Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 412

Chapter 412: Gnawing, biting, breaking, hacking, burning
Anaisa felt unbidden tears fill her eyes. The night she had once spent in this clearing had felt sacred somehow. Safe and protected. And the healing water had saved their lives through dangers and injuries.

And now, the forest was ablaze.

The towering, beautiful trees were cracking and breaking as sparks drifted from their branches.

Campfires were something dear to her soul, but the wholesale destruction of this beautiful place was wounding her heart.

The roar and crackle of the forest fire was startling in and of itself, but Anaisa gradually realized that the heat and smoke should be deadly at this distance.

Why wasn’t she burning? Why weren’t her lungs choked for lack of oxygen?

The wight, now descended from the dragon’s back, took its place beside her. The dragon itself had its neck extended towards the fire, inhaling deeply as if taking in some delicious scent.

The smoke was being pulled into its maw, and into the jaws of the several other dragons that had accompanied them through the tunnel system.

Visible waves of heat, also, seemed to be actively absorbed by the mythical creatures.

“What now??” Anaisa demanded, raising her hands to try to put her hair and clothing into some semblance of order.

She always felt more in control when she looked properly put together.

Except, that seemed utterly impossible at the moment. The combination of the mad flight and being drenched in the waterfall had utterly destroyed whatever remnants of a hairstyle she’d been sporting previously.

Her dress hung limply about her legs, though at least the dragons’ breath was quickly drying it.

“Come,” The wight held out an arm, indicating that they should walk forward, into the flames surrounding the clearing.

“I don’t know about wights, but humans die very painfully when exposed to open flames like those,” Anaisa lifted her chin haughtily, determined to recover some of her dignity after being so abominably dragged about.

“Come.” The wight intoned more firmly, and a dragon set out ahead of them, inhaling the flames as it went.

Was it her imagination, or was it humming in quiet satisfaction?

The charred trees stretched, bare and lifeless, towards the sky. As a path through the wall of fire was formed by the surrounding dragons, Anaisa and the wight proceeded.

She glanced over her shoulder, wishing she had a canteen to take more of the healing water, but…

The forest itself, and all the trees, might need it much more than she did right now.

“How far are we walking?” She asked next, trying not to sound whiny.

The wight didn’t answer, enigmatic as ever.

It seemed surreal, trying to carry on a conversation with a wight, while walking on a narrow path through a searing magical forest turning to ashes around them. The sound of the sizzling, cracking, and burning grew louder as they went deeper into the blaze.

Flanked by dragons, Anaisa was spared a clear view of the worst of the damage, as well as inhalation of the bulk of the smoke.

She wondered after the watery creatures that had inhabited this section of the woods. Had they made it to safety? Did they perish, trying to fight the blaze? Were they still struggling to contain it?

Though they had unnerved her deeply at the time, she didn’t wish them any ill.

It seemed a long way through the burning woods before the fire began to wane and smolder. She recalled the mad gallop her family had attempted through this section of the forest.

Eventually, a new sound met her ears. The sound of people. Of men. Orders being shouted.

“ARCHERS! READY!”

It seemed… the dragons had been spotted.

They were about to be attacked.

“Go,” The wight looked sidelong at Anaisa, and her eyes widened.

“You want me to run towards an army poised to attack?” She tried to keep the incredulity out of her voice.

The wight pointed forward, but Anaisa couldn’t see around the backs of the dragons.

“Fine,” She grumbled, “I guess I’d better go out before they start shooting at us.”

The lead monster stepped aside, turning its large, scaly head to stare at her as she passed. It seemed oddly unbothered by the impending assault of arrows, and she wondered whether that was due to ignorance or experience.

Perhaps its scales were immune to such silly human weapons?

As she stepped into the open, the smoke nearly choked her. The protection of the dragons had been truly beyond what she had been estimating!

The smoldering, ashy forest floor was not pleasant to walk across. The heat coming off of it was intense, on top of the ground being uneven and messy.

Cinders drifted through the air as the army was progressing through the burned section of forest, advancing towards their goal without the obstacles the enchanted place had presented.

“Stop!” She held up a hand, running her eyes across the line of soldiers. It was long, but she kept her expression steady. Just how many men had the king sent?

Or brought? There were royal banners towards the center of the formation, and she began to walk in that direction.

“HOLD!”

The cry gave her some assurance that the archers would not immediately begin firing at her, and she straightened her shoulders.

She had not planned on being seen by so many people today!

Still, this was not the worst she’d ever looked. The day Barnabas threw her out into the streets dressed in rags and sporting a blooming bruise from the slap he’d delivered to her… that had to have been worse.

Even without the trappings of wealth, she still had her noble bearing, and she used it to full effect, gliding gracefully towards the centermost banner.

“Halt!” Someone called from within the ranks. She could feel plenty of eyes on her, although many were still glued to the dragons that waited behind her.

“I have come to see King Harold,” She announced, lifting her chin. “Let him know the former Countess of Dogwood has come in pursuit of a treaty.”

“Annie??”

The voice was a not a strange one, and Anaisa’s mouth fell open as a familiar woman who could almost be her twin sister pushed free of the soldiers and ran forward.

“Sapphira?”