Of Magic And Men
Chapter Thirteen

Peter And Alaya, wasted no time searching for Silicont, they joined hands in a small circle. Closing their eyes, they began to focus all of their magic and concentration on finding their friend. If they were able to find him, getting to Merlin would be a simpler task. Visualizing Silicont in their minds, an image started to form. They could see he was laying down in a field all alone, a single arrow piercing his left wing. They tried to search the nearby area for something Alaya would recognize. They could tell Silicont was still alive, so they need to find where he was. Zooming out, they saw a town nearby, that was good enough to go on, releasing hands they broke the spell. “Did you recognize that town? Is it nearby?” Peter asked. “I believe so, I think the town is about a days travel to the west. We should be able to make it, however we would be approaching the corruption, we need to figure out a way to not succumb to it.” Alaya answered. “Is there a way we can create some sort of magical filter on our faces, to prevent us from breathing in the corruption?” Peter remembered Silicont mentioning not to breathe it in. “Peter, that’s brilliant!” Alaya exclaimed. “It will take a few minutes to teach you how to perform the spell, however once activated we should be able to walk through it no problem, but just the air born corruption. We still would be unable to swim through the rivers filled with it.” “Okay, show me how to do this.” Peter said. In no time at all Alaya and peter had conjured an air bubble around each of their noses and mouths to act as a filter for the corruption. “Alright let’s get going.” Alaya nodded, Peter was eager to get going, he knew every moment they stood around talking was another moment Silicont was closer to being found and slaughtered. Whoever shot that arrow at him, would obviously be looking for him. Peter and Alaya left the cave and started west towards the town. They decided once again to stick to the tree line when possible. Peter was curious about what kind of shops and vendors the towns in this world had, thinking back to Hurget, with all the bustling people. “What’s this town called?” Peter asked. “It’s called Widows Valley, it used to be known for its apple orchards, having the juiciest apples in the area. However when the darkness stared to spread, the orchards’ soil dried up and the trees began to die. The people have very little now, the majority of Widows Valley are starving, and those who aren’t refuse to help those who are.” “That’s horrible.” Looking up at the night sky through the trees Peter could see the stars. How could people be so cruel to those who needed help, how could those with food refuse to help those who had none. Back home he would always assist those that need help on their farms, however sometimes it seemed like he was the only one willing. This world was so beautiful but it’s people seemed so ugly at heart. “It is, but we’re already spread thin as to the help we can give, trying to help everyone is next to impossible when everyone is suffering. The only thing we can do try to get rid of the corruption and hope the situation improves.” Alaya explained. Peter hadn’t realized that the corruption was effecting so many people, in such a way. With a renewed sense responsibility peter quickened his pace. He wanted to help those people. As they approached Widows Valley Peter realized it was worse that Alaya described. He could smell the filth and decay. Entering the town, peter could see people were laying dead in the streets, and others just walked over them as if they just didn’t care. This was awful, how could you show no respect to life? He saw a beggar trying to plead for a meal from a man walking ahead of them, but the man just kicked the beggar out of the way and kept going. Peter made to go help the beggar but Alaya stopped him, she shook her head. “Don’t Peter we can’t waste any time, and we can’t touch them, they carry a plague.” Peter looked at the beggar, who was just laying in the mud, resigning herself to death. He felt awful being unable to help these people. When he finally saw their face, he saw that it was a woman elf, but she looked a sickly pale and her face was covered in red boils. Peter recognized the sickness, this was the same sickness that had killed so many in Ferrin Falls. But how had it spread into the human realm? Peter wanted badly to help these people, but knew the only way to do so would be to reverse the curse Morgan had placed upon the land. To do that he would need Merlins help, but first find Silicont. The pair walked silently through Widows Valley with the hoods of their capes up to hide the bubble, attempting not to draw attention to themselves. After exiting the town on the other side they headed north, until they saw the open field that they had seen in the vision of Silicont. Taking a look around they tried to pin point the exact location Silicont had fallen to the ground. “He should be just up ahead.” Alaya mentioned cresting a hill. Below them in a valley they could see Silicont laying on his side. That did not look promising, thought peter. The pair rushed down the hill, running towards the downed alicorn. Hopefully he’s still alive, please be alive, peter pleaded to himself. As the two got closer they saw Silicont raise his head, he started to shake his head, what was he doing? Why didn’t he stand up? As they got closer they could see he was tied down with ropes holding him to the ground. “Run... is.... trap.” Peter heard faintly in his mind but it was too late.

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