Page 30 of Burn Bright
"Do you think we should keep going? There's a volgur out theresomewhere."
"I know," she picked up her skirts, and continued on. "Who do you think sentit?"
Shesentit? "At least two men died because of that thing. Maybemore."
"You didn't heed the warning," she replied. "You didn't even share the warning, did you? Their lives are on yourhands."
My blood ran cold. "You put that skull there forus."
"No. The draugur did that," she said. "To mark their territory. You encroach upon it at your own risk. They guard the Heart. And they only give one warning. Continue on at your own risk,Neva."
Draugur. I shivered. Monsters made from trees, and twisted with animalflesh.
"I unleashed the volgur to drive your men friends out. They should not behere."
"Why? What are you hidinghere?"
"I will showyou."
We picked our way through the forest, our steps blurring with each stride, as if we covered more than ayard.
"There was an empire to the north of us once," she murmured, moving through the trees at an unhurriedpace.
"The Empire of Velide," I said. "Darkness crept out of the woods and tore itapart."
"Darkness?" she looked at me sharply, then gave a rough-edged chuckle. "Is that what they teach in your world ofmen?"
I shut my mouth, stung a little. "Nobody knows what truly happened. It was centuriesago."
Galina summoned a ball of pure light into her hands, like an oversized soap bubble. "Iknow."
Then she blew upon it, and the bubble enveloped us, sending me blinking into a newworld.
We stood in a place drenched in sunlight, though it all seemed somewhat hazy. A mountain of stone loomed in front of us, and there were strange runes carved into the stone. When I turned around, I could see the river in the distance, sunlight winking off it, and the waterfall a mere trickle of its current rage. It was milesaway.
Heavy stone lintels leaned against each other, carved with a twisted language I'd never seen before. My heart skipped a beat. Ruins of the empire? I'd thought them further north. Before us stretched the canopies of thousands of youngtrees.
A chill ran down my spine. We were in the past. What sort of magic wasthis?
"Gravenwold is not just a forest, it's a prison," Galina explained. "Long ago, the ancient gods fought the Darkness and trapped it deep within the ground beneath Gravenwold. They planted a thousand trees, the roots of which twined around the Darkness, and kept it secure. As long as the Heart of the Forest stands—the original thousand trees—the Darkness cannotescape.
"And to protect the trees, they created five guardians in Gravenwold; the unicorn, pure of spirit; the dragon with its almighty strength; the white hart, whispering dreams of destiny; the courageous griffin; and the firebird, symbol of sacrifice andrebirth."
As she spoke, shadows swirled out of the mist. A unicorn formed, gleaming so brightly beneath the sunlight I could barely see her. An enormous jumble of boulders began to take a sinuous shape, an unblinking amber eye opening and locking upon me. The hart darted through the trees. And a shadow rippled over us, turning my eye to the sky where an enormous set of wings flapped lazilypast.
"Men hunted the unicorn for herhorn."
The vision changed. Suddenly the unicorn was galloping through the forest, pursued by men with nets and spears. Blood smeared her flanks, and finally, finally they dragged her down, trapping her beneath nets made from the hair of virgins. One man raised his bloody spear, and I flinched away from the scene, screwing my eyes tight as itplunged....
"The griffin guarded the north of the woods, and when the empire began to cut down its trees so they could build their roads and forts, he was forced to fight back. They killed himtoo."
I saw a thousand tree stumps stretching across the horizon, and a creature collapsed among them, brought down by a mighty ballista. The light slowly faded from those eagle eyes, and then it wasstill.
"But in killing him, they weakened the balance. There were only three remaining guardians in Gravenwold, and the trees... They began to chop their way into the Heart. Darkness crept out of its prison, like a vaporous mist. Not the full force of the evil we guard against, but enough to bring ruin to theempire.
"The Darkness is Death, Neva. It is death that whispers through the night, a long-buried shadow trapped by the magic upon Gravenwold, and released only when its shackles are compromised. If not for the courage of the trinity—Ermady, Rior and Vashta—there would be no world left to walk upon. They were of the Old Blood—the people who lived in the forest's shadow and served the Guardians. When they went to fight the Darkness, they turned to the Old Ways to protect them. Vashta painted the symbol of purity upon her forehead in the unicorn's blood; Ermady ate the heart of the griffin, so he would have its sight and courage; and Rior... Rior was given the dragon's shadow, so he would have it watching over him as he fought. Only the hart, the firebird, and the dragon remained, to guard theHeart.
"Together they rode north to the ruins of the empire, seeking the Darkness. They wounded it with spears cut from the branches of the Heart of the Forest, until it fled from them in fear. Wounded by battle, they drove it back to the forest. Rior fell, and where he lay, the dragon's shadow blighted the ground so no grass grows there. Crippled by the blow, the dragon turned to stone and you can hear the rumble of his growl beneath the earth at times, evennow.
