DRAGON HUNTER: Burden of the Bewildered Forest
The weathered sign at the edge of the choked, twilight wood read in jagged, fading glyphs:
"In a realm choked by mist and lost minds, the heaviest blade is the crown you carry."
"That's the Forest of Bewilderment," Prince Phobos said, his voice unusually sharp as he stood side-by-side with his younger sisters, Will Vandom and Queen Elyon. Legend had it that anyone who dared step foot inside had never returned, but with their world fracturing under a dual siege, turning back wasn't an option.
Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the royal siblings were their allies: Hunter Steele, the hotheaded Spider Rider; Leif, King of Deltora; and Jasmine, Queen of Deltora, who kept her hand resting warily on the hilt of her blade.
"It is only a matter of time until we claim another heart," Phobos said, turning to his sisters. Though his ambition had once driven them apart, the threat of the Invected army and the dark witch Narissa had forced an uneasy alliance between the three royal siblings. "Sister Elyon lost the Heart of Meridian once before to Narissa's shadows. Clearly, our sister Will needs to act as her regent... but holding our realm's royal power alongside Kandrakar is going to be a heavy burden."
"I can handle the burden, Phobos," Will replied, her knuckles white as she clutched the shimmering pink orb of the Heart of Kandrakar. "As long as we're united, Narissa and the Invected won't take Meridian or Kandrakar."
Elyon placed a reassuring hand on Will's shoulder, looking up at Phobos. "Our family line holds the core of Meridian. Narissa knows that—it's why she allied with the Invected to split us up in the first place."
"According to some travelers we met," Leif interjected, his hand resting on the Belt of Deltora as its gems flickered in warning, "the Heart of Meridian lies in the deepest, darkest part of this forest. They call it The Dark."
"I've never seen a place as dark as this before," Jasmine added softly, scanning the twisted, glitched branches overhead. "That's why they call it The Dark. And the rumors say Narissa set a guardian there—something far more dangerous than even the Invected swarm."
Hunter gritted his teeth, adjusting his weapons. "Invected, dark witches, guardians—it doesn't matter. If we don't push through, we're all trapped. But I still don't get Kaiba's situation in all of this."
"Narissa must have reprogrammed the digital space between Meridian and Kandrakar using Invected tech," Jasmine explained, her eyes narrowing as she analyzed the strange grid lines pulsing through the fog. "The only way Seto Kaiba can escape his virtual lockdown is by winning the game she trapped him in."
Will looked down at the Heart of Kandrakar in her hands. The artifact hummed erratically, caught in a feedback loop between digital code and dark magic. "If Narissa reprogrammed the Heart to keep Elyon trapped here... how is that even possible?"
"Because Narissa understands ancient magic as well as modern network code," Phobos said, his royal cloak snapping in the cold wind as he drew his blade. "She knew that to break our kingdom, she had to trap its Queen. But she made one mistake—she forced the three of us onto the same side."
Phobos stepped into the pale mist first, flanked by Will and Elyon.
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