Iltherian's Sword - 10 - Chapter 09

Any lingering dreads they might've had burned away in the watery sunshine outside. When Perytas stepped from under the rib-bone arches, it was as if there had been steel bands binding her chest which suddenly burst and she could breathe freely again. She realized that, from her companion's expressions, that they were feeling something similar.

Dedrick had, by this time, persuaded the sisters to join them, "We are, after all, quite indebted to you for your rather timely intervention. Had you not known enough about necromancy, and how to deal with it, we might still be in there."

So they teleported, once again, to town. There they picked up or rented mounts and resupplied themselves. By the time they rode from town, they were a merry little band, laughing and talking with each other. Most of the group had set out to discover more about their new companions, who were more than willing to talk about themselves.

Perytas was the only one who said little, content to allow the others to question their new friends. She rode quietly alert of their surroundings, but still paying attention to her friends' questions and to the sisters' answers. But she was constantly scanning the forest for any potential threat. While she knew that the others were paying attention too, and though she didn't doubt their readiness, it was hard going against years of ingrained habit. She didn't often work with others, so she was used to doing for herself.

It made nights on the road troublesome, however, for she often woke at the slightest sound. She'd startled awake, heart racing, until she identified the source, usually some forest creature out on its nocturnal forays.

The journey passed uneventfully enough. There were no great changes in the weather, no attacks by berserkers or bandits. Even the hunting was good. The only untoward thing that happened was Sharina's horse cast a shoe, which naturally enough, Gaevin knew how to fix.

Dedrick's brother was more than a little disgruntled at having to pay for two more people, but he did not quibble overlong after Dedrick employed a little creative arm-twisting. When Dedrick leaned over and murmured into this brother's ear, he had paled and complied. And he had more work for them, another journey, another mysterious artifact for them to find. And again in Merac. In ruins located near the northeastern part of the country.

A place she knew well, she noted, excited. She'd been into that area any number of times and never even knew theat these ruins existed. She made a mental note to pay close attention to where the ruins were and the mobs that inhabited it. In the back of her mind, a number of hazy ideas were forming and she allowed her mind to start sorting through them.

A week later, they arrived at the edge of the forest where the ruins were, without much incident, barring the usual mob attacks. They had sufficient number and strength that these mobs posed little, if any, threat.

Perytas reigned her horse in at the top of a rise overlooking the forest. As she stared out at the great green swath below, she felt a renewed sense of awe at the sight. It was, she remembered, the same as when she first saw it. It had been, strangely, like coming home. Odd because she'd been raised in a prosperous farming community in the heart of Juno, which bore not even a passing resemblance to this wild tangle of a place. If she'd been any place else before Hamm's Way, she couldn't remember.

And yet, this place seemed to call her like no other she'd seen so far. She'd happily disappeared under its boughs for a month, emerging only when her supplies had run out. She'd not rejoined the world of men willingly either. If she'd known more herb lore, she probably stayed there for much, much longer. As it was, she later realized that when she'd emerged from the forest that she'd been more than a little wild herself; so much so that many of the villagers of Merac Caron had taken one look at her and skittered out of her way. The merchant to restocked her supplies had looked terrified when she'd stopped in front of his stall. And he hadn't bothered to hide his relief after she'd paid her shot and walked away.

Come to think of it that was when...

She blinked, frowning. Gaevin had pulled his mount round near her and was likewise staring at the forest. But the expression on his face was nothing like the pleased one she'd been wearing a moment before. Instead he was wearing quite the most inscrutable expression she'd ever seen him wear.

Now that she thought on it, he'd been unusually moody the closer they'd gotten to the forest. Gone was the rakish flirt and in its place was a brooding, tight-lipped creature that barely resembled the man she'd known before. Pery found she rather missed the other Gaevin. Although she had to admit that even if she didn't like the attitude change, it definitely hadn't affected his looks; certainly he looked better than ever with that sullen look on his pretty face.

That little realization had been something of a revelation for her. Up until this point, she'd been largely indifferent to male beauty. Men had been objects to wary of, if not to fear outright. Yet now, because of these two men, she was viewing them as people, individuals of feeling, depth and beauty. She's spent many hours brooding over this, her silence largely unnoticed because it was, more or less, her natural state.

Dal's voice brought Pery back to the present, "Hey you two, are you coming?"

With a last, thoughtful glance at Gaevin, who was still staring morosely down at the canopy, she guided her horse down the path, "Yes, coming."

Pery breathed deep, savoring the scents she loved the most. She loved the smell of rich black earth and green growing things more than anything.

Check that. Pery blinked, surprised at herself. Except for baked goods. She laughed at herself. For a moment she allowed her mind to wander over the delights of berry tarts and fresh baked bread. Maybe she'd have...

Then–

Her mind snapped into the present with painful focus. A quick glance around told her that, except for the sisters, the rest of her companions were well aware that they were no longer alone.

By tacit agreement, none of the said anything. Pery felt no malice in the waters. She could tell the others felt the same, for although they were tense, they weren't jumpy as they they'd be if they'd sensed something wrong. Still it was a little irritating, that constant scrutiny. By the third day though, Pery was quite ready to confront their watchers. She didn't have much longer to endure it, because less than a week into their foray into the green, one of their watchers showed himself.

They were picking their way gingerly through the forest searching for a place to camp for the night. Shadows were gathering around gnarly roots as dusk approached. A tall figure stepped from the shadows, starting both horses and their riders. A voice, clear as a temple bell, called out sternly, "You may go no farther."

The figure stepped forward and Pery recognized it as an elvish man. Oh and what a man! His hair gleamed gold even in the gathering darkness. Silver-glass eyes under finely winged brows. His face was as unlined and pretty as a young girl's and his body held the wiry strength of a man full-grown. Clothed in the black, browns, greens and greys of the forest, he blended into the undergrowth. On his girdle was buckled a long dagger and sword. Strapped to his back was a large quiver bristling with arrows and a massive recurved bow as clutched with casual strength in his gloved hand.

"We are traveling to the southern edge of the forest," Gaevin's voice was calm but tense. "We have no wish to cause trouble."

"You may go no farther in this direction," the man didn't so much as look in Gaevin's direction, acting as if he weren't even there.

Pery glanced at Gaevin, concerned at how tightly wound he was, his anger practically humming through his control. She turned a glare on the elf, who now stood squarely in their path. Not that it mattered to the elvish man at all, of course. He ignored everyone except for Shar, who returned his gaze with equanimity.

He began speaking to Shar in the graceful tongue of the elves. Pery listened to their speech, frowning. The longer they spoke, the more pronounced her frown became. It was as if she recognized the words they were saying. She felt as if she should understand what was being said.

Which was, of course, ridiculous. While she'd studied several languages–her teachers remarking she seemed to have an aptitude for them–she'd never studied the elvish languages. It was difficult finding anyone–anyone human that is–who could teach the language, who had any aptitude for speaking it at all. And few elves, while seeming to posses infinite patience and generosity of spirit, would unbend enough to actually teach a lowly human their language.

"Are you all right?" Crystal's quite voice turned her attention back to Gaevin.

"Was it just me," Star added, a slight frown on her pretty face, "or was that extremely rude?"

"Pay it no mind," Gaevin's voice was clipped, "that is more or less normal."

'Was it?' Pery frowned. It had seemed somewhat rude. Even when she'd spent those months under the canopy, the elves she'd encountered had been invariably polite and cheerful.

Shar and the other elf finished their conversation and he melted back into the shadows. Pery wondered if she was the one who'd noticed the cold, hostile look he'd favored Gaevin with. A marked difference from the warm, courteous one he'd given Sharina. ' An odd state of affairs to be sure,' Pery thought, as Shar guided her horse back to the little group, saying, "We have to take a detour. It will not take us more than a couple hours out of our way."

The bitter smile that crossed Gaevin's face shocked Pery, as he said, "Worried that we shall taint their precious Enclave, are they?"

Shar looked as shocked as Pery, but she didn't contradict him. He gave her a wry glance before turning his horse into the course the elvish man had directed them to follow.

The detour didn't hold them back for long and they came to a place deep in the forest. A place of ruins almost completely lost to time. The first they were aware of it was when one of the horses stepped onto an exposed stone. The ringing of metal on stone rang through the forest as clear as clarion bells announcing a mass. It was then they realized that the moss covered stones surrounding them were the remnants of an ancient city whose fall was so far in the past that it had all but crumble to dust.

They found a place to camp and bent over the instructions Dedrick's brother had given them. In it were details which enabled them to locate a doorway leading down into the ancient city's underbelly.

'I certainly hope that we'll have a better time of it this time around,' Pery thought as she stared into the dark, gaping maw before her.

It was decided that Crystal would remain behind to ten the horses. A decision she was less than thrilled with judging by the violent, discontented muttering the girl was doing even as the others were preparing the items they were to bring with them.

Then as dusk settled over the forest, the party began their descent into a darkness more stygian than the one falling over the forest.