„What is that 'Guardian of the Sevren Forest' anyway?" I shouted through the hum of wind in my ears.
"I think it's some creature that watches over the order and balance of the forest," Sril answered, shielding his eyes from the sun as he looked south. "I think it's part of the reason why animals don't attack humans in there... it also protects the inhabitants from anyone who intends to harm them, I briefly told you about it the day we first arrived..."
"Yeah, I remember..."
"And I fear that, if something's really happened to this being, whatever it might be, the forest might fall into chaos."
"But what can we do if we don't even know what it is and where to search for it?"
"I don't know," Sril looked south again, to the dark line of trees that was starting to get visible. Somewhere between it and us shimmered the crimson scales of Yanka's wings. "But I'm sure the druids will be able to point us the right way somehow."
The conversation died out as we concentrated on getting to the forest as quickly as possible. Despite our best efforts though, the sun was already lowering to the far west when we arrived at the other side of the valley.
"Did you notice something?" I asked at some point, watching the expanse of enormous, silvery-green trees with worry.
"What?"
"Before, the forest seemed to emit a kind of warmth, a friendly aura... and now, describing it as the opposite would be sort of an understatement..."
He squinted a bit. "Well, you're right, but as I said..." his voice broke mid-sentence, when he suddenly beat his wings a lot harder one time, and a split second later an arrow barely missed his left side. We both leaped to opposite sides, as more projectiles darted our way.
"Are they crazy?!" Sril clenched a hand around his sath underneath his shirt, completely pale.
"I don't think they recognized us..."
"You think we can be mistook for anything else from any distance or height?"
I winced, let myself fall a bit to the more dense part of the tree tops and carefully approached the opening above the clearing. "Stop that, it's us!" I shouted when another arrow missed my wing by mere millimeters.
Agitated voices came from below and the assault stopped. We finally landed in the middle of the camp... which unfortunately didn't really look like a camp anymore. Some of the hovels were destroyed beyond repair, the clearing barricaded by a wreath of thick branches and trunks of fallen trees. The druids were armed with bows and daggers.
Archdruid Akiel stepped forward from between them. "Please forgive us," he apologized hastily, "we didn't expect multiple winged creatures to come..."
"We're alright, so let's forget that," Sril interrupted him, clearly not wanting to waste time. "What is going on here?"
"Something has happened to the Guardian of the Forest, it seems he lost control... the animals went berserk, started attacking..."
"And where is Yanka?" I kept looking around.
The archdruid rose his head a little, as if he was expecting her to come all the time until now. "Wait... she did not come with you?"
"You mean she hasn't even shown up here?"
"She didn't explain much to us... actually she forbade us to follow. Do you have any idea where she might be right now?"
The archdruid gave it a brief thought. "Well, I wrote her, that something happened to the Guardian, so maybe she didn't want to waste time and flew straight to the waterfall..."
"Waterfall?"
"Yes, The Guardian's Waterfall is the place, from which Yanka always enters the Guardian's habitat. Noone but her managed to enter it until now, and she always said, that sometimes it's impossible even for her."
"Why?"
The elder seemed to hesitate. "I shouldn't tell you about this..." he sighed shortly, making a decision. "Very well. You need to go up the stream until you arrive at a low cliff with the waterfall. Above it lies a part of the forest elevated above the rest. I'm not really able to tell you much more, only Yanka knows exactly what needs to be done to cross the border."
"Well, that will have to be enough. Thank you and please be careful."
"You too."
We gave him a brief bow, jumped over the barricade around the clearing and set off up the stream.
The moisture of recent rain evaporated from the leaves, filling the forest with a delicate mist. It deepened the shadows underneath the trees, even though clear sky could be seen above their crowns. It also deepened the anxiety in my heart as we walked in silence, listening to the barely perceptible murmurs scurrying through the shrubs on both sides off the brook.
After what felt like a quarter we saw a tree on the opposite bank, broken and reaching with its crown towards our path. It wasn't withered though, the leaves still green above the water's surface, the stream flowing underneath it like under a natural gateway. Beyond that gate we noticed a clearing revealing itself further upstream. A dark cliff loomed between the trees, and a more intense rush of water reached our ears.
We left the shadow of the trees and approached the mid-sized waterfall. I came to a stop right by the water curtain and looked up. There were not more than five meters separating us from the top of the cliff, but there was something else that almost immediately caught my attention. On the surface of one of the stones, there was an inscription that at first resembled a fine netting of cracks and scratches...
"'Only if you are in need, only if you came to rescue heedless of your own life, only if you mean to do good, will the Flaming Protectors let you pass to my domain...'"
"Sorry?" Sril glanced at me, clearly confused.
"There is an inscription here."
He came closer and examined the letters with a gentle frown. "That doesn't really help... Flaming Protectors? Maybe we should check what's above us..."
I nodded and we leaped into the air. When we passed the level of the cliff's top, a peculiar but beautiful sight spread before us. The edge was thickly overgrown by some low plants, from which an occasional big flower in the color of fiery orange peeked out here and there. And from the lush green above our heads hung countless flimsy sprouts of something that resembled ivy and swung delicately, like in the rhythm of a breath...
"You think these are the 'Protectors'?" I asked.
"I don't know. But I feel like I've seen such flowers somewhere before..." Sril lowered himself a bit to come closer to the cliff's edge. He extended his hand to one of the plants... and suddenly jumped away in what seemed to be panic. A split second later a large cloud of bright pollen shot out of the calyx, and, as if sensing their neighbor's reaction, the flowers surrounding it reacted the same way.
"That was the second time my sath saved me today..." he said, rejoining me on my level.
"What? Why, these are just plants, and that there is just some pollen."
"Sian, this is the Sevren forest, in here even the plants can have a killing intent, if you give them a reason... these particular ones are called narae, inhaling that would completely paralyze your lungs and make you suffocate within a few minutes... Supposedly some druids are able to collect it for healing purposes..."
"Then how in the world did Yanka get in there?"
"How should I know?"
We landed back at the base of the waterfall and started to carefully inspect the steep walls of stone and their surroundings. Unfortunately, we didn't find any additional clues nor unnatural ledges or cavities suggesting, that there might be another way up.
I flicked my wings in growing irritation.
"This inscription..." I muttered, more to myself, "doesn't it sound like the 'Protectors' are supposed to be harmless if we meet certain conditions? Like we are supposed to let ourselves get attacked, to prove that... geez, what am I even saying..." I stopped short, my breath halting too. Suddenly the spark glowed brighter with the touch of a premonition. I looked at Sril, some strange shiver coming up my spine.
"No..." he whined. "It can't mean that!"
"But that's the only thing that makes sense."
"Even if it means risking your life?"
"Avoiding danger despite seeing a chance of success is not cautiousness... it's cowardice."
"It's not when there are two lives at stake, from which the third life could depend on!"
"Exactly, someone's life could depend on us, that's why I will not waste my time to hesitate, all the more because it's Yanka's life we're talking about."
Sril sighed heavily, like someone who's run out of arguments. "Fine..." he capitulated. "But I will try it first."
"No. If we do that, we will show that we are afraid, that the life of one of us is more important than Yanka's."
He gave me a resigned look and ascended again. I followed. "It will work, you'll see," I tried to assure him with a confidence that I wasn't really feeling.
"If not... I won't give you a moment's peace on the other side, keep that in mind."
I smiled bitterly and looked at the expanse of deadly flowers before us. I took one last, deep breath and dashed towards the cliff's edge. Sril did the same. The moment we passed the first plants, their flowers shot cloudlets of fiery pollen at us again. I tried to fight the urge to hold my breath and immediately felt a horrifying weakness come over me, as if first the muscles in my chest, and then all others one after the other, suddenly slacked and refused to obey any further. And when the wind caught my wings, instead of it working the other way around, which seemed totally wrong, my mind was flooded with darkness and a moment later I didn't feel anything anymore...