Up close, the forest was different than what Tristan had remembered. Like he had been standing in a completely different place than he did ten days ago.
It looked like an infestation trying to grow out of the confines of the woods as the trees and bushes lay on the ground at a pathetic attempt at crawling through the dirt. Like countless massive roots that were once the boughs of giant trees like Sky-Fir, Pine, Vere nos, Vere bas and many others together looked like groups of snakes from tiny to massive, frozen in time as they tried to escape the corpse.
Last time he was here, they were leaning and growing away from the center of the forest. There was still some life left in this nightmarishly twisted forest. Nothing like the desolate ruins of a horror now.
Tristan climbed over a tall and twisted prone trunk and felt his heart sink as he peered ahead. Smaller branches and offshoots of the laying giants formed a wall of countless thorns that reached up to twenty feet in the air, all dead, all facing outward like ready to strike on anyone that got too close. Deeper still, they became so thin finely knit together that they appeared like hazy smoke. There was no way he could climb through this like he had the last time. He was unsure of what to do now, the forest formed an almost two miles thick ring around Beik's Dagger. And since whatever happened was at the center of that peak, he was certain that he would find the same scene spreading through the entirety of it.
Behind them, Majteer slipped once more into a gap between the branches, her sharp hooves not made for a footing like this. Ava wanted to leave her at the base of the crawling forest but Majteer strongly Disagreed. Throwing tantrum and jumping up and down like a child. Her load rattled, and Tristan heard crinkling of something from the boxes and bags. Ava had no choice but to bring 'her' with them and Tristan was sure the Winid was regretting it now.
He heard a rustle and a thump and Ava had climbed up on the giant trunk near him.
"This has …become complicated." She breathed but he didn't think she said it to him.
"It was not like this before… last time-" He stopped, suddenly saying more than he was willing and hoped the woman hadn't heard but he didn't have such luck as she turned sharply toward him.
"Last time? You were here before? When?"
"Ahm…" Tristan paused, thinking of a way out of this.
Why did he have to say more than needed? But why did it matter? Why was he even hiding it?
"A week…no ten days ago."
Why, he thought she would ask but instead she looked thoughtful. "…How was it then? Was the forest alive?"
"Some were, there were not as many branches, I could still climb and go through…"
"Ten days…" She mumbled again, "you said it was just one monster. Are you sure about this? Could it be that there were more and you didn't see them?"
'Could it be?'
He didn't think so but he wasn't certain either. "I am not sure ma'am. It could be, but we only saw the one."
"One beast shouldn't be able to affect it this much, there is something more going on…" then she took a sharp breath and tensed her shoulders and shook her hands either side of her.
"Stand back, I am going to make a path."
Was the only warning he got before everything started to shake. And he was pushed back by an invisible force. Looking up, he saw Ava suddenly looking ten feet tall like a massive giant and blinked. Just an illusion...? She was the same size but power vibrated and snapped around her like dry twig in fire.
"Magic…" Tristan breathed, and was pushed back few more steps and right by Majteer's foot who also looked rather restless. Spreading her arms to her side Ava took a deep breath and looked up. She chanted intelligible words and suddenly her hands came together in front of her in a loud clap. It was like a thunder and a string gust of wind passed through the forest in a shockwave. Ava was frozen in her place, her head dipped, not even breathing. But the power around her was stronger now, and almost suffocating and even the roots under her cracked under invisible weight.
Tristan backed off even more, Majteer reluctantly followed him. And then the woman let out a slow and shuddering exhale.
Slowly she flipped her hand so that the top were touching each other and tensed her shoulder. And took two sharp breaths as if preparing for something painful. Then with a breathless grunt her hands separated, like splitting open an invisible door, her gloved fingers remained clutched like claws. The ground shook, again, stronger than before that he had to kneel to keep steady. The forest in front of them also groaned and cracked, and out of nowhere they separated, like cut by an invisible sword, and then pushed to either side. A straight path was opening up and Ava's hands were at shoulder width, trembling. Her whole body was trembling, sweat visible in the back of her neck, the veins and sinews bulging under her skin. She twisted as she pushed against two invisible sides, slowly separating them from each other. Ahead, with groans and cracks, the forest also slowly split in two.
With a final and angry cry her hands came completely to her side and a path opened up. Ava fell to her knees, weightless and unmoving, like a puppet with its strings cut. Tristan remained slack jawed kneeling and sweating. His heart was beating so loud that he didn't even see Majteer roaring and going to her crumpled master. This was unlike any magic he had ever seen, splitting the whole forest like opening a door. His light spheres… he felt small even thinking about them. How great he had felt once that he could do magic, the only one in the village, besides his master. He doubted even his master could do what Ava just did. And she would only be slightly younger than the ancient bedridden priest.
'Do you want power?'
'Yes.'
'What will you give in return?'
'Anything.'
'Then accept.'
And accept he had.
Tristan blinked, what was that…?
The confusing thoughts that flashed through his head felt like a dream he couldn't quite remember. He was missing something important, a thought he ought to know about but didn't. His face felt strange and running his hand through it he realized he had been smiling, grinning, wide enough that his cheeks hurt.
Ava got up leaning on Majteer, suddenly looking her age. Up ahead was the straight path through the forest that he still couldn't believe was there. Uprooted trees splitting to the both sides making a V shaped walkway in the middle.
"Yes, yes, I am okay."
Ava said airily as she rubbed the smooth head of the beast wearing a small smile. He stared at the old woman who had just split a forest in front of him, a master wizard; Tristan was sure though he had never seen one before. What could she be if not one when she did things like that? Again, he looked ahead to the newly created course and swallowed.
Will he ever be able to do something this magnificent?
He doubted it but still…
Without a word Ava got up and started into the gap. Majteer gingerly following after; in slight hesitation, only for the ones who were looking for it. Beyond this point, his help was not needed, but Tristan' wasn't done. Seeing such a grand display of magic left him feeling small, smaller than an ant but his desire to try and do more magic only increased.
'He will fill himself.' The source was right there, beyond the forest. So he followed after the two when they were but the size of his thumbnails. She did ask him to go back, but she didn't prevent him from following either. Tristan was still not breaking the 'promise', he thought, but at that point, he was certain he wouldn't be caring even if he did.
Tall slanted walls of black thorns, small and big, and writhing boughs and roots, twigs and branches. Any moment they might get back to their old position and swallow him whole. The sun was up just a while ago but here it felt like there would be hours before morning.
He saw grey and brown under his feet after a long time, no more black earth and rocks. The uprooted ground was soft to walk on, like it had been ploughed for farming. He enjoyed the cold and soft feeling under his bare feet. Ava and Majteer had disappeared, and Tristan let them. Though he wanted to and felt impatience boiling inside of him, he did not want to be with Ava when he filled the well inside him. Let her go in, looking for Olean, he would just fill himself and return, like he had promised.