Chapter 12

Phae opened her eyes and found that she floated in a world of grey. The mysterious robed figure who had saved her from the awful nightmare still held her by the hand, and led her firmly on towards the sanctuary of Lake Forever.

He had promised a great many things when he had first taken her by the hand, and foremost amongst his promises was to take her to the Lake. He said he knew a way to make the pain go away completely. If there was even the slightest truth in what the strange man said, he was worth following, Phae thought to herself, realising as she did that even if she did want to leave him, he wouldn't be letting go of her any time soon. His voice was just so alluring, so captivating, and if his promises weren't enough, the vice-like grip he exerted upon her small hand was far, far stronger than she had strength to escape from. She was, for the time being at least, trapped in his control.

He turned and scowled at her as she threatened to lag behind.

"Come on girl there's not much further to go now we're almost at the forest's edge."

Phae continued to follow on behind him in silence. He tugged harder at her arm. "Come on, don't slow down now, we're almost there."

Phae sighed and allowed the strange man to continue to pull her along. As promised, they soon neared the edge of the forest that marked the Lake's surrounds. Tall trees, drawn in this bleary landscape in hues of black and grey stood sentinel over the forest's entrance. Though the world she inhabited felt more like a dream than anything else, a small voice at the back of her head wondered if this really was the case. She watched intently as her robed companion reached out to touch one of the strange trees. He shivered in delight as life-energy coursed into his body.

"The Lake's guardians have lost none of their energy I see," he muttered. Phae gasped as the tree slowly started to wither before her eyes.

They took another few steps into the forest and the process was repeated. Another tree died. Phae struggled to free herself from the robed figure's grip.

"Oh, do behave girl. Only a few more of these and I shall have the power to guide you in your task. You do want the pain to go away don't you?" With these words, a sharp spike of pain stabbed her in the temple. She clutched at her head with her free hand and cried out.

"Yes, yes, make it stop!"

"Good." The robed figure shot her a sinister smile. The agony in her head suddenly stopped. "I knew you'd soon learn to cooperate."

Phae was just about to cry out again when a small needle of discomfort warned her off. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Come now girl, this won't take long"

It did take long. It took hours upon hours. The distance between the forest's edge and the Lake itself seemed far greater than young Phae might have imagined, and though she was sure her captor had had his fill of life-energy from the trees, each new species or particularly large specimen they encountered drew them towards it and she was forced to watch helplessly as it slowly died to his withering touch. Through her contact with him, Phae could sense he was a mage and a powerful one at that.

Again, she struggled to free herself of his grip. "Leave the trees alone!" she cried, "Can't you see they've had enough!"

Her dark-robed captor cursed and shot her an evil look. "Oh, do be quiet girl. You really are your father's daughter aren't you; he never did know when to give up."

Phae gasped. "My my father? You know my father?" Her abductor remained silent. She kicked him in the shin. "Tell me!"

The dark mage yelped in pain. "How did you Oh wait never mind. I see you're going to prove a nuisance aren't you. Time for a rest I think"

In the blink of an eye, Phae's world went blank.