The nameless spy sighed and grinned. It had secrets too; deep, dark secrets that could aid or impede either side of this newly split world. The creature also knew things about Cierryon, the Tyrant of the East, and it knew things about the youngest son of the Tanaan king as well. Rumor had spread that the disgraced prince had escaped among the other newly transformed dragons, but so many were killed in their fumbled escape; who knew which of them escaped with their lives? Nevertheless, the Tyrant King took no chances. Ever since that very day so long ago, his men have searched for the dragon prince. There was only one problem: no one knew how to recognize him, where he had gone, or if he was even still alive.
The wind picked up, a chilly, gentle breeze that often signaled the farewell of a storm. The cloaked figure looked up to the sky, which was blocked out by the many tall trees of the Wreing Florenn. Then it closed its eyes slowly, allowing only thought to take over. The girl and the Tanaan dragon Raejaaxorix had left over two hours ago, just before sunrise. The being searched for the answers it sought and soon it found them. There had been a storm last night, and a fight. The being’s eyes remained closed, but that didn’t matter. It wasn’t hard to see what had happened the day before, as if the spy had been there to watch the chaos unfold before its very eyes.
Men, the Tyrant’s men, had finally found the old dragon. They had located Hroombramantu, the one that would lead them to the girl, the girl that was prophesied to save Ethoes and destroy their master, the Crimson King. The being now wondered if these men had actually recognized the girl for who she truly was, but it was clear that the dragon Jaax wasn’t about to take any chances.
“Jaax, Raejaaxorix,” the stranger hissed, its inimitable eyes glowing with some ancient sorcery. “That ambitious Tanaan dragon would be involved, and I know exactly where his loyalties lie.”
How he would be able to keep the girl safe without the old Korli’s help was another question altogether. He’d had trouble with the girl from the beginning; the creature had seen it all. Jahrra despised him, and the young dragon expected more out of her. It would be interesting to see how he would protect her from the soon-to-be enlightened Tyrant.
“If only I could have had more influence!” the forest dweller rasped, its eyes sparking with rueful frustration.
It had watched the girl arrive here with interest and had wondered why the great dragon had placed her with the Nesnan family. The creature had just assumed then, not yet realizing who the young girl really was, that Hroombra was helping some friends that were dear to him. They wanted a child, and he knew of an orphaned one. Plain and simple. But in the end, it wasn’t so plain and simple after all.
What the being of the old wood couldn’t figure out (in the very beginning at least), was why had the Tanaan dragon been there? The creature had known of this dragon, Jaax, before, in another lifetime it seemed, but why was he here now? What could possibly make him return to this place? These were the questions the spy had asked itself when it first recognized Hroombra’s reptilian visitor that early winter morning seventeen years ago.
Yet, it should have been fairly obvious, the creature thought with rueful humility, after all, the girl’s arrival was one of those stopping points in time. But it was that same space of time that had made the being’s mind grow lazy; the same long passage of time that, although it moved quickly, had a devious way of making a keen memory forget.
Despite its suspicions and eager interest, it wasn’t until years later, when the child had grown older, that the creature finally began to detect what the girl was. One spring day, a peculiar wind had blown over the forest, forcing the spy to leave its hiding place deep within the Wreing Florenn.
“I don’t often like to leave this place,” the forest’s tenant now rasped, pulling its ragged cloak tighter as it conversed with its memories, “but a sensation as strong as that one is not to be ignored.”
The feeling eventually led the creature to the old Castle Ruin, a place not visited by the great dragon since he left to save his prince so many decades before. Safely from behind a grove of trees, the spy had looked on as the dragon and the girl walked about the ruins of the ancient palace. Then, in a wave of astonishment, the crafty spy finally realized who the girl was. Of course! It all makes sense now! The chosen one is finally in Oescienne, right at my feet! It had watched enticingly as the girl and her mentor returned to their home. From that moment on, the creature swore an oath that it, too, would somehow play a part in the girl’s fate.
Several branches rattled overhead, the leaves prattling in protest as the storm gusts combed through the canopy. The creature glanced upward, frowning in slight irritation. As the wind died down, the forest dweller got back to its musings.
A few years passed, and the secretive creature kept its silent vigil over the girl. It spied on her from the woods when she went riding with her friends, hoping to approach her when the children dared each other to move closer to the forest, but it was too risky. Later, the creature visited the girl’s young semequin, at the time a fine foal, and bribed him into easy friendship by feeding him some of the rare treats that grew in the deepest part of the Wreing Florenn. But once again, approaching the young child herself was out of the question. It was at that point that the stranger began to think, Perhaps I shouldn’t be seeking the child at all. I must somehow bring her to me. And so it developed a way to lure the girl into the forest.
At first it had been difficult. The girl had been warned away from the Wreing Florenn by those she trusted most. But after some time, the creature used its power to manipulate a herd of unicorns to use as bait on the girl. The unicorns had arrived in the forest only a few years before the girl, but they had remained a secret to all in Oescienne. That is, they were unknown to all except the strange occupant of the old wood. Taking advantage of their presence and the girl’s affinity towards wild creatures, the spy used its powers to lead one of the magical animals to the edge of the forest, just as the girl was passing by. Finally, Jahrra’s curiosity got the better of her and she entered the dreaded wood, breaking that first barrier of fear.
Only a year later the girl traveled into the heart of the Wreing Florenn on a dare, finding someone whom she believed she could trust, someone who knew how to influence her.
“The girl could have easily come to harm,” the creature murmured to a nearby tree, its eyes burning with an ancient magic many had forgotten as it thought of all the things that lived in the forest. “But she needed to see and hear certain things; she needed to know about who she was.”
Now Jahrra was on her own, with Raejaaxorix, and hopefully he had finally told her the truth. The intense, topaz eyes of the stranger closed slowly against the filtered morning light. Remembering the events of the past had been quite tiring.
The cloaked being let out a rueful sigh and with a crackling voice said to the damp, still day, “Hopefully Jaax has taken my advice. Hopefully he’ll lead her to where she needs to go, and hopefully I’ll find them again, for I am not finished with either of them.”
The tenant of the old wood threw back its hood, revealing its face at last, the face of an old, haggard woman. With a grunt of effort, she gathered her many skirts and layers of clothing about her, pulling her blood-red traveling cloak securely around it all. She looked back at the dark oaks looming overhead and took a deep breath as she remembered how comfortable she had been in this swamp.
Another cool, late winter breeze rustled through the branches one last time. As the sun fought its way through the unfurling clouds and treetops above, the Mystic Archedenaeh slowly left the Wreing Florenn and headed north toward the coast, the korehv Milihn flying silently after her.