Wah. This chappy was plain difficult. I don't how it could be that difficult to write… but here it is, finally. X.x

.:grin:. We're going to introduce a couple of new characters, both from the show and the books. (Even though the show one wasn't supposed to be in this fic… he just forced his way in. Bad boy.)

Thanks to the reviewers! I hope you haven't grown tired of waiting yet…

Elle-Fatex: Thanks a lot! I hope you'll like this chapter too.

DawnShadows-lover: Thanks for the review! And I'm sorry I took so long…

Aramis-chan: Heh, don't worry. I'm quite a lazy reviewer myself at times… .:sweatdrop:. Anyway, here the next chapter finally comes to satisfy your curiosity… sorry for the long wait.

Evergladelord: Glad that you like this. Very many thankses for adding me to your favs! And once again, I'm sorry for taking so long with this…

And as usual, very many thanks to Sarasusamiga for betaing!

Chapter 10

Seto blinked as he looked around. A moment ago they had been standing ina small meadow in the middle of a forest, and now… well, they were still in a forest, but this forest was quite unlike any he had seen before.

He blinked again as he stared at the tree trunk that had suddenly appeared right in front of him. It was huge; he hadn't believed trees that big could even exist. Its bark was brownish and rough, the picture of old age with all its dignity and none of the decay that comes with time. He raised his eyes to look above into the softly rustling foliage. Every leaf seemed to be a workof art, reflecting the light… He took a step forward, to touch the tree's bark, to see what was behind it, when he heard Evayne's voice.

"Keep to the path."

He stopped and glanced behind. Evayne and Ryou had mounted their horses and wereboth looking quite grave. Ryou stared, once again, at the mane of his horse, while Evayne was watching him and his hunter, who…

"Hey Jou, stop!" Quickly, he grasped his hunter's hand before the blond boy wandered into the forest.

"Huh?" Jou looked at him blinking slowly. "Quite a forest…"

"Indeed." Seto pushed him toward his horse, trying to keep his own eyes away from the magnificent trees. Somehow he had a feeling that it would be really easy to get lost in this place.

Once they were all mounted they set off again, Evayne taking the lead and Ryou following right after her. Seto and Jou kept a little farther back, careful not todrop too far behind. The dogs trotted beside them.

"This… is what I call a weird place," Jou whispered after a moment's silence. "I mean… what is this place, after all?"

Seto frowned, trying to remember. "I know something about this, but not much… The Winter Road is mentioned brieflyin one of those books you treated so… disrespectfully when we were kids. There were some stories in it, telling about ancient times when the Gods lived in our world… they had children who did not leave the world when the Gods did. I guess this place belongs to one of those children, to one of the Firstborn."

"You know much, huntbrother," Evayne said quietly as he fell silent.

Seto shrugged. "Not enough. I do not know, for example, what kind of dangers we might meet here whileit's still Summer."

He spurred his horse onward so that he was riding almost next to Evayne while Jou remained behind them, eyeing the threesome suspiciously.

It was Evayne's turn to shrug. "The Road is never completely safe, but we're lucky not to travel here in Winter." That was all she said, and Seto asked no more, realizing that he wouldn't get any answers.

The silence took over again. The only noises were the quiet rustling of the leaves, the hooves'soft clapping, and the panting of the dogs, all merging intoa comforting, peaceful sound, hardly separable from the silence. The sound was, in fact,a little too peaceful, too lulling; it made Seto alert. As he glanced at his hunter, he was glad to see that Jou too appeared well aware of this threatening comfort.

Suddenly Ryou raised his head with a little frown on his face.

"What was that?"

"What?" Seto's eyes jumped quickly from Jou to the white-haired boy.

Ryou's frown deepened. "I thought I heard… There it was again!" He glanced nervously at the others. "Didn't you hear anything?"

Seto shook his head as Evayne leaned towards Ryou. "What did you hear?" she asked.

"I… It sounded like a horn," Ryou answered glancing again over his shoulder. "Did you really not hear it?"

"How close was it?" Evayne asked before the others could reply.

"I'm not sure… not very close, I think…"

Evayne nodded. "Come on," she said, spurring her horse to agallop. "I'd rather not meetthe Hunter and his Queen, no matter what season it is."

"Hunter?" Jou wondered aloud as his horse leaped forward, tossinghis black mane.

"Hardly ours," Seto muttered to him.

They galloped onward, hooves kickingclods into the air, the dogs doing their best to keep up with them.

"What is it?" Jou asked after a while. "Exactly what are we running from?"

"The rulers of this place," Evayne answered. "They are tricky to deal with, and I'd rather not meet them now, be that impolite or not."

That says a lot… Jou thought wryly as he spurred his horse on. Just what does she mean with 'tricky'…

"There's the horn again," Ryou said suddenly, glancing over his shoulder. "And dogs too."

"Near?" Evayne asked, and Ryou shrugged.

"Getting closer, I think."

She cursed quietly under her breath. "If they are on our track we don't have much chance of avoidingthem."

"Is there any point in trying to?" Ryou asked softly.

Evayne sighed, and for a moment she looked older than before. "No," she said after a while, bringing her horse to halt, "I guess there's not. We might as well wait for them here."

The three boys stopped as well.

Soon the barking of the hounds was audible to the others too, as well as what sounded like the pounding of hooves. Jou whispered calmingly to his dogs and ordered them to lie down. They obeyed him, but reluctantly, and a fewbared white teeth.

"Keep good control of them," Evayne whispered to him, and he nodded briskly.

Just then the first hounds came into view, and he had to fight to keep his own dogs quiet. His control almost slipped as he saw the hounds – he wasn't even sure if that was the right word to use. They were twice the size of his dogs, thickly furred, with white eyes gleaming somewhere underneath the fur. Still, as the owner of the hounds rode into view, the hounds were soon forgotten.

Something big moved behind the trees, something vaguely horse-like, but definitely not a horse. It looked most like a hybrid of a horse and a stag, with sharp antlers and shining coat, but – Jou realized with a start – it had a woman's face. Soon, though, his attention was drawn away from this creature to the woman who was sitting on its back. Tall and slender, with long, fair hair that reflected the sun's rays, and soft green eyes like the leaves of a young birch… For one crazy moment Jou thought he had fallen in love, but then someone knocked him hard onthe back of his head.

"Ouch!" He threw an angry glance at Seto who was watching him with exasperation.

'Try to keep control of yourself as well,' he heard his brother's irritated voice, and nodded, feeling a slight blush covering his cheeks.

"So…" The quiet voice made him start a little, and he turned back to the newcomers to find the Queen of the Summer Road watching him with an amused – and quite knowing – smile. "We so seldom get visitors here… surely you are not leaving before you have hunted with us?"

Jou, still quite enthralled, was about to answer that he would be delighted to hunt with this beautiful lady, but Evayne cut him off.

"Surely you know, milady, that we have come here in a great hurry, and that it is important for us to continue our way as soon as possible."

The Queen smiled a bright, sunny smile. "Oh, but you do know the rules, my friend, don't you?"

When Evayne frowned she gave a small laugh that was like a skylark's trill. Jou felt a smile tugging the corner of his mouth too, but just then something moved again in the shadows of the trees. The smile died quickly on his lips as he watched a huge manlike creature that had no clothing and a body massive as a tree trunk step out of the forest and stop beside the woman. He might have been mistaken for a giant man if it were not the fact that he,too, was antlered and his feet were cloven. Behind him came a group of young men, fair-headed as the Queen.

Jou looked away with a gulp. If that's my rival, I think I give up.

There was a sigh in the back of his mind. 'You are an idiot,' a dry voice commented.

"We have no time for these games, Ariane," Evayne was saying quietly. "But I do know the rules."

The Queen looked triumphant and was about to say something with, but Evayne cut her off.

"It is part of therules that while,in the Winter, one of the travelersmust be the quarry, in the Summer one of the travelersmust hunt. And I will be the one." She glanced at the boys who stared at her in confusion. "Just stay on the path and walk to its end, and you will get out of here. I will meet with you later…" …hopefully, she finished the sentence in her mind.

She gave a look at the Queen who suddenly appeared much sourer and not as beauteous as earlier. "And you will let them go," she said sternly. "Anyway, it is in the rules you prize so highly."

"Indeed." The Queen's voice was a little sullen, but it hadn't lost any of its charm. She gave a small sigh. "If that is what you wish. After all, it isn't a bad deal for us."

The sigh turned into a small smile, and the light returned to her eyes.

"Let us hunt, then!"

And before Jou had time to blink, the weird company disappeared into the woods, taking Evayne with them. He stared after them for a while before shaking his head as if to clear it. "That… was weird."

"We'd better be going now," Ryou stated quietly.

Seto nodded in agreement and spurred his horse onward. "The less time we spend here, the better."

The threesome galloped forward on the grass-grown path. The forest enveloped them as it had done before, but it no longer seemedinterested in. Though the ancient trees were as magnificent as always, they didn't feel as enchanting as before.

"There!"

Ryou's sudden shout made Jou pullhis eyes away from the trees. In front of them was a white tear in the air, shining with soft light. Ryou and Seto headed right towards it. Ignoring the queasy feeling in his stomach, Jou followed them.

For a moment everything flashed brightly. When things returned to normal, he saw that they were standing at the edge of a grassy, slightly hilly plain, facing high, rocky mountains.

They spent a moment in silence, staring at their surroundings. Then Ryou took a hesitant glance over his shoulder, as if expecting to still see the Summer Road behind them.

"I wonder how she's doing…"

"Oh, she'll be fine, I'm sure of that," Seto said a little dryly. "I'm more interested in where the hell we are now."

"You mean you don't know?" A little startled, Jou looked at him, and he snorted.

"How could I know? What about you?"

"Well…" Ryou shifted nervously. "Those mountains look like the ones I saw in my vision, but I don't have a clue where they are located."

Seto sighed. "Great. So, let's see…" he muttered, trying to picture the maps he had studied. "We were heading South when we left… and the Tiagra Chain is in that direction. Maybe…"

A loud explosion in the mountains cut him off, making their horses dance afew frightened steps.

"Wow! What the hell was that?" Jou stared at the mountains with wide eyes, trying to keep both his horse and his dogs in control.

"I don't…" Seto started to say, but he was cut off when Ryou spurred his horse into full gallop.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?"

Ryou gave no answer, and with a quiet curse Seto rode after him. Jou hesitated for a moment, thenfollowed them with a shrug.

'You know, Seto… when I see exploding mountains, the first thing in my mind isn't to rush to explore them immediately. Especially after I've been told that there might be demons nearby…'

'Are you trying to be funny or something? Now that we've come this far, we might as well follow him to the end.'

Jou blinked. 'Follow him to the end? You're being melodramatic today, aren't you… anyway, wouldn't it be wiser….'

'Yes, it would,' Seto cut him off and grasped Ryou's reins forcing his horse to slow down.

"I don't know what you think you're doing but…" he started to yell at the white-haired boy, but he was cut off when Ryou slapped at him angrily with the end of his reins.

"Let go! I have to go there! My brother's there!"

"Stop that, idiot!" With a sudden move Seto pulled Ryou's horse closer, giving the other boy an angry glare. "You can't go rushing inlike that! We don't know what is going on there…"

"Let go, I said!" Ryou hit his heels into the sides of his horse, making herrear up. Seto, who had still been grasping the reins, almost lost his balance and had to let go. "I will not lose him too!" Ryou shot over his shoulder as his mount surged forward.

Seto blinked as he looked at the rapidly growing distance between them and Ryou. Then he glanced at Jou. "Send one of your dogs after him. We'll follow after."

Jou frowned a little, but nodded. 'Feron, follow him.' In an instant the dog was running after Ryou who had already disappeared fromview.

"How much do you think he's not told us?" Jou muttered, as they started to follow the dog.

"Who knows," Seto muttered back.Jou noted he didn't try to deny the possibility that Ryou hadn't been completely honest with them.

-

The mountains were near, and it didn't take Ryou long to reach them. He stopped for a moment once he was in the cover ofthe rocks. Everything was silent; no other sounds had followed the explosion. It made him a little worried, but he was still quite confident that he wasn't too late. Quietly he dismounted and started to walk upwards the narrow path he had known he'd find there. He kept his hold of the reins and his horse followed him, shaking her black mane nervously.

As he walked on he realized why the silence worried him. Everything was too silent. There were no sounds of animals or birds – even the wind was quiet. His horse snorted, a startlingly loud sound in the breathless hush, and he patted her necksoothingly. Still, the horse onlygot more tense as they continued their way. Every now and then white flashed in her rolling eyes. Trying to calm her down he kept going, unaware of two pairs of eyes that were following him closely.

-

"A new player to this game."

"Indeed. And one that might prove useful to us…."

"Really? I would see him rather as a nuisance. He would hardly care…"

"Oh, he cares much more than you'd believe. You go after him, I will take care of this one." White teeth flashed in the shadows.

"You are not the one who gives orders here. But as you wish… if you have plans for the boy, go ahead."

-

Ryou had just gotten off his horse. He caressed her head softly, whispering soft comforting words. The horse's tensionwas beginning to make him nervous, and he was starting to wonder if he should have stayed with Seto and Jou. Maybe they…

With a sharp breath he let go ofthe horse and threw himself down, rolling down from the small path and starting to run as soon as he hit the ground, before even realizing what was going on. The horse bolted and flew from the place as fast as she could.

A cloaked figure stepped forward from behind the cliffs with an annoyed sigh. "Damn those seers and their instincts," he muttered, thenshrugged. "As if it matters." he disappeared into the air.

Ryou ran on as fast as he could – which wasn't that fast since he had left the path. He wasn't sure why he was running, but had long ago learned to trust his instincts.

This time, though, the instincts weren't enough. Out of thin air appeared a cloaked manlike figure, pale bangs sticking out from beneath its hood and quite mad reddish eyes gleaming softly on the shadowed face. "Hello there," the figure purred, andraised its hand. Before Ryou could react he was already falling into unconsciousness.

-

At the foot of the mountain, Jou suddenly pulled his horse to a stop.

"What now?" Seto stared at his huntbrother with an annoyed look. The blond boy just stared blankly forward. "Jou, what is going on? C'mon, talk to me!" He gave the boy a shove and Jou yelped in surprise.

"Hey, take it easy! I… I don't know what's going on. Some… thing just got Ryou."

Seto frowned. "What do you mean, some thing?"

"Well, it looked like a man, but it appeared out of nowhere, and disappeared again taking him with."

"That's all you know?"

"Yes, that's all I know!" Trying to calm down, Jou took a long breath. "That's all that Feron knows. And he's quite freaked out… he didn't like the smell of that... thing."

"Great," Seto muttered, eyeing the mountains angrily as if it wereall their fault. "We'd better hurry."

He spurred his horse on, and Jou followed him, starting to wonder if they'd ever get back home again.

There. I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can, but I guess I won't make any promises… (I'll try to be faster than with this chapter, though…) Meanwhile, feel free to push the button. .:wink:.