"You said you feel like you're in a cage here, so I'm taking you on a trip," Ciaran Amaya said.
"Do you think one trip is going to change the fact that I feel like a prisoner here?" Amaya told him.
"Maybe," said Ciaran. "But I don't know if I can change the fact that you feel trapped inside your head. You can go anywhere you want."
"Yes, but with General Marcellus behind me and only as long as I'm planning to return," said Amaya.
"You've been imprisoned so long you have no idea what freedom looks like." Ciaran gave her a fleeting smile.
Amaya punched him on the shoulder with a laugh. "I'll know it when I see it," she said.
"And yet you've been staying for two weeks," said Ciaran. "You'd be lying if you said you didn't like me."
"You're forgetting that you stopped me when I tried to run away," Amaya remarked.
"Only because you were doing it for the wrong reason," replied Ciaran.
"This can never end well between us," Amaya said.
"Is there something that could end badly between us?" Ciaran smirked.
"You know what I'm talking about, Ciaran," she said and kissed him.
⸸
Amaya and Ciaran rode side by side. They were in no hurry. The guards followed a little behind them to give them space.
They went to an unknown place. Well, at least Amaya didn't know that. Ciaran kept it a secret from her. He said it was a surprise. She was unfamiliar with Deira, so she didn't even dare to guess where they were going. All she knew was that they were heading southeast.
They walked through the green forest. Suddenly the crowns of the trees turned red, orange and yellow. It looked like autumn in Amorite, but she knew that autumn does not come this far south in Deira. Seasons do not change here. Eternal spring reigns here. Amaya looked around in amazement. She tried to write that beauty into her memory forever. There was a strange energy in the air. It was as if alive. A soft whisper was carried in the breeze. But it wasn't the whisper of the wind in the treetops, it was the whisper of the trees themselves.
"What kind of place is this?" Amaya asked Ciaran.
"This is the Firewood," he replied. "It's an enchanted forest," he remarked. "Most people avoid it. They are afraid of it. It can feel a little spooky here at night, but during the day it's..." he searched for the right words.
"Breathtaking?" Amaya said.
"Breathtaking," said Ciaran.
The forest thickened in front of them. The trees stood close together. The intertwined branches of the trees arched over them like a canopy. The narrow path ended in front of them. They dismounted.
"We'll go on our own from here," said Ciaran. "Just the two of us. Alone," he added.
In front of them were stairs leading somewhere into the dense forest. They stretched downwards. They looked like they were made of tree roots. Amaya couldn't see where they were leading, the crowns of the trees obstructed her view. But Ciaran knew it. He held out his hand to her.
"Where are we going?" Amaya asked him.
"You'll see," he replied. "I swear you'll like the surprise though."
Amaya took his hand and followed him down the stairs. She allowed him to lead her. They twisted in different directions. They had to watch every step. Stray branches stood in their way as if they were trying to hide something from them. Fragments of sunlight filtered through the flickering leaves. They formed dancing shadows. They lent the forest an even more magical atmosphere.
They made it to the end. A clearing opened up before them. In the middle of that clearing was a lake with blood-red water. A weak stream flowed into it. It originated in a huge, old tree at the edge of the clearing. That tree was bleeding and its blood formed that lake. Poppies grew all around.
Ciaran walked towards the lake and began to take off his clothes.
"Are you coming?" he asked Amaya.
"Did you forget I can't swim?" Amaya told him. "This isn't exactly the best surprise."
Ciaran returned to her. He took her hands. He slowly pulled her to the lake.
"Do you trust me?" he asked her.
"No," Amaya replied with a smile.
"Then you'll have no choice but to trust me now," said Ciaran.
Amaya let him guide her. They took off their clothes. Entered the bloody water together. Ciaran held her the whole time. Amaya held onto him tightly. They entered deeper water. They lost solid ground under their feet.
"Let the water hold you," Ciaran told her. "No panic at all."
"I'm not panicking, I'm just trying not to drown," Amaya said as she dug her nails into his shoulders. "Just because I can't die doesn't mean I enjoy dying."
"With me, you'll never have to die again," said Ciaran.
"I'm afraid you can't stop it. Death always takes what she wants." Amaya said.
"But now you have me and I won't let you die," said Ciaran.
Amaya slowly moved her legs. She mimicked Ciaran's movements. She was still holding onto him and he was holding her. However, he let her go. Amaya didn't even realize it at first until she noticed that she was swimming all by herself. Ciaran was far from her. Amaya started to panic. She swam awkwardly to him. Water splashed everywhere. The water droplets created a rainbow in the air. Ciaran caught her. Laughed.
"I told you not to panic," he told her.
"You let me go," Amaya scolded him.
"You swam alone," Ciaran remarked.
"That didn't give you the right to just let me go without warning," Amaya said.
"Okay," said Ciaran. "I'm letting you go." and he let her go.
"No." Amaya protested, holding onto him tightly. "Don't let me go," she begged him. "Never again."
"I'll never let you go," Ciaran said, pulling her into his arms again.
A foul smell wafted from somewhere. The air was filled with the rumble of heavy footsteps and the cracking of fallen branches. Amaya and Ciaran looked around to see where it was coming from. They were alert. A terrifying figure stepped out from among the trees. He was a goat from the waist down. His massive hooves trampled the redheads of poppy flowers. Twisted horns grew out of the disheveled hair on his head. He fixed his wild eyes on them.
"Miss Amaya, a girl born from Death," he spoke in a throaty voice. "Blessed by the gods themselves."
"Who sent you faun?" Amaya asked him with venom on her tongue.
"No one, my lady," replied the faun. "My path happened to lead around."
"Don't lie, faun," Amaya snapped. "You fauns always have ulterior motives."
"All dark creatures have a malevolence in their nature and you are no exception, my lady," the faun replied. "And this forest is full of them. Your presence here was instantly recognizable."
"And what do you want, faun?" she asked him.
"Do you know what this place is, my lady? This tree? This lake?" the faun avoided answering. "It is a tree of knowledge. If you ask him the right questions and drink his blood, he will answer anything you wish. But in return, you have to sacrifice a drop of your own blood to the tree and it will guard your secrets forever," he said. "His Highness used it to find you, Miss Amaya."
Amaya looked at Ciaran. She saw insecurity awoken in him by the faun's words. Out of the corner of his eye, he looked at his sword thrown on the shore.
"You didn't answer my question faun," Amaya said irritated. "I will not play these games of yours. If you don't want to die, then answer. What you want?"
"It is said that you can no longer kill dark creatures my lady, so I would not fear death," the faun said with malice in his voice.
A shadow rose above the faun. It absorbed all the light. It aroused terror in the deepest depths of every living being. The forest also trembled. The faun no longer looked so confident when Amaya unleashed her monster.
"There's nothing stopping me from killing you faun," Amaya told him coldly. "However, I will be merciful to you today and let you go. Run if you don't want your blood to sprinkle this earth."
The faun immediately turned and headed into the forest. But before he could disappear into its shadow, Amaya's shadow lunged at him and broke off both of his horns. The faun let out a guttural cry of pain. His cry startled the birds resting in the treetops. Blood ran down his face.
"So that next time you remember to talk to me with respect," Amaya told him. "But next time you won't get out alive, faun. Remember that."
The faun disappeared from their sight and Amaya's shadow faded back into the void from which it had emerged.
"We should leave," Amaya told Ciaran.
Together they swam to the shore. They got dressed. Ciaran fastened his sword around his waist. He instantly felt more confident with it.
"Are you afraid of my kind?" Amaya asked him.
"No," Ciaran replied without hesitation. "And you're not like them at all."
"Are you afraid of me?" she asked him.
The prince took a step closer to her, two. He let the distance between them disappear. "You fascinate me, little goddess," he replied. "I am drawn to the flame that burns within you."
"By the way, you didn't have to sacrifice your secrets to find me," Amaya told him with a smile. "You could just ask anyone in Amorite where I am and they would tell you. My whereabouts were no secret."
"I would do it over and over again to have you mine," said Ciaran.
Before Amaya and Ciaran made their way back to their horses, the guards arrived.
"What happened, Your Highness?" they asked. "We heard a scream."
"Everything is fine," said Prince Ciaran. "Only the sounds of nature."
They were returning home. The colorful foliage of the Fire Forest turned green again. They came out of the forest to the open plains. The wind was blowing stronger there. When the forest that had been listening disappeared in the distance behind them, Ciaran plucked up the courage to ask Amaya a question he was interested in the answer to.
"Why did you stop hunting dark creatures?" he asked her. "You were a hunter and you stopped out of nowhere. The faun said you mustn't kill them anymore. And even though you denied it, you didn't kill him."
Amaya laughed to herself. "I lied," she admitted. "But I can still hurt them. This is to blame." she showed him her hand, which was decorated with signs.
"Your deal with the gods?" Ciaran wondered. "What was that deal?"
"You say I'm not like them, but the truth is I'm the same as the Shadow King. I will do anything for what I want," said Amaya. "But we're not that different from humans."
"Everyone does what they have to do to get what they want," said Ciaran. "It looks like dark creatures are no different from humans. Except for the bloodlust. But you don't look like a dark creature at all, except for your shadow.''
"Even people can be cruel. Me too," Amaya said. "But there are three kinds of dark creatures. Children of the gods. They are conceited bastards. Then there are dark creatures like me, people turned into dark creatures. Or to put it another way, those blessed by the gods. And then there are dark creatures created by dark creatures. They are soulless creatures who know nothing more than killing. Everyone is afraid of them."
⸸
They were halfway to Hiraeth when they met General Adrien with a crowd of soldiers.
"General Adrien, did you miss me so much that you came back?" Amaya said with a mischievous smile on her lips.
"Not yet, but maybe at our next meeting, Miss," replied General Adrien. "I see you haven't run away yet."
"I tried, but I got caught," Amaya replied.
"What brings you here, General?" Prince Ciaran asked him.
"You are wanted in the royal palace," he replied. "Immediately."