*Rhys*
I wiped the sweat off my brow as I looked ahead, at least where I could see. We couldn’t be far now.
After days of cautious, grueling travel, I and my elite team of Royal Guard soldiers were finally at the last known location of the elusive Alexa. We were searching the area, staying under the radar just outside Celestial City. It would have been silly to expect her to still be there, but I could hope.
At least, I hoped that we could find so evidence to point us to where to go next and that the terrain would be a little better.
We had taken a winding, obscure path to the location, trying everything in our power to avoid detection that would tip off Alexa. However, the path had been rugged wilderness that most travelers and hunters avoided. It was exhausting work.
But it would all be worth it when we caught Alexa.
"Spread out," I said quietly, even though the thick wilderness around seed to mute my voice anyway. "Look for any signs of life."
They spread out uniformly, proving their skill and experience. I continued moving straight, investigating for myself. This area was isolated from any other people by a long shot. If we found anything, it would be promising.
For hours, we all kept wandering the woods, separating to cover more ground but staying close enough not to lose each other. My eyes were peeled. I was looking for any sign of life at all or clues that Alexa had recently been there.
The trees made it eerily quiet as we walked. I started to doubt that Alexa had been there. Who could live in this uneasy state for long? Even walking through it was difficult. I couldn’t imagine sleeping there.
The sweat was dripping from now, but I didn’t even bother to wipe it away. I was so focused on seeing that nothing else could bother . I had to find sothing. This couldn’t just be a wild goose chase. It was impossible.
My frustration built. The n around remained much calr, but I could tell they were also exhausted. They just didn’t have as much personal investnt in the exhibition. Besides, they still didn’t know who we were searching for, just that they were a security risk with cris against the capital.
Damn it.
I stopped dead in my tracks. I still didn’t want to accept the fact that the tip could have been wrong, but we couldn’t search the woods forever. I would have to call it quits eventually.
Maybe it wasn’t a dead end. Maybe we could head to the city and find out more information there. Alexa could have not left any evidence. That was the only explanation, right?
Just as I was about to declare to my n that the woods were a dead end, I heard one of them call out. My heart started beating harder as I hurried to their location.
"What is it?" I asked quickly. "What did you find?"
"There’s a piece of paper affixed to the tree," he said slowly as I walked into sight. "It has your na on the front."
My heart began to pound as I stepped closer to inspect it for myself. Sure enough, there was a note hanging from a tree with a small dagger keeping it in place. I could barely make out the elegant script, so I stepped closer still.
It was definitely my na clear as day, Prince Rhys. The fine lettering seed to taunt as I stared at it.
I reached out and released the paper from the dagger, holding them both tightly in my hands. The rest of my n had arrived and were standing around , waiting. I could practically feel my heart beating through the tips of my fingers it was pounding so hard.
I ignored the anxiety and opened the folded piece of paper. It was from Alexa. I could tell. The more I read aloud, the more I cursed.
"What is it, Your Highness?" one of the n asked.
"There’s no doubt that this letter is from our suspect," I told the group around . "It appears they have lookouts monitoring the region because they knew we were coming."
"How is that possible?" another asked. "We haven’t seen anyone on our travels. We’ve taken every precaution."
"I don’t know," I replied, reading the letter again and looking for answers.
The bulk of the note consisted of puzzling poetic verses and arcane references. My brows furrowed as I tried to decipher the riddles. There had to be sothing deeper I was missing. There had to be so clue to let us know her actual location or what she was planning.
All I could tell for sure was that she had deliberately lured us there. We fell for the bait, and she was boasting that my arrival proved she held the upper hand in this chase.
My frustration started to grow again.
A part of the letter caught my eye. I grew still again as I read it, putting all of my energy into deciphering it.
“You are like a bee.
Desperate to find the beautiful flower,
Only to realize the flower has thorns.
Like the fallen prince of legend,
Go you after a woman,
Unbelievably beautiful, unknowingly treacherous,
Losing yourself and others along the way.
Dangerous forbidden lands did enter he,
Unaware of the trap of which she was laying.
Return is no longer an option.”
I knew this legend. It was a popular tale from when I was a child. There had been a prince who fell from grace by dealing with a consort. He proceeded to pursue the beautiful, cunning, and ultimately treacherous woman. She lured him off to forbidden lands from which he never returned.
That was it. That was the clue. Where had that prince followed the woman? Forbidden lands, but where?
I racked my brain.
Rember...
Rember...
I thought through the story again and looked over the prose. It clicked.
"Dol Guldur," I whispered out. The n had no problem hearing my voice in the eerie woods though.
"Dol Guldur?"
"The mythical demon kingdom?"
I turned to look at the one who spoke. "How far are we from Deadwood Forest?"
"Not far at all," he answered.
"Dol Guldur is believed to be hidden deep within Deadwood Forest," I continued. "I believe that’s where they are."
"But-but Dol Guldur is a myth," one of the n stuttered out. "It’s never been proven, and any that have tried to explore the cursed realm never ca back alive."
An unsettling feeling fell over as I looked at him. He wasn’t wrong. Worst of all, I realized that Alexa had engineered this entire ruse just to manipulate to go toward the lands of Dol Guldur. She thought this was all funny.
I could even picture her laughing straight in my face.
"It’s a trap," one of the other n spoke up. "They are leading us sowhere they know we won’t survive."
"Trying to eliminate the problem."
"Yeah, us."
The rest of the n murmured in agreent.
"We should turn back rather than walk deeper into the trap," another agreed. "We need to try and find another way."
I listened to all their words, but I couldn’t get the image of Alexa laughing in my face out of my head.
"No," I said firmly before I even realized I had made the decision.
The n all began to talk, still pushing for us to leave.
"No," I said more firmly.
They all fell silent.
"We are the Royal Guard, and I am the crowned prince," I commanded. "We do not run from criminals. We hunt them down and make them pay for what they have done. If we let them win, then what will stop others from doing the sa? We have to make a stand."
There was still more silence.
"But Your Highness, we aren’t prepared for a mission of this magnitude," one guard, the oldest, finally spoke up. "We should at least turn back and get more n and supplies."
"No," I shook my head. "That would take too much ti. We are close. I can feel it. If we leave now, we will be giving them the upper hand and ti to run."
"Then you sentence us to death," the older man continued gravely.
I stared at him.
"Your Highness," he corrected, bowing his head.
My mind was at war with itself. I respected him for speaking his mind and not caring if it was he was opposing, but a question remained. Would it change my mind?
I looked around at all of the worried faces.
"How about this," I started in a much calr tone. "We shall venture ahead and try to find any more clues. The criminal would not have gone through such efforts to lure us unless there was sothing crucial to their plot. I believe we can find the catalyst and put a stop to this before it begins. We might not even make it to Deadwood Forest. We can cross that bridge when we get there."
The n looked satisfied but still slightly skeptical.
I turned and started to walk again, my legs stiff from standing still for too long. The n fell into formation around . We began to walk in sync, scanning again for any information or clues.
But I wasn’t really looking.
I knew we wouldn’t find anything else in these trees. I knew Alexa, and I knew that she wouldn’t do anything that simple. She never did anything half-assed.
I didn’t tell my n that I knew we would have to enter Deadwood Forest. The nacing ruins hiding within could prove to hold all the answers I was looking for, and it was too late to turn back. I had a criminal to catch.
We moved in silence. Just as I expected, by the ti we hit the edge of the line of trees, we hadn’t found anything else of significance. I still held the letter and dagger in my hand as if they were the fuel for the fire pushing onward.
Yet, now, looking up at Deadwood Forest, even I paused.
If I had thought the woods we were in before were dense and eerie, they had nothing on the ones in front of us. It was as if every animal and even the wind disappeared from all around and we were completely alone facing trees ten tis our size.
My n shifted nervously beside , but nobody dared speak. The flatness of the air made wonder if our voices would even make a sound. I shifted back and forth on the balls of my feet.
There were warning signs in front of the trees, signifying the change, but they weren’t needed. You could feel the change.
Taking a deep breath, I walked forward. Again, without thinking, I made a choice. In reality, I had already made it. When I started this quest, I vowed I would not let Alexa get away for my sake but mostly for Saoirse and the babies’ sake.
I had a family to protect now.
I ignored the panicked sound of my n as I continued to move. They were the Royal Guard. They had a duty to the royal house and had sworn their loyalty to long ago. I knew they would follow.
Guilt tried to creep up as I thought about the odds of all of us making it back from this mission, but I quickly squashed it back down. If you expected bad outcos, that would be all that could happen.
We were going to make it through the Deadwood forests. We were going to find Dol Guldur and Alexa. We were going to stop them.
We had to.
I lowered my head and stepped underneath the branches and into the foreboding forest holding its cursed secrets.
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