Rising From the Ashes: The Chronicles of Caymin Read Online Free PDF Page B

forest grants you entrance, you may not leave it again until your training is complete, or you will not be permitted to re-enter.”
    “How long?”
    Enat shrugged. “As long as it takes. It is different for each of us. But the forest knows when we are ready.”
    “Have others left before they were ready?”
    “Yes.” Enat poked the fire with a stick. “They live in villages, healing and making potions. They still have magic, but it is weak.”
    “Why do they leave?”
    “Different reasons,” Enat said. “The lessons are hard. They miss their families. Other reasons sometimes.”
    Ash was quickly learning that Enat did not answer all questions completely, and that further questioning was of no use. She reached out to pluck the sleeve of Enat’s tunic.
    “Will I have clothes like yours?”
    “Would you like to?”
    Ash remembered to nod. She looked down at the cloth she wore. “Cuán took this from a woman who was washing clothes in a stream. He brought it back to the sett for me. He said I was like a newborn cub, with no fur, except I would never grow fur.”
    “Broc and Cuán were very wise,” Enat said. “They raised you well. You will honor them among the creatures of the forest.”

    Ash felt the forest before she saw it. She hadn’t wanted to admit to Enat how weary she was as they climbed yet another hill, clambering over low rock walls and following deer trails through patches of woods. A sudden wall of fog awaited them, which Ash found odd. Fog usually settled in the low places, not the high. Cuán had taught her how to use it to hide and move silently through the mist. She approached, her head tilted as she listened. She looked at Enat to find that she had stopped a few paces earlier, and was watching with a small smile. Ash turned back to the wall of fog and stepped nearer. She held out her hand and reached into the cool droplets. They immediately parted to create an opening in the curtain of mist, and Ash stepped through, with Enat following.
    Ash gasped as soon she passed through the veil.
    “You hear it?” Enat asked softly from beside her.
    “Yes,” Ash breathed, not wanting to disturb. All around her, lower than her actual hearing, but somehow audible nonetheless, was a hum of life such as she had never felt. Everything around her, the very ground upon which she stood, thrummed and pulsed. For the remainder of her life, she would recall the wonder of that first meeting with this mystical forest as it welcomed her.
    All around stood the largest trees she had ever seen in her life, surrounded by many smaller ones – yews and oaks and ash and others she did not know. The ground beneath them was covered in ferns and more white snowdrops and small purple flowers. Ash squatted down to take a closer look.
    “An early orchid,” Enat said, kneeling next to her, holding the delicate purple flower.
    Ash closed her eyes and placed her hands on the earth, digging her fingers in a little. “Why?”
    Enat looked at her. “Why what?”
    “Why is it like this here?” Ash opened her eyes. “Why are there so many voices?”
    “This is a sacred place,” Enat said. “The things that live here carry the wisdom of all who came before. There are other places like this. You will know them when you meet them, for they will speak to you, also.” She placed a hand on Ash’s shoulder. “Come. We are nearly at our journey’s end.”
    Ash’s weariness was forgotten as she got to her feet and followed Enat. Every now and again, she paused to lay her hands on a tree, listening for a moment before trotting after Enat.
    Though Enat had said they were nearly there, it seemed to Ash that they walked on and on before at last coming to any other sign of people. A shallow valley held a small cluster of stone dwellings, some built entirely of rock, their cone shapes pointed at the top, others thatched to keep rain out. A stream ran nearby, tumbling and gurgling over rocks. At their arrival, a few people appeared,