The Obelisk

-Chapter 72-

It was the middle of the night. Forest lay awake on his ledge, as he’d been for a while now. He held the rune in his talons, caressing it lightly. He stared into its deep, glowing core.

“They tried to take it from him.”

“Build. Destroy. Save.”

“Kill.”

A bond.

A bond.

“Looking at it, staring at it.”

A sound from inside the cave startled Forest out of his thoughts. He snapped his head up to the noise, setting the rune behind him.

Forest spotted Nyx nearby, sitting up by her sleeping spot, blinking Forests’ way. “You’re awake too?”

“A lot of things going on,” Forest answered quietly.

“Yeah,” Nyx agreed, slipping acrossed the cave and over to Forest. “It’s not every day all your dreams and nightmares come true all at once.” The moonlight from outside stretched into the cave, illuminating the sleeping figures of Forests friends. Nyx scratched one claw along the floor, looking anxious. “If you’re mad at me,” she blurted, “like Crimson is— the reason I didn’t tell you about the rune—"

“Nyx, no, I— I’m not mad at you,” Forest said.

“It’s because I was scared,” Nyx said. “Of

y o u.”

Her voice fell to the tiniest of whispers. “Of that rune. The thing that haunted my dreams since I was a kit. That still haunts me. ever since I heard what happened to that Shadowmane. I may not have been there, but I heard the stories. And they scared me, they really did.” She took a small, trembling breath. “And when you picked that rune up, and then it hurt that Prince, and then it destroyed the stronghold—"

“Wait, destroyed the—”

“You haven’t realized?” Nyx asked him quietly.

Forest didn’t answer. He didn’t understand. It made no sense.

But it d i d, too.

The two stayed quiet for a few moments. “Guess you’re not planning on losing it anytime soon, huh?” She asked gently, sadly.

Forest exhaled, his thoughts blank for once. “I don’t know.”

“You’ve bonded with it pretty nicely,” Nyx observed.

Forest lowered his head. “…When I first found that rune, I guess I wanted it to… I don’t know, mean something. I thought it would be special, and that that would make… me special.” His voice faltered and he brought one talon up to his face, turning away to hide his expression. He sighed. “buuut it’s not. It’s just another reason that life itself is a curse. Yet here I am, so uh, yeah, I guess you’re right, I have bonded with it well.”

Nyx regarded Forest with her wonderful understanding eyes. about a minute passed, and she asked, “So, when did you find out about this prophecy?”

“Oh,” Forest said, a small smile sliding in. “it’s a funny story, actually.”

“Tell me,” Nyx whispered.

“Nah, I—”

“Tell me!” Nyx stood up and pushed at Forest with her front paws, making him laugh. “Shhh, fine, I’ll tell you,” he said. “it’s started when I found this dodo.”

“A dodo,” Nyx echoed with a side smile, raising one eyebrow.

“A dodo,” Forest repeated, stifling another laugh. “And, uh, I think it was trying to… talk to me?”

“A mystical magical dodo,” Nyx whispered teasingly.

“Yeah,” Forest giggled. “So I followed it… and it led me to this Baryonyx, trapped under some rocks. He was… pretty— pretty loud. I insisted that I help him, he was not so happy about that. He wouldn’t stop yelling at me. ‘No, don’t do this!’ I didn’t understand at the time. and then, when the Baryonyx was finally free, that’s when she came.”

“Peeri,” Nyx said.

“Um, yeah.” Forest answered.

“I always believed in her, you know.” Nyx said. “Everyone had heard of her, but barely anyone believed. Most everyone in the camp thought she was some evil creature, spreading lies and misfortune. I mean, there were even rumors that she was the one who killed the Fire Wyvern Queen all those years ago.”

“The Fire Wyv—” Forest asked—

“It’s a long story,” Nyx said. “Anyway, but I always thought, why would she do that? Why would someone with powers to see the future spend their days killing and manipulating carnivores? No, I knew, she had to be better than that.”

Forest thought about that for a moment. “When Peeri came to me, she seemed, like someone who wanted a better world.” He said. “And when we met, she told me I had to help save Fjordur. I— I couldn’t believe it. She then gave me three names. Rust, Crimson and Spark.”

Nyx blinked. “W—”

“She never told me your name. You were a complete surprise,” Forest said. “Cool huh? How things work out?”

Nyx nodded, looking away. “Right. Cool.”

“What is it?” Forest asked her.

“What? Oh, nothing.” She said. “just thinking.”

“Well, you have a good night then,” Forest said.

Nyx smiled kindly. “You too.” And she padded away.