The Gates of Silvara

  Her scream echoed through the cave while Pow-Pow threw himself backward in laughter, and even Iris remained suspended in the air for a moment, visibly confused.

  Seraphis pulled away again, completely calm, as if nothing unusual had happened, while a silvery shimmering liquid seeped into Ursula’s wound.

  Ursula exhaled.

  He nodded to Votaria to signal that everything was fine.

  Darek rubbed his face.

  “…Maybe I should have asked for an explanation beforehand.”

  Pow-Pow grinned broadly, amused by the chaos.

  Seraphis closed his mouth, and at that very moment Ursula began to regenerate at an unusually fast rate. If one did not know better, one might have believed that Ursula had acquired the ability of a grotto salamander.

  Before their eyes, the torn wounds closed. Shredded flesh drew together as if invisible threads were stitching it back together. Dark blood ceased to flow, first dripping, then remaining only as a faint shimmering film on his skin. The edges of the injuries smoothed out, scar tissue formed and disappeared again before it could properly develop.

  You could almost watch the muscle fibers reorganize themselves.

  The vines wrapped around his body did not simply retreat. They pulsed. A gentle, almost breathing tremor ran through them, as if something within them were responding. The bud on his back opened a little further, and for a heartbeat a faint, warm glow shimmered inside it.

  Ursula’s muscles tensed. At the same time, the vines tightened. When he inhaled, they expanded with him. When he exhaled, they contracted.

  Like a single organism.

  It was impossible to tell where Ursula ended and where the bud began. His healing was not a one-sided process. It was an exchange. Energy flowed through him, but equally through the vines, back into the bud, and then into him again.

  Iris observed this with a narrowed eye. Her gaze shifted toward Votaria, whose face was marked by open confusion.

  Seraphis’ bite alone would, with a little training, already be sufficient to trigger the healing effect in the target. Apparently the regeneration he had received from the monster’s soul had turned out to have an unexpected use, at least in potion alchemy.

  Seraphis nodded slowly. He felt it as well.

  “Crazy,” Darek murmured. It was all he managed to say.

  If I can materialize Seraphis in the human world someday, I could even heal others. Provided they trust a snake enough to willingly let themselves be bitten, he thought with amusement.

  Ursula straightened up. Not only did he examine his body. The vines moved with him, feeling along his shoulders, tightening along his arms as if they themselves were inspecting every healed fiber.

  He rolled his shoulders, bent his knees, flexed his fingers. The bud on his back continued to pulse calmly, as if satisfied.

  Then he lifted his head.

  A proud grin appeared on his face.

  Seraphis held his gaze. A narrow, satisfied smile slid across his own face as well. If he had possessed arms, they probably would have performed a loud, rough handshake.

  But they no longer needed such gestures.

  After all, they were brothers now.

  “That was faster than I expected,” Darek said with relief.

  “What is actually your goal? Why are you in this dream?” Pow-Pow asked, abruptly changing the subject.

  “Right, I never told you that. We want to obtain the Dream Essence.”

  “Dream Essence?” Votaria suddenly joined the conversation.

  Iris answered for Darek. “That’s some foreigner thing. Don’t worry about it.”

  “If that’s all it is,” Pow-Pow replied calmly.

  “Our next destination is the city. Aria will lead us there tomorrow morning. But first we’ll let her rest. I mean, we’ll all rest.”

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  Ursula and Seraphis began preparing a small meal for everyone together, just like the last time. Their ambition and rivalry had lost none of their intensity despite their newly gained brotherhood.

  But compared to yesterday, something had changed. Seraphis had noticeably grown larger and stronger. His scales appeared darker, glossier in the flickering light. Ursula, meanwhile, used his vines like a natural extension of his body. They grabbed ingredients, held bowls, pulled wood closer to the fire, as if they had always belonged to him.

  Before long, Seraphis and Ursula distributed the bowls. This time there were roasted Silvarian mountain mushrooms on berry ragout. A sweet, slightly bitter aroma spread through the cave and mixed with the smoke of the fire. Even the presentation of the food looked surprisingly artistic.

  “That looks amazing, Seraphis,” Darek said with a grin.

  Seraphis nodded with satisfaction. Pow-Pow also took a bowl. Even in front of Iris floated a dish, although she did not even possess a mouth.

  “You probably can’t call that eye candy, can you, Iris?” Darek teased.

  Neither Iris nor Pow-Pow reacted in the slightest.

  Damn. He and Pow-Pow seem to get along pretty well.

  The next day arrived, this time without the flood and without the pounding rain that had accompanied them the day before. Instead, a calm, clear morning lay over the forest.

  “Alright then,” Pow-Pow began, placing his hands on his hips. “I know a good shortcut. That’ll get us onto the Bear Path within forty-five minutes. And from there on we’ll be safe all the way to the capital.”

  When he noticed the slightly confused expression on Darek’s face, he realized that Darek knew very little about this part of the dream.

  “The Bear Path runs through the entire forest,” Pow-Pow continued. “And not just to the city. No. It leads directly to Silvara’s Tree Castle. It’s a beaten trail that formed over centuries when Silvara’s hunters and scouting parties returned from their hunts and reported back to the Tree Castle.”

  Darek’s gaze shifted to Votaria.

  She immediately noticed and yawned widely, stretching her arms above her head.

  “Wuuuaah. How can someone talk so much this early?”

  Then she rubbed her eyes and added, “But yes, that’s the path I wanted to take yesterday. Actually finding the way to the Bear Path is the difficult part of the journey.”

  The morning was still dim as they left the dwelling cave. But between the scattered trees the first rays of sunlight were already breaking through, slowly beginning to warm the ground and the cool forest air.

  The group found the path quickly and covered the distance toward the city without further incidents. They chatted cheerfully and advanced at a comfortable pace.

  Once again, the Bear Path proved reliable.

  The city was still about ten minutes away, but they could already see it.

  There it was.

  The city of Silvara.

  From the outside there was not much to see at first. A massive, high defensive wall surrounded the entire city. It appeared sturdier than most walls Darek knew from his own world. The wall consisted of thick, tightly packed tree trunks that tapered into sharp points at the top. Without the sharpened ends, it must have measured a good twelve meters.

  Darek stopped and stared upward.

  Constructing and assembling that defensive wall alone must have been a tremendous task.

  In front of the enormous gate stood two tall guards, flanked by two Silvarian bears.

  Wow. In the real world these two would be considered giants, Darek thought.

  On the left side of the gate stood a woman. She measured about two meters thirty, had deep brown hair falling past her shoulders, and held a long spear loosely in one hand. To her right stood a man, slightly taller still, with short, equally dark hair and no visible weapon. Both wore simple garments made from coarse linen.

  The two Silvarian bears looked significantly older than Ursula. If Ursula was about eight years old, these two must have been in their early twenties. Their posture was calm, but vigilant.

  Votaria looked at Darek.

  “Those are members of the Scout Order. If they’re stationed at the gate, it means the city is currently in a peaceful phase. The last time I was here, guards from the Vanquisher Order were standing there.”

  “How can you tell, Aria?” Darek asked.

  “As I said, most of what I know comes from Ursula. He occasionally talks with the bears from the Hunter Order. They don’t wear official insignia, but their clothing speaks for itself. It’s tailored precisely to their respective roles.”

  She nodded slightly toward the gate.

  “The Scout Order dresses very lightly to maintain the mobility they need. The principle is self-explanatory. When I saw guards from the Vanquisher Order, I ran. I had to gather myself before I could even find the courage to approach the city. As the name suggests, they handle everything that needs to be subdued and doesn’t belong to the everyday hunt for resources.”

  Darek followed up with another question.

  “Why does a city like this, so remote, even need such strong guards?”

  “For one thing, because of monsters like the grotto worm we encountered. But grotto worms up to a fairly advanced age, about seventy years, still fall within the responsibilities of the hunter squads.”

  Darek swallowed.

  They’re that strong? Damn.

  The eleven-year-old one from yesterday had already been able to inflict serious injuries on them. He deliberately ignored the mutation. That had not been normal. But even without the mutation, that worm probably could have wiped them out under different circumstances.

  And the normal hunters seriously handle a seventy-year-old grotto salamander? And only after that does the Vanquisher Order step in?

  The thought alone made him shiver. A cold chill ran down his spine.

  “And secondly, because of what used to happen inside the city itself.”

  Votaria took a deep breath, as if she needed to gather herself.

  “Ursula told me that before the Oracle, a king ruled the city. Under his rule there was a lot of suffering. Many inhabitants even tried to flee. It was more like a cage than a city.”

  Her gaze became dim, almost downcast.

  “It must have been terrible. Sometimes I could even hear screams all the way to the dwelling cave.”

  After a brief silence, a composed smile returned to her face.

  “But that only lasted until the Oracle took control. Now everything is good again.”

  Countless new questions shot through Darek’s mind at this information. But they were already too close to the guards to ask them now.

  First get inside.

  He swallowed nervously. With every step that brought him closer to the guards, the tension inside him grew.

  There were no more than five meters between them and the gate. Darek deliberately sought eye contact to better judge their posture.

  The guards returned his gaze.

  Cold sweat broke out on his skin and ran down his back.

  Then their voices rang out.

  The woman and the man began to speak at the same time.