Pete came to his senses and found his left cheek warming up. His eyes fluttered open. The sun was rising on his left side. 'Where am I?' he wondered.
All the boy remembered was him falling into a deep, dreamless sleep. He rubbed his eyes and found himself staring at the head of a galloping horse.
Pete's memories returned momentarily. The alley. The rogues. Bree. The massacre. The Dark Robinhood System. Him losing control. Morgiana.
The last thing he could recall from last night was she rescued him and brought him along.
Pete had no idea how long they had been riding. He found a belt around his waist and tried to pull it off.
"Let it be," Morgiana said from behind him. "I wound my belt around you so you wouldn't fall off while asleep."
Pete tried to speak, but his throat was scratchy and dry. Did he scream a lot the previous night? His body seemed to have returned to the Perfect Gene version. That meant the regular Robinhood System was online. However, the sickness he felt right then should have been cured by the system. But it had not yet. "Why do I feel so odd," he asked Morgiana.
"You can call it a hangover," she replied, handing him a waterskin. "I hope you remember that you turned yourself over to the dark side forcibly for a few minutes. You must have burned through massive amounts of virtue to accomplish that. The act is likely to have left a bitter aftertaste. Don't worry. It will get better once you eat, drink, and rest some more."
Pete took a swig of the cold water. It ran down his throat like a rivulet from paradise. "Ah. That feels good!"
Having quenched his thirst, he looked around at the scenery they were riding through. Their steed trotted over a boundless grassy field. Cattle grazed sporadically on either side. The docile animals looked up momentarily from their feed and mooed when the horse cantered by them.
Pete saw a species of cattle as high as six feet with forward-curving horns.
"What are those?" he asked curiously.
"Have you never seen an auroch before?"
"An auroch? Extinct during my lifetime, I guess. They are such intimidating beasts. I met a scary elk once."
Ahead of them, a forest line appeared in the distance. Enormous trees rose out of the jungle, seemingly touching the clouds. It was a marvelous spectacle to behold. He felt a shiver run down his spine. The jungle appeared daunting and full of mysteries.
Pete looked behind him and saw a familiar stream running on the horizon.
River Leen. That flowed between Sherwood Forest and Nottingham.
So, they were obviously no longer in Nottingham. Did the horse fly over the gorge? While the steed appeared magical and tireless, it did not seem capable of flight.
Pete tried to piece everything together. "Where are we?" he mumbled sleepily. "We are not far from our destination," Morgiana replied in a soothing tone. "You can go back to sleep." Her voice was like silk rubbing on his earlobes.
Pete did not mind being treated like a child. Morgiana had saved him when he was about to explode. She somehow knew about his system and the gameplay he had to put up with.
A few questions arose in his mind. 'Why did she act so ignorant when she met me for the first time? And where is she taking me right now?'
Pete observed the tree species and the flowers as they approached the forest. Things began to look familiar to him.
"Let me get down!" he said to Morgiana suddenly.
"Why? Do you have to take a piss?"
Pete shook his head. "No! I know this place. It is Sherwood Forest!"
"Ah, you remember? Then why are you so scared? It is your home, isn't it?"
"My home? No way! It is full of crazy monsters, spirits, and cannibals! We will both be in mortal danger if we enter!"
Morgiana chuckled and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright. I think you are talking about the southern range of Sherwood. You are absolutely right about the monsters and cannibals and evil spirits. Nobody goes there unless they want to die. Why did you visit the southern range in the first place?"
Pete gulped. He did not wish to recall the trauma. "That is a long story. I will share some other time. So! Is this a different part of Sherwood?"
Morgiana giggled. "Yes. You'll be well-protected here. You are coming home, Robin."
Pete raised his eyes to the daunting forest that rose in front of him. They had reached the trees, but there was no way to enter the dense wall of evergreens. Morgiana did not stop the horse and simply barged through what seemed to be thickets.
Rustle! Rustle!
The scene changed abruptly as they came out the other way. The horse continued trotting on a dirt track that went through a boulevard of ancient-looking trees.
"Wow," Pete exclaimed. "This looks magical."
"Indeed, Sherwood has existed before humankind appeared in these lands. Us merrymen live in peace with the magical life of the forest. We just came through a secret entrance known only to merrymen."
"The merrymen?"
"Your people. Robin Hood's people."
Pete bit his lip. "Morgiana, you seem to know a lot about me already. So here's something else you should know. Let me also tell you I don't know the merrymen. I have never met them."
The girl giggled. "I know..."
Pete was puzzled. "I… uh… We need to stop somewhere. I have some questions for you. Until you answer them, I will not meet any merrymen."
Morgiana ruffled his hair. "It's okay. I am not taking you to them yet. Once we reach our destination, you will get your answers."
The dirt track seemed to go on forever. Morgiana took a sharp left between two hawthorn trees and stopped by a meadow.
"Come," she said after tethering the horse's reins to a tree trunk.
She led him into the meadow, and they walked to the border on the other side. Over twelve feet of tall grass formed a wall, making passage seemingly impossible.
"Keep walking," she instructed, and they walked through the grass. They came out the other side into a beautiful garden in a few seconds.
Bluebells, daffodils, tulips, and buttercups formed circles upon circles of colors. Thrushes, hummingbirds, starlings, and blackbirds flitted around the landscape. The shrubbery seemed to have had a fresh shower and was flush with colorful butterflies. Mini rainbows arched over tiny ponds brimming with silver fish and floating ducklings. The air was laden with a cloud of golden dust that made the scene magical. "That's pixie dust," Morgiana said. "Don't breathe in too much of it, or you can never leave this place."
"What is this place?" Pete asked in wonder.
"It is hidden from the rest of the world. I come here sometimes when I am feeling sad. But to tell the truth, this place is a graveyard. For one special person."
"A graveyard? For whom?"
Morgiana gestured to Pete to explore the area. The boy went around the tiny paradise and found a gravestone in the middle of the garden.
"Is this it?" he asked the girl. She nodded. Her eyes were moist.
Pete knelt by it and read the epitaph engraved on the stone.
"HERE LIES ROBIN HOOD, BOLDEST AND BRAVEST OF THEM ALL."
"THE RICH REJOICED, AND THE POOR WEPT WHEN HE DID FALL."
"BETRAYED AND BUTCHERED BY MANY A VILLAIN."
"PRINCE JOHN, THE SHERIFF, SIR GUY, AND THE VIPER MARIAN."