Welcome everyone. Before we get into Donalbain and Pumyra's story arc, I thought a breather story was in order. Enjoy and review.

A Cry

A cry in the darkness… What caused it? Who caused it? Those were questions that ran through the heads of those who heard it. To those who lived near the Wilderness, this caused fear. Summer's End was here. For the Evabon this was something else entirely. For them it was the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. It would be celebrated with bonfires, guising and feasting. It lasted two days going from sunset of the first day to sunset of the second day. To other races Summer's End was known as Sigruplaw Night but to the Evabon it was Summer's End.

Holding a lamp made out of a root vegetable, Balor stood just outside of Wilusa staring into the wilderness. He had heard the cry and wondered what it was.

"Balor!" Balor turned in a shock to see Gard walking towards him. Gard knelt down and looked Balor in the eye. "Don't go into the Wilderness during Summer's End."

"Why not?" asked Balor. "What is in there during Summer's End."

"Things that you can scarcely imagine. Dalv has spoken of creatures never seen before: the hippocamp, the bunyip, the hydros 'neath the ruby tree. Those are different, those are not things beyond imagination." Gard then handed Balor a black mask that covered the upper part of the face. "Here. Wear it. Be a child but if I hear of any mischief from you, I'll have you cleaning our hall's table every day for a month!"

Balor took the mask and placed it upon his face, the string holding it across the back of his head being the same shade of black as his hair. "Alright, I'll stay out of trouble. How do I look?"

Gard smiled as he brought a hand to his chin. "Like myself when I was very young. I thought that kind of a mask would be better than the kind Brigid has with that stick attached to it so she has to hold it up to her face instead of just wearing it."

"I like this better than the masks that go over your entire head." Commented Balor. "Like the ones in the shapes of beast and monster heads. Brigid's mask with the stick instead of the string… That's a girl's mask! Girls must tire less than boys if they can hold those masks to their faces for so long."

"Girls tire no more or less than boys do, Balor." Said Gard. "Having been father to both son and daughter I've noticed this very well and as one of my descendants you are another of my sons. Thus like a father, I tell you to stay out of trouble and out of the wilderness until after Summer's End."