Author's Note: Another rambly chapter in my opinion, but I hope you like it. Just gives us a bit of an insight into the other side of this mysterious Emrys… Hope you like! Oh, and before I let you read, I would just like to say a big thank you to 'serial blogger' who has been giving me the nicest reviews (not that the others haven't been nice, they all really make me feel happy!). But anyway, back to the story. Hope you like! Please review!

Chapter Five

Inquisitive

Emrys suddenly realised what the wailing in his head was. It has been bothering him at least five minutes now. He hadn't noticed what it was at first but now he remembered his alarm. Something had broken through the magical traps and the force field. He sat up immediately and stared around. He could just hear a scuffling sound over the terrible wailing that echoed round in his head.

"Hréama álynian." He released a sigh of relief as the terrible sound ceased. But he knew his troubles were no where near over. He could hear the scuffling and shuffling clearly now. It was coming from inside the room. Emrys stood up ever so slowly, taking in the whole room, searching for any threats. He could see none but still didn't relax. The whole wood had gone silent. It also seemed to be listening intently. Emrys took a couple of steps forward into the room, searching the room. Then he saw what had been causing the noise. He relaxed and sighed, shaking his head.

Emrys approached the fox and then became less relaxed when he noticed what it was doing. It was crouching over his store of food and chewing quite contently on the leg of chicken that he had scavenged.

"Héafodsár inwræc." The fox was forced away from what was left of the morsel of chicken. Emrys picked up the bone with his thumb and forefinger, wrinkling his nose. It obviously wasn't edible now. He sighed, smiled and threw the remains to the fox who was staring round looking for the invisible force that had pushed it away from its meal. It immediately seemed to dismiss this thought though as it jumped up to maul the bone yet again. Emrys sighed and sat back down next to the content fox. That had been the first living thing that hadn't drawn away in fear when he walked past in a long time. He reached out and tentatively stroked the striking orange fur. The fox spun round from its meal but then calmed when it saw Emrys. It stared at him with deep amber eyes, it seemed to search him, inside him. Emrys stared back with his bright blue eyes. Then he realised that the fox's eyes were almost exactly the same shade as when he used his magic. Although the gold in his eyes was much more menacing and dangerous. These eyes were gentle and meaningful. Emrys continued caressing the back of the fox as it turned back to its food. He had felt a connection between them then. It seemed stupid, to be staring into a fox's eyes, but the fact that the fox hadn't run in terror at the sight of him made him instantly fond of it. He looked over to the cloth of food. There was nothing left apart from an empty bowl that had contained the grain and the jug of water that thankfully still held its contents. But that was it. There was trace of food apart from the bone of the chicken that had now been licked clean by the fox. He picked it up and shuffled over to the entrance, ducking through the drape. The sun blinded him briefly as he threw the bone onto the pile of sticks he had gathered for a fire. A brushing sensation travelled up his leg and he sprang back. But he then noticed it was the fox that had followed him outside and was now brushing itself against his leg affectionately. Emrys grinned down at it and ruffled the sleek fur on top of its head. But then a disturbing thought came to him. How had the fox breached his apparently impenetrable protections? They were made to keep away humans, so it definitely shouldn't have let through a fox that was considerably smaller than a human. This would need attention.

Emrys circled the perimeter that he knew the force field lay upon. He reached out a hand and it instantly came into contact with something invisible but solid. It seemed to be working.

"Gesawen áblindian ætíewan." From Emrys' hand spread a visible surface. It looked like shimmering water hanging in mid-air. It was a slight light blue and translucent. He felt the fox jump to his side as the force field suddenly sprang into sight. He bent down and comforted the fox with a friendly stroke along its back. He felt it loosen from its tense state at his touch. Emrys removed his hand from the force field, no longer needing to feel his way round it. He then started to pace around it, following its path, inspecting it closely. He could sense the fox trotting at his heels even though he could hear it, its paws were inaudible when they padded along the forest floor. Emrys then found the problem. There was a tiny hole in the blue surface right at the bottom. "You squeezed through there just to get at my chicken?" Emrys spoke to the fox fondly. He chuckled and ruffled its fur again. He closed up the hole with a quick incantation and then looked at his handiwork. It looked just as before. He quickly scouted round for any other gaps but when he found none he murmured a spell and the force field when back to being invisible.

Emrys had decided to name his new companion. He had been pondering it all day. Despite this, the right name had not yet come to him. It would come in good time he thought to himself. He had been sat outside his home for a while now and had decided to go and watch the Knights train. He didn't usually do this as it was quite risky. With so many citizens of the city out and about in the day there were many threats, but Emrys could handle it. He stood up as did the fox who had been lying obediently at his side, waiting for his next move. He quickly ducked into his home and grabbed his trusty black cloak. He wrapped it around him and fastened it at his chest before pulling the hood up to hide his features. He strode out of the force field, muttering the necessary incantations and dismissing the wailing sound that screeched in his head. The force field resealed with the familiar high pitched sound. He wove his way through the minefield of magical traps. The fox seemed to sense the traps and dodged each of them skilfully. Soon he was in the city. He hunted out a place to climb up onto the roofs as soon as he could. The fox, once again, followed his every move and reached the rooftop with ease. They ran across the slanted tiles, the wind whipping through their hair, or in the other case, fur. They ran just fast enough that if a villager below happened to glimpse them, all they would see would be a blur of a black figure and a streak of bright orange at his feet.