Chapter 4

Anjali

We followed the trail for a while before Odo took a shortcut. I was following a few feet behind him so when we passed by the trail I moved closer "Are you sure you know where you are going?" I whispered. "Yes" he whispered back "There is a small cliff up ahead and they would have had to go around it. We can cut our time in half if we climb it and pick up the trail from there."

I shrugged and let him move further ahead before following. It turns out I am not half bad at sneaking but hiding is a different matter. Trying to find a hiding spot for someone my size is not an easy task but at the very least my leather armor covers the bright red skin so it could have been far worse. As a precaution I stayed far enough back that if Odo sees anyone coming I can duck around a tree and, hopefully, blend in.

Odo found the cliff and waved me forward. "Do you think you can climb it?" he asked as I looked at the cliff. It was roughly fifty feet tall and was filled with holes and groves. It looked easily climbable so I nodded and off he went. As he climbed the cliff he looked like an insect when compared to the size of it. If we weren't following the trail of a dead man I probably would be laughing at how silly it looked.

When he got about half way up I began climbing after him. The holes and groves made the climb as easy as walking so I wasn't surprised when we reached the top of the cliff soon after starting. As I pulled myself over the edge I looked for Odo and found him searching for the blood trail. Soon enough he found it and took off with me following behind him.

As we followed the trail I looked up and noticed, through the thick canopy of trees, that the moon was almost gone. That meant that the sun would soon rise and any chance at stealth would be gone…at least for me.

As I worried about this Odo stopped and slowly waved me forward. I crept over to his hiding place in the bushes and dropped to my stomach so I wouldn't be seen. Odo was pointing at something beyond the trees so I crawled closer so I could see past the bush. At first all I saw was a large grassy field but as I looked closer I could see the distant outline of a town.

"We should get a closer look" Odo whispered next to me. "How?" I replied "There are no trees between here and that town and the sun will be rising soon." Odo was silent for a moment "Wait here while I get closer" he whispered before vanishing into the dark.

As I contemplated how he could vanish so easily I noticed something floating from the town. It looked like smoke as it drifted through the air. As it came closer the smell hit me worse than the bear had. I covered my nose as the smell of freshly burnt corpses surrounded me. I took a closer look at the town and could see the smoke coming from the center and, oddly enough, the sound of laughter reached my ears. It was not the happy kind either but the crazy kind and it came from the town. The wind brought the noise again and again until I thought I would never get the sound of that horrible laughter out of my head. The smell didn't help either as each gust of wind brought, both the sound and smell of whatever was going on in the town, back to me.

As I lay there, hiding under the bushes, I looked up at the trees that surrounded me. I noticed that the branches at the top of the tree were broken and most of the leaves had fallen off.

I remember the Magister told me that when the leaves turn orange and yellow that they will fall off the tree. But the leaves were green and only the top leaves had fallen off. Maybe wind? Did it get that windy here? If so, why only the top of the tree and nowhere else? An answer came into mind but it was so terrible, not to mention impossible, I pushed it to the back of my mind and refused to give it another thought.

As I turned back to study the village Odo suddenly appeared next to me. I had no idea how long he had been sitting there and my heart jumped at his unexpected return but I gave no outward sigh of surprise.

Odo looked toward the village as he told me what he had found. "The village has been overrun with bandits. It looks like they slaughtered everyone and are currently burning the bodies. They also appear to be drinking all the alcohol in the village to celebrate." Odo scowled as he said this. "We had best head back and inform the others. They might be part of a larger group, as I only saw maybe fifty of them. They also all had the same design on their clothes. It looked like a flame."

As one we turned and followed the trail back into the forest. When we reached the cliff Odo went first as I kept a lookout. When he finally reached the bottom I began climbing down. Well I guess 'climbing' is the wrong word more like jumping down. I jumped from side; quickly gaining speed as I used the handholds to slow my decent before hitting the ground. I managed to make it down in half the time it took Odo.

As I looked around I noticed Odo staring off into the forest. He appeared to be very occupied with his task and hadn't noticed that I was on the ground yet. I smiled as this opportunity for revenge showed itself.

I quietly walked over to him and stood silently behind him. After a few moments of staring into the forest he turned to see if I had made it down the wall yet and flew backwards when he realized I was right behind him. His face was filled with shock and disbelief. I allowed a small smile to creep into my face before gesturing for him to lead the way. Odo blinked in confusion, still trying to figure things out, before giving up and heading into the forest.

Eventually we made it back to the cave and as we got closer I could see Duncan peeking out, trying to see who was coming. When he was certain it was us he quickly waved us in and began to roll a large boulder in front of the entrance. When he was done only a sliver of light came through so Odo quickly lit a fire. It was a small fire and most of the smoke would disappear into the cracks in the ceiling so we didn't have to be worried about being smoked out.

As Odo told the group what we had found I moved further into the cave to explore. The cave wasn't very long but, after shifting some large rocks, I found a small cavern. Most of the cavern was collapsed so it was only fifteen feet across. The ceiling was twenty feet up and was covered in small sparkly rocks. The cavern looked like the night sky and the rocks looked like the stars as they sparkled. The whole effect was quite calming and very peaceful.

As I looked around I noticed the walls were covered with shiny crystals, some sharp and some dull. It gave the room a menacing look despite the beauty of the sky-like ceiling. I noticed one of the crystals was about a foot long and shaped almost like a dagger. I reached over and pulled it from the wall with a single tug. As I hold the odd weapon shaped crystal in my hand an idea comes to me.

I look back towards the entrance and listen. I can still hear the others talking and I wonder, briefly, what it is they talk about all the time but then I remember that I don't care.

I sit down on a boulder with the crystal in my hand and close my eyes. I feel the slick surface beneath my fingers and call on the fire deep inside me. It answers with a rush of power and I throw that power into the crystal, hoping it will absorb it and not blow up in my face. A few seconds later and all the power has been absorbed into the crystal. As I open my eyes and look down at it I am not sure what to expect.

The crystal now glowed a bright orange before diming. The light then began to flicker like that of a flame and as I looked closer I noticed it did have a flame on the inside. It flowed through the whole blade lighting it up before diming and starting all over again. It almost behaved like a heartbeat. When I set it down on the boulder the flame went out and the crystal dulled back to its original color. When I touched it with my finger the flame came back and consumed the inner part of the blade. I smiled before grabbing the blade and heading out of the cavern.

OK, if any of you think I should continue writing this story please just let me know. Also please give me some constructive criticism...I wont know how bad it is unless you tell me! Thanks :)