When the singer had finished, Lythe dashed into the woods before he saw her. He would be gone just like all the others, there was no point to get to know him. She walked through the forest for a few minutes, and than sat down, feeling unnaturally tired. She laid her head against the back of the tree, hugged her knees to her chest and soon drifted off to sleep.

Lythe woke up the next day to sunlight. She smiled and then—

Sunlight!

Lythe looked around and saw a long shadow made from the tree in front of her. It was lucky that she had pulled her legs up otherwise she would have gotten killed from the light touching her.

She sighed. That's just great. I'm stuck her for the Gods know how long. And if I fall asleep, I could get killed because the sun is always moving and in consequence so are the shadow, so it could touch me and my pitiful life would be over. Then, as an afterthought, she added, Not that I'm even tired.

X-X-X

Rothas Sunsinger finished his song and smiled. But the smile soon faded when he got the feeling he was being watched. He turned his head and saw a dark shadow bolt into the forest.

Why not see what it was? Something different to brighten my day.

Rothas was about to go into the forest when night took over and he collapsed on the ground in a cursed sleep.

He woke up the next morning at exactly dawn, as always, when the sun started taking over the night. After laying there for a few minutes, Rothas started humming quietly which quickly turned into a song. He felt the world slip away as he finally went into a trance.

Rothas slowly got up a half-candlemark later and stretched his stiff muscles. When he sung, he could go into a Bardic-like trance if he chose; and that allowed him to actually channel with his voice (although if he really tried, he could channel without being in as trance, it was just harder). He had found out about that when he was ten, and therefore after started going to the town healer to see if he had any patients that he could have helped with. The healer rejoiced when he came to help, and while he was there he had told Roth about Haven, the capitol city where he had gotten his training. The healer said that he could do much more good there at the Collegium where some seriously injured/sick people were kept. Not to mention there were Bards and minstrels there too. Rothas was actually headed to Haven when he was cursed…

Rothas shook his head at the memories and walked into the dark forest and looked around. He had no idea how to track so Rothas decided to just walk around and look carefully at the vegetation and forest floor, in case there was something obvious.

I have all day too.

For the next half-candlemark Rothas looked around the forest, and if he had looked left at one point, he would have found himself looking at the women who had been listening to him sing, but instead spun right sharply.

X-X-X

Lythe froze when she saw the singer walking through the forest.

Is he looking for me? Did he know I was listening to him? she thought worriedly and watched him walk slowly around the forest.

The man actually got within fifty meters of her when he turned left. She breathed a sigh of relief.

For the rest of the day, Lythe didn't see the man but she heard his once, just after he nearly found her. But eventually twilight came and she finally was able to move from the tree. (And about damn time too, she thought.) When Lythe first stood up, she nearly fell back on the ground because her muscles were so stiff. After she stood up, Lythe started walking back towards the lake before she stopped.

What am I doing? Why am I going back towards the lake where the man was singing? It not like the man should be there but still…

As she continued to walk, Lythe couldn't understand why she had felt so drawn to the man. She shook her head and tried (unsuccessfully) to get the thought out of her head.

Before I could only think about the curse, and being so depressed, but now my thought always seem to go back to the mysterious man. It's as if we're… No! We can't be connected! He's long gone by now, anyway!

Lythe turned to the left and kept going in that direction, determined to go back to her normal way of life. She finally made it out of the forest, she froze, and than turned.

There he was: the man on the rock, singing. Suddenly he stopped and looked at her.

X-X-X

After he had abandoned his search, Rothas had found some food to eat, a few candlemarks after noon. He eventually made it back to the rock by the lake with a plan in mind.

Once, when he had been on his search, he could feel someone. Not hear. Not see. Feel. It was almost as if they linked.

I have heard of people being "linked," but they were either lifebonded, or Heralds, not that Companions are people. But does that mean I'm lifebonded to a person I haven't even properly seen? If we are, not that we are; lifebonds are rare, not for people like Rothas Ashkevron. Anyway, if we are, she can probably "feel" me the way I "felt" her. So if I sing on the rock again, she'll come. And if I'm not in a trance anymore, I should be able to see her. Yeah, that should work.

So a candlemark later, he was sitting on the rock, singing. A few minutes later, he saw her walk out of the forest.