The forest began to change around the Princess and her guard. The white and grey swirled tree trunks were darkening as if they had been coated in hot smoke many times. As they got closer to the center there were thin gray layers of ash on the tops of leaves. There was a chilly air that rushed past Kyera.
"Kyera…" Kan's voice was soft and uncertain as he tensed. His senses were lost in the smells and warnings in the air. What was striking him the most was the lack of a certain smell.
"I don't smell smoke." Kyera replied as she slipped off his back. Kan changed to his human form as the earth wove into a pair of pants on his hips. He came to stand behind her, claws extended. His eyes were wary.
"I don't know if you should be here." He added looking around. She was not paying attention to him though. The sound was louder now.
It was a sound coming from every tree as she walked closer. There was a sensation of pain and anguish pouring from the bark. The two, tall guardian trees seemed darker somehow. There were signs of disrespect at the gates themselves. The enchanted wooden holders were still lit with their single candles, but the tree below was gashed by claws. Kyera touched the mutilation as she passed into the ash forest itself.
Within the natural walls of Ash Forest Gate, the forest was just like that outside. The only difference was the trees were more luxurious and alive than the surrounding wood. Kan looked around in surprise, the forest had been seedlings last he had been here. The tall trees looked much older and more ancient than they had any right to look. Kyera took her shoes off and tossed them aside before entering the forest. He reached for her hand but she walked forward, listening as the cries grew louder and directed her steps.
"Who's there?" Kyera called. She could sense it long before she saw anything. There was someone… something perhaps… there in the dark just out of site. It didn't respond or take a step, but there was no sense of danger so Kyera turned away. "I hope you find peace one day, Fallen." Kyera whispered before leading Kan deeper into the heart of the forest.
"How did these trees grow so much?" Kan demanded and Kyera reached out laying her palm to the tree nearest her. It hummed with life.
"I forgot how long you had been gone. The fallen shifters from the Final Massacre, as well as the fallen guardsmen had been tossed into a mass grave by the humans. Almost three hundred bodies." Kyera explained as she walked slowly and carefully through the dark earth. "At the center of this forest is a pyre where we burned their bodies? And scattered their ash within the clearing here. Their ashes were poured at the edges, and the trees that grew there grew to be the walls of the Ash Forest." Kyera explained and he nodded.
"I helped plant those seedlings but the forest within was so tiny…" he added frowning.
"We didn't stop. We found every shifter body we could that was fallen by the War and brought them here. Their ashes joined their brothers and sisters in the garden. They nourished these trees, and this land. The trees grew faster, and stronger creating the Ash Forest far beyond the time we expected to see it." Kyera replied and he looked out at the trees and realized the sadness building in his own heart.
"I thought the forest was just to rebuild after the burning… I didn't know we had turned it into a burial ground." Kan replied and Kyera smiled softly.
"We still come here to lay our dead to rest. Everyone who died in the Dark ones attack should have been laid to rest here, in the ga.." Kyera was suddenly grabbed by both shoulders and turned forcibly to face Kan. His eyes were focused over her shoulder but his hands were too tight on her shoulders for her to turn and see what he was looking at.
"Kyera, you need to leave. We can go back to the camp, I will come back and deal with this after." Kan told her seriously. Kyera frowned she sniffed the air and it hit her. The stench he had smelled before she had.
"Kan… are there dead bodies up ahead?" Kyera asked soflty and the look on Kan's face said it was worse.
"Kyera, you can't… the baby." He pointed out and she sighed deeply.
"Neither me or this child are made of glass. Let me go, Kan." Kyera replied and he hesitated. Seeing the look in he eyes, he let her go. Kyera turned back and saw the shape that had got his attention. From this distance, she couldn't make out the forms for sure, but she could tell they were bodies. People tossed into a pile in the middle of this sacred forest. The cries of the Ash guardians were louder now and she realized why. This was a injustice.
She quickened her step and her heart dropped. She know knew what had become of those who had fell to the dark ones. Kyera knelt, and her stomach emptied. Tears gathered in her eyes but she forced them back.
"We have work to do." Kyera whispered and Kan looked at her. He took a cloth out and tied it over her nose.
"As you wish." He replied and the pair set to work. In little time the pyre was built and the people were beneath it. All it needed was to be lit.
Kyera used the enchanted candle at the gate to light a bit of moss attached to a arrow. She took Heart String off her back.
"Let me." Kan tried to take heartstring from her, remembering the near miss of the buck earlier that day. This was not a moment she could afford to miss.
"No. It has to be me." Kyera replies taking the arrow and notching it in the bow. She took aim at the pile of bark and dry leaves in the top of the pyre. She drew back, as her mind went through the memories of these men, women, and children and the bazzar. So many of them she knew by name. Many, she had trained alongside, guards who had done their duty and fallen to protect their people. If it wasn't for them, there would be no one left to roam as the gypsy clan. With a final whispered goodbye, she let the arrow fly.