The walk to the Borderlands was uneventful. Once they had passed the mist wall, Devon led them to the forest covered area of the realm. They veered off the beaten dirt path on which they had been traveling and into the actual woods themselves. All around them were great oaks with massive trunks, tall thin bladed grass, and various hedges of many shapes and sizes. Morrigan had followed them carefully. She kept hidden behind the trees, peeking out every now and then to keep them in her line of sight.
“Where do you live?” asked Famine gazing all around him.
“Not that much further.”
They had gone just a few more yards when they went up a slight hill. When they reached the top, Devon pointed towards the bottom of the hill. Sitting there was a huge circular lake with brackish black waters; it was surrounded by skinny birch trees and tall gray boulders. “There. I live there.”
“In the lake?”
Devon said nothing. He ran down the hill and Famine followed. On the outer side of one of the boulders was a tall upright rectangular opening. “Come on it’s down here,” he said going through. Shrugging, Famine followed. From behind a nearby shrub, Morrigan saw them going into what looked like a cave. She waited a few seconds before going in herself.
The light from the outside was enough to keep everyone safely on the path. The tunnel sloped slightly downwards a few yards before eventually evening out again. There was a faint light coming from another rectangular opening the end. Without a word, Devon ran through the opening. As Famine followed, an unexpected sight greeted him. He was now in a massive round room. The vaulted ceilings reached up to what seemed like a hundred feet, the walls were made from some sort of dark green and gray stone, the floor was soft earth, and there were arched doorways on the other three walls. The room was lit by several large candelabras and there were some chairs and tables made from carved birch and oak sitting about. Devon smiled as Famine took in the sights.
“What do you think? Nice, huh?”
“Yeah,” Famine stammered, “do you stay here alone?”
“On no. I live with my mother. I want you to meet her.”
“I’d love to.”
Devon shouted. The sound reverberated in the huge room. “Mother! Mother! He’s here!”
There was movement in one of the doorways, and Famine squinted to see who was coming through. The light from the candles cast an eerie glow on the figure now emerging. His heart stopped. What he was seeing just couldn’t be. He gasped as the woman now stepped fully into the light and smiled.
Standing there in a long green velvety dress was Angelique. Her long red hair was down and combed neatly back and fastened with a large green clasp. She still had the same full beautiful face she had back at the ROT; she smiled at Famine with a malicious warmth.