After passing Elizabeth's house, they traveled toward the entrance of Gray Wood. Even without the entrance in view, the change in road signified what the adventurers were plunging themselves into. An eroded stone road separated one from the other and along with it were long dried splotches of blood from many winters ago. Leaking from the forest's grasp were glimpses of gray, sickened forestry. In a scattered pattern of gray and green, the landscape spewed spores into the air, enough to kill a small animal. Drying them, sucking them of any life that would have been held without the hands that devised their death. A long forgotten sin that would claim the lives of many.
As the entrance of Gray Wood grew closer, so did the growing anxiety that bubbled inside Elizabeth. Most of what she knew about the forest came from books and drawings; she wasn't ready for an expedition even in the peaceful times before the Three Month Winter. And yet she was trailing behind someone who intended to lead her to the Schnee sanctuary.
It wasn't a particularly strenuous journey, but more than most people ventured. Only the Schnee could safely travel, at least for a time. Their white skin sucked in the sun's light, mechanisms only shared among their brethren but lasted a mere hour, though that in itself allowed opportunities for survival. Glowing like moonlight, they were the epitome of the grace Ichemound had granted the first he called his subjects.
Rùm gazed at the forest entrance, seeking further past the dark barrier.
"You've never been inside, have you?" Rùm asked.
Elizabeth shook her head. "Of course not. I'm not fit to traverse". She caressed her beanie, clenching the seams.
"You underestimate yourself. I'm confident you could survive indefinitely. Surely long past your father".
Elizabeth turned to her, confused. "What does Shane have to do with this?".
"Oh, nothing, nothing, just the rambling of an old soul," a tinge of annoyance seeped through her monotone. "An old soul that knows a thing or two about running a town". There was always an unspoken disdain between the two of them. Luka and Shane had mere disagreements, but whenever Rùm mentioned his name, there was something more past it. As far as Elizabeth knew, they had limited history, but a sneaking suspicion inched her towards an answer that ran through blood instead of position.
"Is this what you wanted to talk about?".
Rùm shrugged. "A topic appeared in my head and I spoke, didn't think past it. But something more important came to my attention recently." Elizabeth saw a glimpse of her gray eyes looking back at her.
She knew what was coming next.
"A Visitors Guide. I haven't heard the title in a while. Yet, you know about it. Care to tell me how?".
She was reluctant to answer, but that reluctance had quickly turned to refusal. Besides, it seemed like she already knew the answer.
"There aren't many people in this town with knowledge as that man, that bogus librarian"
Elizabeth scoffed. "I don't expect there are many people that compare to him in that regard".
"You hold respect for him?". Rùm said, shaking her head. "Ill placed. He's a shady man with a shady history. He's always refused any attempt at exposure. That is unbecoming".
"He prefers to keep to himself".
"No one with that amount of history would refuse to share his own". Her words had strung a cord in Elizabeth's heart. She knew nothing of him, hadn't even asked, not even an attempt. But at what point does someone open up to another? There have been many times when he was the only one she could open up to, but there's been an inclination. Not to mention the recent questions she'd asked herself.
Rùm stopped at the forest's edge and turned back, her white gown swaying in the wind. Her skin almost seemed transparent in the sunlight and as clouds overtook its reach, the world around them had turned dark. Dark clouds were on the horizon.
They entered Gray Wood.
"Well, what about you?" Elizabeth asked.
"Me?'
Above, the trees coiled in a way that completely blocked sunlight from entering. Overlapping one another, they created a dome around the forest that naturally prevented much of the woodland life from dying.
Torches made from the trees of Paradise, a faraway town east of Diedmons Roue, aligned the side of the stone road. A makeshift fence, in a way, inside the flame's light, was a barrier that prevented any shadowed beast from entering. Burning a brilliant blue, the heat irradiating was minimal; that wasn't its intention. It quelled the remnants of the Gray Plague; both were at a standstill and hopefully, it'd stay that way.
"I've; lived a long life. All I have are stories now".
Rùm ran her hand through the blue flame as they passed each one. Glowing brighter for a moment, settling once her hand left its grasp.
"You know I've been to Paradise before. During the times of the Gray Plague, many of us flocked there, it was the only spot unaffected".
"Even Ichemound?" Elizabeth asked.
Rùm took her hand to her mouth and snickered, "Yes, even Ichemound. Even the high and mighty were victims, yet look at it now." She looked upward.
"They're quiet, but you can almost hear their small peeps in the forest. Exhilarating isn't it?".
Elizabeth's eyes couldn't help but scan every inch. The slight murmurs of things neither could perceive leaked from within. Inextinguishable voices that were a mash of men and women who'd entered before. Without the fire, their words would wipe the victim of any motives besides obeying. Their only motive was to drain the life of all living things, but even they had rules.
"I don't see the appeal," Elizabeth said.
"Well, that's because you need to lighten up a tad. As much as I loathe the capital, they have fine craft workers. If these flames ever were extinguished, it was meant to be".
Rùm, in a swift sway of her hand, blew through the blue flame as it swished along its position. Elizabeth knew it wasn't going anywhere, but that didn't stop the ever-growing pit in her stomach from forming.
"See, nothing to worry about".
She didn't buy it.
From the genesis of Toblitche, rules were established to ensure the coexistence of all living things. Shadowed beasts would roam during the Three-Month Winter, preying on the people who disobeyed, and once their grace period ended, they'd return to the shadows. This constant cycle continued until the Gray Plague.
However, there have been stories of rules being broken. Few, but they existed. Each year, there'd be one or two stories of people going missing inside the woods. Under normal circumstances, no one would bat an eye, intrigue, and disbelief fill the stomach of the shadowed beast. However, they were experienced; stepping out of the light was foolish; they left their homes knowing they'd come back but would never return. Diedmons Roue would call those abnormalities the Rule Breakers or by their official name, the Stehnam. A variant of a monster that didn't need to abide by the state of things. In that, they were much more in common with Erebus's spawn than anything else. Less intelligent, but even the smallest amount of intellect would make a normally reclusive beast brazen. A problem entirely on its own that, without the right knowledge and equipment, would kill any that met its gaze.
Stories were all they had, but even tales had truth to them. The Idea of Rule Breakers dates back to the beginnings of Gray Woods's transformation; five hundred years, a long line of stories that shouldn't be disregarded. Elizabeth's anxiety would only heighten as they slowly reached Cavern.
"So, Rùm, about the Visitors Guide." She opened her coat pocket and pulled out her notebook.
She turned back and scoffed. "No matter how hard you try, you won't be able to write information about it."
As she reached for her pencil, she stopped. "What do you mean?" she asked.
She pointed her finger toward the ceiling of Gray Wood and cleared her throat, attempting to talk in a masculine tone.
"As a revolt against the heretical militia, Solomon Grimmer, our king, has enacted a grand rule. As of today, any mention of the Visitors Guide and its mechanisms are hereby considered treasonous to the king! The heretical forces have long considered the prevention of our lord and his subject as a means to an end. No longer will this be the case. No longer will we live in fear!"
She cleared her throat again.
"Or something like that. Why don't you try it, see for yourself".
By the time Rùm finished, Elizabeth had already finished a sentence about the Visitor's guide, and within a few seconds, it had turned to a blotch of nothing.
"You're right".
So that book at the Library was about the Visitor's Guide? What's the point in keeping it then? And if he knew that, what was the point of putting it on the bookshelf? It doesn't make sense.
Rùm had asked a question she didn't catch. When asked again, Rùm gave her a curious look. In seconds, while she was distracted, the woman slipped behind Elizabeth and whispered in her ear, refocusing her attention.
"So who told you about the Visitor's guide then?".
She jumped up, shivers ran down her spine and she yelped.
"Of course, the librarian would know of it, but for him to tell you about it? I don't buy it".
Elizabeth had completely forgotten she'd left out a critical part of her story. She was the visitor's guide; she was what Solomon Grimmer had forbidden the people from mentioning. Under her circumstances, there'd been no way of recreating the blotch. It was only a short process of reasoning to understand who told her and why. But from Rùm's satisfied expression, it was clear she knew from the start and Elizabeth didn't know what that meant for her. Or why she was leading her toward the Schnee's sanctuary. Before she knew it, the next section of Gray Wood was just ahead with a sign that hung above that read, Welcome to Cavern.