Page 119 of Enchanted Kingdom
I smirked at him and looked around me. “I can relate to the forest.”
“Jorah, you’re not going to die,” he snapped.
I cocked my head and laughed. “Well, I hope not, but that’s not what I meant.”
He gestured with a hand for me to continue.
I placed my hand on the bark of a nearby tree. It was rough, dried moss coating the gray bark. “The forest and I are both just sort of stuck.” I shrugged. “So yes, I relate to the forest.”
“Have you seen the lake?” he asked quietly.
I shook my head. “No. There’s a lake?” I spun around. “Where?”
“We call it the Dead Lake.” He took me by the hand and led me over fallen trees and around large trunks on a path that only he seemed to see. I had no idea how he knew what direction we were even heading.
But then there was a clearing. Massive, blackened trees towered above on either side and in the center, surrounded by possibly the tallest trees in the forest, was a lake. But it was not blue, or green, or even dark.
It was black. Pitch black. Not even the sunlight reflected or hit the water. It looked thick, like I could pick up a handful of it and it would stay in my hand a while. More of a tar consistency and less of a water.
“Is it.. .” I couldn’t find the right word. “Is it even water?”
Keir shook his head. “Not like before.”
I looked all around me, confused. “What happened to the water? What made it turn like this?”
Keir looked up at the trees. “No one is certain. Eight years ago the forest started dying, and it started right here. The lake went black. Then the trees around it.”
I didn’t want to ask him but couldn’t help it. “Was it your father?” I whispered.
He shrugged. “Possibly. That was about the same time his experiments really kicked in. The other countries were all experiencing a disease that was affecting their magic. My father shut down Wylan’s port, all travel and trade, and managed to keep Wylan free of it. When the lake went black a year later, I was younger and not at all concerned with foreign affairs, but I still remember the panic and hysteria of everyone assuming the sickness had finally arrived here,” Keir paused. “The fact that my father managed to save Wylan was the catalyst for some of his more aggressive behaviors. I think it really went to his head that Wylan was never affected. He believes he singlehandedly saved us all.”
I shook my head, considering all of what he’d said, things I had never heard of before in my life. “That’s interesting. Does this sickness still exist?”
Keir shook his head. “Not that we know of. It ran its course in a few years, but the damage was devastating. Each country’s magic source, their type of Assemblage, is unique to their land and not all of them have recovered. And we all clearly keep to ourselves now.”
My eyebrows reached for my hair. This was news to me. I knew of the other four countries from my education, their names and the like, but nothing of their magic. Other than they had it. Was this information intentionally kept from the lower levels of the kingdom or why didn’t I know anything about this?
He kept explaining it to me as simply as possible, as if he wasn’t sure what I knew and what I did not, but also somehow managing to not speak down to me. “We still have communications, albeit tense communications, with Brakken. Brakken is the country of wetlands and an intense rainy season. Their magic source is wrapped up in water. They have not been able to use their magic since. It is still wet, but the disease seemed to yank their gift away entirely.”
He paused while I thought on his words. I almost wished this disease had hit Wylan. That it had stopped the Enchanted’s magic, and for all of us to be on an equal level again. But at this point, I didn’t think even that would fix Wylan.
Keir continued, “And not that I trust him even remotely, but that may be another reason my father is interested in the blood of those with Iron Will. To see if their blood can be used to explain the disease and how it attacked those of us with magic. How to prevent it from ever touching ours.”
My breath caught. I didn’t care at all about what the king was wanting to use my blood for, but I did care about this forest.
“What?”
“Find me a sharp stick,” I demanded.
“What? Why?” Keir asked as his head went back. “Jorah, we are not going to give him your blood.”
I smiled what I assumed was evilly. “No, we aren’t. But I’d like to put a drop of it in this lake and see if anything happens.”
“What?”
“Come on,” I pleaded, “It’s worth a shot.”
Keir sighed. “Jorah, some of the strongest Enchanted in Wylan have tried to fix the forest and none of it worked.”
