Chapter 4: A Ghost Amongst The Woods

Tagrin's story

                             CHAPTER

                                   4

               A Ghost Amongst The Woods

    Tagrin was bored. He was often bored, but today he was doubly so. He was trying to get in a good mood, but he truly didn’t have anything to do at the moment. The thought crossed his mind to do something silly to irk his parents, but he rather doubted that would ease the boredom. Besides they had lectured him that it was time he grew up and how they would no longer tolerate his irresponsible behavior. Something really good would need to be planned to show them he ran his own life. He was definitely going to call their hand to see if they where bluffing. As usual, he doubted they would draw the line. It paid to be an only child. He was too gifted and talented, the key if his parents ever hoped to realize their ambitious dreams of joining the ranks of the nobility. He had a fairly simple outlook to life: As long as he got what he wanted people could do as they pleased.
    Quirking his lips in an almost smile at the thoughts going through his head; he raised his face to the sky to soak in the rays. It was an overly bright day, almost too bright for this time of the year. A wind came gusting back from the east snatching his hat from atop his head and sending it spiraling to the ground. He looked down as it touched the grown and frowned with irritation. Reaching down he scooped it up, dusted it off, and placed it back on his head. Reaching down again he picked up several nice sized pebbles to skip across the ground.
    Most definitely was he starting to get somewhat anxious of the situation? It was at times like this when he thought of ways to break up the plainness of the day, which usually led to a nice conversation with the mayor and his parents forking over a good sized fine. Thus where good stories made from. God forbid he was even hoping that his parents would ship him off to university just for the change of scenery. Kelor would doubtless be more interesting than home. There was a lot to do there; to deprive them of him would be a sin.
    In spite of everything he was still more annoyed with last weeks injustices than this weeks offenses. His pride was still hurting from what had happened. Why would his own family keep him from competing in the Oretic Games? The sheer gall of them doing so had left him speechless. What trickery had they been up to? Which one of his sisters, brothers, or cousins had been in on the plotting?
    Sometimes he still caught himself in a rage over it. Never mind the argument of him not being in the right shape for the games---what did they know? ---Or his father’s nonsense about him being too young. What did age have to do with such stuff? He had been around the bend a time or two, and was perfectly aware of what he was getting into. It was not like he was some country bumpkin. Sheer jealousy, he chalked it up as.
    He chewed his lip thoughtfully while mulling over his options. It was still somewhat of a shocker that the local organizer of the games had a thing for not accepting bribes. Whoever heard of such a thing? Anyone could be bought! Besides the games where known as much for their scandals as for the excitement they provided. That’s why people went to see them. Nothing like the thrill of seeing a great athlete reduced to nothing, caught up in a sudden scandal; which official took the most bribes, or which organizer cheated the most. That was what life was all about.
    Well, he was determined that this setback wouldn't keep him down. It just went onto the long list of the many things that ticked him off. His parents kept harping at him to grow up, that the world didn’t revolve around him; that he listened to his friends too much blah, blah, and blah. It never stopped. He snorted. What did they know?
    Another thing that incensed him was the misconception people had of him: that he was selfish, easily lost his temper, and was jealous of other family members. As if! If he was that way why did all the kids flock to him when story time came? Why did all the traveling merchants, lords and ladies, and others speak so highly of him? Why? Because they recognized he was meant for greater things. He would show everyone, and it would be done his way. Of that there would be no doubt. Even if he had to bend a few rules to achieve it, he would do it.
    Crouching down, he brushed dirt off of his boots and tried to peer into the Dark Wood. He eyed the forest for a moment. Even after all these years it was still impossible to look into the damn thing. The Dark Wood represented the outer most fringes of the Great Wood, and it was nothing more than a tangled mass of twisted trees, overgrown bushes, thorny vines, and other things growing so close together that just a few steps in left you blanketed in darkness.
    Scratching his chin, he was pleased to notice the growth of hair on it. About time, was the thought that flashed through his mind. For a time he had thought his chin would be scratched away. At that thought he chuckled.
    “What’s so funny?”
    Tagrin spun around with a frown on his face. He always hated his thoughts being interrupted. Kaven had a bad habit of doing that. He would have to break Kaven of that habit soon. He smirked at his friend. Kaven had his long hair tied back ridiculously with a silk scarf in imitation of some of the local lordlings. Tagrin thought it was stupid to pretend to be what you would never be, but who was he to dictate fashion?
    “What did you say?” he asked Kaven. He eyed his friend speculatively.
    Kaven glared at Tagrin. Tagrin could be such a knock-job at times. “You know what I just said. I asked if you see anything interesting? You're sure staring hard enough.”
    Tagrin shrugged and went back to studying the Dark Wood. You could not see much pass five feet in. Branches and what not were twisted and knurled every which way forming almost a barrier to seeing anything at all, no doubt turning what was day into night. Nothing seems to die in the damn thing, he thought darkly. Even with the heat wave baking the countryside the Dark Wood seemed to endure all with nary a hint of discomfort.
    He had been exploring these woods since before he could crawl was probably one of a handful to have actually seen the Spring of Oradel-said to have the sweetest water in the world---and had now decided to go see it again. Was it he or was the forest growing faster than it had ever before? After two weeks of being confined to town he was anxious to get back out and do as he pleased. All in all, the best story in Spotted Springs had belonged to him this last month and a half. That is until Master Dalun’s prized Drowin Horses had arrived.
    “Hey dummy, do you really think he could see through all that?” Yaric spoke up.
    Tagrin laughed. He waved Yaric over. He turned to look at Kaven with a smirk. "I'd hardly call anyone a dummy, if I were in your shoes. You chase any and everything in a skirt." He took satisfaction in the reddening of Kaven's face and the snickering from Yaric. "You're one to laugh Yaric. I've heard of your last escapade with the widow!"
    Yaric opened his mouth to argue, but finding nothing suitable to say, he closed it with a scowl.
    Tagrin spoke up before Kaven could think of anything to say. "By the way, you had better pray to God that Denaria never finds out what you did with Yenliya or you could--"
    "All right!" Kaven said quickly. He glanced around worriedly. "You've been in a rotten mood the better part of this week. Is this anything to do with your parents trying to send you off to that academy for the gifted?"
    "About those two girls..." Yaric began with a wide smile.
    "Don't even think about it," Kaven said darkly. "You might as well forget about it. I remember the last time we went through this you told despite the three shalurs I gave you for your silence."
    Yaric shrugged. "That was a lesson you needed to learn. I was given much, much more to tell the tale."
    Tagrin gave a twisted smile. It was always amusing watching Kaven squirm. If the fool would ever learn to keep it in his pants, he wouldn't have to pay out so much to keep scandal at bay.
    Kaven stiffened at the smile on Tagrin's face and he gave his friend a hard look. There was certainly no need to make jests of his situations. Most of the girl's were common serving wenches. Hardly worth the effort. So what if he had a b*****d of two toddling around? His parents were rich and well-respected. It was his due to have fun.
    "I would hardly act so smug if I were you, Yaric. I've heard tell of your workings. Following in the footsteps of your uncles I hear. Peddling in the illicit trades." He shook his head. "What would the Women's League have to say about that. They have never taken kindly to being conned and swindled."
    Yaric's mouth tightened with anger.
    "I'd not be so quick to smirk at Yaric, Tagrin. I see your hand in this as well. Yaric could never put such a scheme together without your imprint upon it. You can try to look like the golden child of Spotted Springs, but I would love to see how it would play out if you ever get figured out."
    "You have done your share," Tagrin pointed out mildly.
    Kaven simply smiled.
    "You don't have a single shred of proof what I have gotten up to," Yaric snapped. "I don't flaunt my doings like you do!" He scrubbed a hand through his hair. He'd find out who had been running their damn mouths. He didn't need any of his business out in the open. The people he dealt with would not be kind to him if they were exposed. "I have no fear of the Women's League," he said with contempt. He forced down a few dark images featuring Kaven in pain.
    "Come off of it the two of you," Tagrin said. "We've all done our share of the mischief in the local area." He gave a short laugh at the thought. "No need to turn on each other when the day is so fine."
    "Remember that time," Yaric began suddenly sitting down on a fallen tree, "that we decided to teach the Lincom brothers a lesson because they had stolen Mistress Jorely's ice cream cake before we could take it?"
    Tagrin smiled. "That was some time ago, though it is still engraved in my mind."
    He almost sighed in remembrance of his youth. They had followed all five of the Lincom brothers to the tree house the brothers had built. Followed them in hopes of rescuing the cake from wrongful hands. They would teach the brothers a lesson they would soon not forget. They had waited until the brothers had scrambled up into the tree house and closed the flap, before carefully coating the tree house ladder in honey. Just as the brothers were descending the ladder and consuming the cake, the three of them had unleashed a swarm of bees they had gathered earlier in the day for another adventure. See the fools run faster than one of Master Delum's race horses had been a real treat.
    The Lincom brothers had been confined to there beds a good week recovering from the stings. Of course Tagrin had graduated to bigger and better more interesting escapades now than what he had thought was entertaining in his younger years. This trip down memory lane was amusing, but impractical for the time being. He shook his head.
    "That was the better part of three or four years ago," Kaven said with a bored yawn.
    Tagrin snorted. "True and it's firmly in the past. Can you imagine bothering with that trifling stuff now?" He glanced slyly at Kaven. "That was before your head got twisted by girls and you started dropping b*****d's all over the place."
    "What are you implying?" Kaven said with a glare.
    Tagrin simply stared at him. Kaven was slightly bigger and more husky, but Tagrin had never been afraid to brawl when it was unavoidable. He thought he could count on Kaven keeping his senses about him. "I'm ready when the two of you are."
    Yaric glowered at Tagrin. He didn't care for the forest like Tagrin did, but he had nothing better to do till later in the day. He picked at the dead bark of the tree and pondered on what needed to be done. He could see Kaven giving him a look, which made him frown back at him.
    Tagrin toyed with his cloak and peered into the woods. Soon he'd have to make his way home to resume more boring classes of tutoring. The only good thing that had come out of these talks about the academy was that the talks of going into banking were no longer pointed in his direction.
    "So, Yaric...," Kaven began.
    Yaric looked up in Kaven's direction. "I've got no real plan, if that's what you're going to ask me. Get to the spring, dance a merry little jig then come back to the usual drudgery of life. We didn't bring anything to go hunting with and besides, neither of us exactly gives a damn about hunting.. As a future respected leader of this community I shouldn't be getting too dirty myself."
    Tagrin laughed. "You as a respected leader?" He laughed again.
    "If you're going to be a respected leader then that must mean I'm soon to be an Ur-lord," Kaven said with a chortle. "Are you sure you aren't up for a hunt, Yaric? I seem to recall your fondness for bear hunting." He smiled slyly and winked at Tagrin over that shared memory.
    Tagrin made a sour face and shrugged. He could remember the run in with the bear vividely. It had happened several months back. One last hurrah at there youth he supposed. He had set out with Kaven and Yaric with the firm intention of winning a bet with the Mclarley girls.
    They had assured one another with pats and jokes that they could spend a night or two in the Great Wood. Not many of the village youths had spent more the three in the Great Wood. It mainly had to do with the number of dangerous and wild animals that made it a home.
    They had foolishly made a bet with the Mclarley girls on the subject. The bet was simple, or so they had thought. If they stayed in the woods for a week the girls would give each of them a kiss, and hopefully go a lot further than that. Now that he looked back on it, it seemed a stupid and childish act, but when you were being goaded and had your manliness called into question....well one could see what it could lead too. The downside of the bet---the girls had proved to be smarter than he had judged---if they failed to stay in the forest they would have to help the girls with house chores for a month, and be the laughing stock of half the place.
    At the time, Tagrin had no idea if Kaven or Yaric would hold up there end of the bargain if they lost. He had no intention of following through with doing women's work. House work was a woman's job or a servants. He had figured that he had a better than even chance of talking there five brothers around to his way of seeing the thing.
    To make a long story short they had packed all the needed gear and talked their parents into letting them go and headed for the forest. The first four days and nights went by without incident, but on the fifth night they ran into trouble. It came in the form of another of Yaric's ideas. After all of his talk and boasting about all the other boys being envious of him, he had wondered off and stumbled upon a cave and to his delight had found a small bear cub inside.
    Like the fool he could be on many occasions, Yaric woke the startled cub and whisked it from the cave to bring back to the camp. Tagrin and Kaven had pointed out to him that if there was a cub, then no doubt the mother bear would not be far from it. Yaric had proven stubborn and refused to return the cub despite there demands. Instead he paraded the cub around the camp and chastised it for whining pitifully all the while calling it their new mascot.
    Much to Tagrin's unsurprised expectations the cubs mother had not wasted anytime in looking for her child once she found he was missing. It had not taken long for the angry mother bear to locate there camp. Even now Tagrin still marvelled at the speed and agility of Yaric. Yaric had gone from playfully teasing the cub to running at top speed in the blink of an eye with a high girlish yelp. Tagrin had watched with a coolness he now found pride in as Kaven had let out a terrified scream of his own and dashed off into the woods. Kaven almost managed to break his own neck in his scramble to evade the angry bear.
    Tagrin had thought---it had been a fleeting thought---of taking a chance to get his favorite carving knife, but common sense won out. That and the fact that the bear had turned it's baleful eyes in his direction. He ended up almost running the entire way back to Spotted Springs and he had been somewhat surprised to realize that Kaven and Yaric had done the same thing.
    Tagrin shook his head slightly, shaking off the past. He eyed Kaven.
    "What?" Kaven asked.
    Tagrin shrugged and turned to Yaric. "Any plans for the Ulnic Festival?"
    "My usual," Yaric said with a smile. "Well actually I'll be getting more hands on with this one. I'll finally be entrusted to do my fair share of the selling and the buying. That means I'll get my percentage legally this time." He grinned.
    "You know what that means?" Kaven said with a laugh. "That mean's Kia Elisin's mother will be trying even harder to get you betrothed to her daughter!"
    "O, shut up with that talk." Yaric snapped. "It will never happen. My parents know me well enough to know I'd make life a living hell if that were to happen."
    "You have a better chance of getting hitched than Yaric," Tagrin said to Kaven. "All the b******s you've been fathering at your age, your parents will be fit to bundle you off quickly before those girls, w****s, or whatever you want to call them come running with there hands out."
    Kaven flushed. "I'll be damned if I'm getting tied down! I can't help it if I pack a punch everytime some girl wants me to bed her."
    Tagrin grinned. "Doesn't matter to me. I'm above such nonsense. "I prefer not to have mini images of my self to plague me in the future."
    Yaric rolled his eyes. "You're always talking vaguely about your important future." He dismissed it with a wave of his hand.
    "Well times wasting," Kaven said. "Let's go to the Spring and while we are there we can compare what we'll all be doing after the Ulnic Festival."
    Yaric shrugged. "Nothing better to do."
    Tagrin snorted. Yaric always had something to do. He followed behind Kaven as they made there way into the forest quickly finding the well used path that would eventually lead them to the Spring. They made idle chatter as they walked along speculating over all the possible things that could happen when the festival started. Tagrin really didn't know what he would be doing during the festival. He certainly had no intention of hawking wares or doing any other idiotic thing but enjoying himself. He was meant for far greater things than that.
    "Hey, do you guys notice how quiet it is in here?" Kaven said after twenty minutes of walking.
    Tagrin paused. Now that it was brought to his attention it had gotten strangely silent. Where one would usually here the squawking and chattering of the forest animals you could now hear nothing. He frowned and shrugged.
    "Yeh, so what?" Yaric said with an incredulous look at Tagrin. "Maybe they all went to take a look at your mother, Kaven. Now stop dawdling and gawking and let's get this show going."
    "More like your mother," Kaven retorted. "They didn't go silent in appreciation either!"
    Tagrin rolled his eyes and moved along as Kaven and Yaric went back and forth. He'd get this last nostalgic moment over with and leave the past in the past. He was still surprised and annoyed that he had wanted to go to the Spring. He had been dreaming about it off and on as if it had been calling out to him. That was beyond ridiculous of course, but he'd humor his dreams and take a last look at it. It was probably overrun and going to ruin at this point. It had long ago ceased to be a worthy attraction for people with the growth in the area and the hundred different other closer forms of entertainment.
    "...snap out of it dunderhead," Yaric said interrupting his thoughts with a smack on the shoulder.
    "What?" Tagrin replied annoyed at having his thoughts interrupted.
    "We saw something with glowing eyes to the right is what," Yaric said.
    "What are you babbling about?"
    "Pay attention," Kaven snapped. "I saw it too for just a second. Then it was gone in a blink!"
    "Don't be ridiculous," Tagrin said. "You're both sun-fried. Probably saw a deer or something. This is not a fairy tale." He looked in the direction they pointed in. "I don't see anything."
    "I said it was gone," Kaven said. He scowled. "At least I thought I saw something."
    "I'm not sun-fried you dumb fool," Yaric snapped. "It wasn't a deer. Those eyes were at least six or seven feet up!" He shook his head at the amused look on Tagrin's face. "Fine it was nothing. Let's keep going and get this over with."
    Tagrin shouldered his way to the front. Glowing eyes? More like two fools trying to think they could trick him in some kind of practical joke of theres. He didn't believe in tall tales and certainly wouldn't fall for that. He'd as soon as believe in Darc’Wer's as that.
    The path took them deeper in the darkening forest as it twisted and turned. The further they went the more Tagrin was starting to not the odd silence himself. Usually in spring, summer, fall or winter the forest was a madhouse of sounds. He shook off the slight unease and chastised himself. This was not the time of year when bears would linger this far to the outer edges of the forest. This probably happened a lot and he had just never noticed it.
    "It's too quiet," Yaric said loudly.
    "Not with you running your trap," Kaven said with a tight grin. He kept looking around at any and every place as if expecting something to jump out.
    "It's probably always like this around this time,"Tagrin said.
    "If you think that then I have some gold bars that are disguised as rocks to sell you," Yaric said.
    "Figures you'd try to cheat at a time like this," Kaven said.
    "Ah, shush it," Yaric replied with a gesture.
    "The Spring isn't that far away," Tagrin said. "No need to turn tale over imaginary ghosts. Grow some hair on your chests and let's keep going."
    "I know you're not talking about chest hair..." Kaven began.
    "Mr. Hairless himself," Yaric joined in.
    Tagrin ignored them and kept moving. Fifteen minutes later they could hear the faint bubbling of the Spring. Tagrin gave them a triumphant look and made for it. He intended to bottle some of the sweet tasting water and use it and a few other things to get in good with a few of the girls during the fest. His plans centered on the water though as all knew it was as sweet tasting as some of the best wine out there. Stepping into the clearing that led up to the Spring he paused in surprise when he found strangers already at it. He stopped in his tracks with a startled look. Yaric walked into him and Kaven ran into Yaric.
    "What's the hold up?" Kaven asked brushing away hair out of his eyes.
    "When are you going to get those weeds trimmed?" Yaric quipped.
    "When you get Alca Lemlin to kiss you," was Kaven's reply.
    "You idiots," Tagrin snapped. He pointed towards the Spring at the strangers who were now looking at them. Tagrin could see three women and five men and all with eyes upon the three of them. The second thing he noticed was the swords the men carried and the way they seemed dressed for a fight. He frowned. The women were dressed in serviceable travelling clothes with small cloaks around their shoulders.
    "Who are those people over there?" Kaven asked.
    "How the hell would I know?" Tagrin muttered.
    "Certainly not the local welcoming party," Yaric said giving the new group a critical look over. "I'd guess they've been travelling some distance. Why in the world are they at the Spring?"
    "That's a good question," Tagrin said. "Let's go find out why."
    Kaven reached out and grabbed Tagrin's shoulder. "Are you blind? Those men are armed and they look like they know how to use those swords. What if they are brigands or bandits or who knows what? Don't just go up to them like a fool."
    "He's got a point there," Yaric said.
    "Five men and three unarmed women and you two think they are outlaws?" Tagrin rolled his eyes. "I'm going over there. Might as well see what brings them this far out into the woods. Aren't you two the least bit curious about that?"
    "I like living to tell the tale," Kaven said.
    "He's got a point there," Yaric said, but he was curious himself. "Let's go see anyway. We made it this far and they haven't charged us screaming evil things."
    Tagrin made his way towards the strangers. He noted the way the men seemed to casually spread out and the way they seemed to have an air of menace about them. He was careful to keep his hands clear and open. He should have been at least a little cautious, but he always satisfied his curiosity. His eyes roamed over the women quizzically. He figured they had to be in charge and that the men must be hired help and muscles to insure they had no problems.
    His eyes finally settled on the tallest of the women as she seemed to have the air of authority most about her. Her dark eyes seemed to take the measure of him and she never blinked as she met his stare. The other two women leaned close to her and said something and she nodded in a knowing way. He turned slightly to make sure Kaven and Yaric were following him. He stopped 10 feet in front of the women and put a careful smile on his face.
    "Hello," he said. "What brings you strangers around these parts? I'm Tagrin--" He motioned to his friends. "--this is Yaric and he's Kaven. We're from around here and just out to visit the Spring. Why are you here?" He ignored the drawn in breath from Kaven. It was not a rude question. He had introduced himself after all.
    "The three of you are from Spotted Springs?" The taller of the women said.
    "Are there any other boys out here?" The woman on her right asked. Her dark green eyes scanned the woods behind them that they had come out of.
    "Do you often come out this way, boy?" The woman on the left asked. Her blue eyes twinkled as if she held a secret that she found amusing.
    "Yes, we are from there," Tagrin said impatiently.
    "No one sane would waste the time to come out here in this heat," Yaric piped in.
    Kaven settled for a frown and an uneasy look at the five men.
    "Irelia this fits in perfectly with what we know," the blue eyed woman said with a calculating look at Tagrin and his friends. She pulled out a small book from a large front pocket and began flipping through it rapidly.
    "What fits in?" Tagrin asked. She didn't bounce with excitement, but Tagrin had the feeling that if she was younger she would be practically jumping up and down. Come to think of it, looking closer at the women he couldn't tell if they were young or old. He would have hazarded a guess at all three being in there mid thirties, but something about there eyes led him to believe that they were much older than that. The way they all looked at him and his friends now gave an air that they were not surprised at all to see strangers coming where they were.
    He frown and eyed the book she was still flipping through. He looked at Yaric who shrugged and made a face. Kaven just snorted and gave him a look as if to ask what he had expected from this. Tagrin glared at him and removed the bottle and made his way to the Spring. He didn't care for mysteries, but he wouldn't let it get in the way of what he wanted to do.
    "Do you know why it is so quiet?" Yaric blurted out at the women.
    "We have our suspicions," the one named Irelia said.
    Just what in hell did she mean by that, Tagrin wondered. He kneeled down at the waters edge and dipped his bottle in the icy cold water. It surprised him that the water could be this cold in heat this scorching. He looked down in the water watching how the rays that did make it through the trees played in it and glanced at his on reflection. It was fascinating how one could grow up so quickly in the span of a years time. Life moved so quickly it seemed to him. He frowned at something else in the water. A dark shape deep down in it. He blinked thinking at first it was the light playing tricks on his eyes.
    "Trouble coming this way," one of the men said.
    Tagrin looked up then back down at the water. The shape was moving closer towards him.
    "Come this way boys," Irelia said calmly. "It seems you are the ones we were looking for."
    "Huh?" Yaric said with a questioning look. He didn't like the way the men had their hands on their swords and the sudden air of menace that seemed to tinge the air. Nor did he like the too cool way in which the three women acted while the men seemed poised for violence.
    "What do you mean we're the ones you're looking for?" Kaven said. "We don't even know you people and I know you're not from around here!"
    "Don't think to run fool," one of the men said. He was the tallest of the men and his dark skin matched perfectly with the dark black clothing he wore. "Stay with us and you just might live."
    Tagrin ignored them fascinated by the shape making it's way up from the depths of the Spring. Whatever it was it was large and was making its way up seemingly from the very bottom of the Spring. It sure as hell wasn't a fish. That he was certain of. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it as the shape was coming into form. It was a human shape and he wondered how anyone could survive coming from those depths.
    "Times wasting," the tall dark one growled. "We need to get going."
    "Yes. Yes," Irelia said. "Come along Teana and Eensia. I think we have what we came for and not a moment too soon." She looked over at Tagrin. "What are you staring at boy?" She made her way quickly over to him sensing something not right in the way he was staring fixated at the water. Looking down in the depths her mouth tightened briefly. "Cavam grabbed the boy. Be quick about it." She held one hand out above the water and a white light shot from her hand and into the water.
    Tagrin gasped in shock before one of the men came over in long strides and lifted him bodily from the waters edge. The bottle dropped from his hand and his mouth gaped as the shape shot from the water in a burst of water. He heard Kaven and Yaric's shout of surprise as he was thrown well clear of the object. He landed on his back hard losing all his air and lay there stunned. He heard the unmistakable clash of metal on metal and the audible shouts of his friends. He tried to regain his senses and managed to roll over on his side.
    What he saw made him stop moving. A whirling, twirling blur of darkness taking on two of the men and the spark of blades meeting each other. The blur held two blades in it's hands and seemed to flow around to men, yet neither of the three seemed to touch each other. He heard guttural cries off to his right and gapped when he saw hulking creatures coming out of the forest in the forms of nightmares.
    "Run!" Kaven screamed at Tagrin as he turned and made for the opposite direction from the creatures. He was collared roughly by the one called Teana as a dark green light shot from her hand into the knot of creatures poring forth.
    "We have to get out of here now!" Cavam shouted as he met the creatures with his blade bare and dancing.
    Tagrin continued to gape at the creatures. They wore armor like men, but they were all at least a half a head taller than a tall man and had the heads of animals. He saw beneath the helmets the creatures wore the faces of wolves, hawks, bears and several other animals. They brandished axes, swords, maces and other weapons and let loose guttural screams as they met the blades of the three men not fighting the whirl wind. The women joined in hitting the creatures with whatever they were using leaving Tagrin time to belatedly realize they were Meis Relai. Meis Relai! That meant that the men were the Guardians.
    "Oh God," Yaric moaned in terror.
    "Snap out of it!" Eensia said. She spared a glance at the three of them. She pursed her lips and gestured for Kaven and Yaric to grab Tagrin. "Quickly," she said. "Come to us." She loosed more bolts of power at the creatures as Yaric and Kaven scrambled to grab a still stunned Tagrin and half carry him to the women. "To us Cavam, El, Evin, Grelan, Feyal!"
    Tagrin leaned against his friends on rubbery legs as he watched the men fight skillfully to disengage from the fighting with the help of the Meis Relai. The whirling darkness was sent flying by a beam of blue light more than forty feet yet it bounced back with fluidity. The other creatures were not so lucky as when many of them were hit they did not rise.
    Tagrin watched as Irelia---Irelia Selai!---played with a crystal in her hands. She concentrated as the other women touched her shoulder. The men gathered closely around the women blades ready to defend them from anything.
    "What are you---" Tagrin began before things turned blurry and a bright light hit his eyes blinding him.
    His world came back into focus with a jolt and he blinked rapidly finding himself on his hands and knees. He scrambled around on the forest floor in a panic to get away. A hand hauled him roughly to his feet and he was shaken hard. The hands gripped his head and held it steady and a vile was forced to his lips. When he tried to resist he was shaken harder and the vile was forced into his mouth. He had to either swallow or choke and chose to swallow the bitter tasting fluid.
    "This will settle your stomach," Cavam growled. "Give it a moment boy."
    Tagrin staggered back as the man let go of him and wiped his mouth with the back of his right hand. His mind was still reeling from the turn of events. "What were those...creatures?" he said with a rasp. "And what was that thing with the two blades?"
    "What are Meis Relai doing here!" Yaric said. He was leaning against a tree weakly as if he had vomited the contents of his last meal. Kaven was patting him on his back and looking at Tagrin in bewilderment.
    "We only have a short time before they pick up the scent again," Irelia said. "This only gives us a two mile start against the Shokin Zakar and it's Darc’Wer. You'll have to rest briefly before we have to move quickly again to the rendezvous spot."
    "Darc’Wer!" Tagrin got out. His knees went rubbery again and he had to sag against a tree to keep from falling over in his disbelief. "They don't exist! Just...just children's fairy tales meant to scare little kiddies into being good. It's impossible!"
    "You saw with your on eyes, boy," Cavam said with a smile that did not reach his cold brooding brown eyes. He had a towel out wiping dark oozing blood off of his sword. "That had to have been at least two Claws. The question is how were they able to get this far south undetected and I'm not sure any of us will like that answer."
    "Definitely not the ideal set up," Evin chimed in with a smile. He was huddled near Eltron and Teana Selai who were talking in low voices while sending Tagrin, Yaric and Kaven looks.
    Tagrin felt like vomiting his food himself, but fought it down with effort. He had to keep his wits about him. Things were moving too fast. Creatures from story tales and he did not even know what a Shokin Zakar was! It was going too fast for him to keep everything in order. All he could piece together was that apparently the Meis Relai had been looking for people and for some insane reason had decided that he and his friends where the ones they were looking for. Where the Darc’Wer and that other creature fit in was something that frightened him. Could they have been after him and his friends too?
    He straightened himself and made his way hurriedly over to his friends. Yaric gave him a miserable look and his face had a sickening cast to it like he wanted to vomit again. Kaven had a wild and shocked look to his face and he just stared off into space. Tagrin frowned and shook him several times. This was no time to lose it.
    "Get yourselves together!" he said harshly. "We are in the dark here and we need to stick together." He realized he was almost shouting and lowered his voice with a look back at the Guardians and the Meis Relai. "We need to keep our wits about us. Shake this off. There has to be a perfectly good explanation for all this."
    "Who's lost it now?" Yaric said with a incredulous look at Tagrin. "They are Meis Relai, Tagrin! And those are their lap dogs protecting them!"
    "Idiot!" Kaven said grabbing Yaric's shoulder. "Not so loud where they can here you."
    Yaric shook Kaven's hand off. "It doesn't matter. We need to get out of here! Did you not here them. Those things were Darc’Wer. They shouldn't even exist anymore! They can't! It has to be something conjured up by the witches to trick us. We have to get out of here while we can."
    Tagrin smacked Yaric hard upside the head. "Don't be a damn fool," he growled. "I find this as hard to believe as you do, but you've lost all sense if you think those creatures were created by the Meis Relai. Now I don't know what's going on, but I know we stand a better chance with the Meis Relai than wondering off on our on. Do you even know were we are? I certainly don't. We are on a trail that none of us has ever travelled. You want to wonder off and run into those things again? You can damn well do it by yourself then."
    Yaric sagged against the tree and brought shaking hands up to his face. "They are witches. Witches. Can't you see we are being manipulated?" He turned to Kaven. "Talk some sense into him for Gods sake. We can't be too far from familiar surroundings. We can make it on our on."
    Kaven looked thoughtful for a moment, then slowly shook his head. "Tagrin's right, Yaric. Don't give me that look! Think. We stand a better chance until we do get our bearings with the witc...Meis Relai."
    "You act like I like this," Tagrin said. "I don't like it any better than you. We just need time to come up with a plan before we do anything irrational."
    "Time to get a move on it," Cavam called to them. "We are slightly off track but with good time we can make it to camp in one piece."
    "How comforting," Tagrin muttered. He didn't know what was going on, but he had a sinking feeling it was not going to get any better for him or his friends. He would just need to find a way out of it and hopefully he would be able to get some answers before things proved fatal.














 

Author's Note

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