The path wound like a serpent through the dense forest where shadows stretched and twisted to hide the way forward. Aiden had been walking hours, sinking into the damp earth with each step, his breath visible above him in the chill night air. The trees loomed overhead, ancient sentinels quietly watching the step of every passerby with unblinking stoic eyes.
The Guardian's Blade beat with a faint light on one side of him, like an attenuated heartbeat in darkness, and Aiden carried Brynn's amulet tightly against his chest - so cold it had its slight comfort in the frightening quiet of the woods.
The path to the Shrine of the Guardian was proving as deadly as the elder had forewarned. Though he had barely started, Aiden could already feel the weight of the land bearing down upon him, the vast expanse of the unknown stretching out like a dark ocean. But he steeled himself with each step, a sense of purpose giving him strength.
And yet as he goes deeper into the woods, a soft, almost imperceptible sound reaches his ear—a melody borne on the wind, there and gone in a moment, haunting him with its eldritch sadness, like the very moan of the forest itself.
Curiosity urges him onward, and he there creeps, having the sound entwine through trees, getting nearer and closer and further yet, till in verity he could hear words:
"Bound by fate, cursed by night,
Wander lost in shadow's plight.
Seek the truth in paths unknown,
Face the dark, or be alone."
The song faded to silence, and Aiden stood in a small clearing bathed in moonlight. A woman stood at its center, cloaked in emerald green; her hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall of midnight. Her dark, piercing eyes locked onto his as though she had been expecting him all along.
"You've traveled far, stranger," she said, her voice as haunting as her song. "But are you ready for what's ahead?"
A prickle of unease made Aiden shift. "I… I'm heading to the Shrine of the Guardian. Do you know the way?"
The woman's lips curled into a thin smile. "The shrine is at the center of Eldoria, concealed behind the veil of men's existence," she said. "Fewer than a dozen have attempted and returned. What do you seek, boy? What drives you to such a place?
Aiden hesitated, his mind racing. He had a natural instinct to trust her, but something about her seemed out of place, like she was both of the forest and not of it at all.
"I bear the Blade of the Guardian," he said finally, resting his hand on the hilt. "It… chose me, I suppose. And I've been told I have to go to the shrine, to unlock its power."
Her eyes narrowed, then she stepped closer, all attention drawn to the blade. "The Guardian's Blade," she whispered, her voice a mere breath, and shook her head and nodded slowly. "Thus, it has come, again."
Before he could ask more, she raised her palm and gestured for Aiden to follow her.
"Come with me. Since you wish to find the shrine, you must have a companion who would be able to assist you navigate this forest. That is because this forest is ruthless to travelers who wander with no guidance."
Aiden stopped in his tracks, but something about her calm, commanding presence seemed to reassure him. He fell into step behind her, and they walked deeper into the forest, shadows closing in on them from all sides.
The hours ticked on in silence as they travelled on, she leading him where he otherwise wouldn't have found without being shown the way. He walked in an air thickeningly moss-fragrant with the earth below, where darkness bore the weight, it was so heavy upon him. For Aiden could swear to feel as though even trees watched as well.
Finally, the silence was too much. "Who are you?" he stammered, his voice nothing more than a whisper now. "And why should you be helping me?"
She hesitated, looking around at him with a quirk of her smile. "You may call me Lyra," she said. "As for why I'm helping you… Let's just say I have personal reasons for wanting the Guardian's Blade to reach where it needs to go.
He looked at her hard. "You… you know about the blade? And the Shadow King?"
Lyra's face fell. "More than you could ever imagine, boy. The Shadow King is not a tale, but truth. His servants walk these woods even now, hunting down those who would stand in his way.".
A chill ran down Aiden's spine. He had always considered the Shadow King a remote threat, a figure in myth and legend. But Lyra's words carried a weight that made the danger seem near, real.
And so they walked, the trees thinned, and Aiden saw a clearing ahead, but then, stepping forward, he found their way barred by a figure who stepped out of the shadows.
A man, tall and gaunt, his eyes aglow like embers in the darkness, his clothes ragged, a wicked grin twisting his face as he regarded them.
"Well, well," he sneered. "What have we here? A boy and a wanderer, lost in the woods."
Lyra's hand strayed to her side and Aiden could see a flash of blade beneath her cloak. She came forward a little, eyes wary, before him.
"We are travelers, passing through," she said in an even tone. "We mean you no harm."
The man laughed at that-a sound like two pieces of rusted metal grating against stone. "Harm? Ah, no, I think not. But I do aim to do harm."
He lunged forward with some unnatural alacrity. His fingers curled into clawed grips. Aiden barely managed to get set before Lyra leapt for him to intercept, her dagger bright in moonlight.
They conflicted in a wave of movement, and somehow strength that none of them ever possessed seemed to course within him. Feral intensity crossed his movements as he came at Lyra; it seemed his eyes were a mass of dark that glared with dark light and flared with the full weight of darkness that bore in upon him.
Aiden watched in horror as Lyra struggled back with a grace and skill almost otherworldly. Even she seemed to labor against the unnatural power of the man, her movements slowing, her breaths becoming labored.
Panic flared through Aiden, and without thinking, he drew out the Guardian's Blade. It was as if, as soon as it cleared the sheath, a light burst forth from the blade. It filled the clearing in brilliant, searing radiance.
The stranger recoiled, his face contorted in pain from the burning of the light. He let out a furious snarl, then stumbled backward as he covered his eyes.
With the opening, Lyra thrust her dagger into the man's chest. With one last, guttural scream, he fell onto the ground and his body dissolved into a pool of shadow that soaked into the earth.
There was complete silence in the clearing now, the light from the Guardian's Blade dimming into a soft glow. Aiden stared at the blade in awe as his heart pounded in his chest.
Lyra looked to him, her eyes holding a strange mix of relief and wariness. "You have more power than I realize," she whispered. "But that was only a taste of what lies ahead."
Aiden reassembled the blade, reeling. "Who… who was that?"
Lyra's eyes dimmed. "A servant of the Shadow King. His kind infest these woods, attracted to the power of the blade. They will not rest until they take it for their master."
She fell silent for a moment, then shook her head, sorrowfully. "The deeper in you go, the deadlier it gets. You have to learn how to wield the blade. Or it will be the end of you.".
A new resolve had been hatched in Aiden's heart as he nodded in reply. He had no idea what the limit of his powers was, but he was certain that it was going to take everything in his arsenal to keep himself alive for the tests yet to come.
Together, he and Lyra pressed on as the shadows gathered around them, seeming to close in once again. But Aiden had a spark of hope now, a small light to guide him through the dark.
The path was long and the dangers many, but he knew now that he was not alone.