Throne of Eldraine- the Wildered Quest by Kate Elliott

Author:Kate Elliott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Published: 2019-09-04T00:00:00+00:00

10

In the pre-dawn twilight Will, Rowan, and the other four waited impatiently at the henge portal. Will was starting to get worried. What if they missed their chance? How would they find the stag?

“Is King Yorvo coming?” he whispered.

Elowen was leaning against the gate, head pressed to the iron-clad planks. “I think he’s already inside. The portal is awake and open. That’s odd. Very odd. Ear-pricklingly odd.”

A scintillating aurora of lights played against the sky, then faded. A rumbling, grinding noise sounded from the other side of the gate. After it ceased, heavy footfalls approached. They retreated hastily as the gate swung outward. King Yorvo stood like a massive stone menhir looming against the dark sky.

“I’ve already moved the stones in the alignment you requested,” he said.

Elowen opened her mouth to ask a question but when the giant looked directly at her with a disapproving stare, she closed her lips and heaved a disgruntled sigh.

He added, “We don’t have much time. Hurry.”

The portal was at the center of the Great Henge, a rough circle of stones with a larger standing stone in the middle wrapped by the roots and branches of an ancient yew tree. The sun was already rising over the eastern hills. Within the pattern of its light, the shadows of the henge stones touched the portal stone in a distinct pattern.

“You’re sure this will bring us close to the obelisks?” Rowan asked in her usual blunt way.

“Why would you doubt me?” Elowen looked astonished. “I have spent more years wandering in the Wilds than you have been alive, young Rowan. And even I, the most knowledgeable of loremages—”

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Rowan added.

Elowen laughed. “Don’t be absurd.”

Green magic crawled down the face of the central Gnomon and spun into a circle. As the light intensified, the stone circumscribed by the circular glimmer dissolved to become a pathway. What lay beyond Will could not perceive, only a glare so bright it hid the land they must walk into.

“The portal will remain open until dusk today,” said King Yorvo. “In a year and a day, it will open again from dawn to dusk. After that—” He sighed. “After that, you will be considered lost forever.”

The four friends looked at each other. Will would never have considered himself a coward, would have despised himself for the feeling. Yet he hesitated. Even Rowan and Cerise hesitated. Once through, they would walk straight into the deepest tangle of the Wilds where the boldest and most experienced knights might meet a brutal death. They had only the brief hours of midwinter daylight to find the stag before their path back to Garenbrig and the safety of the Realm would close for an entire year.

Titus called, “Our time is now, friends!” He cast his net of heartening magic over the others, banishing doubt, then rode fearlessly through the shining portal without looking back. He and his horse sparkled until they became incandescent and, in a flare of shocking brightness, passed out of sight.

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