Chapter 10

The group walked on through the woods. Caleb was feeling depressed about the situation that had just befallen them. His friends had been killed. He knew that they were just animals, but to a wood elf it meant more than that. They were companions, and he had saved Valex. In return for Valex's efforts to help, his brothers had been killed.

Caleb continued trying to talk himself out of his sadness, while the others had just as pressing things on their minds. Y'Ron kept a constant eye on the forest, wary of his old enemy. He knew that she had done it, it was her V shaped crest that was carved in the ground. It was there to mock him, and he knew it. He was infuriated, and desired the revenge that he was never able to seek.

Tigo was worried out of his mind about Xershies. He had been ever since the day that he hadn't shown up. His mind had gone through thousands of different possibilities of what could have happened to him. Some of the thoughts, he didn't want to think about anymore. He just hoped to find him soon.

Dega wasn't thinking of much, accept that cloak he had seen Y'Ron and Tigo messing with in the elf village. He knew that he didn't have a hope of stealing it from an elf shop, but he wanted it very much. He wasn't paying too much attention to what was going on.

The group continued in their thoughts, with little speaking. They walked at a slower pace, trying to avoid getting pounced on by whoever killed the gryphons.

Near midday, they spotted the village they had originally been headed to. Evren Village. It was a lot larger of a town than Marengale, and was set right into the rock base of the mountain. This town once served as the beginning of a route for the treasures mined in the Parthos Mountain ranges. Its road connected directly to Darkbrook, the wealthiest of the mining towns.

The path that led from Evren had since been decimated, and it was now only a small haven in the midst of the Sestis Woods.

As the group neared Evren, they decided not to make a stop. They didn't have anything to trade in at the weapon shop, and didn't need to rest. They did however ask around about an elderly man with a walking cane. No one had seen a man matching Xershies description.

The walk through the town was a fast one, and they didn't see hide nor tale of Xershies. They continued on, down hearted, with little purpose. None of them knew what they were going to do when they reached the Glyphs. Moral was very low.

Sestis Woods loomed on either side of them near midday, when they decided to make their first stop. Caleb made his standard catch of deer, but was slower this time around. They ate their fill, and began packing up. Y'Ron had finished packing his gear when he heard a twig snap in the woods behind him.

He froze, listening. With a very slow and deliberate motion, he turned his head to look into the woods. Much to his disappointment, his keen vision showed him that it was only a small band of standard petty thieves. His care for the situation dropped, and he began moving quickly again. An arrow was stuck in a man's chest in the blink of an eye. Caleb and Tigo both joined in on the fight. Dega was casting a blaze spell toward the thieves.

Caleb and Y'Ron both grabbed their swords, and began fighting the men. Both battles were very one sided, and Caleb and Y'Ron vanquished their respective enemies quickly. Y'Ron turns to help Dega and Tigo finish off the remaining men.

Once the men were finished off, Tigo, Dega, and Y'Ron heard a high pitched squeal. They turned around expecting to find Caleb wounded, but instead found him holding Frostorm impaled in a child's right shoulder. The child couldn't have been more then seven or eight years old. Caleb's face was blank, and he was slowly jabbing the sword farther and farther into the young child. Y'Ron ran forward.

"Caleb stop! You don't want to do this! He's just a child," Y'Ron hollered.

"Let him go…" Tigo said, trying to be calm.

The look on Caleb's face didn't change. The wound in the young child had frozen over, and he was still yelping in pain. Something in Caleb's mind changed, and he removed the sword from the child.

"I… I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking," Caleb said, re-sheathing his sword, and helping the child up from the ground. There was a hint of sorrow in his voice. The second that the kid had gotten up, he broke off running into the woods. He still had a hand over the thawing shoulder.

"Don't worry about him, he'll live," Tigo said as calmly as before.

Caleb smiled sheepishly and walked past them to where his things laid on the ground.

I'll be fine, Caleb thought as he sat down, I just need some time. That was so familiar.

While Caleb sat thinking to himself, the others were going through the thieves things. They found a few useful items, mainly potions and other healing agents. Between all the men, there was around two hundred gold coins. A very nice day's work.

"These guys came prepared," Y'Ron said in a very ominous tone. As soon as he had finished saying that, he looked up toward the trees.

Dega, who was standing next to Y'Ron, nodded. "Yea, but you can never be truly prepared… Let's head out"

(crest)

The sun was setting on the evening, and the sunset was beautiful. The four managed to find a secluded area of the woods off of the main trail to sleep. It was next to a little hilly area; they camped in the middle of the hills. They had their usual dinner, and their usual conversations about Xershies, and the Glyphs. Tigo was very tired from the day's journey, unusually tired, and he drank the entire rest of his flask.

"Ugh, I'm so tired," he said groggily.

Tigo put his flask back to his belt, and stood up. A sharp sensation shot through his body.

"Guys, I'm going for a pee."

He trotted off into a more secluded area of the woods and found a nice stump.

It was eerily silent in this neck of the woods, and it was unsettling for Tigo. Just as he began to undo latch his buckle, a voice came from behind him.

"Tigo…"

Tigo forgot about his half undone drawers and quickly grabbed his sword.

"What? Who's there?"

A maniacal laughter came from an unseen person in the woods.

"Ha-ha! Surely you can recognize the voice of your old teacher, Tigo!"

Tigo looked around, and was slightly confused. No body could be seen, and no one was approaching from either side of him. It sounded, thought, as if the person was right in front of him.

"But, Master Virgil, how is it that you are here, and the academy is more then two hundred kilometers away?"

"Tigo, you need to stop drinking. I'm speaking to you in a vision."

"Oh, okay. I see."

Tigo inadvertently started to take another swig from his empty flask.

"I thought I just told you to stop!"

Tigo quickly dropped the flask to the ground, and began redoing his belt buckles.

"Better. Now Tigo, I have heard from Xershies of the quest that you are on…"

"You know where Xershies is?!"

"No, I didn't say that. He sent me a letter about your situation. Xershies is an old friend of mine, and he explained the whole thing. I have appeared before you to give you something that might assist you. It is a spell called Jolt. It's stronger than your blaze spell, you didn't stay in the academy long enough to learn it. It is strong, but be careful. You can increase the strength of it by holding the energy longer, but if you hold it for too long you run the risk of electrocution."

"Um, thanks?"

"Tigo, practice it for a while. I probably won't talk to you again until after your mission is complete. Your brother is still growing quite well here. And as Xershies said before, you are more than just a Chosen One. I chose you as my pupil for a specific reason. You will find out more later."

Tigo's eyes were still searching for an apparition, a body, or something tangible that he could see. All his eyes could make out, however, was a darkly lit wooded area.

"So, you have no ideas about where Xershies could be?"

"No, Tigo. I haven't spoken personally to him in many years. I didn't know he was even missing. Now go Tigo, and stop drinking! I never did like that about you here at the academy, and I don't like it now."

"Thank you Master Virgil," Tigo said into the darkness. When no response came, Tigo assumed he was along again. He decided against practicing something that he wasn't even sure existed. Tigo believed that the voice had just been a part of his drunkenness.

(crest)

The sun was nearly set, though slivers of reds and yellows still hung in the sky. The light of the fire was warmth for the men, as it was getting steadily colder. Dega could smell alcohol on Tigo's breath as he approached the campsite.

"You've drunken a lot lately, what's going on Tigo?" Dega asked, concerned.

Tigo turned around, and smiled. "Nothing's wrong, and I'm stopping drinking now. I had a little bit of an episode back in the forest that I would rather not repeat." His thoughts moved to the Jolt spell, which he still hadn't tried out. He wasn't even sure he was capable of it, nor if he had actually been taught it.

"Yea right Tigo. You'd never save up enough for the cloak; you spend too much in the bar!" Y'Ron joked. Everyone including Tigo laughed.

Caleb was feeling slightly better, and made a few jokes around the fire. In the middle of one of them, Caleb and Y'Ron suddenly went stone cold.

There was silence around them. All that could be heard was the wind and the rustling of the leaves. Caleb and Y'Ron both scanned the area slowly. A twig snapped far in distance, causing Caleb and Y'Ron to snap their heads in that direction. Tigo and Dega did not have elf hearing, so they weren't sure what was going on.

"Hey, what's wrong with you two?" Dega asked, rather loudly.

"Shh!" Came the collective reply from Y'Ron and Caleb.

With great haste, the two elves quickly stood up, back to back, and grabbed their swords. Caleb was prepared to kill whatever it was that was stalking them, and had an arrow ready to fire. Y'Ron's sword hummed gently as he continued scanning the area.
"What's wrong? What's going on?" Tigo asked, quietly this time.

"Be quiet!" Caleb said, rather harshly.

Chills began working their way down Tigo and Dega's back. They had no idea why, but they were afraid of something. The two humans grabbed their weapons; Tigo his bow, and Dega his scythe, and joined the back to back square that was now contained in the middle of the campsite.

The hills around them on all sides were very ominous, and the wind was picking up. No daylight could be seen now, and the blackness of the woods was unsettling. Nothing was visible, not even to the elves, and the group tightened their circle.

"It's close. Whatever it is, it's close," Caleb whispered so softly, only Y'Ron could hear him.

"I know…" Y'Ron replied, equally as quiet. "Being a half-elf, I'm surprised you could sense it."

"I'm not sure how to take that," Caleb mutter, a little louder.

The two elves continued scanning the wood line, prepared to dodge anything that might come flying at them. Caleb's arrow was still drawn fully in his bow. Tigo had given up on the bow, and decided on a blaze spell instead. A small fireball was residing in his palm. The humans had no comprehension as to what this thing might be, and they were afraid.
Y'Ron saw a shadow jump from one tree to another so fast that if one blinked that would only have thought it the wind. It was almost impossible to distinguish the shadow from the dark trees, but one advantage was the movement of the branches. It gave away the creatures presence.

"Over there…" Y'Ron said to Caleb almost imperceptibly, even to elves. This comment made Caleb draw his bow even farther. "Aim over my left shoulder. No, don't even arm, just point and shoot…"

The bow squeaked slightly from Caleb's intense grip. Sweat began to flow down his face from the amount of tension placed upon him. He had been in intense situations before, but nothing like this. What if he hit Y'Ron in the face? Then whatever was out there would take the opportunity to attack. Caleb would have to pin around, and fire the arrow right by Y'Ron's head with enough speed to hit the creature. He did his best to block out all those thoughts, and focused. He knew what he had to do.

Y'Ron waited patiently for Caleb to make his move. He, too, began to sweat from nervousness and tension. With lightning quick speed Caleb spun around and fired his arrow. It flew through the sky with incredible speed, and the sound of a loud thud could be heard several yards away. It was obvious that whatever the arrow had hit, it had hit it pretty hard. The two elves breathed a sigh of relief.

Y'Ron continued glancing around for a little while longer before finally lowering his guard.

"It's gone. No need to worry anymore. For now," he said, with anger very apparent in his voice.
"What in the heck was that?" Tigo said, still shaking from nervousness. His blaze spell had gone.

"We'll see soon enough…" Y'Ron responded with a hint in his voice that he already knew. After he had spoken, Y'Ron ran into the woods to retrieve the arrow.

While he was gone, the others stay close together, and alert.

"Caleb, do you know what it was?" Dega inquired.

"No… But something about that creature made me afraid. I've never been so frightened in all my life. But Y'Ron…"

"What about him? Tigo broke in.

"Y'Ron… was more frightened than all of us combined."

"Him? What on earth scares a Dark Elf like that?" Dega was in wonder, and still frightened himself. Caleb was shaking his head.

"I'm not so sure that I want to know…"

Y'Ron's search for the arrow ended at the trunk of a tall tree. There he spotted a small shine. It was one of the elvish arrows that Caleb had purchased in Marnegale. The force of this arrow was stupendous. It almost pierced all the way through the trunk. Y'Ron, with great difficulty, managed to pull it from the tree and observe it. He noticed that on the tip of the blade was some bluish blood and a small piece of black cloth.

"So… getting slow at your old age, eh?" Y'Ron said quietly mocking the creature's follies. "Go ahead and heal yourself. I dare you to fight me with your full power… until we meet again…"

(crest)

A few minutes later, the group at the campsite was ready to start their sleeping and keeping watch rituals. Y'Ron had not yet returned from his search for the arrow, but the other three figured that he could hold his own in the woods. They would wait a few more minutes for him and his watching shift before picking someone else for the first shift.

The three had just sat down when footsteps could be heard, but they weren't coming from the direction that Y'Ron had gone.

"It's back!" Caleb yelled, and Dega and Tigo were back to fighting positions. They formed a triangle this time, missing one member. A shape was making its way, slowly, over the ridge from where the road was. As it got closer and closer, Caleb fought the urge to fire his arrow at it.

"Hello boys…"

The three stood in confusion at this persons comment. Tigo walked forward a little bit and his face widened.

"Xershies!" Tigo yelled with excitement.

"Hey! Where have you been Xershies?" Caleb asked, coming over toward Tigo.

Xershies simply glanced up at them, shook, and fell to the ground. His body went into convulsions.

(crest)

Y'Ron returned to the others, and found that in his brief absence, an elderly man had come.

"Who is this visitor?" He asked, not knowing what to expect.

"Y'Ron! This is Xershies! We aren't quite sure what happened to him, but he's greatly injured. Not only physically, but mentally. We must return to Evren and seek assistance." Caleb yelled to Y'Ron.

Y'Ron was suddenly struck with sadness. "Did we hit him?"

"No! I wondered that too, but there is more than arrow damage on him," Caleb said, reassuringly. "Don't worry Xershies, we're going to take you to Evren and get you fixed up."

Tigo lifted Xershies, who had stopped shaking but was unconscious, up with the help of Caleb. With an arm under each shoulder, Tigo and Caleb began walking Xershies back the way they had come. It would be a long journey to get him back to Evren, nearly a day's journey. Dega followed the two of them, carrying all three of their supplies. Y'Ron didn't move.

"Hey! Come on! We can't wait for you with Xershies in this condition!" Dega yelled back to the Dark Elf.

Y'Ron glared back at them, unintentionally striking horror into their faces.

"I have something I have to take care of here. Go on without me."

"What? No! We've come this far, you're not leaving us now!" Caleb had turned around, and yelled halfway over his shoulder.

"Just go! Your lives are in danger as long as I am with you. I'm sorry, I should have told you sooner…"

The three warriors glanced at Y'Ron. Though he had a cold look on his face, they could sense his deep sadness.

"What in the bloody heck are you waiting for?! Go now or we'll all dir here together! Including Xershies!"

They couldn't believe it. But what choice did they have? They had to get help for Xershies. With much regret, they left Y'Ron. As they moved farther, and farther away, lighting and thunder was developing over Y'Ron in the distance.

"He'd better come back alive" Tigo said, saddened by his friend's decision to leave the group.

"I know! I want to learn more about Dark Elves!" Caleb said, shaking his head.

"Don't worry. I know he's strong, he will come back." Dega made one last positive comment.

Y'Ron swung his Elvin sword. Before him, there seemed to be a cloud of abnormal smoke forming. All the lightning seemed to be centered around this small dense cloud in front of him. He could see the others making their way off into the distance. Y'Ron looked back at the great cloud in front of him, which was now subsiding. A figure could be seen emerging from it.

"Now… leave them out of this!" Y'Ron yelled hatefully at the cloud, with his sword in both hands.

End of the Coming Darkness