Secrets

Secrets

 

 

“Damn Kae and his secrets,” Ellias scoffed, scrunching up the parchment in her hand angrily. Her orders were as ambiguous as always, and as usual in his letter her master hadn’t even taken the time to ask how she was doing. Typical male coldness. While she was by now used to the strange missions she was constantly sent on, the contents of her most recent letter bordered on absurd, certainly suicidal in the least. To a certain Ellias Green fell the duty, at the beckon of her master, the capture of one Unicorn, alive and kicking, in all its carnivorous frenzy. She had a better chance of surviving in a pool of piranhas, rather than coming out of the Umbreil Forest alive, and with a Unicorn in her grip to top it all off

 

Ever since the Weice Revolution had ended, the Umbreil Forest had become a place avoided by all sane men. The Evening Clearing, where the last of the Kimdrel people had been slain in a final and bloody battle was legend, and feared. Even fifty years after the war the forest hadn’t forgotten the taste of blood, and unwary fools that travelled into the forest unprepared seldom travelled out again, certainly never in the same mind with which they entered.

When the Kimdrel ships had arrived on the North Coast the soliders of Brynn were in no way prepared for the unknown enemy. The cause of attack was never clear, nor were there many words spoken between the two sides. With the Kimdrel came a force ne’er seen by the likes of the citizens of Brynn. The Tribes People brought magic as their shield and sword and way of life, they brought diviners and prophets and sorcerers that could twist a man’s skin inside out during battle. And with the Kimdrel came the Unicorns, sacred and deadly creatures that could hardly be believed for their beauty or their accuracy and love of battle. They were their mounts, where the soldiers of Brynn rode fine stallions; a Kimdrel warrior on a Unicorn would rival him on otherworldly levels.

 

When the Kimdrel brought their magic, the land beneath their feet became touched, and the Umbreil forest, the site of their last stand, became permanently marked by their presence. Still the trees whisper and taunt travellers, plucking them into the canopies or dragging them underground to rot, still the Unicorns which remained even after their masters had fallen plagued the shadows of the forest like ghosts. Only a fool would enter the cursed forest, but better a witty fool than not, and especially one with a purpose.

 

“He’d better have a damn good reason for doing this to me,” Ellias muttered, putting off the inevitable by distracting herself with threats to her master. “If I lose an arm to some bloody Unicorn, I’ll tear his balls out and feed them to a goat.” The event of course was most unlikely; if she was caught by a Unicorn it definitely wouldn’t stop at taking just an arm. Besides, for all Kae’s stupidity, technically he had raised her, and she still owed him that debt.

 

Sighing, Ellias leaned back against her rest, the solid trunk of a tree and looked at the crumpled parchment in her hands. Unfolding it with slow care, she reread the words again to be sure, then couldn’t resist rolling her eyes as the sheer absurdity of the request. “What does he think he’s going to do with a Unicorn anyway?” she murmured allowed, folding the letter with more care this time, and tucking it into the loose sleeve of her leather jerkin. Shielding her eyes with a hand, she glanced at the sky, lips pursing in thought. It was mid-afternoon now; luckily she had been on her way to Ranadin when she was swooped by her master’s messenger falcon.

Ranadin was a coastal town, it was inevitable that she would pass the Umbreil forest on her way, and as such she was close enough now not to worry about the distance. Alone and at her pace, Ellias wagered that if she were to pack her camp now and leave, she’d reach the outskirts by nightfall. Camping by the Umbreil forest by night, even on the edges sounded like a death trap.

It was immensely safer to stay at her camp for the remainder of the day, and use what time she had left to prepare for the forest. Setting off at dawn seemed like a much more attractive prospect.

 

She had a fire going already, with a skinned rabbit roasting on a spit. In the previous town, she had also spared herself the luxury of a few fresh potatoes, and one of these was cooking now, wrapped in a broad leaf on one of the rocks she had ringed her fire with. Other than that, her stock was pitifully low with no extra meat to show, a single potato and some chestnuts she had been intending to roast for dessert. She’d have to keep them now, for as long as she could.

 

Resigning herself to an apparently inevitable afternoon of hunting, Ellias stood with a stiff groan. Bark and dirt clung to her pants and wrapped jacket, so used to travel they were worn and thin in most places, though she’d never considered getting new ones. Her hair, blonde and subtly curled was home to a combination of leaves and dirt, since she hadn’t taken the time for a bath, similarly, her face and the rest of her skin had seen better condition too. The only part of her attire that gave Ellias any image of worth was her weaponry and the obvious care that was put into each and every aspect of it.

The bow slung on her back was long and carved intricately by delicate hands. Yet it was strong, a war bow like the ones used during the War, with a draw weight seemingly much too heavy for a girl as slim and petite as her. But the bow was carefully oiled and the rich ochre of the wood shone with vibrance, as did the depictures carved into it. On her right wrist was a jade and leather wrist guard, and the only piece of clothing obviously well maintained. And while it was only the bow and quiver on her back that were visible to those who looked, the same care had been shown to the dagger in her boot and the slip-knives hidden up her slightly over-sized sleeves. Careless in appearance but never in action, Ellias had been trained to look one thing and act as another from birth. If anyone had a chance of finding and capturing a live Unicorn in the Umbreil, it was her, and she knew it as well as Kae did.

 

Unslinging her bow, Ellias did a quick turn of the clearing she had chosen for a campsite. Flat and encircled by sparse trees, it was open while still providing some cover, and an unhindered view of the stars. Every night she sent her prayers to the Allier, the fallen star spirits, and all her life had been connected to the sky and stars in a way that had never been rivalled by anything. Sleeping under a starless sky seemed unimaginable, sleeping even under a roof was a chore that she lusted to avoid where possible. The light of the Allier couldn’t breach stone walls, or so she heard, the canopy of the Umbreil.

The land was quiet and straining her senses, she detected no outside forces. Still, she took the precaution of kicking out the fire, as much as a pain as it would be to light it again in the dark, it wasn’t worth being caught and questioned. Her missions for Kae were frequent and she was surprisingly well known, more so because her methods of completing missions, in all their varying criteria, weren’t always considered ‘ethical’ by most civilized men. So while some company didn’t seem too bad, it wasn’t worth the trouble. Turning after one last glance, Ellias set off into the woods for a hunt.

 

The traps she had set earlier that morning were the first things she checked. One snare had managed to catch a fat pigeon, though she suspected with disappointment that most of it was just feathers. All of her other snares either hadn’t been sprung, or had failed. The hand-made fish hooks she had cast out in the deep riverbed that flowed all the way into the forest and to the ocean gave more reward, with a fish caught on one and a small crab that had somehow managed to hook and spear itself onto another. It was a disappointing haul in total and for the amount of time she wanted to spend in the forests, was probably ample for meals accompanied with her current stock. Now it was simply hunter’s lust that pulled her bow off her shoulder to stalk down some meat.

 

A deer trail, though she did find one, was something too long and unpredictable to follow, so instead she busied herself with the prospect of another bird to add to her pigeon. Stringing her bow, she ran her hand over the smooth wood in a loving caress. Years of violent training kept her feet silent as she glided over the debris, avoiding dry leaves or sticks that sought to foil her.

 

A fluttering to the right drew her attention, a flash of black through the trees that she recognized as she drew nearer, using the shadow of a young Ash Maple for cover. A young jackdaw was pecking at the leaves, flipping them over carelessly and solely focused, as youths often are before they learn caution, on the possibility of food.

Releasing a breath as she drew an arrow from her quiver, Ellias smiled at the familiar feeling of power in her hands. It gave her comfort, knowing that she could and did defend and care for herself. She enjoyed it, having that power. It was probably one of the more negative traits she had adopted from Kae as a youngster.

Feathers from a speckled Snow Owl fletched the ends of her arrow as she strung it on her bow. They were of good quality, sharp and barbed with curved tips for catching her prey and not letting go. Arguably, it wasn’t a bow made for hunting. Or, at least not hunting animals.

 

Her breathing naturally slowed, years of training steadying her fingers as she raised the bow to her cheek. She released with a reverberating twang of the string and watched with grim certainty as the arrow flew true and landed in the bird’s eye, killing it instantly. It was always cleaner to shoot prey through the eye, so she had mastered the technique long ago, it simply seemed more professional. Striding through a patch of growth, she knelt at the fallen creature’s side and deftly plucked her arrow out, the barbs unfortunately bringing the bird’s black eye with it. Grimacing, she flicked off the slimy orb and filed her arrow back into the quiver on her back, there was time to clean it later in the evening.

 

Placing the two fingers of her right hand on the bird’s breast, Ellias’s eyes slid shut in silent prayer for the spirit of the bird, urging it to find shelter in the light of the Allier. Then, with nothing else to hold her then, she gathered her kill and made for camp.

 

Dinner was a rather sombre affair. Having to leave again for dry tinder after her fire died out in her absence, Ellias spent the better part of an hour first trying to restart her fire, then placing her spitted rabbit back on to cook. Thinking of the fat Jackdaw made her mouth water, but the meat on the bird would keep longer than the skinny rabbit she had already cooked. With a healthier supply of food stocked, Ellias was altogether more prepared, though no more eager to venture into the forest the following morning.

 

 

As the silver moon revealed the Allier in the sky, the shadows of the earth stalked around her fire and danced in the moonlight, waiting for their chance to strike. The glint of a knife shaking in her hands warned them back as well, as did the hooved mount the human shared her camp with. The brother of Unicorns, albeit it weaker and mortal, were feared alongside their horned kin. The creatures of light were no friend to the shadows of the Earth. Detecting a presence, the horse shook its head and snorted. The shadows retreated.

 

That night was cold enough that Ellias sat awake by the fire for the longest time, unable to sleep. When the last of the flames had licked out and the glowing coals were the only thing separating her from the shadows in the trees, Ellias drifted into an uneasy sleep, plagued with demons she could never see or touch, always dancing out of reach of her fingers. Shouting out for help, or answers, the trodden ground beneath her feet turned to mud and sucked her down, further and further into the cold earth. She was swallowed screaming, hugged by the cold earth and food for the worms.

 

She woke the next morning in a cold sweat, fear causing her heart to race like the fastest horses of Bealliya. It was a moment before she could convince herself to move, taking the time to school her breathing, scolding herself for fearing over a nightmare. Sitting up, she rubbed a hand over her tired eyes with a sigh. She could feel the sun on her face already, so she’d slept later than she’d intended. Then sun had already fully risen out of the sky.

 

Moving with more haste now, Ellias stood and dusted off her clothes. Packing up camp was always faster than setting it up, and in under an hour she had rolled her bed, tacked up Kyledi, her mount, and kicked out the last traces of her fire from the night before. Double, then triple checking her weapons cache, Ellias’s hesitation grew as she accepted that there was now nothing stopping her from leaving, except herself.

Striding over to Kyledi, she stroked the mare’s velvet nose for a moment, unable to take comfort in the familiar scent of horse, when all she could do was wonder if a Unicorn smelt the same. “Unlikely,” she muttered in disgust. “They probably smell of roses, or fresh blood.”

Not taking the time to dwell on the unusual comparison, she swung up onto the bay mare and kicked her forward. The longer she stayed in the clearing, the more reluctant she would be to leave.

 

Riding had always managed to calm her nerves in the past, but now as the Umbreil appeared as a dark smudge on the horizon she felt a shiver up her spine. The dark swathe grew until it towered above her head, a netted and impenetrable mass that allowed nothing in, and nothing out. Dismounting on the outskirts, Ellias’s feet sunk into the damp earth and remembering her nightmare, she quickly stepped onto more solid ground. Taking an apprehensive breath, the girl surveyed the knotted forest with disappointment, there was no room to fit a horse through the tightly woven gaps. She’d have to go on foot.

Remounting, she backtracked until a more stable ground was beneath them. The plains would have plenty of grass for Kyledi to feed herself on, so even if Ellias didn’t return on time she had no reason to fear for her horse’s wellbeing. Unburdening the mare, she stored the tack behind a tree, where it would hopefully remain safe from the elements and any thieves that blundered through. Then, with a final farewell to Kyledi, Ellias turned back to the forest alone.

 

Reviews

[DaughterNature]

Again, nice work, and good set-up. I always struggle with the initial presentation of a character: it feels very standard/conventional to simply list off a character's physical characteristics and clothing, but I also recognize in my own writing that it can feel arduous -- try incorporating appearance details into the action! I also wondered about the bit about the Unicorns being used as war mounts -- it's an interesting idea, for sure, but in legend it usually says that unicorns refuse to be ridden by anyone but young virginal girls -- just something to consider. I can't wait to see what happens next!