Irene had been looking forward to blowing off so steam in the forests after the morning she had had. She knew there would be monsters to catch, considering the ti of year it was and since the rain hadn’t set in for the day.
Being able to go out without armor and a trusted apprentice at her side made her feel more determined than ever. It would be nice to test his skill and see how they worked alongside each other. Felix had his eyes on other apprentices, and she was toying with the idea of finding one for herself.
As Irene cast a subtle glance towards the apprentice at her side, she was happy to see the determination on his face. He wrote with his horse’s head even with Sammy’s hip. His pointed showing of their rank while they rode was a good sign.
The situation with the Nok had worried her that he wouldn’t be able to get used to her well, but she thought easing into more of these situations would be a good idea to fix his hesitance because she was a woman.
However, before Irene could muse about this point any further, Irene and William had made it to the edge of the forest, and they traveled closer together as the narrow forest path presented itself to them. Although they would have to go off-trail to get a full picture of the forest at so point, this was fine for now.
They rode diagonally to the foothills and higher into the trees until the valley below was obscured from them.
"Shall we go off path now?" she wondered.
"Yes!" William exclaid. "This was where many nests were last year. I bet we’ll find sothing—"
However, they only went a little way off before they were forced to stop short of a deeper bit of the forest. By that point, William had forgotten the appropriate distance back to show off their rank. They were equally as confused as the knight and apprentice stared at one another, and their eyes turned back forward.
"What on Earth...?" Irene trailed off in disbelief.
At that, she slipped off her horse and pulled out her sword.
Blackness. Everywhere.
Irene left Sammy behind and took a few steps forward, the black earth crunching below her feet. She was careful with each step and, when she got to a blackened tree, she sliced off a bit of the bark with the very tip of her blade.
"It’s burned," she observed in disbelief.
William was covering her back with his own weapon pulled out, and he was walking more sideways so he could still get a good view of behind them and make sure that whatever was happening here didn’t entirely consu them.
Irene noted this in the back of her thoughts. He had good instincts as an apprentice, but her foremost thoughts were what were all-consuming as she focused on their surroundings.
"What?!" he exclaid.
Seeing blackness like this, William’s mind went straight back to the tis he heard of battle, before he had joined the knighthood. Black was equated to poison. After their Commander was bedridden because of the deadly substance’s return, there was no being too cautious.
"Look over here," Irene directed, and she gestured for him to co forth with her gloved hand. "There’s still smoke rising from the ash here."
She stomped it out with her boot so it wouldn’t spread further, but when she got to the bottom of the pile of ash and pulled away her foot, she gasped as she saw evidence of bones.
At that, she didn’t care about staying clean any longer, and she got onto her knees. Her hands were covered, and she dug through the ash, feeling the warmth through the leather. Not all of it was hot but she was worried that people had been burnt to death so close to the Duke’s Tower. It would make their knighthood seem so irresponsible if such a thing happened.
It was William who discovered the truth as he quickly unburied, picked up, and imdiately dropped the skull of a goblin.
"So it wasn’t people." He breathed out a sigh of relief.
Irene felt the sa way as she sat back on her heels and brushed her hands together, watching ash fall from her fingers.
"I have a feeling I know who the culprit is," she admitted. "But we ought to keep going through the hills and seeing if there are other places like this."
"What could have done this?" he asked.
"When the Commander was injured by the arrow that poisoned him, Sylaron was said to have burnt the cave system the goblins had been hiding in," she admitted as she stood up. "The dragon is... quite protective of him."
It was all she could say that wouldn’t reveal the truth that there was so sort of ntal connection between him and the dragon. Her secrets with Henry were multiplying, she noticed.
"So the dragon is burning down the forests?" he asked.
"She seems to have it out against the goblins," Irene explained. "It will certainly make our lives easier, but I’m not sure it’s good to destroy the forest like this. I suppose we will only know when we see the extent of the damage everywhere. Shall we head off?"
William nodded, and he dutifully strode to where they entered the space of burnt forest.
Instead of going through the burnt areas, the two of them went around. She imagined it wouldn’t be good for their horses to step through possibly hot patches. Even though they both had horseshoes, she wasn’t going to risk their most loyal creatures.
They passed through a few more places of fresh, spring forests and plenty more parts that were burnt.
However, Irene did have to note that a lot of tis she could brush her hand through so of the trees they passed and the burning was only enough to damage the pine needles or leaves. So of the bark was only scorched on the outside but fully alive on the inside as well.
It wasn’t extrely damaged.
"Tell what you notice," Irene directed to William.
"Seems the dragon only worries about burning the monsters. The rest of it isn’t that damaged," he admitted.
"On the way to Earl Auden’s estate over the winter, the apprentices were forced to stay by the carriage, but when we went up in the hills to search for what the dragon was attacking, I noticed that she can direct the fire quite well," Irene admitted. "Perhaps that’s what she’s doing here as well. The more i learn about her, she seems to be a rather intelligent creature."
Although Irene also knew that there was certainly a bit of the beast wanting to impress the Commander that she knew of. It would likely upset him to see the forests burnt down so Sylaron had other thods.
"I kind of want to see it firsthand," William admitted.
"I’m sure you will one day," Irene admitted. "Spend any significant ti at the Commander’s side, and she is sure to appear."
At that, they both laughed. His guard dog was well known throughout the entire knighthood.
Irene and the apprentice ate a light lunch together before exploring the forest a bit more thoroughly. They were pleased to see it was entirely devoid of monsters but full of randomly burnt places.
They would have interesting reports for the Commander once they returned to the Duke’s Tower.
By the ti they returned, it was about ti for supper and the two finally went their separate ways as Irene joined the knights and William went to the place where most apprentices sat.
However, as Irene turned her head at the sound of the dining hall’s door opening, she was t with the eyes of the Commander already on her and the smile on her face beca shy.
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