I circled around the field that the defeated knights laid in making sure that none of these men had fatal injuries. Alianor and I had learned long ago that every time you take a life, its thread of life ties around your own, a constant phantom presence on your psyche that can cripple your magic, or make you pay an even greater cost. After we had finished checking the men, we both made our way over to stand on both sides of Arthur, who lay slumped against a tree, his head resting upon the worn bark of the tree. Blood ran down his face, stemming from the bruised bridge of his nose that Alianor had cracked with her knee. A dark slash of bleeding also ran down the center of his forehead. I crouched down beside him and remarked,
"He looks terrible. How hard did you hit him?" Alianor gave me a simple shrug and answered,
"Perhaps my knee is made of iron. That or he has particularly weak facial bones." The most I could offer her was a small smile at her response, as I kept my eyes trained on Arthur, while thinking about how much more complex every thing had gotten now. Arthur and his knights were also looking for the Stag, at least according to what Alianor had gotten from the blondes mind, and it would be obvious that their reason to catching the Stag would be much less pure than our own. Uther Pendragon wanted the Stag, and while he had very little knowledge of the complexities surrounding magic and the Stag, he did have the resources of a prosperous, secure nation that was also endowed with an unnatural prejudice against magic. We knew that there is still a majority of people in Camelot that believed that not all magic was evil. But he still commanded their loyalty, and only a very few would dare protest the capture of the Stag.
Not only did we have the threat of Uther also being after the Stag, we had also just taken out eight knights and Prince Arthur, even though I know little about Camelot's law, I am fairly certain we had violated many of Camelot's laws. If we where captured by Camelot's knights then there was a big possibility that Alianor and my self's magic would be discovered, which would mean instant death. My thoughts were broken by Alianor's speaking.
"Perhaps attacking them was an ill-advised decision." Alianor said quietly, "We have just gained Uther Pendragon and his son as enemies. Any danger we would have encountered in pursuing the Stag has just been multiplied."
"Your logic has an odd way of working only after we've fought." I replied sighing lightly. I considered it for a few moments, and then gave her a light shrug. "We were their enemies before. This just means Arthur will be looking for us. And the Stag?" She stared out at the emerald green forest for a moment before answering,
"We will go on in our search. If they hunt us, we will evade them, and we will find the Stag first." Her voice determined and hardened, from the years of finding her way and accepting her gift in societies that, while respecting the powers of those blessed with magic. Neither Alianor nor I fear Uther; we have both learned that most men that were placed into a position of power were often misguided brutes that maintain their power through force and fear. Authority is a fickle mistress, and we both had our reasons not to trust it. The only powers we bowed to where the ancient forces whose energy coursed through us, our bodies becoming channels for untold power and unique abilities. In me that was manifested in a very strong enchantment power, and a deep affinity for the basic elements of water, wind, and earth. In Alianor, her powers took form in the ability to look into the minds of others, and control over the element fire.
"We best be going then, before they wake. Should I lay another tracking spell?" I asked Alianor, while picking up my daggers, which I had laid on the ground, moving toward Arthur with both of my daggers extended out. Alianor froze for a second, she must have thought I was going to kill the prince, but I simply reached for his cloak, so that I could clean off my daggers. As I brought my daggers closer to the prince's chest I heard wood crack, but I assumed that Alianor had moved and accidentally broken a branch, it had happened once or twice before, but the next thing I knew Alianor had pushed me onto the ground, leaving both of us completely breathless. I leapt to my feet before her and vigorously slid my hands over my tunic, which was now stained with clods of dirt and sprigs of moss, almost spitting with annoyance,
"Hellfires! Why did you do that?" Instead of answering me she looked around, almost franticly.
"Alianor!" I exclaimed. My usual temperate, mild personality strained with frustration and anger. My relaxed, calm nature disguises the fact I have very little patience. My placidness meant that until you knew me, almost all of my personality traits were veiled.
"There was a branch flying through the air at us," she finally replied, calmly looking me in the eyes.
"Oh," I said, instantly calming down since Alianor had a reasonable cause for her action…wait…did she say flying branch? "Did you say…flying?" She gestured to the space around Arthur's body where the branch now lay and whispered,
"As it was moving towards us and I saw it, it was falling almost…horizontal, flying toward the air directly at us. And look, it was heading towards us, yet somehow managed not to hit Arthur. And it only fell when it looked like you could have been going to stab Arthur with your daggers. It was moved unnaturally."
"You know that means there's someone with powers here?" I spoke quietly, barely above a whisper and mouth hardly moving. Alianor nodded her head, and peered around the clearing as I did the same, neither of us spotting anything that could be near a human shadow.