A Fantasy Serial by Mackenzie Dysinger 

Riding on the back of a moose is not as comfortable as it may seem. At full speed, we raced towards the mountain. The sounds of the battle had faded behind us and soon the moose slowed to a quick walk. Relieved to have slowed down a bit, Mika came panting alongside us. She bore a grin from ear to ear and I knew she was thinking the last time she had this much fun was when she chased the neighbor’s chickens. I was unsure of how to start a conversation with a moose seeing as I’ve never talked to one before, but the silence echoing across the tundra was becoming too eerie for me to endure. 

“Why are we heading to the mountain?” I asked abruptly. 

“Because Blackburn Keep has awakened,” she promptly replied. 

“Blackburn Keep?” I questioned, “You mean Blackburn Mountain? Well, mountains can’t wake. Can they?” I scrunched my eyebrows together staring into the wild that extended before us. This world seemed to be an exact picture of the one we fell through, but brighter. The colors of every plant seemed to be bold and vibrant. Hues of green flickered under the hooves of the moose in such a wondrous array that my eyes ached from taking it in.  Besides talking, the animals themselves were different. They were much larger and even the hair of the moose seemed to be not only thicker but a deeper shade of beautiful brown.

The moose let out a chuckle. “Of course a mountain can wake. Next thing you’ll tell me is that moose can’t talk and narwhals can’t sing.” It seemed I had missed the inside joke because the moose was laughing so hard I nearly fell off. 

I waited for the animal to finally stop laughing. “Why are the spruce attacking you?” I said softly, remembering the cruel faces of the darkened trees.  

The moose's tone became very solemn. “They want to rule us. All of us,” With her antlers she gestured to the land ahead of us.  “In order to do that they need the Heart of the Wild. The leader of the renegade spruce, Vitus, thinks the King of the High Trees has it.” 

“The man that put me on you?” I asked, slowly putting the pieces together. 

“Not a man,” said the moose, “A tree. The fiercest and bravest. Since the fall of the last Warden he has done his best to keep his brother Vitus at bay.”

“Brothers? They don’t even look alike,” I responded skeptically.  I felt the moose's shoulders shrug under me. 

“They are all brothers. The peaceful birch, the  venomous dark spruce, innocent willow and even the aspen that quakes and prays everyday. They are all family, after all they are trees.” The moose gave her answer as if it was obvious. “Story has it that whoever wields the Heart of the Wild controls everything: every tree, every animal, every blade of tundra.  We do have our own rulers and kings, like the King of the High Trees or the Queen of the Fur Folk but they are merely guides, protectors. Anyone with a brain knows the wild was never meant to be truly controlled. Monstrous beasts and villains of every kind have tried to find it in order to use the power for their own gain, but each time they have failed. I fear Vitus is closer than any of them have ever been.” The moose's voice faltered at the end, hope seeming to be drained away just by telling the story. 

Trying to encourage the creature I said, “ The High King will surely fight him back!” 

Sullen, the moose shook her head.  “There is only so much the King can do against his own brother. The Wardens are meant to protect the Wild, but since the fall of Blackburn Keep many years ago no two-legger has ever been seen to take up the position. That is, none until you fell through the muskeg hole.” The moose looked back at me and I thought I caught a grin stretching across her face. 

“Me?” I said quietly. My brain flickered back to the terrifying army of dark spruce and I shuddered. I was scared of taking out the trash at dark, I wouldn’t stand a chance against them.  I looked down at Mika who was happily jogging along. Stupid dog, I thought, of all the lemmings in the world she could have chased. Looking down at my blue stained hands I thought I would give anything to be back picking blueberries again. 

“Here we are,” the moose said as she crested the top of a hill. Down below was the base of an enormous mountain. Creatures of every kind with all assortments of hats and scarves flocked to what looked like a path of stone pillars. I squinted my eyes, it looked like the massive pillars were leading up to a large pair of stone doors. 

“What is that?” I asked.

“The only thing that remains of Blackburn Keep.”

If you missed the first installments of Heart of the Wild you can find Part I here and Part II here.

What happens next? Part IV is online now!