Chapter 64: The Secret of Mountains
Annalise watched as they drifted deeper into the mountains. It had already been half an hour since they left the castle and they still were wandering in the mountains behind the castle. She wondered exactly where that Herb Valley was located.
"You said that the Dark Forest isn’t really located behind the castle. What does it mean?" She asked her husband as she was curious to know more about the mystery of the Dark Forest, especially after what Kenric mentioned at the beginning of their journey when she was afraid of entering the back mountains.
"These mountains aren’t as simple as they look, Little Bird. Forests and mountains in our realms hide the greatest secrets." Kenric told her as he led the horse towards a narrow valley that was located between two high cliffs but it was definitely not the Herb Valley looking at its barren state.
Annalise opened her mouth to tell him that he hadn’t answered her question but stopped when he continued soon after. "That Dark Forest, it’s not a part of these mountains. It’s a hidden realm that is linked with the castle. You can’t enter it from anywhere else but only from the backyard of the castle."
"It’s a different realm?" Annalise asked as she turned her face to look at Kenric from over her shoulder.
"Right, it’s made from primordial energy and the creatures lurking in its shadows are the ones that are created from that energy," Kenric explained, and the images of the red-eyed monsters immediately popped up in Annalise’s mind.
"Primordial energy? The one that is rumored to be the reason behind the extinction of the Seelie Bloods... or more like the Seelie Realm." She remembered reading about this said energy in one of the history books.
"That’s right," Kenric confirmed as they strode deeper into the narrow valley. The deeper they went, the darker it was becoming around them.
"I thought the primordial energy was pure, but then why it’s rumored to be the reason behind all the bad things that happened in the past?" Her question wasn’t directed to Kenric. It was more of a thought that she spoke out loud. Regardless, she still got an answer from him.
"The primordial realm was destroyed around twelve thousand years or so. It is said that not one but two types of energies came out from that realm and spread across the other realms. The Light Queen caught the pure primordial energy in an immortal flower and took it to the Seelie Realm. As for the dark energy, it went after the Queen to find its other half - the pure energy."
"That was how both the energies ended up inside the Seelie Realm. But while the dark energy was left in freedom and the pure energy was confined, it destroyed the balance between light and darkness. The rumors say that what happened to the Seelie Realm was the result of this imbalance."