Ellanor and the Curse on the Nine-Tailed Fox by K T Durham

Author:K T Durham [Durham, K T]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781504910712
Published: 2015-05-27T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The Petrified Forest

After a moment’s adjustment, she could see clearly in the moonlit dark. The stars were particularly bright, and she could see the Milky Way adorning the sky.

She walked over hills and rocky slopes, her breath coming out in white puffs, her cheeks reddening against the whipping wind, and soon her eyes began to sting and water. She walked for over two hours, following Nebulane, and it seemed like the blue dot was moving ever so sluggishly towards the red dot. She pushed on, thinking to herself over and over: Graille is there. Graille is there.

Then she looked up and found herself facing a tall dark wall.

Startled, she put a hand out and realized that it was a wall so densely packed with trunks, branches, and dipping foliage that she wondered whether it was a living forest or a graveyard of dead trees, for there was something stiff and lifeless about them. She closed her eyes and listened; she could not hear a single rustle. She sniffed and could not smell that deliciously fresh scent of thriving forestry.

What was this place? She frowned and craned her neck as she looked left and right, hair whipping across her face. The wall of trees seemed to stretch on endlessly on either side.

A feeling of dread descended upon her, and she stepped back instinctively.

Greymore, I don’t want to go in there. I have a bad feeling about this place.

Remember Mrs Silverwinkle’s words, Ellanor. Always trust Nebulane. If it tells you to go there, you should heed its command.

She drew in a shuddering breath. But I’m scared.

I know. Have courage and faith, Ellanor. I am here for you.

Her elf eyes could not see a thing past the dense trees – only darkness, despite the narrow openings between the stone-like trunks.

Suddenly, she felt compelled to retrieve her bow and quiver of arrows and the dagger from her Royan. If she had to go into this forest with her heart heavy with this awful feeling of foreboding, then she better be equipped for whatever might be awaiting.

She swallowed nervously. Was the Guardian waiting for her inside? Would the Guardian help her or try to hurt her? She pressed the dagger close to her side, checking that it was safely sheathed and securely fastened to her belt. She shouldn’t need to resort to these weapons if she could take care of things with magic, right? The thought comforted her and raised the little courage she had by a notch.

She checked Nebulane, and her heart skipped a beat when she saw that the blue dot was close to merging with the red. If this macabre forest indeed was the place at which she was supposed to be, then Nebulane would let her know.

For a while she stood there frozen to the spot, too afraid to take that step, but then she felt Marlow squirming impatiently in her pocket, and she knew she could delay no more. So she took a shuddering breath, murmured a quiet prayer to Freya, and squeezed through one of the narrow openings.

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