would have been without your help," she told him, gesturing to the herbs and bangage in his hands. "Normally I would have just crawled off to some remote part of my forest and waited for the poison to work out of my system on its own." "I imagine that must be very painful." "It's excruciating," Lora clarified, meeting his eyes unflinchingly now. "And it lasts for weeks or even months. Your care has helped more than you know." Jack smiled, glad that he had been of some use. He rebandaged her shoulder and nodded. "Perhaps we should rest here for a few days?" he suggested. "No good," Lora replied, getting unsteadilly to her feet, much to Jack's alarm. "We're exposed and vulnerable if we remain here. We will have to keep moving until we reach the Forest of Dreaming." "What is the Forest of Dreaming?" Jack asked, puzzled. "A place where we will be safe," Lora replied vaguely, walking away from him and causing Jack to hurry to catch up with her in case she needed support. "It is just down the road a ways." |