Morcel grabbed a handful of bags off the floor and was the first to jump through. Eric and Jacob each gave low bows toward the Queen, who in turn touched her forehead, then her heart—a show of high respect and honor. They leaped though the wall without a moment’s pause.
Jade picked up the last bag as she turned to the others. Berkeni threw her a silver ring, which she juggled briefly before putting on. “As long as you wear that, I can always find you, my dear. Now go!” he said with a smile that was at odds with his sad eyes. She did not bow or curtsy. She just tilted her head, flashed a warm smile followed by a wink, then leaped through the gate. Once she passed through, it snapped shut almost immediately.
It was done. The three adults stood silently, watching the wall that no longer seemed special. Finally, Azek slid over to face the Queen as her eyes stayed locked on the spot they had just traveled through. “It was best you did not tell her, my lady,” he said in a voice that was hard as stone. “Always remember, it was for the greater good.”
Ilirra’s eyes burned white hot as she turned hard to met his gaze. “For the greater good, you say?” she hissed in a soft, dangerous whisper. Then, like lightning, she struck him across the face with a closed fist. “For the greater good?” she screamed as she struck him yet again. She shrieked the phrase over and over again as she continued to land rights and lefts. She seemed crazed, like she had just lost her mind! Azek took every hard blow without ever attempting to cover his face, fully accepting the onslaught.
The Queen suddenly collapsed in his arms. Limp as a noodle, she leaned all her weight into him. He held her close with tender care, yet did not utter a single word. No mere words could possibly soften her agony. His eye was swelling shut, and warm blood ran from his mouth and nose. Still, he embraced her with a sense of complete understanding.
She found just enough strength to raise her head. She looked into those dark hawk’s eyes. “How many times can one endure losing the thing they love most in this world?” she said in a shaky voice so weak it could hardly be heard, so full of pain it was. The fire in her eyes was gone, replaced by pure suffering and anguish. “How can you be so calm, so cold?”
She embraced Azek tightly as she inched her way up his body to whisper in his ear, “Taken from me again! I’ve sent our only daughter to her doom!”
*
The gateway snapped shut behind the companions just as Jade jumped through. She opened her mouth to speak, but it simply remained that way as her gaze followed everyone else’s to the awesome sight before them. The legends of the Mogan Forest were more than true. The sight was beautiful yet terrifying all at the same time. The tall trees were massive, with dark green leaves each the size of a man’s head. Only centuries of existence could yield such size. Their thick trunks were covered with dark, peeling bark as black as coal.
They weren’t actually in the forest, but standing in a field on the perimeter. The tall grass they stood in seemed to go on for miles behind them, leading right up to the edge, but where the forest began, it became instantly dense. There was no progression of trees becoming closer and closer to each other the farther in you went. The field just led up to a wall of vegetation. It seemed so unnatural. The complete silence was also unnerving. No signs of life could be heard or seen, not a butterfly, cricket, or any of the smallest clues that anything lived here.
Morcel gripped his great axe as he eyed the wall of trees. “Everyone ready?” he said as he began moving eagerly without waiting for an answer. At first glance, the forest seemed too dense to enter anywhere. There was no obvious path at all. They figured they would have to walk along the wall of trees and bushes until they found a break someplace, but after covering the mere fifteen feet or so, the path became obvious. It seemed impossible they couldn’t see it before. It was as if the trees moved to the side to allow them passage.
No light escaped from between any of the leaves or vegetation, just black outlines around the branches. It seemed as though the forest would be pitch-black, so they pulled torches from their packs, but upon entering they found they could see rather well. It fact, the trees were nowhere near as close together once they entered the forest. It was as if the outside layer was nothing but a thick, living wall for protection.