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Lia thanked him for his advice and the two headed off into the woods where she could use the Cruciger orb discreetlyAs she cupped it in her hands, she thought of Ellowyn’s face, how terrified she must be, and focused her intent on where they would be and if there was a path that they could safely take to head thee them The orb was cool in her hand, then it started to spin and pointed clearly Colvin looked relieved and secured his rucksack against his shoulders His sword dangled froether, they followed the direction and forsook the muddy road

Pry-Ree was a wild and untarew in the Bearden Muir They were taller, thicker, ed and reenery was sickly eeds, and Pen-Ilyn’s warning about snakes was soon justified There were snakes and voles everywhere The serpents feared their passing and slithered away as they troh the brush, but their very presence made Lia shiver with revulsion They crossed a wild lowload valley but on the other side rose an iiant trees There was a haunting fa, its echo dying on the breeze

About mid-day, they came across a small cabin in the midst of the valley There was no smoke from the chimney and the fence was in tatters They approached cautiously, but there was no sign of anyone living there The garden was spoiled, there were no animals in the pens All life had been scrubbed clean After passing the property, they found other sis, abandoned or forsaken with no trace of fire or harm As if the owners had sie," Colvin"Not a soul"

Lia nodded She searched for any sign of what had happened, but the hoht theround becaed and the size of the boulders were enore slabs of rock had broken off above and turound became steeper, the journey ion The sky was clear of any cloud, but it did not ht usually did Lia felt oppressed by the stones around her Their nificance

The look of Pry-Ree began to alter before their eyes The brush was thinner higher up, more verdant than down below in the valley The trees were enorh to rival the stars The e pine and redwood trees The wind beca the Tor This was a mountain, not a shallow hill Each step burned as they walked and pushed thean to wane, but they ate as they walked, trying to crest the ave way It was colder and Lia was glad to have brought a blanket

"Do you see that one?" Colvin asked, his voice hushed in wonder "I have never seen a tree so thick It would take ten men to clasp around the trunk"

Lia saw it and marveled The redas enormous, so thick around the base it would take an axeh it There were no branches lower down, but high near the top the brances grew as thick as trees she had seen It was enorreater even than the Sentinel oak in the woods near her home They approached the wonder and as they did, discovered that it was not the only giant living in the forest More trees could be seen further off, soer

"I have never seen the like," she whispered in awe She rubbed the bark with her hand, wondering how ancient the tree was Ferns grew thick in the area, but nearly all the other groas stunted compared to the formidable trees

Higher into the er One was so wide at the base it would have taken thirty men to encircle it They also discovered the skeletons of trees that had been struck by lightning and eventually collapsed She could only i noise they would have made when they fell Surely the earth would have shaken with the i, the roots were splayed and wide open, revealing black tunnels made of soot and charcoal It smelled fa That saiants ide enough to fit them both and then add an descending the other way The peaks of the mountains extended on both sides still, but the orb had led theed pair and then led theiants littered the woods, along with boulders and a stream