Chapter 40

"So… you're saying that you'll go and search for these 'Children of the Forest' on your own. While we are to return back to the Wall on our own. Without you. My lord." Walton said with barely hidden anger and he nodded in return.

"I believe that's exactly what I said."

"And what if something happens to you in the forest while you're searching for those damned 'Children'. How will we be able to protect you from hundreds of miles away."

"Nothing will happen to me." He said it in a matter-of-fact manner. Like the sun rises from the East. Winter is cold. Rain is wet. And nothing harmful will happen to him.

He would not leave alone if he didn't have that much confidence in his abilities.

"But my lord…"

"Enough Walton." He said raising his hands "I thank you for your worry but we are running out of food. If we don't reach back to Wall soon enough then we'll have to resort to butchering horses and foraging the wild once again and even then quite of us might die. I don't want that to happen. I don't want my men to die needlessly for me. So this is a trip that I'll make on my own."

Walton opened his mouth to say something but then struggled within his mind for a long while before finally accepting his request.

"Very well my lord" he said as he bowed to the waist "Please take care of yourself my lord or Lady Barbrey would skin me alive for leaving you alone like this."

He chuckled at Walton's words.

"Very well then. Take them back to Wall safely. That's an order." He said as he apparated out of the area.

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"Point me Children of the forest" he said as the cold wind hit his face.

He quickly cast a warming charm on himself before he looked at the direction in which his wand had pointed a few moments ago.

At times like these, he hoped that he had his Firebolt with him. Travelling large distances would be so much easier with it.

But he unfortunately didn't knew how to craft a flying broom. And trying to make one from ground zero would take up a substantial amount of his time.

So for now, he'll just have to make do with apparating from horizon to horizon to cover large distances.

He was already beginning to feel cramps all over his body from having used apparition a dozen times already.

He was sure that he would only be able to apparate a few times more before the risk of splinching become too much.

Still, he looked at the horizon and set his sight on the mountain at the distance and with a crack and navel pulling sensation, he was standing on top of the mountain the very next second.

He grimaced as the cramps became worse and took rest for a few moments before he continued his journey once again.

Except that when he apparated the next time, he was in front of a large Heart tree that looked so out of place that he simply stared at it for a moment before he got control over himself.

The tree was beautiful. Probably more beautiful than any other Heart tree that he had ever seen before. The reason why it looked so beautiful might have someone to do with the scenery and the hill it was standing upon. But it was mostly because of how he could literally feel waves of magic rolling out of the tree.

The tree was practically brimming with magic.

In fact, it would not be wrong to say that this tree produced more than a dozen times the amount of magic that his own Heart Tree back in Dreadfort did.

He took a deep breath as he took in the scenery before he performed a few charms to make sure that he was safe and then simply plopped down on the snow.

For a moment, he simply enjoyed being where he was.

Only after a few minutes, he could feel his magical reserves increasing back once again and he wondered how powerful he would be if his own Heart Wood tree was a magically potent as this one.

Was this the reason why there was more ambient magic in the atmosphere North of the Wall than back in Dreadfort. Were all the Heart Trees here as powerful as this one.

He thought about it for a while but then realized that he would not find an answer until he searched for the ones who connected the trees to the magical laylines in the first place.

He wanted to find the Children of the Forest.

The rest he could deal with later.

So he got up and took out his wand once again and chanted "Point me Children of the Forest."

Unlike the other time when his wand pointed in the horizon, this time the wand this time pointed downward. Under the roots of the Weirwood tree.

He looked at the direction in confusion for a moment before he noticed the slight cave like hole jutting under it's roots and he smiled.