The Garden Gate

You look at Brigette long, and a realization comes over you. You may be willing to risk yourself to fate and that the horses may be there, but you are unwilling to risk your so recently freed sister. You smile comfortingly at Brigette.

“We’ll take the garden gate,” you say. “You’re right. There’s too great a chance the horses are lost.”

The green sister smiles. She beckons and you both slip away through the marigolds. The trail is short and finishes at the wall. A small door set there is quickly opened by Brigette. She glances through it, then beckons you to follow. As you exit the wall, you risk one last look at the abbey and the deepening shroud of night. You can barely make out its shape now, but you can hear still the faint sounds from within. The cries, the howls, the shrill laughter of corruption like some mad house of debauchery. You shudder and hold the sword of the saint close, and vanish through the gate and into the Blauwalt forest.

The gate opened almost directly into the thick woodlands. The sound of the sea crashing against the cliffs soon fades as you skirt into the woods. There is no path. You are **** to forge your own trail, taking the lead as Brigette hadn't even been left her shoes by the accursed demons. Renewed hatred spurs you on deeper into the forest. The thick canopy of the forest closes about you, and darkness rushes in. You stumble, all but blind for nearly an hour before Brigette speaks.

"Sabine. Look," your sister says and points through the woods. "Some caves. Let's stop for the night. We can keep moving when it's morning."

You squint at the forest. "Where?"

"There. Can't you see?"

Now that she mentions it, you can. Just barely, you spot a cave mouth gaping at the woods. It hardly looks inviting, but she is right. Stumbling around in the darkness will get you boht nowhere, and might even bring down predators in the forest. You're heard tales of these woods, and few of them wholesome.

"Let's go," you whisper, and creep towards the cave.