Jason does what his true father said.

"Thank you, father... Your help is just in time..." - Jason says words of gratitude.

Shimmering amulet on a silver chain - is worn on the prince's neck.

The prince barely touches this strange material with his fingers (rare metal, stone or something else?).

A feeling of warmth...

On the main part of the amulet are mysterious symbols of some kind of writing unknown to the prince. And the prince's gaze also notices something: images vaguely similar to... a skull, from whose eye sockets four-leaf clover flowers are sprouting.

Having finished perplexedly examining this thing, Jason looks up at the place where his true father had just been.

"Perhaps I can ask a few clarifying questions..." - the prince thinks.

Alas, the Grinning Fox has disappeared...

In this place, only a light haze with a small number of orange sparks remains. Renard the Trickster has always had a penchant for sudden appearances and equally sudden disappearances.

Sighing, Jason began to walk in the direction his deity-father had told him.

"I need to go east... I need to find the sacred grove... Father said that I can become stronger. Judging by the events that are happening, I will need it very soon..." - the thoughts in the prince's head are a little disordered due to nervous excitement and overexertion during the recent battle.

Dense forest...

Numerous and difficult to penetrate thickets of strange plants...

Some of the plants look like large ferns (only the tips of their long leaves have an atypical purple hue).

There are not even small paths among the thickets of plants...

It would be very difficult for the prince to determine the direction of movement, if not for the magical effect of the amulet.

Shimmering amulet on a silver chain begins to grow cold if the direction of Jason's movement is wrong. And if the prince goes where he needs to go, the amulet begins to emit warmth.

The prince has already been to this mysterious place, so he does not experience the shock that could overwhelm any person who finds themselves here for the first time.

Since early childhood, Jason and his brother Gellian were frequent guests in this place.

The princes were actually inhabitants of two "worlds"...

This "world" was connected with the true father of the two princes...

The demiplane "Avalon Woodlands" is a place in which the powers of the true father of the two princes are more powerful than in the world familiar to humans.

At least (judging by the stories of Grinning Fox), this is the situation in recent centuries.

Continuing to walk, Jason remembers his past visits to this demiplane.

Renard the Trickster began teaching them magic back when both princes were small children.

Remembering the commotion that arose in the royal court due to the sudden disappearance of children of royal blood - Jason smirked to himself.

The truth about the origin of the two princes must be hidden.

Grinning Fox had long ago explained this to both of his children.

Therefore, from a very early age, Jason learned to lie to those around him.

Numerous court dignitaries were told many false stories that were intended to lull their vigilance and direct their curiosity down the wrong path.

The magical abilities of the two princes were explained by the blood heritage of the founder of the royal dynasty - Teinarel the Rockclimber.

Judging by the chronicles, he had some magical abilities...

However, recently, Jason began to experience increasing anxiety...

This difficult and bloody war with the orcs...

The prince was already **** to use his abilities too often for powerful and noticeable spells...

These are no longer the small "tricks" of his carefree childhood...

All this will sooner or later give rise to suspicions and questions...

Thinking about his situation, the prince continued walking among the dense forest thickets.

The howl of wild beasts from somewhere in the west...

Jason shuddered and almost stumbled over a large curved root of a large tree.

"Well... I should not be afraid... I must continue to move forward..." - the prince thinks, trying to keep his emotions under control.

The prince's previous visits to the Avalon Woodlands demiplane were much calmer...

His father taught him magic tricks...

Jason had no need to go alone to the remote regions of this demiplane then...

The howling of beasts grows louder...

Now these terrible sounds are heard from both the west and the east...

"Be careful on the road, young prince. Not everything is as it seems..." - these are the words of Grinning Fox.

These words obviously hint at the fact that there is no absolute safety in Avalon Woodlands, even for those who are the sons of deity.

There are probably some powerful forces in this area, in addition to Renard the Trickster and his servants.

These thoughts only increase the prince's fears...

He tries to quicken his steps.

In addition to the dense thickets of grass, bushes and many trees - the prince notices that a strange fog is beginning to spread in this region of the forest, in which barely noticeable sparks flare up every now and then.

And it's getting darker...

"I need to act faster!" Jason thinks anxiously, pushing his way through the bushes.

The thorns from these bushes cling to his clothes and leave scratches on his skin.

Finally, the prince gets out into a small clearing.

He stops for a couple of seconds to rest and remove the thorns that have clung to his clothes.

Casually turning around, the prince notices something frightening...

In the branches of the trees, among the dense foliage - unblinking glowing dots are visible...

These are... eyes! One pair... Two... Three... Four...

The eyes of unknown creatures, who, judging by the threatening hiss, would like to do something extremely unpleasant with the prince's body.

These eyes emit a light yellow glow.

The prince's hands are shaking.

He reflexively touches his amulet on his neck with his fingers.

Shimmering amulet on a silver chain suddenly emits several rays of orange energy towards the dense thickets and tree crowns.

The hissing of the hidden creatures becomes louder...

These sounds express **** irritation...

However, these mysterious creatures begin to leave.

The rustling of leaves...

Pairs of glowing eyes disappear one after another.

It seems that the amulet has just saved the prince from danger...

However, the warmth of the amulet has become weaker - apparently, this artifact expends its power when used (but how to replenish this power? the prince does not know yet...).

Jason tries to stop the trembling in his hands. Then, he continues on his way.

"It's not safe here... And my father has no way to eliminate all the threats... Apparently there are many other creatures in the Avalon Woodlands besides those who serve my father... Well, at least I have the amulet... And one more thing: the wound in my right leg is almost gone, the magic healed it..." - Jason ponders what is happening as he walks forward.

The rustling of the grass...

The wind sways the treetops...

It is getting darker...

Half an hour later, the prince comes to another clearing.

In this clearing, there is a large stone (vaguely resembling something cone-shaped), whose surface is covered with strange symbols emitting barely noticeable bluish sparkles.

From this stone (which is dug into the ground and is about three meters high) three paths emanate.

Each of the paths leads approximately in the direction in which the prince needs to go.

As Jason steps towards the stone, he feels the fog growing thicker…

Visual images of familiar terrain begin to appear in the fog…

It feels like hallucinations…

Thicket’s Road…

Monastery of Saint Lothar…

Military camp of eborvairian troops…

“It seems that touching this stone will simply return me to the normal world…” the prince thinks.

The prince tries to walk around the stone, not getting too close to it.

Then, he examines each of the three paths.

The amulet on his neck gives off a steady warmth, as if each of the three paths will lead the prince to the sacred grove.

But which path should he take?

The paths are similar to each other.

The only thing Jason manages to notice in the twilight is small figurines made of twigs, intertwined with grass.

These figurines are tied to trees near each of the three paths.

Near the first path - on a straight tree branch is tied a figurine that vaguely resembles the horned head of some strange creature.

Near the second path - on a curved tree branch is attached a figurine that slightly similar to a six-legged spider.

Near the third path - on the trunk of a tree is attached a figurine that slightly resembles an eye (or it is several eyes - it is a circle in which there are several other circles).