The remnants of OakenFall stretched out behind two figures, a patchwork of ruin and desolation where once there had been serenity and life. Before them, a large forest loomed, an inscrutable titan of ancient trees and whispered secrets.
The man's face was a mask of indifference, but his sharp eyes betrayed a mind at work, calculating their next move on the chessboard that was their perilous quest.
It seemed as though the very shadows in the forest were alive, moving, watching, plotting.
"Do you think the trees have eyes here, or is that just in the fairy tales?" Lucian's voice broke the silence, light and mocking.
Zephyria stood close by, her gaze lingering on his wrist. Memories still fresh in her mind of the things that had happened lately. A stark white reminder of her failure to protect.
What good was a personal AGI that could not even keep it's host from harm? Yet here she stood, next to her host, who could not even return to his real body, and who had continued to suffer many times despite her best efforts.
She was supposed to be his shield, his blade, his solace. Yet it seemed more and more that she was none of these things.
Her fiery spirit seemed to have cooled, replaced by the ashes of guilt and concern.
"If they do, I'd prefer they admire from a distance. We've had enough of being the center of attention," she replied, her voice a low thrum, lacking its usual enthusiasm.
"True. But hey, look on the bright side, if they do start throwing apples, we won't need to forage for food," Lucian quipped, a corner of his mouth tilting upward in a half-smile.
Zephyria let a small smile spread as she lightly hit him in the shoulder before stepping past to enter the forest.
The world instantly changed. Light filtered through the leaves in dappled patterns, and the air held the weight of unspoken tales. Lucian moved forward, every step deliberate, eyes scanning the shadows for hidden dangers, or perhaps hidden treasures.
Zephyria found herself mimicking Lucian's caution, her steps quiet despite the impulse to bound forward.
"Lucian, about what happened, I…" she started, her voice trailing into the quiet around them.
Lucian held up a hand, silencing her with a swift gesture. "Let's skip the regret. Guilt serves as much purpose as a glass hammer. It is in the past and we are here in the present, alive and well."
"But I—" she tried again, only to be cut off.
"If I didn't know any better, I might think my master is some weak-willed child," he teased while looking into her eyes.
"Here I am getting off my ass and no longer being a lazy good for nothing, the least my master can do is reward me for my efforts!" Lucian continued as he cast a smirk towards Zephyria, who stood bewildered momentarily before retorting.
"Hmph! You should know your place! As if I would ever reward you for doing what is expected of you!" she replied, crossing her arms as she looked away with puffed cheeks.
Lucian simply laughed at her and turned back towards the path ahead, stepping over foliage and roots, Zephyria trailing behind, this time with a little more bounce in her step than before.
They pressed deeper, the forest seeming to swallow their forms whole. The map, began to resonate with something unknown, it seemed. Symbols etched into the parchment glowed a soft luminescent blue, pulsating with a rhythm that resembled a soft heartbeat.
Lucian traced the symbols with a finger, the barest flicker of intrigue lighting his eyes.
He scanned their surroundings, looking for something that might reveal why the map had suddenly begun acting differently, and noticed a few things.
There was traces of broken foliage, like something large had passed through. There also seemed to be an eerie aura lingering in the shadows, but he could not figure out the cause.
Though it was distinctly different from that of the magical beast he had previously fought, and he did not get the same feeling of dread, furthermore, insects and animals could be heard occasionally, the forest was lively, not silent.
"What do you make of these runes?" Zephyria asked, her curiosity piqued despite herself.
"Either a welcome sign or a warning label. With our luck, probably the latter," Lucian mused, his voice a low rumble.
Approaching the area that looked to be passed through, they inspected the markings.
"It seems we are not alone, there are boot tracks here, probably other players coming to do the maps quest as well." Zephyria stated casually after looking at the footprints in the soil.
"It would seem so, if we had not been held up at OakenFall for so long, we may have arrived ahead of them, these tracks look fairly fresh." Lucian added.
A rustle in the undergrowth stopped them in their tracks.
Ice crept through Lucien's veins instantly, his heart pace quickening as he had brief flashbacks. They both cast their gaze in the direction of the sound.
A creature with eyes like moonlit pools and fur that shimmered with the forest's hues regarded them from afar. It stood on 4 legs and resembled a mix between a stag and an eagle, though it had no wings.
Zephyria's hand instinctively went to the hilt of her weapon, but Lucian's hand was quicker, resting lightly on her arm, stopping her from drawing her blade. He had an idea he wanted to try.
"Do you come bearing gifts, or are we to be the gifts?" Lucian addressed the creature.
The creature tilted its head, studying Lucian with an inscrutable expression. It made no move to attack or flee, merely observing with an ancient intelligence.
"Do you always have to talk to potential threats?" Zephyria whispered, her hand still tense on her weapon.
"Only when they're this intriguing," Lucian whispered back, his lips twitching in amusement.
After a moment that stretched out like a lazy afternoon, the creature motioned towards the map in Lucian's hand.
Catching on quickly, he presented the map, stepping forward to set it on the ground before stepping away.
The creature approached the rune covered parchment, disregarding the two before it, as it lowered its head to the paper and the mana in the area began to run rampant momentarily, circling the creature like a storm, before calming and dissipating like a light spring rain.
The creature then stepped aside with deliberate grace, revealing a pathway shrouded in vines and shadows, a path that did not exist on any map they possessed, and that had not been there moments before.
The map lay at the entrance to the pathway and had changed slightly.
Exchanging a glance that needed no words, Lucian and Zephyria stepped forward. The glow from the map bathed their path in ethereal light, an unspoken promise of the wonders and dangers that lay ahead. Watching the creature carefully as they did, and it in turn watched them with an impossible to discern gaze.
Lucian picked up the map as they ventured down the newly revealed path, the forest seemed to close around them, not with malice, but with the silent acceptance of those who enter into an unspoken covenant with fate itself.
And thus, the chapter of their journey into the heart of the forest began.