Chapter 3
January 30, 2009 at 12:55 PM (Fantasy Stories, Guinivere)
Into a Strange Land
Traveling with wolves
Two men met under the cover of a shaded grove of willow trees. The first man bowed low, his thin body shaking slightly in fear of his superior. He was dressed in black hunting clothing as if to help hide him in the night, though nothing could hide his white-blonde hair.
The other man was also clothed in black but his was not for camouflage. His black armor shone with a deadly sheen in the moonlit night. He just stared at the soldier bowed before him.
“I am sorry my Lord.” The soldier said, his voice trembling. “We failed. She was aware of us. The Wolf must have called to the Void. She is there even as we speak.”
Lord Galdin nodded in acknowledgement. The Master will not be pleased. He thought to himself. “I trust you posted Watchers in the Void.”
“As ordered, my Lord.”
“Good.” Galdin turned to look at the moon. “Soon she will be out of our way forever. That fool Jamberl will not hold out long.”
“Yes my Lord.”
“The passage should be clear by now.”
“Yes my Lord.”
“Then let us go.” Galdin’s cloak swirled around him as he and his soldier passed from this world to the next through what seemed to be a blanket of fog.
~Ψ~ ~Ψ~ ~Ψ~ ~Ψ~
Guin just wanted to collapse and rest but her instincts told her not to. The memory of pursuit was too fresh in her mind. She looked around at the fog and trees that surrounded her. “Is this it?” Guin asked Wolf.
“It is.” He replied in Wolf Speech. “The Void is a mystical realm that is nearly impossible to reach. It cannot be reached through just physical means unless you happen upon it during its brief touches with your world. Very few know its secrets. I can guide you through the navigation process.” He trembled slightly. “A great evil has passed by here recently. Best be on your guard.”
Guin nodded curtly and pressed on, letting one hand rest lightly on the pommel of her sword. The white-gray walls of fog seemed to close in around her, shutting out all light in a mass of grey mist. She froze in place, crying out in surprise. :Relax,: Wolf advised in his calm and reassuring voice, :don’t speak aloud or you’ll anger the magic.:
Guin nodded to show she understood. :What do we do now?:
:You must help us across.: Wolf explained. :Hold out your necklace and call light to it. What ever you do, don’t let it go out.:
Guin did as she was told, holding the stone out in front of her. As it started to glow the mist around her brightened as well. It got brighter and brighter, so bright that Guin had to shield her eyes, yet she did not let her stone go out. Then, quite suddenly, all went dark.
The grass under their feet had gone a dark green almost black in color. The mist around them had disappeared, revealing a nothingness so intense it was blacker than anything Guin had ever encountered before. It was so black that Wolf stood out like a sore thumb in the darkness. The light from Guin’s stone didn’t even light up half a foot in front of them. :I’ve just come to a conclusion…: She said, turning to Wolf. :I hate the Void.:
:It makes you feel powerless doesn’t it?: Wolf agreed. :Sort of small and lost.:
Guin nodded. The feeling of loneliness was near overwhelming. :Now what?:
:Say ‘Mythrilian Wood, Celestria’ out loud.:
Guin complied and they were once again engulfed in a blinding white light that seared eyes that were now adapted to seeing stark blackness. Guin’s light extinguished itself and they were once again lost in a sea of mist. The grass under their feet was now riddled with shrubbery and sticks and other woodsy things. “Wolf?” Guin called out to the mist.
:Shhh.: Wolf scolded; :your light extinguished itself for a reason.:
Guin’s skin crawled in anticipation. Again the sense of danger surged through her. She moved forward slowly. An unearthly scream sounded in the distance. Guin shivered and drew her sword. :Put that thing away! Wolf ordered nervously, :it will do you little good against a Watcher.:
Guin did so somewhat reluctantly, it was against her instincts to face danger unprotected. :What’s a Watcher?: She asked nervously.
:That.: Wolf answered her, looking through the mist in front of them.
Guin stared in horror as a huge black beast, seemingly made of a thick black-green smoke, with overly large ears and dragon-like wings came wandering through the fog. Its eyes blazed as if full of an unearthly fire and it roared showing long deadly fangs. :Quietly now. We may be able to sneak past it undetected.: Wolf cautioned.
The moved as quietly as they could. Suddenly, the sound of a twig snapping rang through the woods. The watcher turned to look right at them. Wolf turned back towards Guin. :Foolish child!: Wolf snarled.
:I’m sorry!: Guin cried. :You try to move quietly while supporting a heavy bag on your back. I’m not cut out for this!:
The Watcher’s burning eyes narrowed as it took in the shapes in front of it. It snarled viciously and charged. Guin and Wolf leapt to one side as it thundered past. Guin tried to duck behind a tree but she wasn’t fast enough. It stuck out its clawed wings, catching Guin on the shoulder. She cried out in pain. :Guin!: Cried Wolf.
:I’m all right.: Guin gasped, :it wasn’t deep.:
The beast turned and came around for another pass. Guin grasped her stone and ducked behind a nearby tree, shoving the pain out of her mind as best she could. It wasn’t easy. Her shoulder burned as if on fire. The beast roared with anger, its ears quivering with the thought of a fresh meal. The stone flared suddenly and when Guin looked at her hand she could see the foliage through her limb. She had become transparent.
The beast looked around in confusion. Without thinking Guin leaped out, pulled out an arrow and loosed it at the beast. “Help me, please!” she whispered to no one in particular.
The arrow pierced through the beast’s smoky breast and stuck there as if it had struck something solid. It screamed as it went down and collapsed into a shapeless heap. Minutes passed and the beast didn’t move. “Is it dead?” she asked Wolf.
“You would be lucky if it was.” He replied in wolf-speech, moving onward again.
They left the mist and wandered into the forest beyond. Guin looked back over her shoulder as the mist suddenly vanished. Guin gave a start of surprise and Wolf chided her gently. He reminded her that the Void was unpredictable and not fixed. It could appear anywhere for any length of time. Many people had tried to map its whereabouts but all had failed.
Guin looked around for some sign of civilized life but there wasn’t so much as a hunting trail around them. Wolf explained that the Watcher had interrupted their travels and they now had far to travel before they were in safe territory again. That night Guin unrolled her bedroll and lay down. “What I wouldn’t give for a nice bed… or even a roof over my head.” She grumbled quietly. “It looks like it’s going to rain.”
“Get used to it Boss.” Wolf told her. “We’ll have many rainy nights before we get to where we’re headed.”
“What did I do to deserve this?” Guin groaned as the first drops of rain fell onto her cheek. She rolled herself up into her bedroll and braced herself for the rough night ahead.
She followed Wolf’s direction for weeks. She felt like she had been sucked into one of the fantasy novels she had loved to read. She would spend all day walking and at night she would sleep on root-riddled ground wishing she was back at home in her own bed. Most mornings she woke up cold and damp from either rain or dew. She took to keeping her cloak close by to wrap herself in as soon as she woke. She had to learn to harden herself fast. Wolf was not very sympathetic to her grumbling.
She learned how to set up crude shelters and then disperse them so that there was no sign of her ever being there. The thing that took the most getting used to was hunting for her food. A month ago she would have never been able to injure a rabbit let alone kill it. Now she was setting up snares and skinning them just to be able to eat something that day. Just as she started to lose hope of ever finding her people her elf eyes spotted smoke over the top of some bushes.
:Voices on the wind, Boss.: Reported Wolf, who was up ahead. :I’d say ten, no twenty!:
Guin moved into the bushes between her and the smoke, pulling them back with her hand. There before her was a valley with a group of young elves that looked to range from the ages of nine to nineteen by our standards. “Nineteen.” Guin said quietly to Wolf. “There are nineteen of them.”
Wolf turned to stare at her, his tongue hanging out and his head cocked to the side. :But I heard – :
“Twenty.” Came a voice from behind them.
Spinning around fast Guin barely had time to lash out with her dagger when something cracked against her skull. She sank to her knees looking to her assailant. All she saw was a blurred shape of shadow and flame before she sank into oblivion.
~Ψ~ ~Ψ~ ~Ψ~ ~Ψ~
The world was foggy and Guin’s head was pounding as she drifted back into consciousness. Blurry figures swam before her eyes and the dim sound of voices reached her ringing ears. She tried to lift a hand to find that she had been bound hand and foot with a thick rope. She blinked her eyes to clear them and surveyed her position. All twenty boys were now sitting around the fire and Wolf was bound and under the watchful eyes of a deep grey she-wolf. A torch burned brightly off to one side of her, a notch cut out of it where her blade had struck wood.
Guin soon realized that she was the topic of conversation. “No village maiden dresses like that.” Said a small boy of around nine. “Her weapons are exquisite. They have obviously been crafted by High Elves.”
Another spoke up. “Her cloak is of noble make if I am not mistaken. A High Elf noble should not be on her own this deep in Wood Elf territory.”
“Fear not, I intend to find out where she came from.” said an older elf. “She travels with odd company for a High Elf. Though I have never seen a female Rithalösi.”
He looked over at a boy in a dark green cloak sitting slightly away from the others. His hood on his cloak was pulled low to hide his eyes. “No.” said voice number twenty, “Though I can’t deny that she has found a Familiar. She was caught too easily to be a Rith. And even if she was one she’s too inexperienced to have been allowed to wander alone.” The hooded head shook sadly. “You don’t know much about Riths do you? A female Wanderer? Our women do not leave the eyes of the counsel unless they travel with a mate.”
Guin twisted herself around into a seated position and leaned against the tree. She turned to face the boys, studying the boy in the cloak who had caught her. Feeling her eyes he stood up and walked toward her. “So,” he said, coming to a stop in front of her. “You’re awake, huh?”
Guin looked up at him. He was young, maybe a year or two older than her. This close she could actually make out some features. He had a large nose and brown hair that was just long enough to frame his face with soft waves. His eyes were a deep brown and there was wisdom in their depths. Guin turned away from him as the older elf stood up and looked toward them, causing a shiver to run up her spine. “Good.” He said, “Then she can answer some of our questions.”
“Shut up Nors.” The cloaked boy said, turning to the blonde youth behind him. “Give her some time to clear her head. I hit her kind of hard.”
Guin looked at all the boys before turning back to her captor. “Untie Wolf.”
“Brighteyes won’t hurt him.” The boy said with a shake of his head.
“Untie him!” she snapped. She was frightened and that made her speak sharply.
“She is just full of orders suddenly.” Nors said as he sauntered over. He scowled down at her, “Tell me your name.”
“Nors-”
“Quiet Mal.” He ordered, then he turned back to Guin. “Tell me who you are!”
“Not until you untie Wolf.” She said defiantly, “He hasn’t done anything to you.”
In a flash Nors had his sword pointed menacingly at her throat, gleaming wickedly in the firelight. “Answer me!”
Things were getting out of hand very quickly. “Just untie the wolf.” Mal told Nors. “Bright-eyes can handle him.”
The nine year old started toward the wolf. “Jal, if you untie that beast you may as well leave.” Nors snapped.
The boy stopped and glanced from Nors to Mal. Nors scowled at Mal. “I am the Superior now and I say to leave it.”
“You couldn’t lead a horse to water let alone an entire regiment.” Mal argued. “What makes you think you’re the leader? And she’s right. What did the wolf ever do to you?”
Guin struggled back away from the blade at her throat. The motion caught Nors’s eye and he moved toward her. While his back was turned Mal ran and untied the wolf. Wolf, seeing he was free, was at Guin’s side in seconds, snarling and baring his teeth at the boys.
“Call off your dog.” Nors ordered. Only his eyes betrayed his nervousness.
“He’s not a dog.” Guin said, glaring up at the older boy, “If you can’t tell that you must be blind.”
Nors pressed his blade closer to her throat. Guin growled at him surprising both her captors and herself. She checked herself and said to Wolf in Wolf speech, “This guy’s an idiot. You might want to back down before he does something stupid.”
Mal’s lips twitched in an amused grin earning a glare from Nors. “I do not speak wolf. You are the Wolf-boy. Tell us what she said.”
Mal’s grin vanished, replaced by a scowl of his own. “Just telling the wolf to back down.”
Wolf moved a few feet away; watching Nors closely, ready to spring should any harm come to his friend. Guin could see that Nors was trying to ignore Wolf’s piercing gaze. “Tell me your name.” Guin looked to Wolf and didn’t answer. “In the name of King Jamberl tell me who you are!”
“Guinivere of Tamberon.” She replied calmly.
A hush befell the camp and she heard Wolf groan slightly from where he stood. All eyes were now turned to her, including those who had remained by the warmth of the fire. “What did you say?” Nors asked in shock.
“I am Guinivere, daughter of Samaras, Hero of Tamberon.” She stated turning to face Mal. “Could you untie me please? These bonds are digging into my wrists.”
Mal moved to untie her but Nors intercepted him. “Proof.”
“What?” Mal asked as if coming out of a daze.
“I want proof.” Nors insisted.
Guin looked at him calmly. “And what would you consider proof?”
Nors paused, he couldn’t think of anything. Truth be told, he thought she was bluffing and would become flustered when asked for proof. Mal moved closer to her. “At least let her sit by the fire. It’s freezing over here and you’ll be able to see her better.”
Guin didn’t know which she wanted to do more, kiss him or kick him. She would be glad to be closer to the fire but she didn’t need a bunch of people staring at her. Nors nodded in agreement, allowing Mal to pass him, cut the ropes binding her ankles and help her to her feet. Guin worked her wrists around underneath her so they remained bound but in front of her. Nors looked at her critically and tied one end of a long rope securely to one of her ankles and the other around a nearby tree.
Guin kept her eyes down the whole time. Wolf had told her that Elves tended to dislike half-elves and her gray eyes were not the usual elfish blue. Guin could feel Mal’s eyes on her face, studying her. :You believe me right?: She asked silently.
If he heard her he gave no sign of it. Guin lifted her eyes to his, her grey eyes locking with Mal’s brown ones. “Why, she is a High Elf!” cried one of the soldiers.
“She is not.” Argued another.
“No, no! She is! I’m sure of it.” the first persisted. “My father always dealt with High Elves! They all looked like that! I should’ve known by the color of her hair!”
Nors looked at Guin suspiciously. “The Lady Karelia was High Elvin.”
“It was always said that it is impossible to turn a High Elf.” Said Jal.
“Just let her go Nors. If she’s High Elvin she’s on our side.” Mal insisted. “Even if she’s not Guinivere.”
Nors shook his head insistently. “We keep her tied until we have further proof. I am turning in for the night. Mal, you guard the prisoner, make sure she does not escape or I’ll have your head.”
One by one the soldiers drifted away until only Mal was left. He pulled up the hood of his cloak and watched as the young High Elf walked over to the tree to which she was tied and huddled up against the trunk to sleep. A cold wind blew through the shadows of the surrounding trees, tugging at Mal’s cloak and the prisoner gave an involuntary shiver.
Mal shook his head sadly. Even if she was an enemy, the girl shouldn’t be treated like a wild animal. He took off his cloak and laid it about her shoulders. Her cloak was still soaked from the rain they had had that day and would offer little warmth, even if it was of a noble elf make. Guin turned to look at him. “Thank you.” She muttered.
Mal’s eyes glanced over her shivering form. Her arms and face were badly scratched and bruised. She looked incredibly tired and hungry. As if sensing his eyes on her, she pulled the cloak closer about her shoulders in discomfort. Their eyes connected again and Mal gulped nervously. Something about this girl scared him. There was an oddness about her, something Mal could not place. She seemed almost as though she wasn’t from this world.
Mal mentally kicked himself. Not of this world? Was that even possible? And to look so much like a High Elf… she was from here. Not only that, she was his prisoner, helplessly bound before him! Why should he be frightened of her? Yet she did scare him. Her grey eyes were confident and fearless… as if she knew nothing could hurt her. Yet they seemed young for an elf of her age. She acted young as well. She acted like a human teenager not an Elf of what had to be at least two hundred.
Mal reached out and scratched Wolf behind the ears. “How long have you been without food?” he asked, noticing the wolf’s thin sides.
:She hasn’t eaten in three days.: Wolf answered.
Mal went to their food stores and brought out a loaf of Drealum bread and gave Guin some. She devoured it in seconds and looked hungrily for more. He gave the rest to her and smiled as she devoured that too. “Sorry I can’t offer more.” Mal told her. “We are a little low on supplies as well.”
He smiled and leaned back to rest against the tree beside her. “Why are you being so kind to me?” Guin asked. “You have been given no reason to trust me.”
“I don’t trust you.” He answered. “But you give me no reason to hate you either.”
Guin smiled gratefully up at him. He seemed like a decent person… much nicer than his companions anyway. There seemed to be a protective quality about him that she couldn’t explain, it just felt right to be near him. She smiled softly to herself, pulling his cloak closer about her shoulders and fell asleep.
