The heart of nature

Chapter 44: The sons of the forest

“I don’t get it,” Aerys said, eyes narrowing as she scanned the dense forest stretching endlessly before them. Towering trees loomed ahead, ancient and still, their canopies forming a green ceiling that blocked out most of the afternoon light. The smell of moss and old bark hung heavy in the air. “Where’s the city?”

“You’re looking at it,” Entinos replied from the front of the group. The tall, broad-shouldered satyr walked ahead with deliberate steps, his body taut like a drawn bow. I caught it in the stiffness of his gait, the way his jaw clenched every few seconds, the fleeting glances he cast toward the trees as if expecting ghosts to emerge from the bark.
Returning to his hometown clearly unsettled him, and I could guess why.

Still, this visit wasn’t optional. Entinos believed Chiron, the wisest of centaurs and his former mentor, might hold the answers we needed. About the Erebosian threat, the gods’ silence, and maybe even about the locked memories and scattered power still dormant within me. Egosea, mysterious and shielded from the rest of the world, might be the only place left that held the kind of ancient knowledge we needed. Allies too, if we were lucky Or **** enough.

“Are you pulling a prank on us, horns?” Aerys asked with a teasing smirk, clearly trying to break the tension that had settled like fog.

“Unlikely,” Noor chimed in, walking with arms crossed. “Our emotionless friend here doesn’t have the time nor the patience for such things. I think he finds them rather childish.” Her tone was dry, and her grin earned a small chuckle from the Spartan girl.

“Hey, stop it,” Ikaro said suddenly. His voice, usually playful, was firm and edged with concern. His eyes scanned the woods around them like a hawk tracking something hidden.

“Something wrong, Iki?” Noor asked, still teasing. “Did the sweet sound of you being silent for more than two minutes become too overwhelming? If not, please keep doing it. You’re being a good boy.”

“Not in the mood,” he shot back, sharper than usual. “And maybe have a little care where your eyes linger or I’ll start thinking you actually like me. Gods, now that’s a horrendous thought.”

I stepped up beside him, following his line of sight. The forest was still, but not peacefully so, it was the stillness of something holding its breath. “You notice something unusual?”

He nodded slightly, jaw clenched. “Not sure… I’ve had this weird feeling. Like we’re being watched. It started back at the camp. Iris felt it too, I think. Like we were being lured here, or like the air itself is poisoned.”

Iris gave a brief nod in agreement. Her bow was already in hand, fingers drumming against the string in quiet readiness.

Before I could respond, a familiar screech echoed above us. Orion swooped down from the sky, landing heavily on Aerys’s arm. The eagle’s feathers were ruffled, wings twitching in agitation.

“What’s up with him? Did he find the city?” Iris asked, stepping closer.

“No… and that shouldn’t be possible,” Aerys replied, gently stroking the eagle’s head to calm him. “He never misses.”

“He won’t find it,” Entinos said, glancing back at us. “Because it’s hidden.”

“Hidden? Like, inside the forest?” Iris asked, frowning.

“No.”

“So… is the forest the city?” Aerys tried again, more curious than before.

“No,” Entinos answered, irritation seeping into his voice. His hooves crunched leaves with a sharper pace.

“It’s the city inside of all of us and about the friends we made along the way?” Noor deadpanned. The whole group turned to stare at her like she’d grown a second head.

“What? I’m bored,” she said with a shrug. “We’ve been standing here for twenty minutes and I still don’t understand why we’re here to begin wit—”
Before she could finish, a blade shimmered into view, suddenly pressed cold and deadly against her throat. A curved sword, jagged and ornate.

In a swift second, the group was surrounded. Satyrs and centaurs emerged from the dense underbrush like shadows given form, their weapons drawn and glinting beneath the filtered sunlight. The forest fell deathly quiet. No birds, no wind, just the cold sound of blades unsheathing. A low, tense hum of magic prickled in the air.

Something about the silence felt... wrong. The way the branches swayed without wind, the abrupt stillness of the animals. It was the kind of quiet that warned of predators.

Entinos didn’t flinch as we drew our weapons in response, taking defensive stances.

“Get. Your filthy paws. Off me,” Noor growled. Her voice was a blade of its own, laced with venom and disdain as a satyr tried to grab her arm.

“You should listen to her, buddy,” I said, eyes locked on the hostile ring around us. “She’s pretty flammable when pissed off.”

“Damn right,” she snapped. With a surge of power, Noor released a kinetic burst of flame. The satyr who had touched her was hurled backward, his fur briefly catching fire as he frantically patted it down.

“You know,” I said with a sideways glance at her, “you could’ve just made a sign for us to deal with him. No need for the theatrics.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” she replied with a wicked grin.

Before I could speak further, Entinos stepped forward, calm but commanding, addressing the tension head-on. “Enough of this, Cyffor. Let us through,” he said in his native tongue.

From the circle of satyrs, a taller one emerged. His fur was lighter than Entinos’s, more golden-brown than jet black, but his presence was just as firm. His name, I would soon learn, was Cyffor.

“There’s no reason to let them pass,” Cyffor replied coolly, also in Faunic. “They’re outsiders.” His hand didn’t lower from the hilt of his curved sword.

“They come under my protection, by the authority of the Rhaadkat. By the ancient code, you’re obliged to let them pass,” Entinos countered, voice tight with authority.

“Uhhh, anyone picking up what they’re saying?” Ikaro whispered behind me. “Noor?”

“The fuck should I know how to speak ‘horns’ language?” she shot back, clearly annoyed.

“I don’t know, you’re the expert in all this weird ancient stuff.”

I blinked at them, then turned to Entinos and Cyffor. Their words were clear, every syllable as familiar as my own tongue. “Wait… you guys don’t understand them?” I asked, glancing around.

“No,” Iris said slowly, her eyes narrowing. “Do you?”

“I mean… yeah? Sounds like they’re speaking our language, perfectly.”

Noor paused, her irritation giving way to curiosity. “...Interesting.”

Inside, I felt a subtle shift, like the words had unfolded naturally in my mind without any translation. Strange... I’d never heard this language before, yet the words slipped into my mind as if they were my own.

Cyffor narrowed his eyes at us. “They still require approval from the chieftain. No one enters Egosea without it.”

Entinos let out a sharp grunt. “Fine. But I’ll represent them.”

The surrounding soldiers, both satyr and centaur, began herding us into a single line. Cyffor’s soldiers made no effort to be gentle. “Do as they say,” Entinos urged under his breath. “Trust me, we’re not winning this fight.”

I nodded and motioned for the others to comply. Cyffor raised his hand, and the woods ahead seemed to ripple like heat above a flame. A pulse of energy spread out, and suddenly the forest shimmered, bending, twisting, until the illusion shattered.

A veil lifted, and what lay beyond made even Ikaro stop dead in his tracks.

“What in the Hades…?” he murmured. “How is this even possible?”

Stretching before us was a vast, hidden city bathed in golden-green light. Wooden towers intertwined with living trees, their leaves glistening with dew and magic. Floating lights danced above roofs of bark and crystal. Homes were grown rather than built, living extensions of the forest itself. There was music in the distance, the low thrum of drums, birdsong that echoed in harmony, and the faint scent of flowers in bloom.

“Old faun magic,” Entinos explained. “You think we’d leave our homeland visible to the other races?”

“So the forest is just… a mirage?” Iris asked, her eyes wide with wonder.

“Yes and no,” He said. “We’re still in the forest, but this place exists in a pocket realm, tied to the land, hidden from it. The forest and the city are one, as we are with them. As much as the dryads are.” His voice held rare warmth. Pride.

“Huh. You surprise me more every day, Entinos,” Noor said, with a glance that carried genuine respect.

As we were escorted deeper into Egosea by Cyffor and his patrol, I let my gaze roam. Fauns moved about, some curious, some wary. Enormous tree roots crisscrossed beneath suspended bridges. Wildlife roamed freely among the people, completely at ease.

It was a city built not on nature, but with it.

“Welcome to Egosea, mortals,” Cyffor said at last, his tone carrying a mix of warning and pride. “You stand at the heart of the wild. Tread carefully.”