Author's Note

I am not dead, not yet!

I've been working on other projects for a while, and I finally got some time to finish a chapter. I've read it over twice now and I think I'm satisfied. Keyword "satisfied".

The next chapter is in the works but an ETA is a generous gift considering my situation. I will give myself 2 weeks, but don't expect it too hard, you may be disappointed.

so much for upload schedules, huh... ;_;

23. Forest – Byrgenwerth

"This forest might have been nice, you know, if it weren't so bloody dark." Yvonne said, sounding unabashedly dissatisfied.

Astral looked out over the edge of the bridge. Mists had begun to rise from amongst the trees below them, blanketing the rest of the forest in an ever-thickening fog.

Astral grimaced in silent agreement, sighing as she resigned herself to more dark forest trails. "Maybe. I just hope we don't run into any more of those -" she flicked her head back to the windmill "- or anything remotely similar."

Yvonne pulled a face, turning back onto the bridge. "Agreed, wholeheartedly." She took the lead, walking ahead while Astral took one last look over it all.

She couldn't help but agree with Yvonne. It might've been nice during a bright, sunny day, but tonight certainly wasn't that. She shook her head, looking away from the vista and following behind Yvonne instead. "Might as well get this over with," she thought, though her companion stopped.

And then she saw why.

She pulled to the side as a gob of somethingflew past her, Yvonne narrowly dodging the same projectile. Within an instant another flash and thrak sounded through the night, and then there lied another of the abominable things that she'd killed just a few moments ago, twitching uncontrollably.

She blinked once. Then twice. Then her ears flattened. She turned around, looking for the gob and instead finding a smoking hole where part of the windmill used to be. "Typical," she couldn't help but think. Her mood quickly swung south.

"Reconsidered that decision to not fly?" Astral said, giving Yvonne a tense smile and a look that brokered no arguments.

Yvonne gulped, but nodded. "Y-yeah, I think I have," she said, giving the dead snakes a very hostile look. "I think I'll take death by falling over death by body snatching, acid spitting snakes any day."

Astral nodded in response. "That's good," she replied tensely, looking over the edge of the bridge and judging her distances, "because you would have been staying here otherwise."

Yvonne nodded back, gulping again. "Yeah, figured as much." She came up beside Astral just as the alicorn finished her pre-flight calculations. She looked over briefly, then wished she hadn't, giving Astral a particularly suffering smile. "Heh, long way down, isn't it?"

-#-#-

Honestly? Astral loved wings. Freedom, wind, and best of all? No snakes.

She breathed in deeply, the cold night air whipping past her ears and throwing her mane around. She felt better than she had since… well, since she could remember. She looked below herself, watching as the trees went by faster than she could have ever imagined them going on foot. Then, she looked over her shoulder.

Yvonne rode on her back, a pitiful sight, really. Her eyes were clamped shut and her grip was like a Blacksmith's vice, hard enough to hurt her, an alicorn.

"Note to self: never underestimate an earth pony," she thought, wincing as Yvonne gripped even tighter during a bit of turbulence. She sighed, turning her attention back to the front. Before her rose up the huge mountains she'd seen from so far away before, and now, closer than ever, was the lake that Yvonne had pointed out to her earlier in the night. Even now she couldn't see much, it was at least four-hundred hooves below her and easily many thousands away still, but she was approaching quickly.

She would keep an eye on it, but for now she would rather think about other things. Or nothing, depending on what popped into her head within the next few seconds. And sure enough, nothing really did.

She adjusted her glide slightly more to the right, then summoned a small updraft to give her some more altitude before settling in for at least a few dozen more minutes of snakeless peace and quiet.

-#-#-

From amidst the ever-thick canopy far below, Astral spotted the first few glimmers of artificial light she'd seen since taking to the air. Indistinct and barely recognizable, the only reason she'd noticed was because a cloud had dimmed the moon for a brief moment as she'd approached the western lake edge. Now, as she approached she was unequivocally certain of its origin.

"Byrgenwerth," she realized, excitement dimmed by seriousness and determination. After all, she came here to learn, not to act like a foal.

By all accounts, Byrgenwerth was the only place inhabited so near to the mountains, so by no great leap of logic it would also likely be the only place that would be lighted. That is, unless it was abandoned. In which case, Astral was descending into a place possibly quite dangerous, something she was beginning to feel would be par for the course tonight.

At first she could see little beyond the treeline at the lake's edge save the steadily growing light, but soon she could just barely make out the dilapidated walls and railings of a terrace just at the water's edge, and to the right of that an odd balcony extended over the shoreline. The trees virtually encased the rest of what might have been there, the foliage and trunks obscuring everything more than a few meters in. Though, she could still see the, what she assumed was, lamp light shining from further beneath the trees.

As she pulled into the terrace, she measured herself but landed a fair bit harder than she'd intended. Yvonne essentially slid off of her after she'd figured out they weren't flying anymore.

"Guh," was all she said, shivering as she silently hugged the ground.

Astral paid her little mind. She hadn't forgotten the snake creatures from before; she kept a wary eye on her surroundings. The terrace was horribly overgrown, weeds and grass, dirt and mosses had encroached on the paving and turned much of it into more of a lawn than a terrace. The walls were crumbling, in some cases more held up by the railing and natural growths on them rather than by their structure.

The trees were unreasonably thick. She had a hard time believing they were able to grow with roots so close together, or as thick as they must have been to sustain their size. The foliage was equally as thick, though now that she'd alighted she could see within a lit lamppost, and beyond that another overgrown wall that reached up beyond the measly light the lamppost provided.

She wasted no time, striding forward and leaving Yvonne behind with little concern. Within seconds she was engulfed in a most consuming darkness, the lamppost the only source of light she could see in front of her. Undeterred, she continued on towards the wall she could see, quickly finding it, and finding that it was indeed part of a larger structure. She ignited her horn, pleased to see that it was an entire building in front of her.

From behind she heard the hoofsteps of Yvonne, accompanied by the customary groaning and resentful muttering. She sidled up next to Astral, swaying but keeping her balance. “I hate you. I hate flying. Why did I come?” she grumbled, partly to herself and partly to her companion.

Astral didn’t pay much more attention to her than that. Instead she focussed on what was important: finding a door. She looked to either side of the wall, but it was solid and without even a window. The path she’d followed petered out only a small distance from where she stood, but the wall led on, further into the thick. Naturally, she followed the wall, for lack of other guidance.

At first, very little presented itself. More trees pressed in on the building and vines crawled up its alabaster walls - surprising considering its age. But soon enough the remnants of a courtyard emerged from the oppression; more crumbling walls and sections of land separated, and now wild roses and flowers of all kinds of odd and foreign description growing in the segregations.

She came out into the middle of it all, and despite her own drive to find an entrance to the old College, she found herself marveling at the garden and what once must have been quite the achievement in horticulture.

She shook her head, however. While the garden was certainly enjoyable, it wasn't her goal. She made on, finding an entrance where the largest path of the garden met with the wall of the College.

She still hadn't gotten an idea of the true size of Byrgenwerth, but she quickly learned that what she'd expected – an average sized building with perhaps a few tertiary buildings – was anything but.

Both mares were silent as they took in, likely, the grand hall of the College of Byrgenwerth, ancient and all but forgotten by modern Yharnam.

Lit chandeliers of gold and silver hung from ceilings six times Astral's height, while balconies and walkways, stairs and elevated boulevards were adorned with intricate and lavish railings interwoven with depictions of scholars and researchers of societies and history long gone. Lamps of exquisite make and candelabras of unmatched beauty sat on tables and stands of solid rosewood, illuminating the hall with a soft yellow glow.

Neither of the two could speak, and indeed Astral was absolutely awestruck. For everything she'd been told she'd expected a desolate ruin, abandoned and left to crumble by a society that had embraced a most damned faith. And instead she'd found… this.

"Maker…" was all she could bring herself to say.

She walked in, half expecting to be accosted by some guard or another form of security, but much to her surprise and delight, none emerged from the shadows that swallowed the unlit corners of the hall. Instead she walked straight, right down the center of the grand hall, and imagined instead what it must have been like to have lived and worked with what minds must have once called the College home.

Her walk took her directly to the opposite side of the room, and there she found a second set of doors. She didn't open them, but the colourfully stained windows on either side showed her an overgrown overlook of the lake Byrgenwerth was founded on.

Astral frowned. She'd seen neither a map nor a single sign that provided guidance within the building. Clearly it wasn't designed with casual visitors in mind… "Yvonne," she said politely, "I'm afraid I'm… at a loss, with this place."

"Me as well, my Lady," came the still awestruck sounding response.

Astral frowned again. Not having a guide would make things painful, but if that was what was necessary, then so be it. "Follow me, then. We've got some exploring to do."

The smaller mare nodded absentmindedly, simply turning with Astral and following her as they went off into a corridor, chosen at random.