Note: Here begins Lowell's story. His story was originally a songfic based on the song Pilgrim by Enya. I have removed the lyrics to comply with the new rules of but where they were, I will put a v#-# so that should you wish to follow along with the song (after finding the lyrics online), you can. The song goes pretty much in order, with eight lines at a time- I have used four lines at a time. So, when you see a 1-4, that means the first four lines, 5-8 next four, 9-12- next four and so on. Also, the name Alexander means "helper of men."

452 H.E. A Turn of Events

Looking around, Lowell saw trees and sky and woods. Nothing seemed wrong. Then he saw the man. He was standing by the fire cooking chunks of ham on a stick that he twirled leisurely in his fingers. The man turned and grinned at Lowell, showing his blackened and crooked teeth. "'Allo," he said. "'Ow nice of ye t' join us. 'Ay, Jeb, 'e's woken up now!" He was speaking to another man who was just coming out of a clump of bushes carrying some firewood.

"How- how did I get here? Where's Daine?" asked a frightened Lowell.

The man by the fire laughed. "She ain't 'ere, boy. She didn'a want ye so we's taken ye off 'er 'ands. Ain't that right, Jeb?" The other man grinned, showing his own set of black, crooked teeth, and nodded.

"My name is Lowell," the young boy demanded. "And Daine loves me. She promised to take care of me and teach me to read and write and ride horses! You're lying to me."

"Are we now? An' just what makes ye think that, eh, boy?" sneered the man with the firewood.

"Daine told me herself that she cares. You lot are nothing but a bunch of filthy pigs! I'm leaving." And with that, Lowell stood and stalked away from the camp. But before he could escape, a third man popped out in front of him.

"Not so fast. Where do ye think ye're goin'?" This man, too, had blackened, crooked teeth. He grabbed Lowell's arm and dragged him back towards the fire. "Ye're gonna sit 'ere an' eat wiv us. 'ere, 'ave some bacon." He grabbed a chunk of ham off the stick that the other man was holding and shoved it into Lowell's hands. "Eat," he commanded of the boy.

Lowell ate. Not because he wanted to do as he was told, but because he was hungry. He needed to think. How was he going to escape this camp? The three men were laughing and joking together, not paying attention to what the boy was doing. Lowell looked around. There. By the men's bedrolls. A glimmer of hope for escape. If only nightfall would come quickly.

To Lowell, it seemed like he got his wish. The day passed fairly leisurely and before he knew it, the sun was setting. He had spent the day curled up in his own bedroll, thinking. The men had sent him there after he had finished eating breakfast and only asked him to come to them when it was time for lunch and supper. Then, he was only given a scrap of bread and a few mouthfuls of water.

The sun set and darkness fell. The men stopped their drinking and singing to crawl into bed. One of the men sat with his back against a tree. He was the sentry. It was his job to stay up for a couple hours and keep watch over the boy. Lowell was ready, though. He knew that soon enough the men would be sound asleep. He could already hear faint snores coming from the two men in the bedrolls. A few more minutes and their sentry friend would join them.

His time came. The sentry was slumped over, deeply dreaming. Quietly, Lowell crawled over to where the two men were sleeping and picked up what he had been waiting to get. It was a knife. He had seen it somewhere before, but where he did not know. All he knew was that it could mean the difference between escape and captivity. Quickly he gathered up the knife and its sheath and tied it around his waist inside his shirt. Then he grabbed the pouch with the food in it.

Running as quietly as he could, he stumbled blindly through the forest. This was familiar. He had run away before but that time he didn't know what he was doing. This time he knew exactly what to do.

Meanwhile, Daine was searching frantically for Lowell. It had been two days since she had seen him. On the first night of their journey to Corus he had simply disappeared. He went to bed that night and the next morning he was gone, bedroll and all. She was at her wit's end. She had questioned her animal friends over and over. No one seemed to have any definite answers. She felt alone and helpless for practically the first time in her life.

Neither the soldiers nor their captives knew anything about Lowell's disappearance. Her animal friends knew nothing either. Numair was days away and by the time she reached him, it could be too late. She sat down on a rock. She had been searching on foot all day. She couldn't even find one single trace of him anywhere. It was as if he had vanished into thin air. She began to cry. "Lowell," she sobbed. "Why did you have to go away like that? Where are you? Please let him be safe, Mother." She sent a quick prayer up to her mother, Sarra. "Please let him be smart enough to find away out of whatever mess he's in. I can't bear to have him be alone like this. He's only a young boy. He doesn't know how to survive on his own." She buried her head in her knees, which were drawn up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs.

Little did Daine know that Lowell would soon be safe. He would soon have a purpose and a mission in life to fulfill. Stumbling along, he didn't notice right away when he crashed into something that it was really a person. He thought it was a tree. But when it spoke, he looked up to meet the greenest eyes he had ever seen.

"Lowell, my child, do not worry. You are safe now. You will suffer no more harm from those men." The woman who spoke was very tall. Surprisingly, she gave off a faint luminescent glow that illuminated the features of her face. Her skin was very pale and her hair was as black as her skin was white. Her lips were the reddest things he had ever seen. "I have come to tell you that you will face many hardships in your young life. I must tell you that now before your path becomes clear to you. Those men who are after you were not just sent to bring you back to Lord Aaron. They want something you have. But they can never get it. It is something only you can give. You must give it willingly for no one can have it unless you want them to. Your life will take you far, young son. Do with it what you can while there is still time. For if you do not, then the world will suffer greatly. Go, quickly, while the time is still young. Remember me. Remember me always and if there is something you need, don't be afraid to ask for it." Just as suddenly as she had appeared, the woman disappeared and Lowell was left breathless and in the dark once again.

V1-4

He began to run again. This time, as he stepped, he noticed that he suddenly knew where he was going. He could see what was in front of him without really seeing it. He blindly, yet not blindly, dodged trees and other obstructions. By daybreak, he had emerged from the forest and was now on a well-traveled road. He walked for a few more yards before coming upon a building. It appeared to be a shed of some sort. He was tired. He walked over to the shed and curled up in a pile of hay just inside the door.

Waking, he found it was still light outside. Checking the position of the sun like he had seen Daine do many times, he determined that it was just after noon and that he had slept for about six or seven hours. Once he had eaten a little, he was on his way. Somehow he knew what to do. He knew where to go and what to say. He had everything figured out for once; something he had never done before in his life.

V5-8

He walked along confidently. He stopped only once to eat then he continued his journey. When it was dark, he continued walking until he was so tired he could barely stand. He slept. He continued like this for two more days, eating and sleeping only when he was very hungry or very tired.

At last he came to a city. It was nearly sunset so they had posted a guard outside the gate to open it to only those who had a good reason. When he was asked what he was doing there, Lowell simply replied, "Business." and casually walked through the gate. He was looking for someone; who it was he did not know, but he knew that this person could help him. He knew that the person was living in this city. He decided to try looking in the tavern.

He walked into the Frolicking Goat and took a seat at an empty table. Surveying the room, he found that it was only half-full. There were maybe twenty people at most in the room. He spotted one. The man was wearing nice clothing and had rings on his fingers and a large gold hoop with a diamond in his ear. He drank from a nice mug that was pewter inlaid with silver, gold, and two rubies. At his waist was a small dagger with a simple hilt wrapped in leather and silver wire with one emerald at the top. Lowell walked up to the man and tapped his shoulder.

The man spoke with hardly an accent and spoke so grammatically correct that it was clear he had been educated by the finest teachers money could buy. "What is it that you want, young master? I don't believe I know you."

Holding up the knife he had stolen, he asked, "Did you make this, sir? I found it and thought I ought to return it to its maker."

The man took the knife gently in his hands and turned it about, looking at it from every angle. "Where did you find this? It was stolen from me about two weeks ago."

Lowell knew that he could trust this man but he did not know if he would believe such a small boy. "Well, sir, I was kidnapped about five days ago and the men who captured me had this in their possession. Forgive me for asking, sir, but why would they only steal one knife? Wouldn't they want to steal more? I only found this one on them. There was nothing else."

The man laughed. "Such excellent questions from such a small boy. Sit! Sit! Tell me, does this young scholar have a name?"

"Lowell, sir. My name is Lowell."

"Well, Lowell, you may call me Alexander. Let me answer your questions."