When Amerie was little, she had begged her parents to take her to a water park. They kept making plans to go but for some reason, it had never materialised. Though it was many years ago, there was still a tiny part of Amerie that wanted nothing more than to go down a water slide.
That tiny part was very happy right now.
Amerie looked on in amazement as the stones at the bottom of the lake rearranged themselves, revealing an entrance. The resplendent water gushed in, carrying Amerie along with it. Amerie would have been afraid of being in a dark, dingy underground tunnel but with the lake as her lantern, she slid down the passage with the surety of a seasoned miner.
Until she landed, that is. The water took care lest Amerie be hurt and she wasn’t, but Amerie was startled nonetheless. She had been so riveted by gliding through the glowing darkness that she hadn’t noticed the ride was over.
The water trickled by her feet, acting as a torch in the murky passage. Amerie could see that the tunnel was much larger than she had realised. She quivered as she realised she was alone in a place like this. Amerie took an unsteady step forwards and to her surprise, the water trailed along with her. Well, not completely alone. She smiled.
Amerie was relieved that the lake hadn’t made her wet. It was so freezing down here that she was sure she would have otherwise caught pneumonia. Magical water is magical water, I guess. Though Amerie found that the cold wasn’t bitter, but pure and crisp. It invigorated her, giving her the grit to venture into the unknown.
Is that a...table? Amerie had almost walked into what seemed to be a colossal, round table. That enough would have surprised her as she could hardly imagine this was the most scenic place for a picnic, but a closer inspection baffled her even further.
It was a clock.
Amerie didn’t know what led her to believe it was a clock because it had no numbers, well none that were known in any human language. Nor did it tick or have a minute or second hand. But what Amerie did know was that it was a thread of hope that looped around her heart. That told her tomorrow could be a day where children were saved.
Instead of numbers or clock hands, twelve miniature trees sprouted from the centre of the clock. At where the number one should have been, there was only a miniscule sapling. At two it was slightly bigger. At six there was a healthy young tree and at where the twelve should have been, the miniature tree reminded her of a doll version of Grandmother Lyndzei.
The sprinkle of water followed Amerie and now that she had reached the tree clock, it circled around it. Amerie looked up and saw twelve giant roots emerging from the clock, each one creeping up the sides of the tunnel.
They must be alive, deduced Amerie. Funnily enough, they didn’t seem alive. What ‘alive’ meant for trees in the star realm, anyway. She touched them tentatively, but tiny trees didn’t react.
“Er, hello little trees...you look quite secretive and magical, which is sort of exactly what I need right now. I’m Amerie by the way.” Amerie considered that perhaps in situations like these, an introduction might make it seem there was no urgent matter at hand.
“There’s sort of a tree tyrant on the loose...maybe you know him. Not that I know him, but I know someone who knows him. But the point is there are four children in grave danger, like literally grave danger because that’s where they’ll end up if I don’t do anything,” she added in hushed tones.
The water glowed at her encouragingly.
Amerie cleared her throat. “So is there a riddle I’m supposed to answer or something? Maybe some type of side quest? Though I’d rather not because I don’t have the time. Do you need a sacrifice? Maybe you’d like my phone? It’s only a year old,” Amerie offered lamely.
Plop. Amerie could only hear the sound of droplets falling from the ceiling of the tunnel.
“Please,” Amerie pleaded, “just help me somehow! I don’t know what else to do. But I know the water must’ve brought me here for a reason. You’re my last chance.”
Nothing. The thread of hope tightened around Amerie’s heart until it finally snapped.
“I’ve failed.” Amerie let her arms fall limply to her sides. She crouched to the ground in despair.
“If only I had found the star realm before Desaraelfrun,” Amerie mourned. “If only I had come before she took Jack, before she had met Cedrych...whatever deal she made with him. If I had been there, I could have stopped her. I could have told Cedrych that she was a liar, if only I knew! If only I knew what she said that day!” she sobbed.
A deafening creak echoed through the passage. Amerie looked up, broken out of her spell of misery.
The tree clock moved.
The tree at twelve o’clock seemed to shorten until it regressed to the size of the tree that used to be at six o’clock. Each tree followed in order, not growing larger, but seeming to travel backwards through time. But Amerie checked her watch, the time and date were still the same. Only the tree clock seemed to be turning anti-clockwise.
The clock emitted a voice, the sound of which sent shivers down Amerie’s spine. There were some things you just couldn’t forget, like someone’s face splitting open.
“My lord, I am Desaraelfrun, your humble servant.” Her voice echoed through the tunnel.
“Hah! I have heard of you Desaraelfrun. I can hardly believe you would be anyone’s humble servant,” replied a booming voice.
“It is true my lord, I bring wisdom and advice.”
“Wisdom? My people would laugh to hear you say so to me. They have added Wise to my name, though I’d rather not they do so. Still, I value their judgment. You do not have that honour. Leave me, sorceress. I cannot trust your motives.”
“My lord, my only motive is the oath I swore when I entered training as a sorceress, to protect magic and its creatures.”
“Meaning? Your words are but a trifle. Leave, you are the only being this forest could possibly need protection from,” King Cedrych rumbled.
Desaraelfrun’s voice was quiet. “My lord, can you not feel their presence? The humans are swarming the forest in the human realm,” she said artfully.
“That means nothing. I will not jump to conclusions.”
“My lord, I have been to the human realm. I have heard them talk of cutting down the forest, not even for honest timber, but to ruin the woods altogether. You are kind to the children of these killing machines. You call them ‘friend’! Surely I have a greater right to that title? I am one of your own! A creature of the stars.”
King Cedrych was speechless. So this is where it all went wrong, Amerie thought sadly.
“My friend,” continued Desaraelfrun, “You and I both know the forest is defenseless against humans. But I have access to the latest sorcery. We can retaliate.”
Amerie winced at King Cedrych’s silence. Something told her that he was reliving the experience of seeing the previous king felled. Grandmother Lyndzei had said Cedrych was never the same after that day. Amerie couldn’t tell the difference from his voice, but she could tell it from his silence.
Desaraelfrun’s voice dropped to a whisper, “Do you feel lost? My dear friend, I will not forsake you. Take this elixir and your family will be saved...Are you willing?”
Amerie shut her eyes as she heard Cedrych sigh in surrender. She couldn’t bear it. It was like listening to the prologue of a tragedy.
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