The Dawn of New Magic, Chapter I: The Path Not Taken

He fled, his heavy footfalls leaving imprints in the dust. Looming ahead of him was the entrance to the Dark Forest. He slowed, turning into the forest, hiding the footprints he had left behind to throw his pursuers off.1

His pursuers were Kattar, spawn of the Kat'roc Wastes. Half man, half beast, these creatures were the only things that stemmed from the Wastes, and, like all things that reside in the Waste, they were under control of Kat'roc. 2

The lead Kattar, tensed, and smelled the air, and it pointed directly at the fleeing man. 3

He made his way into a tree sheltered grove with which he turned, and prepared to fight. Digging his feet into a cleft in the ground, he braced himself for the coming onslaught of creatures. 4

"You will not get past me!" The man exclaimed in a stern voice, one that sounded older than the brambles themselves. "Artock sil don Windis!" He exclaimed.5

Within seconds, the Kattar were scrambling to find something to brace against, for a strong gale ripped through the grove, tearing up everything in its path.6

Unfortunately for him, the winds weren't enough to kill the beasts, and immediately, the Kattar were up and running towards him again.7

"Tyes dall ver elec sentix!" He exclaimed, and a bolt of lightning struck in the center of the grove, frying all of the Kattar in its path, and then the battle was nearly over. 8

The remaining few Kattar gathered in a cluster and prepared to charge him.9

Knowing that magic wouldn't finish the job here, the sorcerer whipped his wrists, and a dagger appeared in each hand. 10

The Kattar charged. 11

All at once, the sorcerer simply vanished with the speed of a cat, and he whipped around underneath the first Kattar, slashing its throat. He then moved on to the second one, slicing its stomach, releasing its innards. The third he finished with a stab through the eye. The fourth and final Kattar looked at the ensuing carnage, and fled, just to have two daggers hanging out of its back. 12

The man strode over to the corpse of the fourth Kattar and plucked the daggers out of its back.13

The man pulled down the hood of his cloak, revealing an ancient face. His eyes were bright blue, and they flickered like flame. There was power in that ancient ocean of blue, anyone could see that, before they drowned in them. 14

He looked ahead, at the path beyond the grove, and to his dismay, he saw the remains of a great oak, splintered and dying, almost completely blocking the path. He looked at the last vestige of what was once the trunk, where he saw a tiny path, almost completely covered with overgrowth, which snaked its way into the deepest part of the forest. 15

Pondering whether he wanted to climb the remains of the tree or not, he decided to take the new path, the path not taken. 16

Walking into the deep woods, he began to feel eyes watching him over his shoulder. He could not explain what they were, but, somehow, they felt familiar.17

'Why does this forest always watch me?' He thought.18

Overhead, the sky grew dark with an impending storm, the result of his profuse use of magic. An unnatural storm it was, and one that wouldn't pass very easily.19

As the sorcerer continued on, he began to notice that it was beginning to grow lighter, regardless of how dark it was overhead.20

'Forestlight,' he thought. 'I must be nearing Cedendria.' 21

Moments later, he heard a twig break and a body fall to the ground.22

He rant to the edge of the copse and looked down at the dying person before him.23

Her fair skin was a medium brown, and it was unblemished by scar or acne. She was garbed in a dress made of grass and grape vine, and a bushel of grapes hung from her neck like a pendant. 24

Her eyes were a bright almond color, he noticed as she stared up at him, but the color was beginning to fade, and quickly. 25

He looked at her legs, they were torn, with deep gorges winding the way to her thighs, and they were bleeding strongly.26

He bent to her ear and spoke: "Lady Dryad, may you and your tree find peace in the High Grove." Bending lower, he muttered an incantation. "Mhrk sasha nek d amist," and a pulsing light appeared. Within seconds, the dying Dryad was gone, and in her place, a young oak tree now grew.27

As the sorcerer was standing up, two vines lashed out like whips and caught his wrists like a vice, and seconds later, two more grabbed his ankles.28

"Who are you, spellcaster, and why do you tread so close to the realm of Cederia, High Queen of the Dark Forest, and Weaver of Treesong!" A phantom voice spoke out of the darkness.29

Her voice caught him in a vice of passion. He longed for her, wanted to share his body with her; this was the curse of Dryads, and he strained not to let his lust for beauty and passion avert him from his mission.30

"I am Xanthos Dar'Tamacar, ambassador to the King of Mala, and follower of Acris Dar'Firis, the Religion of Fire, led by the angry god, Pyrox." 31

A woman jumped from a high silver-maple and landed on her feet before Xanthos, and then stepped out from the shadows. Her olive skin glowed in the forestlight, and her eyes were a bright green, streaked with yellow, and her garb, like her sisters, were vine. 32

"I am Ivia, Princess of the Dark Forest, ambassador to my mother, the queen, follower of Treesong, the religion of the god Telamar. Are you aware, that citizens of the forest do not allow Pyrox, or his magicians, anywhere near our sacred cities. The punishment for this is death, or worse, life as a Dryad slave.33

Xanthos shivered at the thought. He had seen men who had been enslaved by the Dryad, and it wasn't the most wonderful thing that could be bestowed upon any man. In the Dryad world, men were slaves in more ways the manual labor, they were chosen by a Dryad, and they fathered the next generation, which of course, were all female. 34

Sometimes a man would be stuck in a family of Dryads for eons, sometimes having spells placed on them to keep them young, fertile, and controlled.35

The few men who actually survived and escaped from their slavery would often return to their wives, and it was at that moment that men became a shell of what they were.36

The loins of Dryad torture men so badly that they begin to feel pain anytime that they come into contact with a woman, and they began to die, often times in pain. It was a dark fate that Xanthos didn't want to face. 37

"Furthermore," Ivia continued. "I cannot be the one to deliver the punishment for one reason." She raised her hand and gestured at the the young oak now pushing its way into the canopy of trees overhead. "What you did for our sister Fern, that was the most beautiful burial we Dryad have ever seen in many years, so I am taking you to mother, for her to decide." 38

A tiny glimmer of a smirk appeared on Xanthos' face. 39

"Sisters, proceed to lead Xanthos to the Cedar Castle!" Ivia barked at the four Dryad that were still binding Xanthos' digits. 40

They began to move. Normally, Xanthos would just weigh down four women, however, these Dryad were strong.41

Moments later, the forest opened into a large dome-shaped clearing. They were sheltered from the oncoming storm by a dense canopy from the surrounding trees.42

The Dryad lived in dwellings carved into the bodies of ancient trees, ranging in size from single floor dwellings to a few that rose up to the canopy, where several generations could live in one house.43

Upon closer inspection though, Xanthos noticed that the dwellings were far from simple. Many were adorned with flowering plants that swayed gently as though they were singing. Or being sung to, rather, by the women inside. 44

Ivia led Xanthos of Mala further down the old broken path, until they came to the tallest tree in the grove, an elderly old cedar that was centuries dead. Carved into the top of the tree was a gilded palace, where no one except the queen of the Dark Forest herself, lived. 45

Ivia cooed a soft sound into the tree, and a ladder of vines fell down.46

"Lets go!" Ivia barked at Xanthos, and she began to climb.47

Xanthos followed her up, trying his best to avoid the tangled thorns making their way up the vines. He came to a carved wooden ledge, and he braced his feet, and crawled up past the canopy of trees, and came upon the palace of Cederia, High Queen of the Dark Forest. 48

Ivia led him into the palace foyer, and they continued on past that, until they came to a large double-door, where Ivia stopped, and turned to face Xanthos. 49

"You must show respect to my mother, you will not survive this incursion if you do not! Now go in, and bow!" Ivia said, opening the door, and shoving Xanthos inside, and then she turned, with an arrogant bow, and slammed the door behind her. 50

"I thought I felt you nearby." A slightly misty voice spoke from the shadowy throne in the center of the room. "Xanthos Dar'Tamacar, why have you returned to Cedendria, when you know there is a price on the head of any sorcerer who is caught by the Dryan?" 51

"I have troubling news," Xanthos began, taking a breath. "It has begun; Pyrox' hold on the Key of Divinity is weakening, and it is time for another God to take up the burden. I reluctantly entered your territory because I thought that you should know, but I see that you will invoke laws on me after all." 52

A gnarled face loomed out of the shadows, and stared with cedar colored eyes into Xanthos' blue ones, and then she cackled. "Did I say I was going to invoke the law unto you? The second I got wind of what you did for Fern, I knew that you and I were still fairly good friends, I know you, and have for years, and I know you wouldn't harm the forest. I know that unlike most sorcerers in this world, you respect all six of the gods, not just Pyrox, whom you serve. You are most definitely welcome here. 53

"I especially have a grand respect for Telamar, who is due to reign in twenty thousand years." Xanthos said. "But the real reason I'm here is that Pyrox time is nearly over, and it is time to gather the Gems of Power. I only know the location of one, which your cousin, Orchidra, guards heavily in the Enchanted Wood. I need to know, will I have access to the Wood?" 54

"You know Orchidra and I don't get along, why didn't you ask me something simpler?" Cederia replied. 55

"Oh well, I tried." Xanthos said, and he stood up, preparing to leave. 56

*not finished yet*57