Chapter Four
Dom stopped only once to eat that morning. The small waterfall he found gave off a refreshing spray, cooling him against the unusually hot autumn sun. He tethered his gelding, and took a seat at the small pool at the base of the waterfall. He dug into the saddlebag Ginny had given him. With each bite he took of dried fruit or cheese, he felt the weight of his hasty decision.
Doubt seized his very being. What was he doing? He'd felt so confident last night as he reassured Ginny of his ability to find her father. But Pierre could be anywhere! And Dom was just supposed to scour the countryside? What a wild goose chase!
What if Pierre made his way home on his own? How would Ginny get word to him way out here in the wilderness? He could be out here for months and never see another living soul. He bit into an orange, bitterness filling his mouth. Stop it! he scolded himself. It was only a four day journey to the other side of the forest. He'd start looking at the point where Luka said he'd parted ways with Pierre. If he had to, he could stop for supplied or even trek back to Ginny.
Oh Ginny. He had loved Ginny since they were children. He couldn't pinpoint the exact moment he'd recognize his feelings for what they were, but he loved her more than his own life. He'd do anything for her. She had never given any evidence that she'd felt the same. Until two weeks ago. The last few days had given Dom hope that might still be able to forge a life together.
Dom put a hand to his mouth, where Ginny's taste still lingered. Things were finally going the way he had hoped, the way he'd been dreaming for years and now he was miles away from it all! Dom sighed and finished his meal. Ginny was counting on him to find her father. No sense in dwelling on what could only be solved once his mission was over.
Mounting his gelding once again, he cantered swiftly through the dense forest. His father was forever warning against it, but he knew this forest almost as well as he knew his own lands. He was still a good day's ride from where he thought to begin his search. Stopping only once in late afternoon by a small stream to refresh his horse, he couldn't help but notice the air was becoming increasingly oppressive the farther he traveled through the trees. He traveled quietly and much more slowly. Not an hour later, something like fear prickled on the back of his neck. He reigned in his horse and dismounted. Something wasn't right.
Not a sound echoed in the trees. He hardly dared to breathe. Everywhere he looked, not a animal stirred, not an bird sang. The trees blew in the wind, but Dom could feel no breeze. The sun gleamed through the branches, but created no shadows. Fear slid down his spine. The forest was deathly beautiful in this distorted reality.
He shook his head, trying to clear the fuzziness. At the back of his mind a sharp ringing pierced his hearing. A branch snapped, sharp and harsh against the silence. Suddenly alert, he spun around. Voices drifted through the branches, from all around. They whispered around him with words he couldn't understand.
Dom gasped and stumbled back, tripping over a fallen log. He landed on the ground with a crash. The trees waving in a cooling breeze just moments ago, suddenly froze. A fog rolled in, spreading its gray cold finger through the forest, around Dom, covering the sky.
His gelding snorted and reared in protest. The reins were torn from his hands. Cursing under his breath, Dom tried to follow the horse but found his legs too heavy to move. He lay there in the dirt, breathing heavily as fear pinpricked his very soul. The forest. Air changed subtly. A heavy loneliness permeated the air, leaving and ominous blanket of fear across the forest canopy. A sound like the tinkling of bells and rushing water echoed in his brain. And then there was silence. It was as if he hadn't heard anything at all.
The sun suddenly dipped and glared Dom in the face. He jerked back, found he could move again, and scrambled away until his back was up against a tree. The light followed closely, so close he could reach out and touch it.
As quickly as it had appeared, the light was gone and a woman, the tallest woman he had ever seen, stood before him.
"Who…who are you?" he hissed after a moment. Snow began to fall. It's too early for snow, he thought faintly.
The woman smiled as if she had heard his thoughts. Her skin was white, perfectly white. Too perfect to be human. Her full lips were as blood red as the deepest rose. Her blonde hair, blowing in a wind Dom couldn't feel, fell almost to the ground and her sapphire eyes pierced him.
Dom raised a trembling hand to shield his eyes against the light that flowed from her. "I came looking for a man. Pierre. He came this way."
The woman raised a single thin brow. "An old man passed this way not too long ago." Her voice sounded like rocks beaten by ocean waves. "Perhaps it is he for whom you search."
Dom stared wide-eyed, trembling. "Where is he?"
"You are a stranger here. Why should I give you what you seek?"
He barely noticed the humor in her voice. "I have to find him."
The woman held out a hand. Green light streamed from her fingertips, colliding with Dom's body. The light flowed through his skin, his eyes, into his nose and mouth until he couldn't breathe. He gasped and choked. The woman gripped his chin with her long fingers and held it fast, forcing him to look into her eyes.
"Three thousand years i have guarded this land," she cried, her eyes blazing, "guarding Ethane, the land of Eden, from the evil of this world. But the time has come for the One Who Will Save. The One who will bring Ethane back to her former glory. He has come," she added in a whisper. Her words sank into his bones. His eyes nearly went blind from staring at her so long.
She reached with her free hand to stroke Dom's hair. Shards of pain slashed his body from head to toe. "He has come." She looked him over, an odd frightening look in her eye. "Unfortunately, I have no way of knowing for sure," she said almost to herself. "I have had to watch as my country lay in the forgotten backwoods of Dkarith, without a king, my people scattered and leaderless. Many have undergone the test. All of them have failed. Now, the One approaches. The One who will unite them once again. Will you fail me too?"
There was a sadness in her voice , as Dom pressed as far back as he could, fighting the fog that threatened to envelope him. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He'd heard tales of this forest, of forest fairies, of a long forgotten kingdom, but they were bedtime stories to scare children.
The woman tightened her grip, the subsequent jolt of pain forcing all other thought from his mind. Energy flowed from her hand. He writhed in pain. It was eating him alive! Unbearable pain flowed through his body, tearing, wrenching, distorting. As the pain finally, blessedly, flowed away, Dom opened his eyes, his sight blurred by tears. The woman stood tall, still, commanding over him, holding out a long-stemmed blood red rose.
"This I give you," she said softly. "I charge you with this perfect rose, the symbol of my beloved Ethane. In protecting this rose, you protect my country. Fail," she grabbed his chin. "and I will make you suffer one thousand fold." She shoved him away. Dom watched her, dazed and trembling with pain. "The rose will wither when one of true blood draws near, for then your test truly begins."
She touched his forehead with one finger. Exhaustion overtook Dom and he slumped forward. He blinked once, twice, staring helplessly at the woman. His vision began to swim, his mind dulled. She continued to speak and he struggled to pay attention. He caught her last words and they sent shivers down his spine just before everything went black.
"That is your true test. Unless you find one who is willing to love a beast, to lose everything in favor of love, you will forever remain a beast, and Eden will be lost forever."
Ginny paced the kitchen, biting her nails. She snapped her fingers. She sat for a moment, tapping her toes before getting up to pace once more.
"Ginny," Bella spoke firmly. "Stop pacing. You're making me dizzy."
"Sorry," Ginny muttered, already on her way out of the kitchen. Ginny tried the parlor, but Emma was in there sewing. Her bedroom felt too confining, and she didn't dare go to her father's workshop. Too many memories.
Ginny groaned, clenching her fists. She had so much energy she felt as though she might combust! Steeling herself with a sigh, she removed herself from the house and walked steadily toward the last place she'd seen Dom. He'd been gone for two days. It wasn't an overly long time, but she was reaching the end of her patience. She couldn't push away the nagging worry, the feeling that something was horribly wrong. Her sisters told her she was imagining it. That they were sure Dom and their father could walk out of the woods, unscathed, at any time.
Behind her father's workshop, the brushes he had used to groom his family horse still in the basket against the wall where he had left them. Ginny hadn't remembered to put them away. She picked up the last brush she'd seen him touch. Running her hands along the handle, she strained for the feel of his skin against her. When she realized what she was doing, she scoffed at herself, disgusted. She flung the brush away.
Dom wasn't in a stupid curry comb! Ginny sighed, sliding to the ground. Leaning her head back against workshop wall, she closed her eyes and ran her hand along the grass. The dry stalks tickled her palm. Her eyes still closed, she moved her hand to her mouth, still able to feel Dom's kisses.
The crashing of branches caught her attention. Something big was scrambling through the woods. Dom!
Ginny scrambles to her feet. The sound of pounding hooves grew until suddenly Dom's gelding burst through the tree line. The horse's hide was scratched and torn and he was visibly shaking with exhaustion and terror. The saddle hung askew, limp and broken.
"Dom!" Ginny cried in alarm. Where was he? The gelding snorted, stamping to a halt a few feet from where she stood. Biting her lip, Ginny forced herself to calm down. There was no good in frightening an already terrified horse.
"Shh, boy." She clicked her tongue, soothing the horse with her words until he let her get close enough to touch. Something terrible had happened. "Easy, boy. Easy." Letting him sniff her palm, Ginny unbuckled the saddle and let it drop to the ground. The horse shivered, his skin rippling. Ginny felt her knees go weak. Dom could be hurt. He could lying dead somewhere!
Without hesitation, she mounted Dom's gelding and gathered the broken reins, urging the horse back into the forest.
Bella glanced in Pierre's workshop. Ginny wasn't there either. She'd searched the kitchen, the bedroom, the bathhouse. Her youngest sister was nowhere to be found.
"Bella?"
"Yes, Emma?" She turned, closing the workshop door.
Emma approached, wiping her hands on her apron. "Do you have any idea where she could have gone?"
Bella shook her head. "She didn't leave a note. I haven't seen her since this morning. She seemed really nervous about something."
"It thought I heard hoof beats a few minutes ago, but I haven't seen any horses." Emma sighed. "I'll check around back. Maybe she fell asleep or something."
Bella sighed. "I'll check the house once more."
Emma walked around to the back of the workshop, shadowed by bordering forest. "Ginny?" Her sister was nowhere to be found. Glancing around, Emma noticed the pile of grooming brushes sitting quietly against the workshop wall. But it was the ripped and severely damaged saddle that lay in a heap beside them that sent a jolt of alarm through her. "GINNY!"Emma ran back to the house. She called for Bella who appeared, wide-eyed with unease.
Emma tried to catch her breath. "Ginny's gone."
Ginny gazed nervously at the dark clouds swirling and rumbling overhead. Gritting her teeth, she moved Dom's gelding away from the small waterfall. Dom had come this way. Remnants of a lunch swiftly eaten sat on a boulder not far away. Urging the horse on down the path, she shivered.
She hated the cold and she hated being wet. Scolding herself for not remembering to bring a cloak, she reached for her saddlebags, only to remember she hadn't brought any. She groaned as the first raindrop fell.
Steeling herself, she took a deep breath. Dom had come this way. Dom. Her best friend. The man she loved. Again, she recalled Dom's kisses and how wonderful it felt to be in his arms. Shaking her head, she tried to put those thoughts out of her mind. She had more important things to think about than her memories. She clucked the gelding and the faithful horse quickened his pace. With the sun sinking lower in the sky, they needed to find a place to stay for the night.
Ginny glanced around. A willow tree would be nice. Or a big pine tree. An abandoned cottage would have been better. Heck, an occupied cottage would do, but Ginny hadn't heard that anyone lived this far into the forest.
She continued on. Hours later, soaked, hungry, miserable, the horse stopped quietly. Half asleep, Ginny jolted awake and nearly slid from the horse's back. Wiping her eyes, she glanced around and gasped.
Several yards in front of her stood a thick iron gate, at least twenty feet tall and twice as wide. A black foreboding castle gleamed in the fading sunlight. Luminous gray clouds spiraled from the tallest tower as lightening pierced the air. However, there was no thunder to accompany it.
Ginny suddenly realized she sat cocooned in silence. Her breathing sounded harsh and extreme in the silence. Rain fell all around them, but there was no sound. Lightening illuminated the castle again and again, like dark gem against a cobalt sky. Fear shivered down her spine.
It felt like an eternity, but slowly, as quietly as she could, she slid from the horse's back and moved cautiously toward the iron gate. Hesitantly, she wrapped her hands around two bars. She leaned in as close as she dared and looked around, her heart pounding.
Maybe I can get inside and dry off. For all appearances, the castle looked deserted. Struck with a thought, she hurriedly looked for a lock. Maybe Dom was inside! If he had traveled this way… Looking for a lock, her heart sank. A large padlock sat stoic and severe several yards out of her reach. Hoof beats sounded suddenly behind her and she turned just in time to see Dom's horse disappear into the woods. Panic seized her. She was alone.
Forcing herself to breath, Ginny wiped the rain out of her eyes, just barely getting a hold of herself. Panicking wasn't going to get her past the gate or bring her closer to Dom. She stepped back, trembling with cold and fear. She drew a breath, feeling like an intruder in this silent world. The she noticed something.
The space between two of the gate bars was wide enough for her to slip through.
It took but a moment to do exactly that. Flecks of rust clung to her rain-soaked dress, but Ginny hardly gave notice. Slowly, she made her way toward the castle, down the wide crumbling stone path. Over grown gardens and gnarled old trees lined the path, creating patches of shadow that loomed and heightened her fear. With each step the castle loomed closer, bigger, more terrifying. Lightening struck again, illuminating her path. In the light of the storm, the castle shone, as if made of darkest ebony, absorbing the light.
All too soon, she was standing before the great ebony doors and Ginny raised a trembling hand. The just once tap the door swung open. Ginny jumped. She swallowed hard and pushed the door aside, cringing at the slow whining creak. Shaking with fear, she stepped inside.