House of Dragons (Royal Houses 1)

After the fire was built to a considerable height, Kerrigan found an old log and sank down onto it to wait. She felt ridiculous, but the vision had sent her for a reason. There was no use doubting it now.

Sleep had evaded her for weeks, and then suddenly, in this oppressive forest, surrounded by nature, in front of a campfire, she felt the edges of sleep finally come to her. She kept her food and water close to her chest and then snuggled up onto the ground to sleep.

But as soon as she winked out, she jolted awake at the snuffling sound of something sniffing her.

Kerrigan froze on the ground, careful not to alert whatever was smelling her that she was awake. A wet nose pressed into her shoulder and hair. She tried to not let her fear show. She had no weapon and no magic. All she had was the fire, which was burning much lower than when she had gone to sleep. It wasn’t out yet, but it was close.

The beast trotted down to her feet, and a tusk pressed against her calf. She swallowed and slowly reached for one of the larger sticks still burning in the fire. From the corner of her eye, she could make out the boar that was determining if she was its next meal. Her hand closed around the stick, ignoring the heat radiating off the fire.

The boar’s head snapped up, and she quickly brandished the stick at the beast. The creature roared in protest as she slammed the fire end into its eye. She scrambled backward away from it as it screamed and kicked at the dirt. It fixed its good eye on Kerrigan and reared back, preparing to charge. She waved the fire stick in front of her as her only weapon and hoped against hope that it would do enough.

Her heart raced in her chest, and her hands were slick on the wood. It wasn’t going to be enough. The beast would attack her and skewer her with one of its massive tusks. She would have been sent here for nothing. She settled into a defensive position and watched as if in slow motion as the beast charged toward her.

“Ahhh!” a voice suddenly screamed from the tree cover, and a body charged at the boar, ramming into it, and sending it straight into the fire.

The boar screamed as the fire ate at him and then scrambled backward out of the flames. It looked between her and the stranger dressed in all black and decided to try its luck elsewhere. The beast scampered off into the forest.

“Thank you,” Kerrigan said, letting the stick fall to her side. Her heart was still in her throat.

The figure turned to her with wide eyes. “Kerrigan?”

She gasped. “Fordham?”

He looked… wild. It was the only way to describe him. His clothes were tattered, his face covered in mud, and he was brandishing a stick that he appeared to have whittled down to a point.

“What are you doing here?”

“What happened to you?” she asked at the same time.

He shook his head. “I’ve been in this wretched forest for nearly an entire day. I passed my first test, and then it brought me here. There’s nothing to eat, and the forest is a maze. There’s no way out.”

“Wait… you’ve been here all day without food?”

He nodded.

She rummaged through her bag and brought out some provisions, passing it to him. “Here, eat this.”

“Gods,” he breathed as he reverently took the food.

“Sit at my fire and eat.” She busied herself, building the fire back up, as Fordham tried to force himself not to devour every scrap she had given him.

“And this place… it’s… it’s haunted.”

“I thought you didn’t believe in ghosts,” Kerrigan joked.

“Not like that. It’s dampened everything. I had some berries and ran around in circles for hours. I’ve been too terrified to eat since then. I don’t know what’s going on.”

And then it clicked. “Noirwood Forest.”

“What?”

“We’re in Noirwood Forest. It’s a black forest just off the western coast, where everything you could eat within it is poisonous. We don’t know what happened to the woods to make it this way, but travelers who pass within must bring enough provisions to survive without eating or drinking anything in the forest. The berries likely made you hallucinate. You’re lucky you didn’t die.”

Fordham looked back at her blankly. “I’m beginning to think my education about Alandria is woefully incomplete.”

Kerrigan frowned. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he said, taking a sip of her waterskin and nodding his thanks. “And you were sent for me?”

“A vision,” she admitted.

“Did the vision show you how to get out of here?”

“No. It didn’t tell me anything, except to walk through the portal.”

“Do you still have your magic?”

She shook her head. “But I have this.”

Then, she produced Lyam’s compass. She’d had it with her at all times since they had gone together to the alley where he had been murdered. It had just been a trinket, a memory. But right now, she had never been gladder to see it.