Chapter Fifteen
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Chapter Fifteen
Deep within the Unquiet Forest, Arborview - October 5, 9:34 p.m.
Silhouettes of predatory birds shrieked overhead and the forest whispered with the sounds of crickets and cicadas. Veneficus devoured the sky and slithered through darkness with its astral radiance and Orin was grateful he had a guide to follow, he imagined that the snake could envenom those clamorous forest creatures.
It had been hours since Orin left the Unquiet Forest's Edge, and now he wandered deep within the wildwood. No dirt or stone path guided his travels, he relied on the knowledge shared with him to navigate the forest. He had no idea how he'd get back, and tried his best to memorize various landmarks.
Orin walked, irritated, but kept these landmarks in mind. The last thing he'd do is get lost, he wanted to get out of this place. He had enough of forests and agricultural simpletons, he wanted to go home already.
No, irritated wasn't the right word - he was downright pissed. Was Lariska toying with him? Maybe she was the suspicious one and followed his every step through the forest, lurking slowly behind for the right chance to attack him. Orin turned back to check for any shadows behind tree trunks, well, if she's stalking me, she's doing a damn good job. He scowled and wandered another hill embedded into the forest landscape.
Moonlight cracked through the canopies of trees and his face blanched. "Please, moon, allow me to find this damned place and let it not be some bullshit lie that redhead made up. I wanna go home." His plea lacked eloquence, clearly infuriated about his predicament. Orin advanced onward and the moon perished behind the foliage.
A dim light was spotted up ahead. Had the moon answered his call for help?
It had answered the knight's desperate call! Thank you, moon. And the dwelling ahead looked like an outhouse, a diminutive wooden shelter. It was nothing spectacular, just a typical outhouse that could be found in a forest for travelers to use before returning to their journey.
Could this be the outhouse Lariska mentioned several hours ago?
Moving closer, Orin examined the twin violet flowers climbing the outhouse and the crucibles and jars stacked on a wood cabinet, with labels like "Butterfly Meconium" - butterfly blood? This had to be the place, he was sure of it. What kind of freaks would have butterfly blood in a jar anyway? That's pretty gross. Definitely the Dark Council. He drifted even nearer and opened the outhouse door, it was unlocked.
It seemed like an ordinary restroom at first, with a dim light overhead and towels dotting the place for any travelers to utilize. Growing out from a woman's leather boot tied with string lace, a berry plant claimed it as residence. Orin couldn't help but notice the hook and chain to his left.
A door handle. Well, look at this here…how obvious can you get? As he moved closer to examine the chain, he couldn't help but notice the door handle on the floor, slightly rusting and without a lock. This has got to be what I'm looking for, this has got to be the place that Lariska told me about.
There was no doubt about it, his gut instinct told him that the Dark Council's common area resided beneath the door, Orin just hoped that the common area would lead him straight to the dark elemental. He didn't want any more of this town or its underground cult. He asked the moon to help him once more in this mercurial night.
Shit, now I need to move this table so I can get down there, I hope no one else comes to this outhouse and sees the table out of place. Shrugging, he pulled the table outward and crawled to the door handle to turn it, his mission one step closer to completion and he could feel home approaching already. Orin descended down the trap door's ladder and didn't look back.
Continue to Chapter Sixteen
Return to Chapter Fourteen
Note: In case there's any confusion for early readers - initially chapters 13, 14, and 15 were combined into one hulk of a chapter 13 and have since been split up. I prefer shorter chapters and hopefully you do too! :)
Hugs!