Chapter 22

The next day was much more pleasant than any of the prior week. Where there was once silence, there was now playful conversation. The duo bantered back and forth, occasionally egging the other with bits of humor. Marissa felt that she hadn't laughed so much in a very long time. The young woman was glad to be cheerful instead of her emotionless self.

As they traveled they seemed to be crossing the country faster than what they had planned. They seemed to be ignoring the time spent getting to the Holloway Peninsula, and as such almost did not realize it when they had reached their destination.

"We're here," Beaumont stated.

"Already? It felt like it should have taken longer to get here."

"Well according my map we are at the peninsula. See the water's edge over there? That is the start of it."

In front of the pair was a forested landmass separated by two bodies of water on each side. An odd shaped butte could be seen on the eastern edge. The mount had a sheer face that led high into the clouds. Its tip was hidden amongst the mist filled sky.

Forests covered the other portions of the peninsula. The trees were wildly different than the redwoods of the paths behind them. These timbers were skinny, and the branches above only contained a thin layer of green padded leaves.

Marissa and Beaumont had deviated from the last remnants of a formal road since early that morning. They were simply following the advice of the male adventurer on how to get to their desired location. He had a crude map of the land that was only helpful in determining which approximate direction from which to head.

"Where do you think we should go now, Marissa?" he asked.

"Well there are some sketches of this note, but nothing that I can see that pertains to our current location. I'd just assume that we continue north until we reach its heart. And then we'll go from there I suppose." A layer of uncertainty filled her voice.

Marissa kicked into Faerun's sides and they were off into the strange land.

Traversing the forest was not easy. It was difficult to find openings between the thin trees from which the width of a horse could pass. The trees, although skinny, grew very close to each other. Barely enough room was present between each of them for a man to pass, let alone a large workhorse. The tall poles bent and strained as Faerun's and Reigard's hind quarters squeezed through. Luckily the smooth bark did not scratch their hides.

The forest began to thin as they journeyed deeper into the peninsula. They were getting closer to the edge of the tall butte, and its large shadow was being cast over the center of the peninsula.

Something caught Beaumont's eye. "My, those are some strange trees. I've never seen anything like them before."

An idea popped into Marissa's head. The young mage pulled the staff from off of her back and into her hands. She held the oddly shaped stick in her arms in an upright position. Her eyes then focused on the odd trees in the distance.

"Sylaalian! These are Sylaalian trees!"

"Sylaalian?" he asked.

"Yes, see my staff here? It's made from the same wood. These are magical trees! Such a rarity!" She paused, "But these are supposed to be lost from our world. No one has found any living members of their kind for over a century."

"So does that mean anything? Why would these trees be growing here?"

The question also entered into Marissa's mind. She rejoined the conversation, "Yes, it is odd. If the Pontia are supposed to be based here, then how could such a precious tree grow here as well? We know that the Pontia have a distaste for things arcane, almost a repulsion to such artifacts of the world. How could this be?"

A lucrative opportunity popped into Beaumont's head, "Should we gather some of this wood while we are here? We could bring in quite an amount of coin…"

"No, I won't allow it. These trees are sacred. Their genus must be kept intact, and we dare not take even a sapling. I would assume from the fact that they are no longer found on this continent, that they might only be able to grow on this particular piece of land. Besides, if we bring some examples back, then this precious forest would be razed in just a few days should people learn of where we had traveled. The forest must remain a secret."

"I suppose. Any thoughts on what to do next?"

"Well, we're getting closer to the butte, so why don't we head there directly? Maybe there will be some sort of structure, or something of the like, built into the mountain."

As they got closer to the rocky cliff, the amount of Sylaalian trees increased. All around them were the oddly shaped plants dotting the landscape. Their twisted forms left a sense of being in an otherworldly place.

The live Sylaalian trees looked only slightly different than the two bits of wood Marissa knew about. Unlike the dry brown colors of the staff and Box of Moddiad, these trees were a whitish green. The telltale deep grooves that traced their bark were present over their entire surface. These channels swirled around each tree with a distinctly unique pattern that was different across each individual tree.

The trunks were much wider than the thin trees they had passed through earlier, and their widths were even wider than the base of the largest redwood. It would take a storm of epic proportions to pull the trees from out of the ground.

The upper branches took the twirling structure of the trees to new extremes. Large corkscrews and odd curved angles sprung out from the upper portions. It was easily apparent that the staff which Marissa carried was but a small twig that had fallen from a single crooked branch.

The other odd feature of the Sylaalian was the stark white leaves that tipped their curved branches. No such leaves littered the floor, and not a single pale colored petal could be found on the ground beneath the pair. It seemed as though these trees never gave up their ivory pads during any traditional season, let alone any other natural reason. The bleached petals hanging on the twisted branches also seemed as old as the trees themselves.

The audible songs of tropical birds living amongst the Sylaalian trees whistled to the pair down below. Their sweet melodies sounded mystical and erratic.

Beaumont was the first to reach the edge of the cliff. He dismounted his horse, and scanned the mountain's base looking for any type of structure. The mountain was not as wide as the man expected for having such a tall peak. He was able to circle the mountain after only a few minutes of walking.

The young man looked high and low for any sign of a ruined structure, and even looked for any possible single bricks that might be lying around. His diligent searching turned up nothing, and he returned to Marissa with his findings.

"Nothing?" she asked.

"Not a single carved stone. Nor a sign of anything else manmade. There is nothing along this butte I'm afraid."

Marissa started to panic as she got down out of her saddle, "There has to be something here. I cannot have come all this way for nothing! What will I tell my teachers?!?"

"Calm down, we aren't out of options yet. It isn't quite yet time to give up just yet. There is a lot more land on this peninsula that we haven't covered. Have you even looked at your note recently?"

"The note? Oh, I forgot…"

She pulled the note from one of her pouches. She studied the drawings inscribed on the sheepskin with fresh eyes now that she was in this new location. One of the objects scribbled loosely on one corner of the note somewhat resembled the odd shape of a white Sylaalian leaf.

She asked the young man for a favor, "Can you pluck one of the leaves from these trees? I need to see if they match a shape written on this note."

Beaumont climbed on top of his horse, and stood upright on top of his saddle. Very carefully he stretched his right arm into the air and plucked one of the ivory leaves from a low hanging branch. He jumped down and walked over to Marissa.

The petal was asymmetrical in shape. The base which attached to the tree was round like a drop of water, but then it had three tapered prongs that somewhat twisted around this base. The middle leaf was the longest, with the other two being somewhat shorter. The shape of the leaf looked almost like a shooting star tumbling through space. The leaf within Beaumont's hand roughly matched the shape depicted on the note.

"Okay, so the note had a drawing that links this place to the Sylaalian. Now what?" the young man asked.

"Well, the Sylaalian are known to react to magic. Perhaps I should cast something?"

"It's as good an idea as any. But what should you cast? We don't want to damage the trees right?"

"I think I have an idea. Let me see if I have the correct ingredients."

Marissa placed her knapsack on the ground and started to rummage. She mumbled as he searched through her bag, "Nope, I guess I can't cast that one…" The mage dug even deeper. "Maybe…?... No. Not enough guran water for that…"

It took several minutes for the mage to find the ingredients for the matching spell that she wished to cast. "Aha! This'll do," she exclaimed.

She held a large piece of a brownish root within her right palm. Almost effortlessly, she snapped her arm outwards at the elbow in one quick motion. The root, and her right hand that contained it, began to glow and the air around them began to vibrate.

Beaumont tried to watch her as she did this, but he found it hard to focus on her palm. As she moved her arm, multiple copies of the image would trail behind her clenched hand, matching whatever little movement she made. In addition, her arm was distorting the air around her hand, which made it even more difficult to look at.

"Oh, I probably should have told you. Don't look at my right hand. It's another distraction magic. It doesn't do well to combine its illusions with a full stomach. And seeing as how we recently ate, you might start feeling sick. Just keep looking away and you'll be alright."

"Thanks for the warning," he said sarcastically as he tore his eyes away.

One thing that the pair did not initially notice was that not only was the staff on Marissa's back glowing with the distinctive lines of magical light, but the trees around them were reacting as well. The bark of the closest trees were also now lit up with colorful lines. They traced the mysterious shapes common in the skin of the Sylaalian plant.

In addition, the leaves were reacting much more vividly to the magic. Their edges were glowing with a bright blue tinge. Even the single leaf within Beaumont's hand was lighting up his entire face.

Shielding her right hand from view, Marissa looked around her. She noticed that the glowing amongst the Sylaalian trees depended on how close she was to them. As she walked around them, the aura which she was giving off changed. She wandered among the trees and gleefully watched their spectacular effects. With her left hand she traced the lines racing through the bark of nearby tree. Her finger drew circles and sharp lines. She even pretended that the colored lines spelled out her name.

Beaumont interrupted her fun. "Might I suggest you walk around the butte, oh wise mage? You know, to see if we can find this hidden structure, perhaps?"

With her dark brown eyes, she shot a disapproving glance at the young man. She also pulled her hand back into view, startling the young man. The dizzied man turned to pull his gaze away.

She altered her path and began to walk around the base of the butte. Numerous bushes grew along the cliff and she had to crawl through a few of them in order to fully circle the tall mountain. This time, Beaumont followed the young mage as they rounded the peak.

The pair heard the sound of stone shifting against stone. They turned to look in the direction of the noise but saw nothing. When Marissa stopped to listen for the sound, it also abruptly stopped.

"Did you hear that?" she asked.

Beaumont nodded.

"Thoughts?" she asked.

"Well I don't think it was anything that we have to fear. It might be a clue to this whole place. Keep walking, maybe out towards where the sounds came from. Maybe they'll pipe up again."

Marissa headed northeast, away from the base of the butte, and towards the sound they heard just a moment ago.

As soon as she took another step, the sound returned. She continued to follow the odd noise, which became louder as she approached. Marissa started to jog at a brisk run, heading directly for the sound of the grinding stones.

In her hurry, Marissa did not notice that there were steps that had been carved down into the earth below. Her foot missed the first step and she slipped on the first stone gradation. The young mage clumsily fell onto the upper step of the descending staircase. She landed on her backside with a thump. The root within her hand slipped from her grasp and tumbled down the flight of stairs.

"Ow, that looks like it must have hurt," said Beaumont as he caught up with her.

"Never mind that! Would you please help me up?" spoke the frustrated mage. Beaumont knelt down and helped to lift her up from the mysterious staircase.

"So, this must be the entrance to the structure you were looking for. It's quite lucky we found it so soon."

Marissa replied, "I wouldn't say that, my friend. We don't know where this hole leads, nor why it is here. If it was magic that caused this doorway to open, then magic must be an element of the contents inside. We must tread with caution for we do not know what is beneath us."

Continue reading onto Chapter 23