Chapter 5 - The Forbidden Forest
Elara dropped the wooden box in horror, the severed finger tumbling out onto the cold stone floor.
Kaelen pulled his sword from the dead assassin's chest, turning to Elara with a look of deep concern.
"Are you hurt?" the prince asked, reaching out to touch her shoulder.
Elara violently slapped his hand away, her eyes blazing with a mixture of terror and absolute rage.
"You killed my father," she screamed, pointing at the bloody signet ring on the floor.
Kaelen looked down at the finger, his expression shifting from confusion to sheer panic.
"Elara, I swear to you, I have never seen that ring before in my life," he pleaded, dropping his bloody sword.
"He said you ordered the attack in the throne room to manipulate me," she cried, backing away toward a crumbling wall.
"The Silent Order is a cult of religious zealots who want to use your blood to burn this entire kingdom to the ground!" Kaelen argued passionately.
Before he could explain further, the sounds of heavy boots and barking dogs echoed down the tunnel.
The King's reinforcements had finally arrived, and they were closing in fast.
"We have to leave now, or we both die," Kaelen stated, grabbing his sword and shattering a glass window that led outside.
He did not wait for her answer, grabbing her arm and pulling her through the broken window into the pouring rain.
They ran into the jagged treeline of the Forbidden Forest, a place where no villager ever dared to tread.
The dark trees seemed to twist and reach for them like skeletal hands in the relentless storm.
Elara ran beside Kaelen, her mind racing with conflicting thoughts about who was actually telling the truth.
After an hour of running, Kaelen finally collapsed against a massive oak tree, clutching his side.
Elara noticed for the first time that his tunic was soaked in blood from a deep gash near his ribs.
"You are wounded," she said, her natural instinct to help overriding her immediate distrust.
"It is nothing," he grunted, sliding down the trunk to sit on the muddy ground.
Suddenly, a low, guttural growl echoed from the dark bushes surrounding them.
Dozens of glowing red eyes appeared in the darkness, circling them like hungry predators.
Massive wolves made entirely of black shadows stepped into the moonlight, baring their razor-sharp teeth.
Kaelen tried to stand, but his legs gave out, leaving Elara completely defenseless.
The largest shadow wolf lunged directly at Elara's throat, its jaws wide open.
But a sudden flash of blinding white light incinerated the beast mid-air.
A woman stepped out from the shadows, lowering a glowing magical staff.
May you like
Elara gasped as she recognized the face from the royal portraits in the palace.
It was Kaelen's mother, the Queen, who had supposedly died violently fifteen years ago.
