《Whispers from the dark》


 1. Goodbye

    1.


    ¡°Faelwen, wake up!¡± Someone pulled my blankets of me. Slowly I opened my eyes. My mom looked terrified down upon me. ¡°We have to go! Now!¡± She quickly took some clothes and put them in a bag. As fast as I could I dressed myself. The sleep was slowly fading away and at the same time I got more aware of my surrounding. I wanted to walk to the window, but my mom gripped my arm tightly and pulled me away from it. Struggling to stay on my feet, I ran after my mom down the stairs. Downstairs my dad was waiting with a backpack and sword. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked. But all ignored me. ¡°Take her outside, put her on a horse and drive away!¡± My father already walked towards a trunk in the living room. ¡°But dear, what about you? I¡¯m not leaving without you!¡± She quickly dried her tears and looked him doubtful in the eye.


    ¡°Go now! I¡¯ll meet you there!¡± She didn¡¯t need more convincing and pulled me with her into the garden. With her help, I climbed on our horse. People screamed, houses were burning. I didn¡¯t understand what was going on. A group of people were walking towards us, dressed in dark robes with red runes. They said something in a foreign language. Continuously repeating it. Everything around them burst into flames and with their long swords they killed everybody around them. ¡°Hurry up!¡±. Then my dad ran outside with another sword and a small dagger. He gave this to me. It was a simple dagger with a leather hilt and on the blade, was written one simple word: Brave.


    I bound it to my tiny belt and gripped the reins tightly. The black sorcerers came closer and closer. My dad raised his sword in the air, while my mom vainly tried to climb on the horse as well. But our horse was to frighten and kept stumbling in circles, watching the danger grew near. Eventually she could grip the reins. Unfortunately, one of the black sorcerers stepped out of the group and raised his hand towards my father. He started shaking and dropped his sword. The black sorcerer pointed towards himself and as a respond my dad lost all control over his body and flew towards him hovering in the air. Then the slim hand of the sorcerer formed itself to a fist. My dad gripped his throat. Blood run down his face. Mom yelled. ¡°Necromancers! Necromancers!¡± The necromancer threw the lifeless body of my father to the side and almost seemed to flow towards my mother. She hit the horse so hard, that he started to sprint away from the danger. I cling myself on his neck and looked anxious back over my shoulders. I had a last glimpse of my mother being stabbed by the necromancer¡¯s sword after she tried to defend herself with, what looked like, a magical stone. The words of the necromancers resounded in my head: ¡°Dinok wah jul, vos yun feln do lug on.¡± One of the necromancers looked my way and raised his hand. A bright white flash blinded my eyes¡­


    I opened my eyes, heavily breathing. Artemis pushed his nose against my cheek. ¡°I¡¯m fine, Artemis. Just a nightmare, just a nightmare.¡±They come more often lately. You almost lost yourself there, with your travelling through the past. I heard his voice in my head as always. We were communicating telepathically. ¡°I can¡¯t help it, it goes automatically.¡±Now your awake, we better continue our journey.Wearily I stood up and slung my backpack over my shoulders. An icy wind cut through my clothes, I pulled my robe closer around myself and followed my wolf. His eyes told me how the road changed and if it was safe to follow. With his ears, I heard the night sounds turn into the break of dawn. Little beasts hid themselves in the bushes when we walked by. We followed a winding road, covered with pine-tree needles, into the forest. My face was frozen from the icy wind. I smelled the strong scent of pine-trees and the soft, warm, sweet herbs growing near the trees. All familiar scents but there was one faint scent I didn¡¯t recognize. It smelled like an almost burned out campfire. ¡°Are we walking the right track? It smells different.¡± Of course, Wen, we always walk this way. Artemis sounded irritated.A cold wind blew small snowflakes into my face and I pulled my hood further over my head. ¡°It snows,¡± I mumbled in my scarf. My wolf growled and ignored me. I snarled back but he didn¡¯t seem to notice.Once every two weeks me and Artemis would travel down the hill towards the small lake village to sell our herbs and buy new supplies. We lived so close to the forest that we had enough firewood and plenty game to hunt. But especially during winter, when our fields were covered in snow, we had to travel to the village for crops. Two days of travel and a small lake village came into view where ships full of exotic herbs, bright jewels and extraordinary fruits sailed into the harbour.According to Artemis we were almost there. I was done travelling through this harsh weather. My shoulders were hurting because of the heavy backs of crops and my nose and toes were frozen. I hope Barnabas has made us a nice hot meal. I smiled. ¡°You¡¯re such a weird wolf.¡±Barnabas was an older man who found me 13 years ago. He was a mage, but I believed he didn¡¯t want to be part of the war that was going on now. Barnabas taught me how to hunt and survive in the nature. When I found Artemis as a puppy, he taught me how to communicate with him in a way nobody can. He told me I had it in me to become a mage if I wanted to. Unfortunately, there was something inside my body that prevented my magical ability to appear. Some people are born with what we call magic, and others are born without magical abilities. Nobody exactly knows where this magic came from. Some say that it was given by the gods to help us defend the world against the darkness below. Others say that we are descendants from elves. A mythological race who would look like us, but would outlive every human being. Not only that, it is told that they have pointy ears and are far more gracious than us. I dared not to believe either of those stories.Something is wrong, Wen. The hairs on his back stood up and he growled. I made myself smaller and sneaked through the bushes into the open field.We left the forest behind us and entered a small open field were our home supposed to be. My heart broke by what I saw. Our cosy, wooden farm was burned to the ground. The stables were empty. Cows nowhere to be found. Here and there scatter-brained chickens ran around, but beside the frightened chickens there was no life source to be seen. Artemis howled to the grey, clouded sky. I walked towards the place where used to be the entrance to our home. The farm wasn¡¯t big, but we had everything we needed. The fireplace was nothing more than ash. The bookshelves were gone, and not a book was left alive. I sat down on the ground were the big chairs used to face the fire hearth. And pulled a floor board from its place. There was a small box hidden underneath it. The topside was covered with black ash. The strange forms on top used to be dancing, white figures on a dark blue background underneath a starry sky. Now they looked like demons rising from the ashes. I uncovered a small key from a cord around my neck and tried to put in the lock. The lock was melted, but after prying it lose, the box sprang open. A soft music echoed through the quiet night. Two wooden figures danced together in circles. Again, and again. The sound of the music never sounded so sad before. Tears sting my eyes. This music box was everything that was left of my parent¡¯s home. Barnabas had found it after one of his research journeys. He often played it right before bedtime when I was young. On the inside, there was a painting of a sunset. Strange words danced around the sun: ¨ªr nidh-tana-dhir ¨ª f? ¨®n ¨ª medui calad uin ¨ª aur. I never understood the meaning behind them. The only thing I remember is that I had to protect it with my life.Faelwen, I found something, resounded Artemis¡¯ voice in my head. I dried my tears and stood up. Artemis brought me a piece of some sort of fabric. I let him sniff it out and became one with his spirit so I could share the same senses. It smelt mostly of burned wood, but there was a deeper scent hidden underneath it. A smell I didn¡¯t recognize. It didn¡¯t smell like Barnabas, so this had to be from one of the enemies. I closed Artemis¡¯ eyes, took a deep breath and pulled myself back to my own body. When I opened my eyes, I took a closer look to this piece of fabric. There was an insigne of the king on it. My heart stopped. ¡°I believe we shouldn¡¯t stay here any longer, Artemis.¡±He looked worried at me. ¡°The Hunters have found us.¡±My wolf showed his teeth. They will come back for us and I¡¯ll be ready, Artemis grunted.I shook my head. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°We are not going to fight them. We will stay hidden in the shadows like always. That¡¯s for the best.¡±The Hunters were assassins created by the former high king, most of the time just called ¡°the king¡±, before his second son inherited the crown. Talron was chosen as first High king of the world after all the lands decided that they should cooperate to protect the human beings against the darkness below. The Demons with their leader, The Fiend. The high king would be the one deciding what to do and would take leadership of the war against the Fiend. And defeated the Fiend with the help of the mages, for as far as the people know. But not very long ago the former high king, Talron, had decided to kill all the mages in his country to protect the ones without magical abilities. He thought that the mages would sooner or later take over the king¡¯s power and rule the world. When the king got two sons, one of them turned out to be a mage. He banished his son from the castle just like he had banished his archmage. This was more than twenty years ago. But ten years ago, the banished son returned. He had created an entire army of mages who were done being chased and killed by the Hunters. Who had lost family members due to these monsters. This army of mages called themselves the Necromancers. The banished son, Orion, was there leader. Not every mage agreed with the way Orion was trying to take back the freedom of the mages. This group of mages followed the archmage and tried to bring peace through politics, even though the archmage had disappeared years ago. They called themselves the Sorcerers. There is one big difference between these two groups. And that is the way they use their magic. The Necromancers mostly used the dark side of it while the Sorcerers refused to even look at that sort of magic. Anyway, the Hunters are non-magical human beings, who were trained to kill every magical creature in the land. As swift as a fox, as quiet as a mouse and as dark as the night, they sneaked through the lands. It didn¡¯t matter how good you were prepared to defend yourself against them. If they had found you, there was no escape. And the end was near.I turned around to walk away, when I staggered over something sticking out of the ground.I fell pretty painful on my knees and cursed the damn thing sticking out in the open like that. Artemis smelled on the object and suddenly started to dig it out like a lunatic. ¡°What the hell are you doing? Are you crazy? Get up! We need to get going!¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    It smells like¡­ like¡­ Barnabas! I didn¡¯t need more convincing and started to help.


    Soon a shape of an iron chest became visible, covered in dirt. After a little while we could pull it out of the ground. It wasn¡¯t big as you would expect a chest to be. Actually, it was really small. The lock was melted by the fire and easy to break open. The inside wasn¡¯t as spectacular as I hoped it would be. And what¡¯s inside of it, surprised me even more. Journals. I knew Barnabas kept journals with him wherever he went. But why did he had to hide them like this? I grab the first one on top and opened it on the first page.


    So, you have found my secret hiding place, you little chaser!I knew this day would come. You are a clever girl. Maybe the time is right now you found my notes to tell you more about your parents. Come and find me in my alchemy lab, since you are on a quest anyway. I bet with your curiosity it wouldn¡¯t be hard to find.


    ¡°I guess Barnabas hadn¡¯t see this one coming either.¡± Artemis ignored me. It started to become more of a habit of him lately. And what would Barnabas mean by ¡°telling me more about my parents¡±?


    ¡°Artemis?¡± Be quiet woman, I am trying to listen. I snarled again towards him and he gave me an unpleasant look back. Just like siblings. Cannot live with or without them.


    I turned the notebook to the next page. Here Barnabas was talking about something I did not quit grasp. Something about Patrons. Making a pact with an otherworldly being with immense powers to gain those kinds of powers as well. To become an apprentice of some sort. The time was getting shorter and shorter. We had to leave. I quickly grab all the notebooks to put them in my backpack, but a small piece of paper fell out of one of the notebooks. I opened it. It was a map. ¡°Hey, there is a map and some notes, I think that¡­¡± before I could finish my sentence Artemis leaped up his feet. Go, go, go!


    With some of the stuff we bought, we left in a hurry. Running as fast as we could into the forest. vaguely we heard someone shout behind us, but we didn¡¯t stop for a second to look back.


    After running for what felt like miles, we finally stopped and plumped down into the snow. The air above us grew darker. More snow was coming.


    What next? Are we going to run forever?


    ¡°First we find a place to sleep.¡±


    What about the old bee lady? The old bee lady lived in a house on the route towards the village. She sold honey, well that explains the name we gave her. ¡°Not wise. They will search everywhere for us.¡± I was trying hard to find a solution, but couldn¡¯t find one.


    We could sleep in her old barn. She stopped using it after her horse died remember?


    I agreed. So here we started our adventure. I like to think that this was going to be like those stories you tell by the fireplace to your children. But in reality, it sucked. It was hard, icy cold and scary. With no one to watch your back or teach you how to survive in certain situation. You are completely alone. Of course, I had Artemis to watch my back. But to be honest, he was just as scared as I was. Even though he tried to be all ¡°I can handle this situation and I will fight them off¡±. When it turned dark outside he was scared to sleep alone and curled up beside me.The old barn was a pathetic hiding place. There were holes in the ceiling and the front door couldn¡¯t close properly. The wind seemed not to care that the wood of the walls was supposed to stop it and blew straight through it. Making us shiver in the darkness. Most of the snow landed upon the roof, but lots of snow still found his way in, covering the ground with a thin, white, cold layer. I gathered some dried sticks and tried to lit it up with my tinderbox. It didn¡¯t give much warmth or light, but it was enough for the two of us. With my cloak, close around me and Artemis curled up beside me, I opened the map again.It was an old map; the sides were crumbled and it was marked with folding lines. It seemed that Barnabas had made it himself. The black ink showed the borders of the land we lived in. I could barely read the names of the towns and cities he put in the map. There were a few places marked with an X. When I compared my map that I bought in town, with the homemade map from Barnabas, I couldn¡¯t find a town of some sort on the places marked with an X. And that confused me. What had he found on those places? Or what didn¡¯t he find?


    Maybe he was looking for something that he thought he could find in those places. But he didn¡¯t find it. To confirm my theory, I read his first journal.


    3E 917- the 21<sup>st</sup> of the second moon. Barnabas had written the era, year and date above each of his stories. We have 12 months in a year. Every month has 28 days. According to ¡°new¡± moons. The people think that every month a new moon arises. I read on.


    How can we stop this war? I¡¯ve been pondering over this question for years. Should I side with the Sorcerers? Trying to talk our way into the politics. Or should I side with the Necromancers as all the talking isn¡¯t going to end the fear of the humans. That¡¯s when I understood. The humans were afraid of us. We should bring them their trust in us back. But how? Why are some born with this magical ability and others not? For this question to be answered, I headed for the biggest library that existed in our land. Faer?n Librarium. For days, I searched for information. Until I found a story that completely shifted my point of view. I had to translate it as it was written in an old language. We mages ought to think that this language belonged to the otherworldly beings. This story was written in the beginning right before the king decided to destroy every magical creature in his land. It¡¯s not that long ago. And the weirdest is that I can¡¯t remember the king being a mage of some sort. Unless he made a pact.


    Written by the Returner


    A message for the human king:


    The tree we create of life


    Here is how the story goes


    No one gets to choose the way in which the cold wind blows


    You can say your branch is strongest


    That it¡¯s highest and it¡¯s best,


    But that doesn¡¯t change the fact that it¡¯s connected to the rest


    So instead of ripping leaves off


    Perhaps you ought to stop


    To ask yourselves why you¡¯re convinced you belong right at the top


    And in this storm, we¡¯re creating?


    Well, the best view will be worst


    For when the lightning finally strikes


    It strikes the top branch first


    This is interesting. Why would the king be able to read this otherworldly language? And who is this Returner guy? What does Barnabas mean with ¡®Unless he made a pact¡¯?


    If I can find out where this otherworldly being lives, I might be able to talk to him. And maybe I can find out more about the king and the start of this war. But where to start?


    I scanned through this journal and the next and the next. I felt like I was reading the entire night, when I found something interesting.


    3E 917- the 13<sup>th</sup> of the twelfth moon


    Today I talked to a strange old woman who was babbling something about graciously, slim human beings who could sing you asleep and even lit up the darkest night. I went looking for these strange creatures even though people declared me insane. Stories told me to look around in the forgotten realms. The forests there were wise and old. The hills climbed up the mountains who kissed the skies. I will walk all the way to Andu?n lake in the hope for something or someone to meet.


    3E 917- the 17<sup>th</sup> of the twelfth moon


    I was right there! I was at the Andu?n lake as we call it. Named after the mountains Andu?n. But when I walked there, I heard whispers saying: Vanya-nend?. It sounds like a name. When I called, something hit me from behind and when I woke up, I was right back in the village of Erandur. The crazy old lady was caring for me. Calling me names to go all the way up there and face the dangers. I told her about the whispers and she said that the wind could play tunes like that among the trees. But I still believe some creature lives there. Right now, I must go back, this is my last piece of parchment and last bit of ink.


    In the following journals, he never spoke of returning to this lake. Instead he went to other places. Places that were often quit near our home. Until the year, I came to live with him. There the notebooks stopped. Later on, he travelled further to temples and shrines up on the mountain tops or at the cliffs above the sea.


    My eyes were too tired to read any further, but this was the piece to the beginning of my quest. I would finish what Barnabas had started more than 20 years ago. According to his journals 24 years to be exact. Satisfied with my new plan, I fell asleep.


    I awoke with a bloody bird that landed on my face. I brought food! Artemis grabbed the bird again and started to shake it. Feathers whirled down upon me. ¡°Artemis!¡± I exclaimed in horror. ¡°Let me cook that first.¡± With some struggling I tucked the bird out of Artemis¡¯ jaw. Disgusted by the bloody bird, I started to pluck him.


    After a few minutes of making a fire and roasting the bird above it, we both shared a nice hot meal. It had stopped snowing outside and a watery sun broke through the heavy clouds. ¡°This promises a better day for us.¡± I smiled at my wolf who tucked his head out of the pathetic barn. Let¡¯s hope so. We filled our water bottles with snow in the hope it would melt in the sun.


    After the nice bird meal, we started our journey on the road towards the Townhaven, the small lake village. Everything around me seemed more alive than usual. Birds were singing their songs, even when winter had just begun. Here and there you heard the thump of snow falling of the branches from the trees. In de distance, you could sometimes hear the deer¡¯s running. When I looked up through the trees, I saw blue sky peeking through the clouds. Slowly the clouds flew by. Ever changing from shapes. My thoughts went astray, back to my home.


    My mother smiled at me as I hung upside down from the tree branch. ¡°Mom, the world looks so different upside down.¡± I shifted my legs and started to swing a little. The branch groaned under my weight and then snapped. I fell on my back in the green grass and could just in time crawl away from the branch that hid the ground behind me with a loud thump. My mom ran towards me but as I stood up, we began to laugh. ¡°You are such a clumsy person!¡± She hugged me. ¡°You will become a great adventurer, I can feel it.¡± She smoothed my hair and removed the grass and dirt from my face. ¡°There is freedom waiting for you on the breezes of the sky. And if you are older, you will do great things.¡±


    ¡°But what if I fall again?¡± I looked at my bruised knees and mom dapped the blood of it away with her kerchief. ¡°Oh, but my darling, what if you fly?¡± She smiled at me and I put my forehead against hers.


    Artemis bumped his head to my hand on purpose and I stroke him behind his ears. The memories were fading. But sometimes they would come back through a smell or the sun on your skin. I was scared to lose the memories forever. The watery sun now was shining brightly and the clouds were almost gone. I heard that the snow in our bottle had turned into water and the feeling of fear disappeared. ¡°One more day and we are in the village, Artemis.¡± Where were you with your travelling¡¯s?


    ¡°I was with mom.¡±

 2. Strange beasts

    As the sun started rising in the sky on the third day of our travel, a little village on the edge of the glistening lake appeared. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Relieve washed over us. The sight upon the village was breath taking. Buildings were lit up by the red golden light from the sun. The water seemed almost as blue as the sky and fainting clouds kissed the horizon, coloured by the rising sun. Even though it was early in the morning, the people in town were up and about. Ships were loaded and shops opened their doors for the early costumers. I looked out over the lake and in the distant I saw more ships coming for the town. They would arrive just before noon probably. I wondered if there were still some exotic fruits to buy. You want to go in town? Artemis answered my thoughts. ¡°Maybe, I think we need to refill our supplies. We¡¯re going on a long trip and won¡¯t be coming across many other towns.¡±


    Then I will wait for you by the edge of the forest. Call for me, when you need me. I stroke his furl behind his ears. And as silent as a fox he disappeared from my side. I knew our contact wouldn¡¯t fade if he stayed within a certain amount of distance. The edge of the forest was just far enough for me to keep in touch with him while I looked about in town.


    As I strolled down the winding path, two guards were in discussion with a distressed farmer. The farmer, a middle-aged man, stood with his hands on his slim waist blocking the road for the guards. He looked angry and scared at the same time, like he¡¯d just seen a ghost and no one wanted to help him. His hair was like pepper and salt, covering a small but firm face. You could see the lines of hard work in his face. He didn¡¯t look like a farmer. More like a warrior even though his clothing told otherwise. The two guards were taller than him and one of them even had his hand on his sword. ¡°You talk nonsense, old man!¡± one of the guard¡¯s gestures towards the foot of the mountain. ¡°You seriously think, I will believe such a story?!¡± he continued his arguing. ¡°You have to believe me! He ate my cow. I saw it with my own eyes!¡± The second guard starting laughing. The face of the farmer grew darker. And I came closer and closer to this blocking of the road. ¡°Thalor, you¡¯ve always been a pleasant friend of our units, but this time you sound insane. I sincerely advice you to stop freaking people out and act normal. It were the wolves, alright.¡± The first guard put a gentle hand on Thalor¡¯s shoulder, but he slapped the hand away. Angry. ¡°I¡¯m starting to understand why you retired, old man,¡± the second guard honed. And started laughing again. I dared not to interfere, so I kept my distance until the guards would hopefully leave. And right now, her wish was granted. ¡°Oh, get your asses out of my face right now! Before I lose my patience.¡± Thalor stepped angrily aside and made it clear he was not interested in any response any more. The two guards got the message and walked off still laughing. When the guards were almost out of sight, the old farmer looked straight at me. ¡°Don¡¯t be frightened little girl, I am not an angry, insane, old man as they pointed out so nicely.¡± He took a deep breath and lowered his shoulders. He calmed down and the frown disappeared from his face. I smiled awkwardly at him and he returned it with a big grin. Then he turned around and stalked off, back to his farm. What had he seen? What kind of creature had he witnessed while it ate his cow? I continued walking down towards the village, but managed to quickly look at Thalor¡¯s farm. It was a big farm. According to what the guards said, he was once part of one of the units. So, likely he was a guard himself. Or maybe his was a knight, fighting in the army of the king. And now he was retired. Settled down on a farm. I heard stories that retired knights got a piece of land for their own to build a house or to raise a family. The front door looked out over the main road I was walking on. The farm had two stables. One of them was behind the house and the other on the right side, next to the meadow. That was probably for the cows he was taking care of. I couldn¡¯t see enough of the stable behind the farm to determine what kind of animals he was keeping also. I walked past his front door and what I saw next to the small side river, that was streaming parallel with the main road, made me feel sick to the stomach. A half-eaten, brutally attacked animal coloured the thin layer of white snow red. The smell was horrible. If I hadn¡¯t heard that one of his cows was attacked, I wouldn¡¯t have recognized this creature. ¡°This is not done by any wolf,¡± I said out loud.


    ¡°No, it isn¡¯t.¡± his voice startled me. I jumped aside from the sudden sound. When I saw it was Thalor, I calmed down. ¡°Have you seen this creature that attacked your cow?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It was a monster. It must have had big claws and pointy fangs to tear such a big beast apart.¡± The look of horror on his face increased when he thought back of that night.


    ¡°But you haven¡¯t seen this monster?¡± Thalor looked at her and took a shivering breath. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen it up close. But I saw it from out my window.¡±


    ¡°Tell me exactly what happened.¡± He was making me curious about this monster. Monstrous creatures were always parts of fairy tales or myths. I never saw one for real. Just like otherworldly beings were mythological creatures. Mostly they were to scare the children so that they would run home the second it would turn dark outside. Thalor walked towards the water and sat down on a piece of green grass, not covered yet by the snow, on the side of the river. Looking at his cow, who lay on the opposite side. I sat down next to him and took a tiny book from my pocket. If I were to finish Barnabas¡¯ quest, I had to make notes. Also, I took a pencil and some ink. When I opened the bottle of ink, I realised it was almost empty. Another supply on the list.


    Thalor¡¯s eyes wandered off into the horrible night of his acquaintance with this monster.


    ¡°It has happened before. One of my lovely cows, attacked and half eaten by a monstrous creature. First I thought it were wolves, big wolves. From all the way, deep in the forest. As I am the first farm to encounter on this route, I wasn¡¯t surprised. But then it happened more often. Me and my wife, we got scared. What was this creature that could tear up such a big animal with one slash. We always woke up too late to witness this beast kill our cattle. But then one night, I heard one of my cows moo so loud, I knew there was trouble. When I opened the curtains, my heart stopped for a second. Because in the dark it stood. A big muscular beast with long talons and pointy fangs. Blood dripping from its sharp teeth. Red eyes shone in the dark. The only light it gave off were from its eyes. Like the fiend himself. It had the body of a bear, and its legs ended in big claws as well. It was hairy. Black thorns stood up on its head and walked down its spine. I have never seen such a horrible beast. But before I could yell, scream or wake up someone else, it was gone. It just disappeared like that. One moment it still stood in my garden, the next it disappeared in the shadows of the barn. Never to be seen again. The next morning, I told my story to my neighbours and soon the guards were here. The rest is history. You know what happened.¡± I had written his description of the animal, beast whatever it was, in my travel journal. ¡°Thank you for your interesting story, sir.¡±


    ¡°No problem, young traveller.¡± I stood up, straightened my coat, gave a last bow of respect towards the innocent dead cow and wanted to go. But the man stopped me. ¡°What is a young girl like you doing here all by herself? It could easily have been you last night instead of my cow.¡±


    This was tough question. I couldn¡¯t possibly tell him about my quest. Not only that, the Hunters were still in the surroundings. And I didn¡¯t know if they were looking for me.


    I had to think of a clever answer. A story that was easy to believe and I could use in situations like this. ¡°I am a traveller searching for a brighter future,¡± I answered and a smile appeared on my face. This was a nice, riddle like reason why I wandered alone in this big, dangerous world. Thalor smiled back and laughed a bit. ¡°A tawny, stubborn woman you are. Be careful on your road young adventurer. And when you need a place to sleep tonight or any night. Me and my wife, always have an extra seat for a guest. A hot meal and soft bed is what every traveller desires.¡±


    ¡°I bet that is not without a price to pay.¡± Thalor looked a little disappointed when he said: ¡°Even we have to ask for a bit of money in return. During these hard times, we can barely come around with the little money we make.¡± That might be a problem. I didn¡¯t have a lot of money left. Barely enough to buy extra supplies for on the road. ¡°I am about to go to the town to buy some supplies for on the road. But I haven¡¯t enough money to stay in an inn. What if I work on the farm a bit in change for food, shelter and some rations for on my journey? I only need to stay for the night. I¡¯ll probably be travelling on the next day or so.¡± Thalor took a moment to overthink her offer. ¡°I shall be honest with you girl. I would love to take the offer, because I don¡¯t want you to sleep on the streets tonight. But I honestly don¡¯t have work for you. The crops I grow are already gathered and shipped off to be sold. And I rather take care of my cows and horse myself.¡±


    ¡°I could help you with that,¡± I answered but when I saw his doubt rise and his face frown, I quickly came with a different offer. A little too quickly. ¡°Or I could get rid of that monster for you.¡± Just when I said it, I regretted it. Why? Why did I offer that? I can¡¯t kill a beast like that! There was no turning back. Thalor looked surprised down at me. ¡°I see. That is an offer I shan¡¯t refuse. I won¡¯t doubt your strength little girl, but in return I will give you some extra as a reward.¡± Thalor was very pleased with himself as he stood there with his arms on his hips. ¡°I will give you ten gold pieces and you can stay here whenever you want. Unfortunately, I can¡¯t give you any more money, but I think my idea of this as a free inn for you makes up for it.¡± It wasn¡¯t such a bad idea. ¡°So, to be clear on this. I can stay here for the night, have a hot meal and get some rations for on the road. And I have to kill that beast in return. Then you will give me ten silver pieces as a reward and free entrance to stay in your farm whenever I desire?¡±


    ¡°You can only stay for the night, get rations and your reward when you have killed the beast. Not before. So, you must kill the beast tonight. Is that a deal?¡±


    Will I be able to kill a monster like this? My archery skills are quite good, to be honest. And I would always have Artemis. Well, I¡¯d probably be the one fighting the most. As he feared everything. But still. I knew he would try to defend me. But how could I find this creature? While I was doubting wither, I should take it or not, I looked down at my feet. And the footsteps my feet made in the thin layer of snow that covered the entire ground. Some of it had melted away through the sun. Footsteps. Tracks. I could search for them. Even though the tracks might have faded away overnight. With the help of Artemis, I could find it. I would figure something out. At least try. Besides I had to learn how to defend myself anyway. This beast might sneak up on me, while I¡¯m travelling through the mountains. And then I have to fight it anyway. I made up my mind. ¡°Deal.¡± I put out my hand so he could shake it. ¡°We have a deal. I wish you good luck and expect to see you safely return to our farm.¡±


    Pleased with the deal he had made, he walked back towards his farm whistling a song through his teeth.


    I was left alone standing beside the waterside. The image of the cow was burned in my memories. I did not want to end up like that.


    I took a deep breath and resumed my way towards the town.


    I wouldn¡¯t want to live in a crowded town, but so now and then it was nice walking around here. Looking at the supplies the ships brought in. Taking a stroll over the market square. Of course, Townhaven was twice as small as Westray. The main city of this land. Maybe even five times as small. But I¡¯ve never been there before, so Townhaven was already enormous to me. You could easily get lost in the labyrinth of small alleys. I was walking on the avenue watching the sailors unload their cargo and refill it with other kind of goods. These ships made long journeys. They traded with cities from far over the sea. First, they would arrive in the main city Westray were the biggest traders lived. Then they would set sail for other towns along the coast of our land. Including Townhaven. I wondered how it would be like, living on a ship. You¡¯d see the beauty of other countries, exotic products, strange peoples, different languages. You could watch the sun sink in the sea every night, with stars in sight. I looked back at the forest and a longing swell in my heart. No, the forest is where I¡¯d belong. There I felt most at home. Trees surrounding you, the music of the birds, small creatures like rabbits hopping around and of course the sweet scent of flowers in the spring. I shook myself awake from my daydreaming and walked towards the market square to get my supplies. The area was crowded with stands and people walking around. The ground of the market square consisted of different kind of stones in various forms. If you¡¯d look from above, you could see that the stones worked as a mosaic. It was a huge eight pointed star, pointing at all the corners of our land. The star worked as a compass. But when covered with stands and people, the star disappeared in the crowd. I knew of this star for Barnabas always told me the history of the towns he visited. In the middle of the square, there were musicians and people dancing on their music. Bards walked around the square to sing the heroic songs of our land in chance for a copper- or silver piece. Rich woman dressed in long gowns with expensive jewellery, laughed at a nearby table covered with sweets and cups of tea. Children ran around playing hide and seek. And a poor beggar, sneakily pickpocketed a man¡¯s purse. I quickly checked if I still had mine and felt the four silver pieces resting in my small purse. Well what exactly do I need? Food for on the road was already given to me, if I¡¯d defeated this beast. But just in case, I couldn¡¯t and had to run, I needed something to eat. So, four rations would do. I felt the points of my arrows. They were still sharp enough. Maybe a knife would be useful. I probably don¡¯t have enough to buy more than that. As the taxes increased, so did the prices of the products. ¡°This increasing of taxes is all to protect our country from the enemies, my beloved followers.¡± The king had spoken. But nobody was really, happy about it. Especially not the gifted people who were still being hunted down and killed.


    I first went to the blacksmith for a short sword. As I expected he couldn¡¯t give me much for three silver pieces.


    ¡°Sir, I need something to protect myself besides a huntersbow. I am but a lonely travelling, small girl. A perfect target for bandits and murderers. I completely understand the situation that¡¯s bothering you. Especially with the raise of taxes lately. But I can ensure you I will do a good word for you among my people and among travellers on the road. For that they may come here to buy their swords and arrows from you, noble man.¡±


    I looked at him with big puppy eyes and secretly prayed he¡¯d fall for my flattery. The big, strong man rubbed his temples and sighted. ¡°Alright, tiny woman. I will take your three silver pieces for this shortsword. It is not a beauty, but it will do in a combat with bandits. Here is a scabbard that will fit on your belt. Be careful on the road, tiny woman. And be safe.¡±


    I gave him my three silver pieces and smiled up at him. ¡°Thank you for your kind service, noble man. You will not regret this. May Herdus protect us all in these hard times.¡±


    ¡°I will pray to Herdus indeed, that he may finds a way to get rid of those foul mages!¡± the smith slammed his fist angrily on the table top while he said that, startling me as he did so.


    I smiled awkwardly at him and walked quickly out of the Blacksmith¡¯s shop.


    It wasn¡¯t hard to find a stand with cheap food. I bought two apples, two chunks of smoked meat and a half bread. All for just one silver piece. The lady behind the counter was a generous woman. And apparently, mother of three children. I think that was why she was so generous by taking my one silver piece for so much food. Now I was ready to find this beast and kill it. A good bed and warm meal awaited me at the old farmer¡¯s house, if I succeeded. Before I walked back towards the farm, I tried to enjoy a little more of the market. Listening to the heroic songs of our ancestors, the bards were singing. And watching a juggler throw glasses one by one into the air and catching them again, making an almost perfect circle of glasses. I clapped and cheered when he made a bow to his public. I enjoyed myself with a dance or two among the musicians and slowly wandered back over the avenue, watching the sun sink in the dark blue, greenish sea. Seagulls screeched around the fishermen, hoping to steal a fish when the fisherman wasn¡¯t looking. One seagull took the risk and made a forward dive towards the barrels filled with fish. But unfortunately, the fisherman saw the bird coming and scared him away by raising his oar. The bird protested and slapped his wings twice before flying back into the sky.


    While I walked back to the farm, I looked up in the sky. Thick clouds were gathering now. Snow would fall again tonight. I had to be quick in finding it¡¯s marks, before the snow would cover it forever.


    The shortsword on my side bounced continually against my leg, when I started to run towards the place the cow took his last breath.


    I am waiting in the shadows of the Oaktree. Artemis sounded calm. Not even scared for that what had to happen tonight. Following my spirit wherever I went, he knew all that had happened this morning and afternoon. I desperately wanted to find the beast before the snow would cover the ground in a white blanket again.


    ¡°Artemis?¡± no reaction. I looked around the place where the monster had last been seen. No Oaktree. ¡°Artemis? Where are you?¡± I whispered. For I dared not to speak up. Afraid the farmer would hear me talk to a wolf. He¡¯d definitely, call for the Hunters and the whole deal would be off the hook. Oaktree. Oaktree. Where is the Oaktree? I sneaked past the barn and saw the Oaktree. But no shadowy, wolf figure to be seen. ¡°Artemis?¡± damn, this is not the time for games, I thought irritated. Softly I sneaked towards the tree. Making the watery snow under my feet splash softly as I approached the Oaktree. I crouched down to inspect the ground under the tree, when a sudden crack made me freeze. Caught by horror I tried to listen. The pounding of my heart in my ears. Slowly I turned my gaze to the place where the crack came from. And from the shadow, two bright yellow eyes jumped upon me.


    As the four hairy paws pushed me on the wet ground, I smelled the familiar scent of Artemis. He growled. ¡°You, stupid animal. You scared the shit out of me!¡± I cursed him. He grinned, for as much as a wolf can grin. I terrified you, didn¡¯t I? Made a sound, that could be understood as a form of laughter and then licked my face with his sticky tong. ¡°Stop! Stop it.¡±


    He leaped to the ground and let me stand up. ¡°Thanks to you, I could have wiped away important tracks from this beast!¡± oh stop your whining, I¡¯m a wolf. My tracking skills are far better than any humans. You hurt? I shook my head and scratched behind his ears. ¡°No buddy, I¡¯m fine. Let¡¯s find this beast and be done with it. Though I think you¡¯d have to sleep in the barn when we succeed.¡±


    If we succeed. It was brave of you, but dumb. And I hope you learn from this mistake.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°What mistake? We will get paid for this and more.¡±


    If you wanted money, you could have worked for other farmers who might do need your help. Instead of being a hero and offer to kill a beast twice as strong and experienced in the fighting skills as you are.


    ¡°We will surprise him with our attack. We have the advantage of the surprise. He will never suspect us coming to his lair. Besides I have something more than just fighting skills. I have you,¡± and grinned when I said that, looking down upon Artemis. He grumbled something wolfish and stalked on, sniffing the ground around him. I crouched down as well, to inspect the ground. But all I could see were puddles of melted snow and dead grass sticking out. Closer to the barn, I found some damaged wooden planks from the wall. Probably where the fight took place. As I investigated the ground more in this surrounding, I found no tracks or whatsoever near the barn. But then in the fading light my eyes caught something interesting. At the edge of the field, was a broken fence. And on the side stuck to the wood, was a bundle of grey hairs. Quickly I gestured towards Artemis. He took in the smell of the hairs. Stayed with his nose up in the air for a couple of minutes. And then started sniffing around again. I waited. As the darkness grew deeper, my worries raised. ¡°Well?¡±


    I think I got him. He smells funny. Not like a bear or wolf. More like¡­


    He didn¡¯t finish his sentence, for he got the sense he was looking for and howled to the upcoming moon. ¡°Sssh, fool! Think about the farmer!¡± I hushed. Fool?! I learned it from the master, nitwit. Artemis smiled up at me.


    I rolled my eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s just go.¡± And I pointed towards the broken fence. He walked in front of me, leading the way.


    As we sneaked our way back to the familiarity of the forest, small snowflakes started to fall out of the sky. The snowflakes became one, with the watery puddles on the muddy ground, but stayed on top of the branches. Soon the ground, treetops, houses and barns would be covered in a white blanket. It was freezing, and I could scarcely feel the top of my nose, or my ears. I had covered my hands with gloves, but even with my cap on, the coldness bit into my face. It was a long way up into the forest and I started to fear, we had lost its track.


    But Artemis kept walking on, never resting, never looking back. Assuming I would follow him. After at least two hours of walking, my legs began to ache. And my feet got colder. The watery snow on the ground, grew thicker and less watery, but still my boats were soaked. Making me shiver all the time. With my body bend towards the hill, I struggled on. Higher and higher the road climbed. After some more hours, night had fallen in. And weariness was taking its toll. ¡°Artemis, I can¡¯t anymore. I need rest.¡± Artemis stopped and looked back. As if it was a sign, I fell to my knees. ¡°Just give me a couple of minutes to close my eyes.¡± It¡¯s already midnight. Don¡¯t fall asleep now, he¡¯ll travel back to the farm for more food.


    ¡°Just a minute.¡± The words almost refused to leave my mouth. As I rolled myself up in my cold blanket, I fell in a deep slumber.


    I awoke by Artemis, liking my face again. ¡°Would you stop, please?! I don¡¯t want your sticky tong in my face,¡± I grumbled when I rolled over. You need to wake up. We have to go. I let you sleep for twenty minutes. Eat something, drink. And then we go. Short rest is over. No come up, sleepy head! Or he¡¯ll meet us down here and there¡¯ll be no surprise to our attack.


    That last bit of his rambling, made me stand up and grab my backpack for some food. My whole body ached from the cold. My clothes were soaked by the wet snow and the almost frozen water in my bottle, burned my teeth. After a piece of bread and some meat we both ate, we continued on.


    Until we reached the foot of the mountains. ¡°Where to go?¡± I asked no one in particular. But Artemis answered me: we¡¯re close. It¡¯s this way, follow me.


    We turned right on the crossing, and soon walked by a cave. The smell is strongest here. I think this is it.


    ¡°Very well. Let¡¯s go in.¡± I suggested, but fear made me freeze where I stood. What are you waiting for?


    ¡°You go first!¡±


    Artemis sighted. You wanted to be the hero, so you go first. He softly bit my ankle, and I jumped a little in the air. As if that was the cure I needed, I walked in. trembling still, but with my shortsword held high. As heroic as I could be. Ready to run out of this cave at any moment. The deeper I went in, the darker it got. The light behind me grew dim and with my hands against the walls on both sides I struggled on. The walls of the tunnel were smooth and cold. ¡°I can¡¯t see shit!¡± my voice sounded hoarse as if something or someone squeezed my throat tight. Just walk on. Follow the shadowy light in front of you. Artemis suggested. There was a faint shadowy, yellow light in front of me. Like a candle of some sort. Maybe a small fire? But could a beast make fire? I had never seen a beast creating fire. The walls went further apart, making the hall wider. When suddenly we stood in a round room. On the far end of the room was a shrine of a god I didn¡¯t recognize from this distance. Not that I knew a lot about the gods. I knew some of them. Barnabas told me of some gods the humans worshipped. For example, the god of war, Herdus. He was worshipped especially by the non-magical people of Ancestral Region. That¡¯s why I blessed the smith with Herdus instead of other gods. I knew he¡¯d probably be an ordinary human. And if he was not, he sure as hell knew how to play a non-magical creature. Barnabas told me Herdus was the creator of humans, thousands and thousands of years ago. But had never returned to earth ever since. Some say they had dreams with messages from him. Nobody knew if they told the truth, or if they were just misled. Personally, I knew for sure, that those who got ¡°messages¡± from Herdus, were being deceived. There would not be a Herdus saving the humans in danger. He wouldn¡¯t come to rescue them, in their greatest needs. He was long gone.


    Then you had a second god, named Veras. She was the goddess of the woods and worshipped by some magical people. Everyone knew the Archmage was one of them. Not much was known of her. Barnabas believed she was also one of the gods from the elves. But like I said before, elves were myths. They haven¡¯t been seen in centuries.


    Veras was an otherworldly being that sometimes could be seen, wandering through the forested hills of the mountains. According to stories, she lived everywhere and nowhere. Going wherever she pleased. She never made pacts with other creatures, for she was a shy girl. Sometimes if you listened closely, you could hear her song flow around the trees. People that encountered her would only see her from a distant as a golden-haired virgin in a white dress, covered with flowers. Men is told she softly sings and makes the sun shine everywhere she goes. On rainy days, you¡¯d be less likely to encounter her. According to Barnabas, she most of the times appeared around spring and summer. And had never been seen or heard in winter or autumn. Then you had Nendir, god of the sea. Nendir was a myth also. Never had he been seen or heard. People say not even the otherworldly beings know if he is a real creature or not. Why all the sailors worship and curse him, is still a question. But sailors believed that if you¡¯d bring a token of your love for him to the temple of Nendir, your travels would be protected. Strangely enough this was true for 9 out of 10 times, even when there were such crazy storms, that all the ships, who didn¡¯t give an offer to Nendir, perished. The temple of Nendir was built on a cliff, near the sea.


    I took my attention back to the round room. The room was lit by two small torches above the shrine, for the rest the room was pitch black. On the left side of the shrine was a whole in the ground. Probably another tunnel that led to another room. The walls of the room were strengthened by big square stones. Just like the tunnels, the walls were smooth. Polished it seemed and icy cold. It smelled funny here. It was a combination of strong herbs and the sweet, iron smell of blood. That frightened me a little. Suddenly a sound leaped from the tunnel next to the shrine. Something was muttering and footsteps came closer. Beside the altar there were no other furniture or whatsoever in the room. For as I could see of course. The footsteps came closer and I softly walked back to the beginning of the tunnel where I came from. My blade at the ready. I tried to figure out what to do next if it would step into the room. The only idea that came in my mind was the surprise attack from behind. And after that it would be improvisation to the top. I cursed myself softly for not making a detailed attack plan and prayed to the gods I would survive. Artemis stood next to me, his tail between his legs. It¡¯s coming. I took a deep breath to calm my shaking hands and waited. A dark shadow appeared in the round room, but the shape was not that of a monster. I frowned not understanding what was going on. I looked at Artemis and even though he could not see my face, he felt my confused stare at him. I know for sure it¡¯s him. That the smell of the hairs.


    The figure walked towards the shrine. When he came in the light, I saw more of his features. It was a man. His face hidden under a dark hood. He wore long grey, black robes and his hands were slim and bony. His body, covered in the robes, looked tall but not gigantic like a monster. He carried a book in his arms and was murmuring something. My heart pounded in my throat, so loud I thought he would definitely hear me. I looked down at Artemis, and more felt than heard him say. Attack! Everything after that word, went to fast. I raised my sword, made myself smaller as I leaped forward to dive on him. Stabbing the sword in his back. At least that was the idea. Before I even reached him, he turned around, raised his hand and I stopped. Dropping my sword to my side. Stunned. It felt like my body was on pause. I could breath and swallow, but not move an inch of my body. My shaking hands, still gripped the blade. ¡°Well hello little warrior. What strange path did you follow to end up with me?¡± he spoke. His voice was crooked and soft. Like a whisper. Now I was closer to his face, I could make out a little of his features. His eyes were pitch black, he had a sharp nose that fitted perfect with his sharp jaw line. His lips were curled in an evil grin showing his white pointy teeth. I dared not to speak. My words frozen in my mouth. I was silent for too long, for his grin made place for a scornful look. ¡°I bet you are wishing right now that you had never set foot inside this place. And I do not appreciate if people ignore my questions.¡± I nodded in acceptation, more out of fear than true agreement of it. Suddenly Artemis leaped in the air and snatched the raised arm of the man. He screamed angrily and the charm on my body broke.


    I was free again. The man threw Artemis with such strength of his arm, that he flew a bit through the air and hit the wall with a loud thump. Artemis whined when he hit the ground. ¡°NO!¡± I screamed as I run towards my wolf and stood in front of him, my arms raised to try and stop the man walking towards us. Please someone, give me some inspiration to protect us, I prayed. Then something strange happened. I felt a strange energy coming up my feet, flowing through my body towards my outstretched hands. I couldn¡¯t really describe it. It was nor cold, nor warm and left my body tingling. As fast as it entered my body, as fast did it leave through my hands. A force I¡¯ve never seen before, sprang from my hands and staggered my opponent backwards. With his arm raised in front of his face he staggered a few steps back. He lowered his arm and looked bewildered at me. ¡°What was that?¡± I whispered to myself as I looked at my hands. Nothing had changed, they looked exactly the same to me.


    ¡°A youngster in the art of the Weave.¡± His crooked voice whispered.


    ¡°The Weave?¡± I could hear Artemis standing up beside me, curious as well. The man bit his lower lip, his eyes squeezed considering something. Then a big grin appeared on his face.


    He made a little bow as he introduced himself: ¡°Greetings young mage, my apology for my rude behaviour earlier. My name is Malignus, monk and protector of my lord. This shrine is but the beginning. I will spread his word and hope that others will pledged themselves also in his magical art and power to serve him for better or worse.¡±


    ¡°Who is your lord?¡± But it seemed he didn¡¯t even hear my question for he continued his story and explanation over the Weave. ¡°The Weave, young mage, is a magical substance that gives magical creatures like you and I the capability of using our magic to protect or harm. I see and feel that you are but a youngster in the use of it. And do not fully open your spirit towards the Weave.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Just like I say. Your spirit is closed for some reason. You need to let go in order to draw your magic from the Weave.¡±


    ¡°I do not..¡±


    ¡°I could teach you, young mage!¡± he interrupted my sentence. He held his head a little sideways, stretched his hand out to me, his palm up. ¡°If you would only trust me.¡± His voice dropped a few tones on the last to words, his grin widened and his eyes grew darker. He bowed forward and I could take a good look in his face. It was scarred and his eyes had no pupils. His pointy white teeth were a little red at the ends. Very quickly like a snake he tried to snatch my wrist and pull me forward. But I was faster and ducked towards my sword on the ground. His hand mist me by an inch, but he quickly recovered himself. Turned around and said something in a demonic like language I couldn¡¯t understand. I grabbed my sword and rolled unto my feet. Still crouching low to the ground. What happened next fulfilled me with horror. Artemis yelped from fear and crouched with his tail between his legs in the shadows.


    The monk was changing. He growled as if in pain, while his hands turned to large talons with black, pointy nails. His face became monstrous and his teeth turned into fangs. Blood dripped from his mouth as his skin around his lips stretched and changed into black fur. He grew larger and wider. His robes fell to the ground. He turned into a monstrous demon. Large black horns curled out of the sides of his head. He growled loud, making everything shiver under my feet. I swallowed, gripped my sword tighter and run towards him. Avoiding his long talons. With a yell, I stabbed my sword in his stomach. It didn¡¯t go in far, but made a small cut in his skin. Blood dropped from the small cut. I avoided his left arm, unfortunately I wasn¡¯t fast enough to avoid the second blow. His talon hit me in my stomach and pushed all the air out of my lungs. I hid the wall pretty hard and landed next to Artemis on the ground. ¡°It be nice if you¡¯d fight too,¡± I coughed. The demon walked towards us and heaved his big feet above the ground to crush us. We both rolled aside just in time, when his huge foot made the ground shake. I stood up and made a few quick blows on his back. The blows didn¡¯t do much damage, but Malignus roared out in anger and turned to face me. I jumped backwards as he tried to grab my arm. He stepped closer to me, and I danced around to his side, to stab him again. This time my sword went in deeper. Blood gushed out of the wound. He roared again, weaving his arm sideways to push me away. Unfortunately, it worked. I couldn¡¯t get the blade out of his side in time, and next I knew, I flew in the air to hid the ground with my left shoulder first. I sat up rubbing my shoulder. A little blood came off it but it wasn¡¯t broken. Malignus pulled out my sword from his side and broke it in two. Well now I¡¯m dammed, I thought right before I saw Artemis leap in the air again and land on Malignus back. Biting his neck and tearing of his flesh. Malignus roared in pain and turned around, his hands weaving in the air to try and pull Artemis of his back. Artemis held on tight and I strained my bow as fast as I could. Putting my first arrow on the bow, pulling the string until I felt the feather brush my cheek and let go. The arrow made a loud ¡°woosh¡± as it flew from the string into the air. The arrow landed in the monster¡¯s left shoulder. He cried it out and flung Artemis of his back, he grabbed the arrow, pulled it out and threw it back with such force that it splintered against the wall when it missed me. Artemis was already on his feet again and jumped in the air to tear open Malignus¡¯ stomach. But Malignus was faster and seized Artemis out of the air. He held him with one hand, as Artemis tried to bite his way out of the tight grip. I swiftly loaded my bow again and let go of a second arrow. This one landed on the right arm of the demon. His grip loosened and Artemis fell towards the ground. But before he hit it, Malignus snatched him up again on his leg. Artemis roared and yelped from pain. Malignus threw him away and Artemis landed against the wall on the ground. His leg was bleeding from the cuts Malignus¡¯ talons had made. Artemis licked his bleeding wound. Fear choked me. He wouldn¡¯t be able to fight anymore. I looked at Malignus. He was leaning against a wall. Blood gushed from his wounds. His shoulders and neck were the worst. There was a gaping wound right below his neck that looked horrible. The small cuts my sword had created were still bleeding, but didn¡¯t seemed to kill him. I had to be very fast now. Shooting arrow after arrow. I carefully lay may next arrow on my bow, pulled the string and let go. The first arrow had just left my bow, and a new arrow followed the first. I watched the first arrow hit the gaping wound on his back, and the second right above that in his neck. His roar was deafening. And he spat blood on the ground. He looked angrily at me and with a sudden leap, ran towards me. I became one with my bow when I shot four more arrows. My quiver was losing arrows fast. The first two struck his eyes, blinding him. He screamed in terror and reached for the arrows, making his vulnerable throat an easy target. The last two struck exactly there. And his roars turned into a choking sound. I jumped aside as he blindly tried to reach me. Malignus fell on his knees and after choking up more blood from his throat, he took his last breath. I sat on the ground, still shaking and my heart pounded in my ears. Because of the adrenaline, I didn¡¯t feel the pain from the cuts on my shoulder and stomach. I spat some blood out of my mouth for I had bit om my lip to hard when I focused on aiming at the demon. ¡°That was a demon, right?¡± I asked Artemis. He didn¡¯t respond, but I heard his soft whining on the other site of the room. I crawled my way to him and looked at his leg. I think it¡¯s broken as well. Artemis grunted. In this darkness, I could not see enough to determine if the wound was deathly or if I could cure him. I reached for my backpack and realised I left it at the entrance of the tunnel from this room. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡± I stood up and made a run towards my backpack. Only one of the torches was still lit. I took it to look inside my backpack and search for something to help Artemis. ¡°I don¡¯t have enough, but this should do until we¡¯re back at the farm.¡±


    But you said that¡­ he couldn¡¯t finish his story for I interrupted him. ¡°He¡¯ll have to accept the fact that I live with a wolf.¡±


    He made no response but whined a little when I put some healing ointment on his wounds and bandaged it. ¡°I¡¯ll carry you. First I want to take a quick look inside that other room. I wonder what a demon was doing here. If this is a demon for I¡¯ve only heard stories of it.¡±


    This was a demon for sure. He smelled like a human. I wanted to tell you that. But there was a strange thing about his smell. I can¡¯t really explain it. I only knew that it wasn¡¯t a bear or wolf of some kind.


    ¡°He changed. He was human and then suddenly not anymore. I¡¯ve never heard of mages being able to change their appearances like that.¡±


    It¡¯s over now. Let us heal and learn from this experience. And next time prepare your battles! I am not going to improvise every move I make. I laughed at my own stupidity and stroke him behind his ears.


    After putting my coat around Artemis to keep him warm, I walked towards the tunnel next to the shrine. The torch gave a soft yellow light in the small tunnel and made the shadows dance. It wasn¡¯t a long tunnel and soon I stepped into another room. This one was way smaller than the big round room where I came from. The torch I held almost lit the entire room. There was a bed in the corner, a desk and three bookshelves filled with books and ingredients. The desk was empty and the room was very tidy. I let my gaze wonder over the books. Almost all of them were about potions and history. Some were spell books, full of information about how to use magic. Information on what kinds of magic existed and more. I took two spell books with information about healing and defending yourself. Maybe I could learn something from it. I pulled open the drawers of the desk and found letters. They were written in a language foreign to me. It looked a bit like the language used by the necromancers, but more vowels and less consonants. Which was odd, for how would you pronounce that? I put the notes in my journal for later and wanted to walked back to Artemis, when something caught my eye. There was a small table at the entrance of this room and on it were some drawings. I studied them and realised they were sketches of the shrine back in the room where Artemis was. There were more sketches of a pentagram with strange signs. And one painting that made me shiver with fear. It was completely black but for two yellow eyes staring straight at me. I took the sketches and put them in my journal before walking back to Artemis. He was still lying on the ground, his face covered with his front paws. It hurts, wen. It hurts.


    ¡°I know sweety, I know.¡± I search for a place to hang the torch so it would give a bit of light and found one close to the tunnel towards freedom. ¡°I¡¯m going to try and carry you.¡±


    I walked back to Artemis, and lifted him of the ground. He yelped from the pain. I took a few staggering steps and regained my balance. Artemis was not a puppy anymore, and I had trouble carrying him. Nevertheless I had no choice.


    We walked through the tunnel towards the light of the day. The sun stood high in the sky. It was midday.


    After what felt like hours walking down the hill, I put Artemis down for some rest. Now the adrenaline was gone, and my weariness grew. Artemis grew more silent with the minute. And I hugged him tight. ¡°Don¡¯t leave me buddy. We will make it.¡± My wounds started aching more and it took me more and more willpower to stand up every time and carry Artemis further.


    Finally, the farm was in sight. My arms were shaking and my knees couldn¡¯t carry me any longer. Artemis had closed his eyes and was barely breathing. I felt a lump in my throat. Tears sting in my eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t go buddy, don¡¯t go,¡± I whispered. My voice sounded hoarse from the lack of water. I reached the broken fence. A woman was standing with the cows in the field and called for something. I was too tired to respond. A man was running towards us as I tried to climb over the fence without success. I fell to my knees. My eyes blackened and right before I passed out, I saw Thalor. ¡°Help Artemis,¡± I pushed the words out of my mouth and lifted Artemis a little. He nodded and caught me as I fell forward and everything went black.

 3. On the run

    3.


    The days that passed, I remember vaguely. The fever that struck me, kept me captivated in a bed. Most of the times I slept, but sometimes I would wake up with extreme headache. Everything was turning and I felt sick to the stomach. The small wounds started to fester. Something cold was laid on my head and a small cup was brought to my lips. I drank deeply and heard Thalor talk to me. ¡°You¡¯re going to be alright. Drink in small bits.¡±


    I don¡¯t know how many days went by but at some point, I opened my eyes and was able to say more than just groans of pain. Thalor was in the room, collecting clean bandages for my wounds. ¡°How bad is it?¡± it was weird to hear my voice again. It sounded hoarser than I could remember. ¡°It¡¯s not that bad anymore. The wounds are healing properly and it feels like the fever is almost gone.¡± Thalor answered when he stood up and started to refresh the bandages on my shoulder and stomach. Then I realised something. Thalor was just a human as far as I knew. He would never understand my friendship with a wolf. And the fact that I could talk to him.


    ¡°Where is Artemis?¡± I asked as fear struck me like cold water. Thalor looked at me, no emotion showed on his face. ¡°Artemis is fine. His leg is still recovering. It has been broken during the battle and the open wound was infected as well. But you¡¯re lucky that I¡¯ve worked in the army and know how to treat battle wounds without the help of a doctor. You should be very careful with your relationship with the wolf. I thought you could handle a battle like that, but apparently, I was wrong. And I¡¯m sorry for letting you go off like that. I think I didn¡¯t see another solution through my anger. I¡¯ve had the speech of my wife so don¡¯t go cursing me, I know I was wrong. She will come and bring you some food later, now stay still as I refresh your bandage.¡± He said as I was trying to sit up straight. This was the first time I saw my wounds clearly. It looked like wolf scratches. The hide was red and bloody, but the colour of the blood looked healthy. There was no pus coming from the wounds. I wondered what Artemis¡¯ leg would look like. ¡°I¡¯d like to see him,¡± I answered his story.


    Thalor didn¡¯t even look up at me when he answered: ¡°He is lying in the living room in front of the fire hearth. But I don¡¯t think it is wise for you or him, to walk right now. Give your body the time to heal and gather some strength before you go walking everywhere.¡±


    He pulled the blanket tight around me and tucked me in, as if I was his little girl.


    Than he gave me a quick emotionless smile and left the room.


    The room where I lay in was not big. Next to my bed was a small table with some medicines on it. There was a large window covering almost the entire wall next to my bed. White curtains were bounded aside so that the morning light could lit up the room. In the corner, next to the door stood an old wardrobe. The wood was dark and here and there small holes started to appear. Thalor had put open the window. The smell of winter¡¯s morning filled the air. The bed I lay in was covered with white linen. The sides of the blanket were decorated with delicate net-like fabric made with fine thread. And so, soft. I pulled the blankets closer about me and breathed out. Letting all the stress go.


    I wanted to try and see if I could still speak with Artemis. We not only had to figure out what we exactly confronted in the cave, but also what happened to me. As I closed my eyes I could feel Artemis soul tucking at me. Artemis? Are you still there, buddy? I send the thought straight to him.


    I¡¯m still there, Wen, I heard him say in my head. Relieve washed over me. What happened in there Artemis, I thought I couldn¡¯t use my magic, that it was blocked somehow? I asked him. I could almost hear and see him thinking of an answer. If it was completely blocked, how are you able to talk to me than? That made me think. I was indeed able to talk to Artemis without any problems. But Barnabas always told me he couldn¡¯t teach me for I was blocked to him. So how could I be able to talk to animals? Maybe it¡¯s just a part of you that is blocked. And you can use minor magic but not the real stuff. If you know what I mean, Artemis filled in my question.


    I think you are right. So now I need to find a teacher? I asked him


    No! We stick to the plan. Besides you have taken those books. First travel to Andu?n, find out what Barnabas was after and then we¡¯ll see.


    It didn¡¯t even surprise me that he knew about the spell books. Somehow, he always knew everything I did.


    The door creaked open and a woman of middle age walked in. She smiled sweetly carrying a tray of food. Her brown hair, streaked with grey, was bounded behind her head. She wore a simple white, yellow dress. ¡°Hello, my name is Faelwen,¡± I started the conversation. She put down the tray and looked at me. ¡°Hello, child, I¡¯m Gwen. Nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°Actually, I¡¯m not a child any more. I¡¯ll be twenty years old next month,¡± I replied. She raised her eyebrows in surprise. ¡°Pardon me, young lady. You look quiet young for your age.¡± I smiled at her. ¡°I know, you¡¯re not the first and will definitely not be the last. What day is it today?¡± I asked her before she left the room. ¡°It is the 13<sup>th</sup> of the fifth moon,¡± she answered me and left the room. 7 days. I missed 7 days of traveling. 7 days of rest is how I like to see it, Artemis intruded my mind. You know the food is very nice here. And I like the woman. She pets me behind my ears like you do and always gives me her last pieces of pastries.


    I smiled, as long as you don¡¯t get too fat, I¡¯m okay with it.


    Besides, the Hunters haven¡¯t found us yet.


    You¡¯re right. I wonder how long it will take until they figure out that we¡¯re here, I said to Artemis, worry filling my heart and soul.


    For now, I would rest. I picked up the tray of food and ate some of the bread and hot soup.


    It was indeed delicious.


    We stayed for three months. Thalor taught me how to use a sword properly, so that next time I could defend myself better. He was a former kings guard, his wife told me. And retired after he got badly injured on his leg. Now he lived as a farmer of his land and the milk from his cows. I grew very fond of this man and his sweet wife. As Gwen taught me how to make a nice meal of ingredients you could find in the nature, Thalor taught me how I could take care of battle wounds myself. I helped them a lot on their land, gathering crops and scattering new seeds. I took care of the cows and the horses. Artemis always trotting behind me. I trained every night with my bow and sword. Increasing my speed, increasing my power and my skills. Soon I saw much improvement. I could also see improvements with Artemis¡¯ skills.


    On my birthday, the 23<sup>rd</sup> of the sixth moon, Gwen had made me a cake. All night we drank wine and told funny stories to each other. Laughing till mornings dawn. I wish I could stay here for ever. But we all knew that there would come a day, I had to leave.


    Unfortunately, that day came sooner as expected.


    It was the 28<sup>th</sup> of the eight moon. A beautiful day. The sun was shining in a cloudless sky, I was working on the field running after Artemis who tried to kill a goose. The cows were mooing in the meadow. Birds tjirping filling the air with their beautiful songs. It was still a little cold for spring. But whenever the wind disappeared and the sun shone on your skin, you could feel summer was near. As I was running after Artemis, I heard Thalor coming with his horse cart. He¡¯d been to town to sell some of his supplies on the market. I stopped chasing Artemis and his prey to wave at Thalor. But he didn¡¯t wave back. He looked sad and worried. I looked one more time at Artemis, who shut his wolf mouth over the goose¡¯s neck. Poor thing. Then I walked towards Thalor, he kept looking over his shoulder as if he suspected someone might come. ¡°How was the market today?¡± I asked him. He looked straight at me. A frown between his brows. ¡°My dear, I think the day has come we bid you farewell.¡± I was confused. ¡°Why?¡± I ask anxiously, fear creeping up on me.


    From behind me Gwen walked out of the house and joined us next to the horses. ¡°They¡¯re here. They¡¯ve come for you.¡± His voice became a whisper on the last words. Gwen took in a shuddering breath. ¡°Listen good to me, child. You will travel on. I suggest you avoid big cities. Find the Sorcerers. Last I heard of them they were near the lake of the Andu?n,¡± Thalor told me.


    ¡°I¡¯ve prepared a backpack for you, dear. Follow me,¡± Gwen pulled me with her looking anxiously back at the main road. Inside the house, she pulled out a small backpack from under the sink. It was filled with blankets and a beautiful, old map. I quickly gathered all my stuff and put that in the backpack as well. Thalor came inside and started rumbling through an old chest. I fastened my quiver over my shoulder and pulled my cloak closer around me. As Gwen fastened a bedroll on my backpack, Thalor pulled me aside. ¡°I have something for you. I¡¯ve sharpened it recently for when you would finish your training with me. As a gift. Now our training will end sooner than expected.¡± And showed me his sword.


    ¡°Thalor, that is very sweet. But I cannot accept your gift after all you guys have done for me. It is your sword. Your loyal friend in battle,¡± I answered gratefully.


    ¡°You need it more than I do now. Take it. As a reminder of us.¡± He smiled at me and presented me his sword. I bowed and held his sword in my hand. It was lighter than I expected. The sheath was decorated with small oaken leaves carved into the leather. When I pulled the sword out, I felt it had a good balance for my small hands. The blade was simple with no decoration and the hilt was bound with leather.


    I fastened it on my belt and appreciated the shortness of this weapon. Unlike an average sword, this one was shorter so that the point wasn¡¯t lower than my knee. ¡°I thank you greatly, master, for this beautiful gift.¡± And bowed again, but he pulled me close. Hugged me and whispered in my ear, tears choking his voice. ¡°Stay alive, my dear.¡±


    Gwen and Thalor smiled down upon me. ¡°I¡¯ve always admired your courage, sweet child,¡± Gwen said proudly then saw the look on my face and laughed. ¡°I mean young lady, for you left your childhood behind you.¡± I bowed again and answered: ¡°Thank you for everything. Now I know I have a home to come back to.¡± It broke my heart to abandon them like this. They had taken care of me, even though they knew what I was. They had given me a home.


    With my right hand, I touched my heart and then gestured towards them with a cupped hand, as if I gave my heart and love to them. I bowed my head and turned around to leave the room. I don¡¯t know why I used such a gesture as a goodbye. I¡¯ve always done it whenever I said goodbye to people who were dear to me.


    It was late in the afternoon when the last bit of the farm faded away in the distant. Now only long grassland awaited me, cold nights and salted pork with old breath for as long as I was travelling. Fortunately, I had Artemis as my companion. So, I wasn¡¯t completely alone.


    Our plan was to travel to Andu?n like Barnabas. And maybe we could find other sorcerer¡¯s who could help us. We avoided the main route and travelled through the grass fields, guided by a compass and a map. The Andu?n lay somewhere in the north, but we had to walk around the Wetlands, also known as the Marshes of the Fiend. There goes a main route through these wetlands towards the temple of Veras, but nobody takes it. They¡¯re all afraid of the Fiend, taking them to the underworld. Even though he hasn¡¯t been seen in 42 years to be exact. Anyway, we were going to travel a little northwest first and then at the three-way intersection we would head for Erandur. Just like Barnabas. When night fell, we rested and set up our camp. I made a little fire and Artemis went hunting for meat. He brought me two rabbits. One he ate himself raw, the other I cooked over the fire. After the simple but delicious meal, I sat down and calculated the route. How many days ¡®till we¡¯re coming across a new town? Artemis asked. I looked at the map. We walked around 30 miles I guessed, today. And we were still near the water. ¡°I think it¡¯s still almost 165 miles until we reach Dew,¡± I answered. ¡°It will be a long walk, buddy. Count on that.¡± Artemis grunted in dissatisfaction. I folded the map back in my backpack when I said: ¡°Why are you so discouraged for this long walk? You¡¯re a wolf, you¡¯re supposed to be happy, sleeping under the stars and strolling through grassy fields.¡± I smiled. ¡°You¡¯re a strange wolf.¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    I¡¯ve been among humans for too long. I look more like one every day, I guess. Then he curled himself up near the fire and fell asleep. I smiled at him and then lay myself to rest as well. My thin blanket was not enough to keep the cold of the night at bay, but I knew summer was coming and the nights would be warmer. It was a bright night tonight. You could count the stars and the moon made everything glitter in silver light. I closed my eyes.


    I dreamed.


    I dreamed of my mother. My father. My home.


    ¡°What is that mother?¡± I asked pointing at the small box in her hands.


    ¡°That, my darling, is a music box. Come and see,¡± she smiled at me and gestured me closer. I walked towards her and climbed on her lap. ¡°look, when I put the key inside the lock and turn it, then...¡± the litter of the box opened and beautiful music danced out of it. Mother hummed the tune. The two figures danced with each other in everlasting circles. ¡°You see what is written around the sun, Faelwen?¡± I looked at the sun, strange markings were written around it. I nodded. ¡°It says: ¨ªr nidh-tana-dhir ¨ª f? ¨®n ¨ª medui calad uin ¨ª aur.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± I asked.


    ¡°One day you will understand it. Now it¡¯s bedtime for you.¡± The music stopped and she closed the music box. I climbed of her lap and she gestured me out of the room. ¡°Shoo shoo, go to bed, young lady. It¡¯s way past your bedtime.¡± I run to my bed and as my mother tucked me in she whispered. ¡°This music box is very special. It¡¯s our little secret and we will keep it safe, okay?¡±


    ¡°I will protect it with my life,¡± I answered. My mother smiled and kissed me on top of my head. ¡°My little hero.¡±


    I woke up by Artemis wet tong in my face again. I pushed him angrily away reminding him how nasty I found his saliva on my face. He grinned at me as always. We packed our stuff very quickly and continued our long walk. I couldn¡¯t stop thinking of the dream. I took the music box out of my backpack and opened it. The music flew around me as it always did. But this time it sounded sad. I closed the burned litter and swallowed away my tears. ¡°¨ªr nidh-tana-dhir ¨ª f? ¨®n ¨ª medui calad uin ¨ª aur,¡± I whispered the sentence. What did you say? Artemis voice resounded in my head. ¡°The words around the sun,¡± I answered vaguely.


    Is it the same language the demon used? I frowned. It could be, but then no. It¡¯s not the same. This language sounded more harmonious than the language the demon used. Which sounded harsher somehow. It looked as if Artemis shrugged his shoulders and walked on. We will find out someday, he said. Yes, we will, I thought.


    The days that followed we didn¡¯t talk so much. I read a lot while we walked and sometimes I¡¯d inspect the map with my compass. The spell books were very interesting, unfortunately they didn¡¯t explain how to use your magic. They were only a summarize from spells and which words you had to utter to use the spell. In the nights, I tried several small spells such as an orb of light. But all failed.


    Finally, on the sixth day, when the sun went down in the west, we saw a small village appear over the hills. The red roofs gleaming with the last bit of sunlight from this day.


    The sun had already gone away, when we entered the town. This town was called Dew. And around 30 miles west lived a group of farmers. Between Dew and that little farmer¡¯s village lay fields full of crops. Sheep and cows walked in the meadows. Dew was known for his hospitality. It was build full of inns. Many travellers would stop here for a few days to rest and gather new supplies before riding on towards Westray. It was far smaller than Townhaven, but not less busy. The streets were dirty and rain started to fall out of the skies. There was no gate or wall, the village lay upon a hill. A little outside the centre of Dew lay a burrow. This burrow was surrounded by a city wall and could inhabit all the villagers inside it¡¯s wall. Here the landholder lived with his family. If you looked at dew from the distant, you could see where the gentry lived. Near the burrow in beautiful decorated houses.


    As we walked into the town, the rain started pouring down out of the sky. As if the gods were crying. It was busy, even at such a late hour. Horsecars raced through the streets, making other people jump aside in the mud. Drunk men sang to each other in the rain, each holding up a bottle of rum. Most of the inns were full. Warm, yellow light coming from the windows. I chose a smaller inn around the corner, away from the busy main street. On the sign hanging outside the door you could see two minstrels making music and dancing. I walked inside, drenched from the rain. The smell of beer, warm food and a fireplace filled my nostrils.


    The inn was decorated with oaken wooden tables and on the walls, hang the heads of dead animals. Probably, the gain of a good hunt. It kind of creeped me out, the way these dead heads would stare at you as you entered the room. On the opposite side of the bar was a big fire hearth, illuminating the room in a golden light. There were not many people in this inn. Nevertheless, it was noisy. The room was filled with roaring laughter and loud music from the minstrels. I took a seat at the table closest to the hearth. My wet cloak over the chair so it could dry a bit. Artemis curled himself up under the table in the shadows at my feet. Nobody seemed to have noticed him. A, some bit, older man from middle ages with a chubby face and red cheeks walked over to my table. He had a smile that made everyone feel welcome in his home. His curly grey, blond hair bounced up and down as he walked towards me. He had a beard that covered almost his entire face. ¡°Welcome to the Merry Minstrel, little lady. What can I offer you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like a good cup of tea, a warm meal and a room for the night, please,¡± I ordered.


    ¡°A good cup of tea, a warm meal and a room for the night, is what we offer. That will be three copper pieces for the tea, five for the meal and two silver pieces for the room, little lady,¡± he answered. I rummaged through my backpack until I found my money pouch and gave him the money. He nodded and smiled at me. ¡°Coming right your way, miss.¡± He turned around and strolled away. I quickly dropped some salted meat on the floor for Artemis to eat. Keep your head down, buddy. I don¡¯t think they are very fond of wolves in their inns, I told Artemis. He grumbled softly as an agreement and started eating his meal. Not much later the innkeeper came back with a plate of fresh breath smeared with a thick layer of butter, a mug of hot soup, a chunk of cheese, and a cup of tea. He put it all in front of me. ¡°Enjoy your meal, little lady. Hear is the key to your room, it is the third door to your left up the stairs. You can turn in the key the next morning as soon as you¡¯re about to leave.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Thank you for your hospitality, sir.¡± He started laughing. A thundering laughter that made everyone look at us. I started blushing looking down at my plate of food. ¡°You don¡¯t need to call me sir, little lady. Everyone calls me Buster.¡± I looked up at his grinning face and smiled awkwardly back. ¡°Very well then, Buster.¡± Buster turned around and yelled through the inn: ¡°What are you guys gawking about?!¡± then everyone started laughing again and continued their conversations. I shouldn¡¯t draw attention to much with the Hunters on my heels. The smell of the delicious meal soon got me thinking of nothing else then my rumbling stomach. And I started eating greedily. Sneakily dropping pieces of bread on the floor for Artemis to chew on. It might be strange for a wolf to eat bread, but I knew Artemis almost ate everything I ate as well. After we finished our meal, we waited until the room was almost empty and only drunken men were still singing with the dancing minstrels. As quick and stealthy as we could, we slipped up the stairs towards our room.


    The room wasn¡¯t big, but it was cosy and warm. A fire was burning low and illuminated the room in red, golden light. There was a scented candle burning in the corner on a small table, filling the room with lavender. The sheets on the bed were white and clean. There was even a hot tub to clean yourself with. A chunk of soap and a small towel lay on the chair next to it. ¡°Well, this is quite comfortable for the night. Don¡¯t you think?¡± I expected a sarcastic comment back, but all I heard was his snoring by the hearth. The lazy wolf had claimed the warm spot on the carpet in front of the hearth. I shook my head laughingly. ¡°Lazy wolf.¡± He stretched himself out, and repositioned himself, making little satisfying noises. If there is luxury, why not enjoy it and be lazy for a moment. I will need my strength in the journey ahead of us. There I¡¯ll be a wolf again. Now, I just want to relax, he answered me sleepy.


    I smiled at him. ¡°Right you are, buddy.¡± I walked towards the tub and cleaned my entire body with the hot water and lavender smelling soap. Then I washed my clothes and hang them to dry in front of the hearth. As I crawled into the soft, a little chilly bed, I suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Like somebody was watching me. With the candle in my hand, I stepped out of bed and started investigating the room. There was nothing there. Not a peephole where someone could watch us without being in the same room. There was nobody listening at the door. It must have been nothing. Just my own imagination. But still I couldn¡¯t get rid of the feeling that something was about to happen. I tugged the curtains closer to each other and climbed back into bed again. This time I blew out the candles, leaving us in complete darkness. I stared at the ceiling. Feeling suddenly very empty and hollow. Old memories danced in front of me, and a pang of grieve overwhelmed me. I let the tears run down my cheeks. I don¡¯t know why I suddenly felt this. Why suddenly the pain became too much to bear. Maybe it are too many changes in a short period of time, Artemis whispered in my head. Sometimes the demons inside your head become so strong, that you cannot win from them. You cannot hide from them anymore. It¡¯s okay. You¡¯re not alone. I heard Artemis soft paws walking towards me. And then a familiar weight landed on the bed next to me. He pushed his nose under my arm and let his head rest on my chest before falling asleep again. I stroke his rough fur until finally my body and mind became to weary of the pain and tears that I too fell asleep. A dreamless sleep, full of darkness. Nothing.


    I opened my eyes. Something had awakened me. A thump by the door. I softly sat up straight and saw that Artemis was already sniffing it out. Suddenly his fur stood out. Low on his paws in attack position, he growled a warning. Shh! I hushed him. He immediately stopped but kept his attack position. There came a new thump on the door. Louder than the first one. Then someone was whispering something. ¡°Let us through, we have the key.¡± My eyes grew wide and fear struck me. With a swiftness, I didn¡¯t know I had, I jumped out of bed and pushed a big chest for clothing in front of the door. I quickly got dressed. I heard the man whisper again. ¡°Stop, stop! I believe we awakened her.¡± They were quiet for a moment and so was I. But then I heard the key turn in the lock. I quickly grabbed my cloak, put on my buts and fastened all my stuff on my back and around my belt. Artemis tried to pry open the window with his paws but I was the one pushing it wide open. Climb out, I ordered him. Behind me I heard the men curse for the door was blocked by a heavy chest. They started pushing and slowly the chest moved aside. I looked down from the window, it was too high to jump. But, fortunately, underneath us was a hay stack. So, we would land softly. First Artemis jumped out. That gave me a quick moment to glance behind me. I saw two men through the narrow opening of the door. One was pushing against the door and the other was trying to get through. Half of his body was already in the room. They were dressed in black and their faces were veiled. But the emblem on their clothes, revealed they were one of the Hunters. The man already half through the door, saw me climbing on the railing of the window. ¡°You little¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t hear his last words for I jumped down and landed in the hay stack. He probably cursed like he did before. With difficulty, I climbed out of the hay stack. Finding Artemis covered with small hay strings in his fur. I probably looked the same. Didn¡¯t matter. We had to get out of here. I never thought I would do this, but the loud crack of the chest breaking against the wall, made me run for the horses. On my way, I grabbed a saddle and some reins. I chose a calm looking male horse in the corner of the stall. It was as if he felt my hurry. He stayed completely still as I put the saddle on his back and fastened his reins over his head. I found a saddlebag big enough for Artemis to fit in and bound that to on the horse as well. Then I put Artemis in it and climbed on the back of the horse. I kicked my heals in his stomach. ¡°Run! Run as if death is chasing you,¡± I said to this horse. His ears turned to me and then to the sound of the Hunters coming our way. As if he understood the meaning of what I said, he stretched his neck and shot away. Like an arrow from a bow. The Hunters blocking the entrance from the stall had to jump aside if they didn¡¯t want to have a hove in their face. I clang to the reins and tried to stay in the saddle as he galloped into the night. During our wild flight, I heard Artemis complain continually over his situation, claiming he would never again ride on a horse again. That he demanded from me to put him out of this bag immediately. That he was a wolf who could run himself. I ignored his complains, because I was too busy not to fall of my stolen horse. I hoped Buster wouldn¡¯t be too angry about it. Not much later I heard four horses following us. I turned in my saddle and saw four of the Hunters kicking their horses and shouting. One of them loaded a crossbow. So, they wanted me dead or alive. It clearly didn¡¯t matter. I duck low over the neck of my horse to make myself as small a target as possible and made my horse sway a little. Which would make us a more difficult target to hit. The first crossbow arrow shot over our head. Artemis whined. Faster beast! Faster! I heard him pushing his thoughts towards the horse. Shockingly it listened and when the second arrow flew past us, the horse made a leap and run faster. More arrows followed but they all missed us by inches. Luck was with us tonight. I had no idea which way we were running or what the time was. For the night was clouded and dark. And I had no time to look at my map. We just ran. Just anywhere possible. We were still surrounded by grassland, so I assumed we were going somewhere in northern direction. I hoped we were going somewhere in northern direction. The arrows passing over our heads, became less. Until they completely stopped coming. I looked back and saw the riders falling behind. Suddenly the horse made a leap towards the left and I almost fell off. We rode towards a small piece of land covered with bushes and trees. I had no idea how long we were already running, but I could see the sun rising in the east as the morning birds started to sing their songs. And we still ran on. Now and then we trotted a little through the trees. One time we even walked, the horse breathing loud from exhaustion. But not even an hour later we heard our pursuers again.


    We galloped through the trees and when we emerged on hilly grassland again, our pursuers were gone. They had given up the chase, I thought. In the distant I saw an old abandoned barn. There wasn¡¯t much left, but I knew we could stay there for the rest of the night. Even though it was already midday. The horse started trotting. Completely exhausted from the long chase. When we reached the barn, I found some hay and made sure Artemis and the horse were comfortable. I dried a bit of his sweat with some hay. Artemis stood watch by the door. I suggest one of us keeps watch. And we switch so that both of us get enough rest.


    ¡°I agree,¡± I answered Artemis while I stroke the small horse over his head. ¡°You are as swift as an arrow flying of its bow, my friend.¡± The horse made a horse sound and pushed his head against me. I smiled. ¡°Now take your deserved rest, my friend.¡± I made my way back to Artemis, leaving the horse. Stroke his fur behind his ear and went to sleep. I knew he would take the first watch.

 4. Westray

    4.


    Everything was quiet when I took over the watch from Artemis. The horse had fallen asleep as well, lying on the ground. As I sat in the shadowy corner of the entrance from the old barn, I saw the sun sinking into the west and my eyes became heavy. I must have fallen asleep, for next I remember, I woke up by a sound. Hoof beats coming from afar. First I thought I imagined it. But then I heard it again. I woke up Artemis and saddled the horse. You¡¯re right, they found our track. We must leave now! Artemis exclaimed in horror.


    I had slept until nightfall. When we emerged from the broken barn, I saw it was a clouded sky again and knew it was going to rain sooner or later. We trotted away from our hiding place. I quickly looked at the map and with my compass, I found out that we had run northwest, so I adjusted our course a little to the east. This time Artemis refused climbing in the saddlebag, and run alongside me. ¡°Don¡¯t be stubborn, it¡¯s a long run. Climb in that bag!¡± I yelled at him while we were running. No! I¡¯m a wolf! Not a pet you can put in your bag. A wild wolf!


    Sure, you are, I thought.


    I can hear you! I frowned at him at let the horse run faster. I heard Artemis growl frustrated and saw him make a leap to keep up. Not much later I saw two of the Hunters catching up with me on the left and two on the right. They came closer, aiming their crossbows at me. I lay low on the neck of the horse. The arrows started flying past us again. I send the horse to the left, running through the ditches along the meadows and grain fields. Some farmers who were working on their fields, jumped aside in fear. With their mouths slightly ajar, they stared after us. We still ran on. The sun was rising higher in the sky but our pursuers didn¡¯t give up the chase. To the left! Without hesitation, I send the horse to the left and we ran into a small forest. I swayed the horse around the trees trying to shake off the Hunters. It kind of worked. The Hunters fell behind. But not for long. The moment we raced into grassland again, two of the Hunters regained their speed and caught up with me. Artemis jumped on one of them, tearing at his flesh. The man yelled and tried to get rid of the small wolf hanging on his back. He fell behind. But the second one, rode next to me. In the distant I saw a crossroad dooming up in the sky. It was crowded by people, carts, woman and man on horse. Even from this distant I could hear the loud chatter of people. It was the three-way intersection to the biggest city of the Ancestral Region. Westray. The main city of the west. The place where the king lived, where now his youngest son ruled. Following his father¡¯s demands. The Hunter bumped against us, I regained my balance and tried to send my horse to the right. Coming closer and closer towards the crossroad. I turned around and saw Artemis coming up behind me. Then the man grabbed my tunic and dragged me of the horse. The horse, completely startled by this sudden movement, raced into the opposite direction and I fell off. Landing hard on the ground. All the air pushed out of my lungs. Artemis jumped over me and attack the Hunter who had come to a halt. With his knife, he tried to stab Artemis. I grabbed my sword and run towards him. He was too busy fighting off my wolf, that he didn¡¯t saw me coming. I struck him hard with the pommel on the side of his head. His eyes rolled inside his head and he lost consciousness. Behind me I heard shouts and saw the other two Hunters galloping towards us. Into the crowd, I ordered Artemis with my thoughts. And we ran. Towards the crowded crossroad.


    It was like hitting a big fog cloud. All senses were suddenly stunned. It was noisy and people were pushing everybody aside to make way through the crowd. We tried to get across it, but it was nearly impossible. I was small and light weighted. Everybody pushed me aside or bumped up against me. I heard people cursing each other, shouting to get out of their way. Horses whinnying, dogs barking. To many sounds, to many people, to little space. I felt suffocated. I heard the Hunters yelling at the people to get out of their way and I hid between a group of minstrels making their way towards the castle walls. Getting into the group was easy, freeing yourself from it wasn¡¯t. Artemis and I were pushed forward towards the castle walls. Not able to get past all the people. The Hunters coming up behind us. ¡°There! Between the Minstrels! Get her!¡± I heard one of them yell. The minstrels parted shockingly aside when they understood that they wanted me. I suddenly had the space again to run. And darted off towards the castle walls. The only way to get back into the crowd. I made my way through a group of merchants, hid behind a cart for a while, until I saw a group of monks walking. I pulled my cloak closer around me, my hood hiding my face and blended myself into the group of monks. Artemis followed me, hiding under the cart. We¡¯re heading towards the gate!


    No time to turn around now, I answered, we¡¯ll find a way out again.


    The Hunters were pushing everybody aside, but couldn¡¯t find us. ¡°Check everyone at the gate! No one enters or leaves this city without me knowing of it!¡± One of the Hunters ordered the guards. They ran towards the city gates. Me and Artemis were almost there. Artemis, be prepared, they¡¯re going to check under the cart!


    Don¡¯t worry, Wen. They won¡¯t see me.


    I bowed my head and looked to the ground as I walked closely after the monks. Close enough to be part of it, but not too close for them to notice me. We approached the great walls of Westray and the immense gate, protecting the inhabitants from the outside world. The big gate consisted of big oaken wooden doors, braced with iron from the inside and outside. Now the doors were wide open and you could see the complicated mechanism that would seal this gate. Above the entrance was a portcullis they could lower with a wheel on the right. On the wall were archers marching up and down, looking out over the wide land. Constructions of huge iron pots were placed on the outside of the wall. Probably to lower a wave of boiling tar. Now the pots were empty, no steam was rising from it. But the archers and the guards by the doors, held their weapons at the ready. As if they could be attacked at any moment. I came closer and closer to the gate, until I walked underneath it. The sun disappeared for a moment. The guards, who were ordered to check every passenger, looked intensely at us. I lowered my head and walked closer to the group. This time my small size saved me. The guards nodded a greeting towards one of the first monks and let us pass. As I expected they did stop the cart where Artemis was hiding underneath. I listened, but heard no surprise or angry shouts from the guards. I didn¡¯t know how he had done it. But I was proud and happy he was here with me in this maze of a city. After we passed the guards I dared to look up and exclaimed words of wonder. I had never seen this city in my life. I just heard the stories of its immensity and beauty like every other country girl. I knew there were many districts. This was probably a middle-class district by the look of it. All the stories of Barnabas about this city came back to me. Around the city was the big wall with immense gates. Along the wall, houses were built for middle classes. Most of them were rich merchants as far as Barnabas knew, they actually wanted to live close to the centre of this immense city, but as there was no space to build any new buildings there, they settled here on the borders of the city. All the buildings looked almost the same. White stonewalls with blue roofs. The city had three gateways. One of them in the east, near the three-way intersection, where I just had entered Westray. one of them in the south, towards the temple of Herdus and the last one in the west by Tradersbay. The harbour of Westray and the most important trading place. Here big merchant ships anchored from lands across the ocean. Between the middle class outer buildings and the main city in the middle, lived the poor people as Barnabas described them. Among them walked the beggars and vagabonds of this city. The houses there were simple but still had their charm. Only the streets were muddy. There were some stone streets that led up to the main city, but the side tracks were most of the time muddy and dirty. The people there walked in simple common clothes. Not all of them wore simple clothes, the, some bit, richer people were trying to wear the latest fashion. Only of poor quality. They made their money for example by forging weapons and armours, or wood carvings and more. Closer to the main city, you could find rich shops and rich people walking in fancy clothes, strolling over the clean big streets. Their houses were huge with small windows, decorated with carved stone or wooden figures. Most of the houses were white with blue roofs, but a few houses of the riches persons had Bordeaux red roofs and fancy carvings along the wall. According to Barnabas, these were the oldest buildings of the city. The newer ones all got blue roofs. Flowers hang outside the windows, and the streets were coloured with their beautiful leafs. When you walked further to the west, the houses became more darker and simpler. The closer you came to the harbour the more warehouses you came across. The warehouses were simple stone buildings, with flat roofs. The houses you came across also had the Bordeaux roofs. When the sun would rise in the sky, or fall, these roofs would give an intense red, orange coloured light. To the north was the Kings castle. This castle was the most impressive building of all. Around the castle was still some green. The gardens of the king. The big walkway upwards towards the castle on the hill were sided by big oak trees. The castle existed of a combination of white stones and simple red ones, the roof was Bordeaux red, except for the new parts of the castle that had the white stones and dark blue roofs. The walls were decorated with stone figures of eagles and mythological creatures, such as phoenixes. When the sun shone upon the roofs of this beautiful castle, it illuminated everything around itself with a beautiful light. Just like the orange sky of the falling sun in the ocean, with the dark blue twinkling like the sea itself.


    But now it was the middle of the day, and I had no time to look beyond what was coming towards me. Three armed men walked towards the gate. Everyone jumped aside and made way as they approached. Everybody avoided eye contact. The armed men were wearing shiny plate armour of white silver. On their chest, they wore the insigne of the king. A black eagle rising up in the sky, holding white, war arrows in his left claw and a white lightning bolt in his right one. The soldiers had white cloaks, covered with silver lines and their faces were hidden behind a helmet with eagle wings. Their eyes, looking like two black holes and no mouth. They all wore long, small knifes along their side. One of them had a huge two-handed sword on his back. The other wore a crossbow and a fancy long sword. The last one also had a long sword on his side and two short swords crossed on his back. I couldn¡¯t imagine how they could fight in that armour and still they walked so elegant in it. As if it weighted nothing and their moving¡¯s weren¡¯t obstructed at all by their armour. I¡¯d heard of these warriors. They were fearsome and had no mercy. They were the Kings guards. I knew Thalor was a former kings guard. And I knew his fighting skills were fearsome. There were but a few times I¡¯d defeated him. But somehow something told me, he had let me win. These men were trained since they were ten-year-old boys. And the training was harsh. Most of them failed, but some succeeded and became Silver Soldiers also known as the Kings guards. The first high king Talron, started training his Silver soldiers when he feared to be attack by mages. He first trained them himself. So, when the young boys heard that the king wanted to create an army, trained by the greatest sword fighter of the Ancestral Region, the high king himself, they immediately participated and started to be part of the trainings. When Talron grew older, he chose several of his Silver Soldiers to train the young boys. How the boys were chosen is still a question. But rumour has it, that most of them are parentless, street boys or offspring of other Silver Soldiers.


    Shivers ran up my spine. You didn¡¯t want these soldiers as your enemy. And yet I had the feeling I just made them my enemy. The one with the big two-handed sword, grabbed and random stranger by his shoulder and lowered his head to ask something. The poor man, shaking from fear, shook his head heavily. I reached the first streets of the city with the group of monks. And knew I had not much time to hide myself. I saw one of the Silver Soldiers looking at us. I more felt than saw his eyes narrow in distrust. Just in time I felt Artemis soft fur strike against my leg. I looked down and saw him disappearing in an alley. I followed him stealthily. But apparently not stealthy enough. For I heard one of them call: ¡°Stop in the name of the high king Edmund!¡± I ran. With Artemis at my heals I ran. I had no idea where to. But I ran. As fast as I could. Running from alley to alley, shadow to shadow. Sometimes I stopped and tried to calm my heavy breathing as I anxiously looked around me. I don¡¯t know where I ended up at some point. But I saw a small, almost empty tavern in one of the muddy streets. This was probably the ¡°poor¡± district. I opened the door and walked in with Artemis. The room was quiet. No music, the people were whispering with each other. There was a fire place burning in the corner of the room. And when you walked in, you immediately walked against the bar. An old man dressed in simple, outworn clothes walked towards me. He had a chubby face with a dirty beard and heavy eyebrows. He looked far from friendly. Cleaning some of his cups. He leaned over the bar to look down at me. ¡°What can I get you, little miss,¡± he snorted. His fowl breath made me want to walk straight out of this place. I pulled up my nose and answered: ¡°I seek shelter for the storm.¡± I don¡¯t know why I said I was seeking shelter for a storm, but I needed an excuse to hide in here, before the Silver soldiers would find me. The old man, scratched his dirty beard and looked confused at me. ¡°Take a seat, little miss. I¡¯ll see what I can do for you.¡± Strange answer but alright. I took a place in the corner of the room. Artemis curled at my feet, but kept his watching glare over the rest of the room. Some people in the room looked a little frightened by the wolf, but most just looked weird at me. As if I was some sort of freak. Let them stare, I didn¡¯t care. I held my fingers crossed and hoped that the Silver soldiers had lost my track. After waiting for what felt like an hour, some strange figure pulled a chair towards the table and sat across me. Artemis made a low growl, but the man didn¡¯t seem to be impressed. He was wearing a long black, cloak with a simple dark coloured tunic. And trousers with leather riding boots. His gloves were missing the tops so that you could see his blackened nails. His eyes were hidden under his hood, but his mouth stood in a small grin. He had a clean-shaven chin, no moustache or beard of any kind. I couldn¡¯t see what kind of weapons he was wearing, if he was wearing any, but somehow, I knew he had them. He laid his hands on the table and leaned a little forward. Licking his lips before he spoke. ¡°You were seeking shelter h¨¦?¡± his voice sounded young and he had a slightly strange foreign accent. He wasn¡¯t from the ancestral Region. Maybe, someone from the northern countries, beyond the mountains. I let my hand rest on my sword. ¡°Who are you?¡± I asked, trying to make my voice as steady as I could. He grinned, I probably had failed trying to hide my fear. ¡°Names are not important little fox. You are running from the Silver soldiers, right?¡±


    That shocked me a little. ¡°What makes you say that?¡± I asked in return.


    He leaned backwards and I felt his gaze look me up and down. ¡°The Silver soldiers are looking for a small country girl with pointy ears. I believe I just found her here.¡± I betrayed myself by slightly touching my ears. His grin widened. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen you in this city before, and we know all our people. So, what did you do that the most fearsome soldiers are hunting you on your first day here in this city?¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Artemis growled, that¡¯s not his business.


    ¡°Hush,¡± I spoke softly and stroke Artemis. The man didn¡¯t move. ¡°It¡¯s not important what I did. It¡¯s more important how I can safely leave this city without harming anyone.¡±


    The man moved in his chair, crossed his hands and bowed his head a little. I could almost see his eyes. Two sparkling eyes. Young eyes. This man wasn¡¯t much older as I was. ¡°I can give you the safety you¡¯re looking for. But need something in return.¡±


    I didn¡¯t trust this man. But knew I had no chance to escape by myself. I needed help. Still it was strange that a random stranger would offer me any help. ¡°Why do you want to help me, stranger?¡± He leaned back, his grin disappeared and he licked his lips. ¡°You asked for my help, little fox, when you told the barman you were seeking shelter for the storm. I assumed you knew what that meant?¡± I didn¡¯t, but I could guess what it meant. Some sort of cult.


    ¡°You work alone?¡± I asked.


    He shook his head. ¡°So, I assume you had no idea what that sentence meant. I am part of a guild. You might know them. The Black Hawks.¡± Everybody knew the Black Hawks. It was the thief¡¯s guild. Nobody understood how this guild survived, some say they help the high king so now and then. Others say their lair is now so big, that it doesn¡¯t only have a centre here in Westray and therefore it¡¯s almost impossible to wipe out the entire cult. I knew from Barnabas notes that the thief¡¯s guild would help any person as long as you¡¯d do something or gave them something they needed. Even though it was a thief¡¯s guild, they had not only master lock pickers, but also assassins people could hire for a certain amount of money. According to Barnabas there were three leaders. Hawkeye, he was the oldest thief in the thief¡¯s guild and the most skilled one. Deathrose also named as Lady Rosemary, a lovely lady who was secretly working as a spy for whoever might need her. Nobody but Barnabas knew that Deathrose and Lady Rosemary were the same person. Barnabas knew for he had written that he¡¯d helped Deathrose escape from the dungeons and become Lady Rosemary. He also wrote that he had heard that Hawkeye and Deathrose got married shortly after she had escaped. And then you had the last one. The Basilisk, he was the snake among snakes. The most wanted assassin of this kingdom. He was known for his cruel murders that looked like suicide. He loved to frighten his victim before killing it. The story goes that he would leave three play cards behind on a place where only the victim would find them. The first card would be a random number, the second card would be the jack and the third was a self-made card with a skull and a knife sticking out of it. The first card would show you how many days you had still left before he would come. The jack was a card nobody really understood. But rumour had it that Jack was his original birth name. He would always place that card among the three cards so that people would know that it was the Basilisk that would come to kill them. And the last card meant death of course. Why the thief¡¯s guild actually existed for, nobody really knew. But the High king never seemed to find their lair. But all knew that when you¡¯d enter this city, the Black Hawks would know who you were, what you were and where you came from.


    ¡°If I would agree with this, what would you want in return?¡± I asked suspiciously. He licked his lips again before answering: ¡°I¡¯m not the one who decides that.¡± His grin widened for a second. Artemis growled low from under the table. I do not trust this man, he spoke to me.


    Me neither, buddy, I stroke his warm fur.


    ¡°My apology for the misunderstanding, nevertheless will my wolf and I find shelter ourselves, thank you.¡± I wanted to stand up, but the man grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards him. ¡°Are you sure?¡± he asked, pointing at the window. I looked outside and fear struck me again. Two of the silver soldiers were talking to a commoner. Damn, buddy, they found us! The young man let go of me and sat down again, his arms crossed. He enjoyed the terror that was rising inside me. ¡°They¡¯ll soon knock on this door, little fox.¡± He smiled. A satisfying smile. ¡°Alright!¡± I hissed at him. ¡°Take us to safety and I¡¯ll give you what you want.¡±


    ¡°Good, follow me,¡± he hissed back at me. As swift as a fox he stood up and walked towards the stairs that led up to the bedrooms of this small inn. Artemis and I followed him. The people in the room didn¡¯t pay much attention to us and kept on talking and drinking. Like nothing strange was going on. Maybe all of them were connected somehow to the thief¡¯s guild. The young stranger crouched under the stairs, pushed a heavy chest aside and pulled a lever, hidden behind a brig in the wall ¡°What? Where¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t finish my question for he looked angry back at me, raising his finger to his lips. Even though his face was partly hidden in the shadows of his hood, I could still feel his angry glare. When he pulled the lever down, I heard a click from under the stone plate on the ground. I looked closer and saw that the stone could easily be pulled off the ground now. It stood slightly ajar. That was exactly what the young man did. It was pitch black down there. ¡°Jump in,¡± he ordered me, whispering in my ear. I took a deep breath, slicked my fear away and tried to calm my beating heart. ¡°Hurry up, we don¡¯t have much time!¡± he pushed me a little closer to the black hole. Gawking up at me like an open mouth, ready to swallow me. Artemis pushed his way towards the hole and jumped down. I heard him landing on the ground with a soft splash. Except for the water, it¡¯s safe and okay for now, he reassured me. I thanked him and jumped down as well. The stranger followed us swiftly, after carefully hiding the lever behind the brig. After he landed with a splash in the water, he started feeling the walls. Until he pulled something out of the shadows. It was a ladder. With the help of the ladder he pulled the chest and the stone plate back in their place. Hiding the entrance for unwanted eyes. I could hear the silver soldiers talking to the owner of this inn, right before the entrance was closed off and we were put in total darkness. For a moment I panicked again, but the young man was prepared and lit a candle to enlighten our surrounding. We were in the underground tunnels from Westray. The walls around us and the ceiling were made of stone, the ground on the other hand, was dirt. Water seeping in from underground currents. The air was heavy and the walls were green from the moss. Artemis pulled me out of my thoughts and I quickly followed the young man with his candle and only light. ¡°What is this place?¡± I asked him. He didn¡¯t even look back at me when he answered. ¡°This, little fox, is the underground city. These corridors used to be above the ground. But a huge earthquake many years ago, covered it up with dirt. We have re-established the tunnels and the city. We strengthened the walls and build the ceilings, so no dirt can come in here anymore. At some places, we even have established the floor with new stones. But especially the older corridors like these, are still covered with dirt and rats. Take a look at the walls. You can easily distinguish our materials with the previous materials used on this wall.¡± He moved the candle closer to the walls. And what I saw was magnificent. The old stone was decorated with pictures and weird signs. The same signs on my mother¡¯s music box. The beautiful images were broken and some were not complete, mixed with the simple cement and stone we used to build our houses. ¡°You¡¯ll be more astounded when we reach the city, little fox.¡±


    We seemed to walk for hours. There was no end to the underground tunnels. Several times we took a turn to the left or the right. If it wasn¡¯t for this young stranger, I would have gotten lost in this maze. Everywhere the walls had the same decoration, partly obscured by the simple, new stones that sustained the walls and ceiling. Preventing it from collapsing upon us. I wondered what kind of creatures lived here. They were definitely not human, for the humans couldn¡¯t make such beautiful paintings. It wasn¡¯t their style. The candle, the stranger was carrying was slowly diminishing. ¡°Do you have another one?¡± I asked while I groped for a new one in my own backpack. Damn, it must have fallen out of it when we left in such a hurry. ¡°This is the last one. I believe I took a wrong turn somewhere.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t believe my ears. ¡°We¡¯re lost?!¡± I heard him grumbling something in return. ¡°We¡¯re not lost. I know these tunnels like the back of my hand,¡± he snarled back at me.


    ¡°So, there¡¯s no map of this place?¡±


    ¡°No map has ever been made. We keep these tunnels a secret. You learn these tunnels by heart until you can blindly find your way in here,¡± he answered. The candle was now at its lowest point. Soon we would be put in total blackness again. With no light to rekindle a candle. ¡°How will we find our way with no light?¡± I started to get a little irritated by him. He seemed to pretend he knew everything, while I could see in the way he looked by every corner, that he too had no idea where we were. ¡°We just follow the walls,¡± just when he said that, the candle burned up. ¡°Put your hand on the wall and follow the sound of my footsteps,¡± he commanded me. I did as I was told and put my hand on the wall. Artemis still walked beside me, I could feel his fur so now and then, strike my leg. The second I put my hand on the wall, something unbelievable happened. The drawings and signs on the wall started to lit up. The light spread from the palm of my hand to the far ends of the wall. It was a cold moon like light that enlightened our faces. The stranger put off his hood and for the first time, I could see his complete face. He looked extremely surprised and a little horrified at me. His black hair was wild, I could see he put it in a warrior¡¯s tale. But still lose bits of hair, fell over his small face. He was indeed not much older as I was and pretty handsome, except for the scar on his left cheek. His blue eyes became even brighter by the vague moon like light. His horrified fear struck me like an arrow and I quickly let go of the wall, surrounding us with complete darkness again. Wen? I heard Artemis soft voice in my head. I think you should arm yourself.


    I¡­ but, even in my head I didn¡¯t know how to react. ¡°What did you do, little fox?¡± his voice had become cold and threatening, tinged with a little fear.


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know,¡± I answered hesitantly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t play tricks with me, girl.¡± He threatened me. ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know!¡± I raised my voice in despair.


    I heard him take a deep breath and he sighed. ¡°Do it again,¡± he whispered. I could barely hear what he said. ¡°Do it again!¡± he suddenly yelled when I didn¡¯t respond. I quickly put my hand on the wall again and the room lit up in its white, moon light. The young man had covered his face again with his hood and walked on. ¡°Don¡¯t let go of the wall,¡± he strictly ordered me. I saw Artemis¡¯ muscles relax a little next to me and he walked on. Do you know something of this, buddy? I asked him. He was way to calm for something magical like this. I only know that these streets, and probably this city where were heading too, once belonged to the elves, he answered. It didn¡¯t really reassure me. Somehow, I had the feeling, he wasn¡¯t telling me everything. But why would he keep it a secret? Because sometimes, things are not clear and before I start speculating I want good evidence to confirm my theory, Artemis intruded my thoughts. Argh, I always forgot that he could read my mind whenever he wanted to.


    We walked on in silence for a while. After some time, the young stranger stopped and looked back at me. ¡°I have to admit, I don¡¯t know where we are at all.¡± I was tired and hungry. My stomach growled and now we were also lost. Fade was against us. ¡°How long have we been walking?¡± I asked the man. He took a small notebook from his pocket and started counting. ¡°If my calculations are right, then I think it¡¯s already late in the evening,¡± he sighed. ¡°I think we have to sleep here for the night.¡± I looked around. In the middle of what used to be a street, lay a small pool of water. It was slowly moving in the direction where we came from. Water always fell downhill. ¡°Where is this city? Up the hill or down?¡± I asked curiously.


    ¡°Up why?¡± he asked while he was searching through his backpack for something. ¡°For then we walk the right way to our destiny. The water is running downhill, towards the place where we just came from,¡± I explained. He shrugged. ¡°Almost all tunnels lead up the hill. There but a few restored tunnels downhill. Your clever thinking is not of much use here.¡± I looked irritated away and started investigating the wall. The carvings were beautiful. I could see through the cracks and holes, that these carvings told stories. Probably of the history of this town. The weird signs on top that looked like letters were lit up as well. Buddy, how will we ever find that city? Unintentionally, I pushed the thought towards the wall. And in response I heard one word bouncing through my head. C¨¢rassea.


    What was that? Artemis, did you hear that too?


    Yes, Wen, I heard it too. It was the wall, look. I looked back at the wall and saw a few elvish runes were lit up. And together they made the word C¨¢rassea. ¡°Carasie? What does that mean?¡±


    You pronounce it as Kaarasie, Wen. ¡°What are you whispering about, little fox?¡± the young man walked towards me and looked at the wall as well. ¡°A word is spelled here, C¨¢rassea.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± he asked. I shrugged. I wouldn¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t speak elvish. Did I?


    I heard the voice of my mother and someone else. I remember I used to eavesdrop whenever my mother had visitors. They would speak in an extraordinary, magnificent language. This was it. This was that language. It was as if my mother spoke for me when I answered: ¡°City, it means city.¡±


    The young stranger touched the wall softly. ¡°I wonder what language this is. And how do you understand this?¡± I followed the shape of the letters with my finger as I explained: ¡°I think it¡¯s the language of the elves. How I understand is a mystery for me too. The language just speaks to me. I just understand. I don¡¯t know how else to explain this.¡±


    The man stayed quiet for a while, lost in thought. Wen, the wall speaks to us. Maybe it can help us find this city? That wasn¡¯t a bad idea. What is this city called by the elves? I asked Artemis.


    ¡°Armenelos,¡± the young man answered our conversation. As if he had heard us talking. ¡°That is the name of this underground city, before it was destroyed many years ago. I found that name when I was looking for a map of this maze. And I came across some old scrolls from human mages. They said there used to be elves living here. But after a natural disaster, the city was buried underneath the earth. Many lives were lost, nevertheless the elves wanted to rebuild the city. Unfortunately, the humans were stronger and used this catastrophe to take the elves¡¯ homeland. There wasn¡¯t much information about this quick war and I remember that underneath was written that this story was just a myth. I, too, always believed elves were fairy tales. But then I found some notes. They told me the elves had moved away to..¡±


    ¡°Erandur, the city near the lake of the Andu?n. They rebuild their beloved city and renamed it. Now this city is inhabited by human farmers and the elves disappeared more than 350 years ago.¡± The young man looked startled at my knowledge of his findings. ¡°Yeah, how did you..¡± he started his question, but I interrupted his question with my answer.


    ¡°My father used to tell me those stories. I was still very small, but I always hoped that these fairy tales were more than just fairy tales. Even though we grew up knowing that magical creatures such as elves or giant eagles didn¡¯t exist.¡±


    ¡°I believe they do exist, now. But that they are afraid to show themselves. For humans are cruel creatures. They destroy everything unfamiliar to them.¡± I quietly agreed with him. We were silent for a while, just staring at the wall until the young man broke the silence. ¡°How did you do that? Lit up that word?¡±


    ¡°I thought about it and then it resounded in my head, gleaming off the wall,¡± I explained.


    I tried that tactic again. Show us Armenelos, please. The name of the city resounded in my head and one by one the name was spelled by the wall.


    ¡°Now it says Armenelos. Do you think that the wall can bring us to the city?¡± he asked. I shrugged. ¡°I can try and ask the wall.¡± It sounded so stupid. Asking the way from a wall. But wasn¡¯t this already magical enough? I should believe in it. I brought my wandering mind back to the wall and focused. We are lost. Could you show us the way to your city? Nothing happened. Artemis howled softly. Then I heard many whispers. All were saying to Armenelos, straight on, to Armenelos, follow us, to Armenelos. Repeating the same things over and over again. ¡°It¡¯s showing me the way, follow me!¡± I exclaimed in excitement. With my hand on the wall, I did as the voices told me. I followed them. Artemis and the young man running along behind me. It wasn¡¯t a long walk to find the city. At some point the voices stopped and I heard the young man¡¯s relief in his voice when he said: ¡°Welcome to Armenelos, the city of starlight.¡±


    I let go of the wall, but this time we weren¡¯t surrounded by the dark. The city was enlightened by at least a thousand torches. Glittering like tiny stars in a dark blue sky.

 5. The Thiefs guild

    The tunnel ended a little above the city. You could see the entire city from up here. But only a part of it was illuminated. The rest was still hidden in the dark. There was no light from above, but the torches lit by the inhabitants, made enough light so you could see more then 30 feet in this darkness. The city was built with a strange, grey coloured stone. The white carvings in the wall were the same as the carvings we saw in the tunnels. All the buildings and lanterns had beautiful, organic forms. The streets here were paved with magical silver stones. I bet the city must have been as green as the forest, but here with no sunlight, there grew nothing but strange illuminating blue mushrooms on the walls. The blue mushrooms gave a faint, spooky glow. The stranger, whose name I still didn¡¯t know, told me these mushrooms were poisonous. In the northern part of the city stood the biggest building, probably the castle where the noble lord and lady of the city lived. You could see that the earthquake had damaged this beautiful castle. Just like the rest of the city. Walls were cracked, some even lay on the ground, blocking the passage. The ceiling was quite low. Fancy pillars made by elvenkind were elevated and strengthened by our simple stones and cement. Holding up a ceiling of dirty grey, red stone plates, fastened with cement. I thought about what was above here, miles of dirt and then houses of stone. Don¡¯t think about it. These people lived here and they wouldn¡¯t live here if it wasn¡¯t safe. ¡°Beautiful, isn¡¯t it?¡± the man said when he passed me by and started to walk downhill towards the city. I followed him without a sound, Artemis at my heels. I wonder what the city would have looked like in her old days,I send the thought to Artemis.


    I bet it would have been the pearl of the Ancestral Region,he answered me.


    The streets were clean, what I didn¡¯t expect. Many people lived here. Mothers with children, young people, old people. They weren¡¯t beggars, but looked healthy and strong. All of them wore dark colours and because of that, were difficult to spot. The houses were inhabited. I could see fires burning inside of them and wondered where all the smoke went to. It was quiet in this city, besides the soft murmuring of human voices in the back. The people we came across all had penetrating looks, even the children looked dangerous. As if they would kill you in your sleep. ¡°There not very fond of newcomers, little fox. I suggest you keep your head low and don¡¯t make eye contact,¡± the stranger whispered. I kept my eyes on my feet as I continued following the young man. But I needed to see more of this city. I closed my eyes, and started to breath in deeply. Separating my spirit from my body, but pushing my body to keep moving straight on. I breathed out and opened my eyes. Wolfs eyes. My smell became stronger, my sight became more detailed. Artemis had a far better darkvision than I had. His soft paws made more contact with the floor and I could feel a soft vibration of the life above us. I could also smell the rotten meat of dead rats somewhere in the tunnels, mingled with a sweet sense of the mushrooms and the clear summers¡¯ scent of the night saying goodbye to the day. I looked up and saw roosters in the ceiling. I could glimpse the clear sky with her stars. People walked over the rooster and now and then a card rode over it. But that was the place that gave fresh oxygen to this underground city. The ceiling was full of it. I saw the young man walking slower and pulled myself back to my own body. ¡°Don¡¯t people from above smell the smoke from here through those roosters? And what if it¡¯s raining? Where will the water go?¡± I asked in a whisper. The young man kept looking ahead when he answered. ¡°There are so many smells in that world above, that they will not notice us. For the rain, that¡¯s what the small ditch is for.¡± And he pointed towards the middle of the city. There was a small river there. Ditches, made by men, ended in that river. The river flew downhill to the tunnels where there are no pavements. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± He turned around and grabbed my shoulders. His face closely to mine. ¡°This man knows all. Don¡¯t speak when you are not told to speak, don¡¯t ask questions. Don¡¯t make eye contact. And the most important, keep your head low when you speak unless told otherwise.¡± He let go of me and opened the huge doors to the castle. Inside was a hall that led to a huge square room with two fireplaces in the middle. Two man where leaning against the wall inside, both dressed almost the same as the young man leading me. ¡°What do you want, Spook.¡± One of the men sneered. Now I knew his name. Or at least his nickname.


    ¡°I come to bring a gift,¡± Spook said calm. He looked the man straight in the eye. ¡°Beware to whom you speak. The walls have ears, my friend, the doors have eyes. Trees have voices¡­¡±


    ¡°Beasts tell lies. Beware the rain. Beware the snow. Beware the man. You think you know.¡± Someone spoke, his voice was soft, like a whisper that raised the hair on your back. A man of middle age stood in the middle of the room, next to one of the fireplaces. He was not very tall, but the way he looked down on you, made you feel very small. He was dressed in black, leather straps covered his tunic. he wore leather knee high, boots and his cloak was torn. His face was covered in the shadows of his hood and a black cloth hid his mouth from view. Two swords were crossed on his back. With his right hand, he removed his hood and the cloth from his lips. He had a firm, clean shaven jaw. You could see his nose had been broken several times. His black, wild hair was almost the same as Spook¡¯s. Except that this man had no warrior¡¯s tale. Strangely enough I expected heavy eyebrows, but his eyebrows were small and gave him an almost female look. He had no scars on his face, or at least none that I could see from this distant. Spook walked towards the man and pulled me with him. ¡°I brought you someone, sir,¡± he bowed when he said that. The man looked me up and down. His penetrating look made me shiver. Even Artemis hid behind me. ¡°Why do you bother me with such a pitiful price, lad,¡± the man answered him harshly.


    Spook stood up, locked his gaze at me before speaking. Even before he started talking, I knew I would be in big trouble. Look for any escape routes, I commanded Artemis. I, myself, started looking around as well. ¡°This girl has never been inside this city before. When I was on my daily duty, I overheard a conversation from the smith with his wife. They told me that the Silver Soldiers were looking for someone. A girl with pointy ears. It was said that she was very dangerous and had to be eliminated.¡± That last word struck me. Eliminated? I had to get out of here. I had to. There were three other doors, one behind what used to be the grand table where the lord and the lady used to be seated, and two on the left. Then you had the huge windows between the doors. I could jump out of them, but I had no idea where they would lead, how big the distant was between the window and the ground. I knew I couldn¡¯t go back the way I came, for two man were guarding that entrance. The dark man in front of us spoke. ¡°And you think that this is that girl?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir, I think she can be very useful to us. She has escaped the Hunters several times and could disappear in a crowd in front of the eyes of the Silver Soldiers. Not only that, she is magical.¡± I felt that penetrating look from the man again and made eye contact. His eyes were dark. No light was in it. Lot of anger and despair hid behind that glare. I looked at Spook and saw the fear struck his face. ¡°I am just trying to find a way out of this city,¡± I explained calmly to the man. He laughed, a cold laugh. ¡°Do you know who I am, young lady?¡± he looked down at me. I shook my head. ¡°No one leaves this city and no one enters it without my consent. I am the shadow of this town, the one that eliminates those that do not deserve to live. I am a servant of death. I am the master assassin of the Ancestral Region. One of the three leaders of the thief¡¯s guild. I am the Basilisk,¡± With that last name he hissed a little like a snake. I slicked my fear away, straightened my shoulders and looked defiantly at him. ¡°Then, I think we can make a deal. Spook here told me, that he could help me find shelter for the storm, in exchange for something.¡± He looked a little surprise at my boldness and then turned his eyes to Spook, one eyebrow raised. ¡°I see, my little lad here is learning fast. Well young lady, I would love to grant you your safety. In return for a favour.¡±


    ¡°What may that favour be?¡± I asked suspiciously.


    ¡°Give me the child of the high king Edmund. And I will make sure you will be protected in this city.¡±


    Kidnapping a child. Why would he want that child? To gain power over the high king? To become high king himself? That would be a disaster. The Basilisk as high king. A Tiran is what he would become. Even worse than the Tiran, Talron, who kills all magical beings. The Basilisk would continue this hunt, maybe even worse. He¡¯d terrorize the citizens. No I could not let that happen. I realised I had stayed quiet for too long. The Basilisk narrowed his eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you talk to that wolf?¡± he suddenly asked suspiciously. I turned to Artemis. Keep quiet, Wen,he ordered me. ¡°She does!¡± the Basilisk exclaimed. How did he?I couldn¡¯t finish my sentence for he seized forward with such a speed I couldn¡¯t jump aside anymore. A knife at my throat, his dark eyes searched my face. ¡°What are you?¡± he hissed.


    ¡°I told you she was magical, sir. Look at this,¡± Spook suddenly said.


    He grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the wall, away from the knife and pushed my hand against the wall. Immediately the walls lit up, and not only the walls. The light spread from my fingertips and danced through the entire city. Through the windows, I saw all the buildings were lit up. People walked outside their house, confused and amazed. This city was far bigger than I could imagine. The underground cave lit up in a pale white light. The name of the city resounded in my head. Together with another sentence. ? suilad, gilthoniel, h¨ªna¡¯ Eyela.I understood what was said. Welcome, lady of stars, child of Eyela. This city knows me,I send the thought to Artemis.


    It¡¯s the elven magic. They recognise their own kin,Artemis explained.


    But why do they call me lady of the stars?I asked.


    All elves come from the stars, it¡¯s their way to say you are kin to the elves.


    That confused me. As far as I knew, I grew up as a human being. No time to think about that for the Basilisk man crossed the room and seized me by the throat. ¡°Who are you?! Tell me now!¡± he sneered in my face. I groped for air, clawing at his fierce grip. ¡°Fae¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t talk. He dropped me and kicked me in the ribs before he seized my shoulders and pushed me against the wall. ¡°Faelwen, I¡¯m Faelwen and that wolf is my friend. Artemis,¡± I exclaimed in terror. ¡°Your friend? Your familiar you mean, daughter of the devil! I do not trust pointy eared creatures who talk to animals. I should kill you right now, demon child!¡±


    ¡°I am not a demon! I am an elf!¡± I yelled at him in fear. ¡°Partly then, I do not quite understand it myself, but this city once belonged to the elves and it recognised me as kin. That¡¯s why¡­¡± I muttered, but the man interrupted me. ¡°Elves do not exist, daughter of the fiend.¡± Artemis growled and attacked. ¡°No!¡± I screamed at him. Unfortunately, it was already too late. The man kicked Artemis away and groped for his sword. I draw mine and our sword crossed each other, making a high sneering, metal sound as they slid past each other. I rolled aside as his sword landed on the ground.


    He snapped his fingers and within seconds three of his man surrounded me. They were swift. Dancing around me with their sharp knives. I tried to block every one of them. Using my knowledge of all those lessons from Thalor. ¡°Look at the body language, Faelwen. Most men already betray which move they are going to make.¡± He would always say. I watch their every move. I copied their dance, avoided every blow. Blocked, defended my back. As I jumped around. I couldn¡¯t hit them with my sword, they were like flies. They would disappear and suddenly strike you from behind. One man suddenly appeared on my left, stabbed me quick with a knife in my side. I grunted and tried to stab back, but he was already gone. How could they disappear so fast? Becoming one with their surrounding in the middle of a battle. I tried to copy their footwork. It wasn¡¯t as good as theirs, but it was enough to keep me alive. Unfortunately, the odds were against me. The Basilisk joined the combat. He was even faster than his followers. With his strength and speed, he pushed me against the wall. My sword fell out of my hands. I jumped aside and felt his sword pass me by inches. I shook my bow from my shoulder and put an arrow on top. A movement to my right. Within a blink of an eye I changed direction and shot the arrow to my right. I grabbed a new arrow when I heard a man yell in pain. But the Basilisk was faster. He leaped forward, slashing my bow from my hands and with a strength that surprised me, he pushed me on the ground. With one foot, he held me on the ground. It didn¡¯t take long for his men to bind me and take away my weapons.


    ¡°Spook! Tell him, were innocent. We¡¯re just trying to find a way out of this city. Please believe me!¡± I yelled at him in fear and pain as the other thieves pulled me on my knees. He just looked very sorry at me and turned his face away. ¡°This Basilisk, he feels our magic. He is a mage himself. Why don¡¯t you listen to me?! I am not a demon! I am a mage. An elf, human I don¡¯t know. But a mage!¡± The Basilisk ignored me and so did Spook. Following his master as we were taken to the dungeons. Artemis was thrown in the cell next to me. We were separated.


    Locked up in cells. No way out. It was hopeless.


    I lay myself down on the empty floor. There was nothing here. No bed, no window. It was dark. No light. Nothing. I am sorry Artemis.


    Me too, Wen, me too.


    I closed my eyes, tears streaming over my face. Where had it gone wrong? I felt completely lost. And let me feel that way. I didn¡¯t fight when grieve and pain overwhelmed me and I could hardly breath. I let the anger flow out of me. Until I finally fell asleep for my tired body had no energy left for the sadness and fear I felt.


    Q?va, n¨ªn h¨ªna. A whisper in my head. Wake up, my dear child. ¡°Nana?¡± I whispered back. yes, dear, it¡¯s mommy. Faelwen open your eyes,the voice spoke back.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    I opened my eyes. Soft grass tickled my face and bare skin. I lay on my side in the grass, flowers blooming around me. It was summer. The smell of flowers and grass danced through the air. The sun burned my skin and I sat up, rubbing my eyes. I looked around and realised I was in my garden. The big oak tree by the water well was blooming as never, before. The butterflies landed on top of the many flowers blooming all around me. Taking their nectar and flying on in an ever-spiralling dance. My mother sat in her rocking chair, under the apricot tree. Her favourite tree. Surrounded by books as always. Reading. She had the same dark, brown hair as me, looking blueish in the shadows as she rocked back and forth. I knew I had her eyes as well as her ears and face. There was not much I inherited from my dad. Only his smile that gave me small wrinkles at the side of my eyes and nose. My mother looked sad as always. Her dark brown eyes, tinged with a little green, stared dreamily towards a place only she could see. I always wondered where her thoughts were at that moment. Her skin was very pale, even though the warm yellow light of the sun lit it up. She had traces of green colouring the shadows in her face. I knew I had that too. But my father didn¡¯t, that¡¯s why the green traces in my face were vague, barely visible. Only in the pale moonlight would you see it best. My mother always wore a beautiful wooden tiara. Decorated with tiny blue, green jewels woven in the golden branches of the apricot tree. As the wind let the colours in her hair dance, she held her head a little sideways smiling at me. Tears sprang in my eyes. I ran towards her and embraced her. Her skin felt cold as ice, but she smelled the same as I remembered her, the smell of a forest blooming at the beginning of summer. She looked the same, hair braided, tiara on her head and even the green traces in the shadows of her face. Her scarlet lips and dark eyes. ¡°Nana, nana, I missed you so much. Why did you left me? Why didn¡¯t you run away with me! Why¡­¡± she hushed me by putting her hand softly on my lips. Hush, my child. Don¡¯t let fear grip your heart. I cannot answer those questions. They were just the decisions I made in that moment. It seemed wisest then.


    Her lips didn¡¯t move when she spoke and sadness marked her face. ¡°What is this place, mother?¡±


    She looked past me to the garden. You tell me, little one. Don¡¯t you recognize this place?


    I didn¡¯t understand. ¡°Yes, it is our garden,¡± I answered.


    She smiled at me. There is your answer.


    ¡°But I mean, how did I come here? How can I see you, when you are with the stars and our ancestors? Why do you speak in my head only? Is this a dream?¡±


    my mother¡¯s smile became brighter. So many questions. I cannot answer them all. But what I can say is that you created this place. It is your world where we are. I cannot speak with my lips, for I am no longer on this plane of existence.


    ¡°Your saying, this is all a dream? It is all in my head?¡±


    Of course, it is in your head.


    I was still confused. ¡°How can I talk to you, when you are not here, with me?¡± tears ran down my cheeks.


    You must be very powerful to call for me in your dreams. To travel through the past and maybe even the future. In your dreams, you open the portals to relive your past or see possible futures. Your magic allows you to connect with those who passed away. That¡¯s how you were able to connect with me. She said while she wiped away my tears like she used to do.


    Then I remembered the moment that light bolt struck the demon. And what he had said. ¡°You need to fully open up your spirit towards the Weave.¡±


    Barnabas voice resounded in my head as well telling me that there was something inside my body that prevented my magical abilities to appear. I looked back at my mom. ¡°There is something blocking my magic and I don¡¯t know what.¡±


    Your magic cannot be blocked, but your ability to draw strength and power from the Weave can. And that is the problem. Your path towards the Weave is blocked. If you use your magic now, it will hurt more. It will be difficult. You have to extract magic from somewhere else. For example, from your own body.


    ¡°How will I do that?¡±


    You already did that once. But it¡¯s dangerous. Your body has only a limited amount of magic inside of you, because of your fey ancestry.


    ¡°I¡¯m an elf. They called me lady of stars.¡± She nodded and stroke a hair behind my ear.


    Lady of stars. They welcomed you in their circles. Your elf blood is stronger than your human blood. It¡¯s what I¡¯d hoped for. That is good. They will help you.


    ¡°Who are they nana?¡±


    They are the memories of our ancestors. I need to go now. She started to fade together with her surroundings. The warmth of the summer sun disappeared and coldness overtook me again.


    ¡°No! don¡¯t leave! I need you! They will kill me! Nana!¡±


    Do not fear, my child, help is on the way. Trust those who keep their light close to their hearts.Her voice falling away from me. ¡°Nana!¡± I cried. She was gone.


    Suddenly something awoke me. I lurched to my feet, tear streams on my face. I quickly dried them off. It was dark and it took a while before my eyes adjusted themselves to this darkness. I heard someone by the door of my cell. Someone was trying to break in. He had no key and I heard him struggling with a lock pick to open this rusty elven made lock. I kept quiet, holding in my breath as I heard the lock break. Someone clad in black, sneaked in towards me, his finger to his lips. When he came closer I recognised his face. Spook. He bowed to help me up and his necklace fell in sight from under his shirt. Before he quickly hid it again, I could see a little of this silver necklace. It looked like a small elf, holding her hands above her head. And in her hands, she held a silver jewel, shaped as a star, shining a vague white light. Trust those who keep their light close to their hearts,I heard my mother say to me.


    Wen? What do you mean? Artemis asked confused as I had send the thought to him as well.


    I mean we have to trust Spook, he holds his light close to his heart.


    I heard Artemis softly scratch his door and Spook hurried himself towards his cell. After freeing Artemis, he whispered, barely making any sound: ¡°Follow me.¡± He led the way up the stairs into a dark hallway. Stealthy, silent. Moving with every bit of shadow. I tried to copy him. This dancing with the shadows was difficult. But a dance could be learned. As we sneaked past corridors and rooms, avoiding the light torches, we reached the main hall. The doors were wide open and inside a fire burned low. The Basilisk was pacing back and forth in the room, lost deep in thought while another man awaited his answer.


    ¡°What do you say, sir? Get rid of her? Hand her over?¡± the Basilisk shook his head. ¡°No,¡± he breathed the word. ¡°No,¡± he said louder to the man. ¡°She has potential. As swift as a fox, a quick thinker. She can make herself invisible in a crowd. She is small and fast. And I bet a fast learner as well.¡± He stopped pacing the room and stood silent. As if he was listening. I held in my breath and heard Spook did the same. The man with whom he was talking with, seemed not to notice and kept on talking.


    ¡°So, you mean to keep her? Train her?¡± the Basilisk shook his head, still looking at our direction. ¡°No, my friend, this girl cannot be tamed. She is a girl that needs her freedom, you cannot lock her up and shape her the way you want to. She knows what she wants and deep in her heart she is strong. Stronger than she can imagine. But with a confused heart you will get lost and you need help.¡± It felt as if that last message was mend for me. My heart ached. I knew he was right. I was often scared and confused. A lost puppy in a too big of a world. Completely alone with only a wolf as my loyal companion. There was just one thing in life I hang on to. Finishing Barnabas quest. Find the elves. And then what? End the war? Me? No. I couldn¡¯t. Not by myself. Not alone.


    The doubt and hurt came above again. I felt completely alone suddenly. I made myself smaller and hid my face. Hoping Spook would soon walk on and I could focus on that. But he seemed as paralysed as I was. Afraid to get caught by the one person he feared most.


    It was as if the Basilisk heard my thoughts. ¡°She need not fear to be alone. For she has the greatest friend anyone can have. And I bet she will make many more on her quest.¡±


    ¡°She is young. And broken,¡± the man said. He finally seemed to grasp to whom the Basilisk was secretly speaking. ¡°But she is strong and determined, Hawkeye. She will not give up,¡± the Basilisk answered him. This man was Hawkeye. One of the three leaders. I lifted my head and looked at the man. He was also clad in leather, but his leather wasn¡¯t black. It was a soft brown, his grey hair hung lose and a small beard surrounded his thin lips. He had blue eyes, keen as a hawk. A gentle face. Almost familiar. With a shock, I realised his face almost looked the same as Barnabas. It pained me to see such a familiar face. Suddenly I really missed Barnabas. He who raised me, took me in his home when I lost everything. He who hugged me whenever I was sad. We would listen to the music from my mother¡¯s music box before I went to bed. He taught me how to hunt and survive. How to grow food and flowers. He even taught me how to sew my clothes to repair them. Horse riding, singing, writing, reading, speaking. Everything. Tears formed in the corners of my eyes. And now he was gone. Forever gone, wandering among the stars of his ancestors. Just like my parents. My nana. Hawkeye smiled at me. A sad smile.


    ¡°If she wants to continue what Barnabas had started, she¡¯d better go now. Before there are no mages left in this world. I believe she will find what we cannot. For she is one of them. She will bring the light back to our world.¡±


    ¡°And if she is smart, she would ask my apprentice for her books,¡± the Basilisk interrupted him.


    ¡°Good luck, sweetheart. Barnabas would¡¯ve been proud of you. Don¡¯t lose fate, we will always be there for you in the shadows,¡± Hawkeye encouraged me. I nodded and untied one of my bracelets. The one Barnabas had brought me after one of his travels to the west. There was a beautiful shell on it from the ocean. It was my favourite bracelet. But I knew Hawkeye would see this as a promise from me to return to him. I left it on the ground when Spook continued our way. It was not long before we were in the city again. We walked in silence. Nobody spoke. The words of Hawkeye and the Basilisk still rang through my head. They had read the journals. Mine as well. Spook let us to a big house next to a wall, reinforced with stone. The voices told me there used to be a lake there. But that was long gone. The house was the same as all the buildings here. Beautifully decorated with organic forms and silver drawings and ruins. Spook pushed against the door and it went open easily. He looked back at me and walked in. The inside of the building was what you would expect a human home would look like. Carpets on the wall, simple wooden furniture and boxes to keep your possessions in. We walked into the study. A sturdy wooden desk was pushed against the far end of the room. A chair in front of it. The back faced the door. High bookshelves full of books decorated the walls. And a painting of a woman. She was lovely. A bright smile, blond hair and light blue dress. Sitting on a chair surrounded by flowers. Spook rummaged through some stuff and found my old backpack. He gave it to me. It was empty. As I suspected. My maps, journals, weapons everything was gone. I started looking for my stuff. Spook stopped me and opened his back. It was full of notebooks. Barnabas¡¯ notebooks. He gave them to me. ¡°There are a few extra from Hawkeye. Those were his first journals, before he even became¡­¡± he stopped talking and pushed the books in my arms. ¡°Before he became what?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You should find out yourself. Now let¡¯s find your weapons,¡± he answered me. He walked to the door, closed it and pulled one of the bookcases in front of it. It revealed a painting. A painting of the same woman. But this time she held hands with a man. A young man. They were looking to each other, deeply in love. Spook removed the painting and a smaller painting was underneath it. It was more of a sketch than a painting. A sketch of a place. A sad place. The grave yard. My heart skipped a beat. These paintings were a story. This room was a memorial. Suddenly I could see all the small details in the room. Some dried roses hanging upside down behind the desk. Sketches of the woman, laughing, looking melancholic at the horizon. Small empty perfume bottles were standing on one of the shelves. A white glove on the other. I read the names of the books. Lots of female love stories were hidden between the other old books, journals and maps. I heard a click and saw that Spook opened the painting. It was a safe. Inside was my sword, bow and arrows. I took them all. Spook wanted to close the safe but I stopped him. ¡°Wait,¡± I ordered him. I ripped a piece of paper out of my journal and wrote something on it.


    Someday, all the love you¡¯ve given away,


    Will find its way back to you


    And it will stay.


    Don¡¯t forget, death is but another path of life.


    Spook closed the safe and put everything back in its place. I left another note for Hawkeye. Something Barnabas always said to me, whenever I was crying. I knew Hawkeye would understand that I knew they were kin.


    Someday you won¡¯t remember this pain you thought would last forever.


    I hope we meet again. Thank you for making me see him one last time.


    I put everything back in my backpack. My heart stopped for a second. Where was my mother¡¯s music box? It used to be in my backpack! Spook saw my distress and softly opened his cloak, revealing my mother¡¯s music box. ¡°I saw you playing with that key around your neck all the time and when I was ordered to empty your backpack, I assumed it belonged to this. So, I kept it safe hidden with me. Even if we can be good hearted, even though we¡¯re still thieves and take anything special. You may find pieces of the notebooks missing. I¡¯m sorry, I couldn¡¯t stop that. You see we too, are searching for something to end this war. It has taken to many lives already. We¡¯re even considering, abducting the young prince in the hope the high king would listen to us instead of listening to his insane father. That¡¯s how low we are. But your findings and your notes together with Barnabas¡¯s notes, gave us new insides,¡± he explained. I nodded and took the music box from his hands. I stroke it, and investigated it. It was still the same. I put my key in the lock and turned it. The music box opened and the soft lullaby flew around us. Memories of my mother, her laugh. Her sitting by the fireplace reading or working in the garden. Flowers blooming all around her. Her smell. Her warm hugs and wise words. I even missed her kiss on my forehead whenever I had hurt myself. Barnabas, a lump in my throat. His blue eyes and grey hair. His calm, gentle face marked by age. His, trying to look angry, look whenever I had sneaked into his private study room to read his notes. We, sitting by the fire, eating fresh hunted meat or fish. Always coming back with a bracelet for me, from his journey. He always made them himself. Playing games all night at my birthday. The only day I was allowed to stay up for a long time.  It all came back. tears stung my eyes. I ignored it, keeping my grieve inside of me. I closed the box before I could lose control. ¡°Than¡­¡± the words got stuck in my throat. So, I just nodded. Spook put his hand on my shoulder. Not saying anything. And yet saying so much. I looked up at him. He was taller as me. He wiped away the tears from the corners of my eyes. We left the room and the house behind us. I maintained to control my grieve and we walked on. Artemis brushing against my leg to comfort me. I still clutched my mother¡¯s music box to my chest. We walked to one of the tunnels. Before entering I looked back one last time. This beautiful city. I hoped that I could see such beauty again. I looked towards the castle and saw Hawkeye standing there. He looked so much like Barnabas that it hurt to look at him. He bowed his head to say thank you and I extended a hand towards him, graciously turning my palm up and reaching towards him. Then I closed my hand and touched my heart. As a sign of goodbye I lowered my head as well. Then I turned around and walked off into the darkness. Following the torch light Spook had lit up.

 6. The Black Widow

    It had been two days ago that I first entered this city. And know I was finally on my way to the elves again. We made a little detour, buddy. But we will reach it, I said to him while I still clutched my mother¡¯s music box to my chest. We had left Armenelos behind a couple of hours ago. Wen, if you can understand elvish. Why can¡¯t you understand that sentence written in the music box?Artemis asked suddenly.


    I don¡¯t know. I never could, I answered sadly. He gave a snort of disdain. You never really tried. Try again.


    ¡°I always tried!¡± I hissed at him. Spook turned his head a little sideways. ¡°Did you say something?¡±


    ¡°No, nothing,¡± I spoke. With my key I unlocked the music box and the music of it filled the silence. Spook stopped walking and turned around staring confusedly at me. ¡°Why¡­¡± I put my finger to my lips to silence him and read the inscription around the sun. With one hand on the wall and the other holding the music box, I whispered the words. ¡°¨ªr nidh-tana-dhir ¨ª f? ¨®n ¨ª medui calad uin ¨ª aur.¡± Immediately I heard the voices of my ancestors repeat the words in my head in the right pronunciation. And suddenly I understood. I put the accent on the wrong parts of the words. Now I could understand the meaning of it and translate it in my head. I will show you the path on the last light of the day, I send the thought to Artemis as I closed the music box. Before Spook could ask anything, I narrowed my eyes and shook my head. He narrowed his eyes in respond and continued our journey to the day light. It seems quite clear to me. Somehow this music box can show you a path on the last light of the day.Artemis said. I nodded. But the way to what?


    We walked on in silence. Sometimes we took a break to eat something and drink before continuing. I wondered what time it was now outside. The third time we stopped Spook sad down, made a little fire and started heating up some stew with the dried meat and some carrots he had taken with him. It didn¡¯t really smell delicious, but it was hot and filled your belly. So, I made no complains about it. I took my notebook from my backpack to write in it.


    I¡¯d been writing down all that had happened the last few months. I tried to fit it all together. The Hunters suddenly attacking our home. The demon with his strange pentagram and creepy drawing of a monster of the underworld. My ancestry. The music box from my mother. Why had my mother left her people? If she were an elf, why didn¡¯t she live with them? Why did she had to come here? To this danger? The attack of the necromancers. The separation of the mages. The high king Talron. Why did he decide to kill every magical creature? Something must have happened to him. I still had to read more in the notebooks of Barnabas. But in the meantime I could write down my own notes about my journey.


    3E 11<sup>th</sup>of the nine moon,


    Free at last,


    The darkness eventually didn¡¯t seem so dark anymore.


    A new family member arises, it explains the rescue of Deathrose. Bit by bit, I come to know more about my caretaker. I thought I knew him, but I was wrong. He has such a history. A hidden history, the information divided over people. Divided over the places in this world. The sun finally shone in my heart. I will show you the path on the last light of the day, remember this, the music whispered to me. And remember I will.


    Still the riddle of the demon remains a question. ¡°This shrine is but the beginning. I will spread his word and hope that others will pledged themselves also in his magical art and power to serve him for better or worse,¡± he said to me. His word. Who is he?


    ¡°Did you hear that?¡± Spook whispered to me. I stopped writing and listened. There was nothing. ¡°Hear what? Are you hearing ghosts?¡± I laughed a little. He looked frustrated at me. ¡°If you would just listen!¡± I kept silent and listened again, this time through Artemis senses. I heard a strange humming in the distant. It came from further inside the tunnel. I sniffed in the air and felt a low growl in my stomach. It was a familiar scent. Human and yet not human. Monstrous smell. I knew this smell. I came back to my own body. Spook was already in his fighting position, weapons drawn. Kneeling in the shadows, he sneaked towards the sound. ¡°Spook!¡± I hissed. He turned his head sideways, not losing eye sight of the darkness in front of him. ¡°I know this smell. It¡¯s a demonic creature. You can¡¯t fight him. We need to sneak past him.¡± He stopped in his sneaking and fully turned around to look at me. I couldn¡¯t see his eyes, but felt his terrifying glare. ¡°Demon?!¡± his lips formed the words, barely making any sound. I nodded. The humming became louder. We froze at the spot. It was moving towards us. My eyes turned to the fire. Put it out! Put it out! I heard Artemis yell in my head. I quickly threw some water over it. The fire hissed and stopped breathing. We were surrounded by darkness. The smell became stronger. Artemis hid behind me, trembling on his legs. My heart was in my throat. I couldn¡¯t breathe. I more felt, than saw, a figure pass us by. Time stood still and I prayed that this monster would walk on. But I heard him sniff and crawl closer to the edges of our fire. Some wooden twigs fell apart when the creature touched it. Then it let out a terrible scream. It felt as if my ears were exploding. I heard Spook scream from terror and pain. Blood dripping from my nose and ears. I crouched against the wall. The tunnel lit up by my touch and a silver mist surrounded me, damping the high-pitched scream as if my ancestors were trying to protect me. What I saw wasn¡¯t a monk like the one I fought in the dark. This was an old lady. Covered in rags and long grey hair fell over her ugly, wrinkled face. She had no eyes. Two black holes gawking up at us. I lurched to my feet, grabbed Spook by his arm and Artemis followed. We ran. ¡°Which way?!¡± I screamed at Spook. He pointed the direction as he ran next to me. I could hear the old lady running after us. I dared to look over my shoulder. I shouldn¡¯t have done that. She was faster than I thought. Her long hair flying like dead limps after her, her crooked hands reaching for us. Those two black holes and her mouth wide open, showing row after row of tiny pointy teeth. My eyes widened, terrified I ran on. We took a turn and suddenly we were running up. I felt my muscles ache while I tried to run with all my speed. The old lady seemed to have no problem running up. There was a door at the end of the tunnel. Spook braced himself, took a sprint and bumped against it. The door flew open and revealed a cellar. The woman was to close, I couldn¡¯t close the door behind me as I ran through it. I heard Artemis scratch at the door on the other end of the cellar. Someone muttering something about rats, opened the door, armed with a big cooking knife. His mouth fell ajar as he saw what was running through his cellar. Spook pushed him aside and we ran on. Into a guard room. The guards jumped up in shock. ¡°Hey you!¡± someone yelled as he recognised me. Soon followed by screams when the old lady run up the stairs. I heard a terrible gurgle and knew she had killed the cook. Guards started running towards the door as well. Artemis yelped and pushed open the door to the daylight. But even daylight didn¡¯t stop her. There we stood in the middle of the street, surrounded by guards an old lady panting in front of us. Blood dripped down her mouth. People started screaming when they saw her. Running in all direction. Panic broke out. And I could see the Silver Soldiers running towards us. ¡°What on earth¡­¡± the guard next to me spoke. He couldn¡¯t finish his sentence for the old lady took a deep breath and screamed. The same high-pitched scream she threw at us in the tunnels. The man cried out from pain. Blood dripping from their ears and noses, their veins blackened. I pushed my hands against my ears so hard that it felt as if I was trying to break my skull. I fell to my knees. Artemis lay next to me, yelping from the pain. His head hidden beneath his paws. Curled up on the ground. Spook was somewhere behind me. I could hear his cry. Men were falling prone on the ground around us. Some died, their veins blackened, blood dripping from their noses, eyes and ears. I knew I had to do something. The scream continued. I remember what my mother told me, that I could use my magic, even though my path towards the Weave was closed. I could draw it form my own body. I heaved my arms a little above me, palms up. And imagined some sort of magical shield that could protect us against this sound. Nothing happened. I tried to imagine harder. Please, please,I pleaded. Just like last time, I felt a strange energy engulf my body as a blueish light sprang from my hands. It deafened the sound of the old lady. The soldiers stood up, still trembling. They first looked at me, then back to the old lady. All looked terrified. They would have run away if their commander didn¡¯t take control. ¡°In position men!¡± he ordered. The soldiers stood their ground. Two rows of soldiers were now between me and the old lady. Spook grabbed my shoulder. He nodded to say thank you and with a swift move of his hands, two little knifes appeared. He crouched low and almost seemed to disappear in his surroundings.


    I could see the Silver Soldiers held their weapons at the ready too. The old lady was now surrounded. ¡°Surrender in the name of the high king Edmund or face the consequences!¡± One of the Silver Soldiers said to her. She turned around, looking at him with her dead eyes. Her head a little sideways, blood still dripping from her mouth. She hissed and said something in a strange language. Something awful started to happen to her body after saying those words. It was like a nightmare. This, I knew, would hunt me for months in my dreams. I saw men around me gawk in terror. Some even turned their face away. Some staggered backwards, away from this monster. ¡°Hold position!¡± the commander yelled again, this time I could hear his voice trembling from fear. Even the Silver Soldiers put a step back. The old lady started to fall apart. Her skin crumbling to dust. Her arms became longer, fingers turned into black talons with long nails. Her skin turned into what looked like a black, thick mist. Her legs crumbled away and she hovered above the ground. Her hair started to grow and turned into a thick, black substance as well, covering her body as a cloak. She looked up at us, two yellow eyes in the blackness. Fear struck me like ice cold water. Artemis hid behind me. The soldiers dropped their weapons. Glued to the ground, they couldn¡¯t move. She flew towards us. Don¡¯t let fear take us, fight!I send the thought to the men around me. That terrified feeling left us. Men quickly picked up their weapons. I saw two tiny shiny daggers flowing past me from the right. Aimed at the old lady, who had become a demon. They flew right through her. I shot two arrows at her. But just like the knifes, they went right through her body. Nothing had changed. She had no wounds, no blood or anything coming from her shadowy skin. She still looked the same. Only those two yellow eyes, looked angry at me. She had spotted me, while Spook had gone into stealth again. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth. But this time no scream left it. It was a black substance. None I had seen before. I jumped aside and heard the black substance hiss on the ground behind me. The soldiers attacked as one. Their swords penetrating her body. The Silver Soldiers attacked form behind. But nothing seemed to damage this creature. She slashed with her talons. Men fell on the ground, their bellies ripped open. Screaming, trying to hold their body together. She seemed to take a deep breath and then heaved her arms, her mouth opened. A terrible high, pitched scream roared out of her. It hurt like hell. I felt blood tripling out of my ears. I pushed my hands against my ears in the hoop that her scream wouldn¡¯t penetrate it. But it didn¡¯t help. I felt the strength of my body leave me. Men around me screamed in terror and fell on their knees. Would this be the end?


    But fortunately, the scream ended, still trembling I stood up and grab my bow. Even if I knew, my arrows would fly right through her, I tried anyway. But before I could let go of my string, she ran forward. Turning in circles. Her talons scratching everybody in her way. The Silver Soldiers fought as one man. But it seemed helpless. Many men were already lying on the ground. Either dead or badly injured. Spook appeared next to me. ¡°Nothing seems to hurt her,¡± he panted. I wiped away the blood from my face. ¡°What do we do?¡± I asked him. His face was focused on the monster. Then he looked, pensively at my bow. ¡°Try to hit her head,¡± he said. I took a deep breath, grabbed my bow tightly. An arrow placed on it. I pulled, the feathers of the arrow striking my cheek. Aiming at her head. She was too focused on the Silver Soldiers now to notice me in the back. I breathed out and let go of the string. The arrow flew from my bow, right at her target. With a force, I didn¡¯t know I had, it hid the back of her head. She screamed, but not that high pitched scream. It was a scream of anger and pain. Black blood dripped from the wound. ¡°It hit! It hit!¡± I yelled grabbing Spook by his shoulders shaking him. The Silver Soldiers saw my arrow struck and retreated. They parted in two groups, one holding her at bay with their swords and axes. The other grabbing bows and shooting at her head. The other soldiers did exactly the same. She turned to the soldiers behind her. Spook pulled me away into the shadows. Black substance flew from her mouth on the front row of the soldiers. They yelled in fear and pain. Their skin melting from their bones. The stank of burned bodies, spread through the air. I gaged. The demon took again a deep breath and released her painfully, terrifying scream. But this time it didn¡¯t reach me. It reached the group of archers on the opposite side. They cried out in terror and pain. Their veins colouring black, blood running from their noses and ears. They fell on their knees. Some of them already died. I¡¯ve never been so scared before. What this monster could do. Such a terrible way to die. I started shooting at her head as well, just like all the Silver Soldiers. None of the other soldiers, lived to see another day again. Now she turned towards the Silver Soldiers. Even with their helmets on, I knew they were terrified. She slashed away the first line of warriors. The second line quickly drew their blades. Spook ran forward with his small blades at the ready. As swift as the wind, he jumped, made two quick blows on her head and rolled onto his feet on the other side. Disappearing in the shadows again. I ran forward to, with my sword at the ready. Artemis at my side, leaped forward and bit in one of her clawed hands. She roared and threw Artemis away. He landed hard on the ground, but immediately stood up and ran to me again. One of the talons shot towards me. Nails trying to pierce me. I heaved my sword and slashed them away. The tops of her talons fell to the ground. Dark blood covered my face. The few remaining Silver Soldiers saw my hit and roared in excitement. Their quivers were empty I could see. They were out of ideas. And know I had given them new strength by showing them we could hit her talons as well. ¡°For the king!¡± they yelled as they ran as one man towards this monster. I retreated, picking up some of my arrows on the ground. I pointed my arrows at her eyes. Two, three, four arrows flew in the air. They all found their target, piercing through her head and eyes. She screamed, her mouth so far open you could see the four rows of pointy teeth. Right at that moment one of the Silver Soldiers threw his blade with such a force inside her mouth. Her scream died in a terrible gurgle. We all covered our heads, for the black substance flew everywhere. When I opened my eyes again, the woman was gone. There was nothing left. The black shadowy substance melted away into the ground. The man who had pushed his sword in the back of her throat cried out in pain as he saw his arm melting away. Spook appeared behind me, blood on his face, panting, sweating. I probably looked the same way. ¡°You oke?¡± I asked him. He smiled. ¡°Probably better looking than you,¡± he grinned. I laughed a little. ¡°Then you haven¡¯t looked in a mirror yet, my friend,¡± I said. We looked at the battle places and our smiles disappeared. Of all the soldiers that were in the guard room, none were left alive. The Silver Soldiers who were with at least 20, only a few remained. This old lady had killed so many men. ¡°We have to go,¡± Spook whispered. We turned away from this terrible battle scene and disappeared in the shadows. I suddenly felt so tired, drained from all my energy. This was probably what my mother meant. Using your own body to drain magic from, took a lot of energy away. My entire body was trembling from exhaustion. Still I urged it to go on, following Spook through the dark alleys. Artemis at my heels. The pale moon appeared between the clouds trying to light up the city. But she failed and only deepened the shadows around us.  ¡°Where are we going?¡± I panted for air as I tried to keep up with him. He abruptly stopped at the end of an alley and I bumped against him. He shoved me a side and said: ¡°Tonight I¡¯m going to bring you to a place where you can sleep. Tomorrow I¡¯ll show you the way out.¡±


    I nodded in agreement and leaned against the wall to catch my breath. I felt weak and had a strange feeling as if I could faint any minute. ¡°Follow my steps,¡± Spook breathed out the words. He crouched down low to the ground. The street he was about to cross, was enlightened by the shops and inns. There were also some lanterns hanging above the streets, the special candles inside were lit and checked by the lantern man. He would walk every night to enlighten the candles in the lanterns in his neighbourhood. Every part of the city had a lantern man.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    It wasn¡¯t really busy in the streets, but Spook and I were wanted by the guards now. So, we had to be extra careful. Avoiding even the tiniest bit of exposure. Spook waited until the street was quiet and sneaked to a bunch of barrels in front of a closed shop. The doors from the inn across the street opened and closed behind a group of drunken men. Loudly singing and balancing on each other¡¯s shoulders. Spook waited for them to turn their backs to him and leaped towards the shadowy alley next to that inn. He completely disappeared, and I knew that it was my turn now to cross the street without being seen. I tried to control my heavy breathing and crouched low to the ground. The moon disappeared behind a cloud and I sneaked to the barrels. Artemis, stealthy as a wolf can be, appeared next to me. try to find a balance between walking softly and fast, Artemis suggested. I realised I was holding in my breath and released it. I looked around me to see if the coast was clear. At the end of the street, a group of Silver Soldiers appeared from the side. As far as I could see, it seemed they were looking for someone. And that someone might as well be us. So, when the Silver Soldiers looked the other way, I tried to run as silently and fast as I could to the safety of the shadows. Avoiding puddles and loose stones. In the alley, I first couldn¡¯t find Spook, until he suddenly grabbed my arm and pulled me with him to a side door of the building left to the inn. He knocked thrice on the door and someone opened it a little. I couldn¡¯t see his face for he stood in the darkness. ¡°How may I help you?¡± the voice spoke.


    ¡°We seek shelter for the storm,¡± Spook answered.


    ¡°In whose name?¡± the voice asked harshly.


    ¡°The Basilisk,¡± Spook said calmly. The door creaked further open and we walked in. With a loud thumb the door closed quickly behind us, plunging us in complete darkness. But the man lit up a lantern and led us to, what appeared to be, his living room. The cosy room was well lit, candles were burning and gave the room a sweet honey smell. There was a good, warm fire burning in the fire hearth, illuminating the Bordeaux red room in golden light. There were four comfortable arm chairs, with soft, thick pillows, around the fire place. On the table in the middle stood a fancy tea set and a plate with sweets. The place was decorated with beautiful art works and extraordinary weapons hanging on the wall. ¡°Make yourselves at home,¡± the man said while he poured in some tea for us. ¡°Here is your tea, lad.¡± He gave one of the fancy cups to Spook and turned to me. ¡°And who is the girl you brought with you?¡± With this light, I had a good view of this man. He had a kind face, heavy eyebrows and a small beard of a few days old. He didn¡¯t look much older than forty-five. His light brown hair was short and neatly combed to one side. He wore a simple garment decorated with silver buttons on red silk. I noticed he was bare feet. When I looked back at his face, he lifted one eyebrow at me. I could see his nose had been broken several times and a small scar showed on his right check. He had dark blue, watery eyes. Before Spook could say anything, I already answered. ¡°My name is Faelwen and this is my friend Artemis,¡± pointing at my wolf who was already fast asleep by the fire place. The man smiled to my wolf. ¡°I try to keep her safe, she is wanted by the Silver Soldiers. Tomorrow I¡¯ll escort her out of the city.¡±


    ¡°The small woman with pointy ears,¡± the man said slowly, interrupting Spook¡¯s story. ¡°Nice to meet you, young lady. I am Jesper Fiddle. And this is my lair.¡± He spread his arms looking proudly at his home. ¡°Nice to meet you too,¡± I answered.


    ¡°Drink your tea, Faelwen. Dinner will be served soon. Tell me,¡± he focussed himself back to the spook, ¡°How are you planning to get her out of this city, lad?¡±


    ¡°Through the underground tunnels,¡± Spook said. ¡°We will go up to the temple.¡±


    Jesper narrowed his eyes as he said: ¡°And you want entrance here I assume?¡±


    Spook licked his lips before speaking. ¡°I guess you already know the answer to that question, my friend.¡± Jesper nodded. ¡°Very well. I will send word to the Basilisk.¡±


    A door opened and a young girl in a servant¡¯s dress, walked in. She didn¡¯t say anything, but just nodded to Jesper. ¡°Dinner is ready,¡± he spoke for her. The girl disappeared again in the other room and Jesper stood up. He saw my confused look and explained: ¡°Our lord and saviour cut out her tong and threw her for the crows to be eaten, when she refused to speak. But I saved her just in time.¡± He almost spat the word ¡°lord¡± and ¡°saviour¡± while he walked towards the door and held it open for us to enter. Her tong cut out? That was cruel. I mean I knew the king was cruel towards magical creatures, but I had no idea he was so cruel towards non-magical humans. ¡°Artemis, food.¡± My words strengthened by the smell of fresh bread and stewed meat, woke up Artemis and he trotted into the dining room as fast as he could. Almost making Jesper fall on his knees. ¡°My apologies, Jesper. He must be very hungry,¡± I spoke for Artemis. Jesper laughed. ¡°I like having a house wolf close by. I have one myself. Although I¡¯ve never seen anyone with a real wolf as a pet,¡± he said while he looked towards the corner of the room where his own big dog was snoring in his bench. ¡°What shall I give him?¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°Whatever we eat, he eats too.¡± Jesper laughed again and put some food on a plate. A big piece of the meat and a good chunk of fresh, buttered bread. Together with a huge bowl of hot soup. ¡°There you go,¡± he whispered to Artemis while he stroked his fur. Artemis grunted pleased and started eating immediately. Spook and I placed ourselves on the table and immediately started putting some food on our plates too. Our evening meal was violently interrupted by that demon. And after such an intense battle, we were starved. ¡°What do you do for the guilt, if I may ask?¡± I asked between my chewing and swallowing. Jesper took a sip of his red wine which the tong-less servant girl had poured in for us and dapped his mouth with a napkin before speaking. ¡°I am the Caretaker. The one that takes care of the members of the guilt and always stands on the lookout for new apprentices. I am the one with the doctor¡¯s skills, people come to me when they¡¯re wounded. And when someone needs to stay low for a while, I know all the good hiding places. Me and my buddy,¡± he looked again with a smile towards his dog, ¡°try to take care of everyone the best we can,¡± he ended his story looking back at me. I nodded. ¡°Interesting job, you have. And you seemed to know one another well,¡± I said while I looked from Spook to Jesper. Jesper had a wide grin on his face, but Spook just stubbornly continued eating. His eyes fixed on his plate. ¡°I found Spook when he was a boy. I took him in and made sure he got an apprenticeship by some of the guilt members.¡±


    Spook licked his lips before speaking. ¡°The past is in the past. We don¡¯t need to know each other¡¯s background story,¡± he grunted. Jesper looked displeased at Spook. ¡°Well I do want to know background stories. I¡¯ve been wondering why such a small, harmless girl is being hunted by the Silver Soldiers and the Hunters.¡±


    ¡°How do you¡­¡± He looked at me. ¡°I have my ways,¡± he interrupted my question.


    Spook licked his lips against, his eyes fixed on me now. He sat back, his hood on, hiding his small grin and keen eyes. Jesper sat back too. His arms crossed, a frown on his face. What could I tell and what could I not? Artemis?I alarmed him. He stopped eating, licked his lips and walked over to me. Tell them the truth, they will know if you lie. But leave out the details. Keep it short and simple,he advised me. I bit my lip as if deep in thought. ¡°It¡¯s been four months since I last saw home. I lived near Townhaven. A fine fisher¡¯s town. Very pleasant people. The Hunters just came out of nowhere. Started hunting me down. I think because, they assume I have magical abilities.¡±


    ¡°Do you?¡± My mouth opened and closed. ¡°Excuse me?¡± I stuttered.


    ¡°Do you have magical abilities?¡± Jesper spoke again. I looked at Spook. His grin widened.


    ¡°I may have some capability to perform a form of magic, I think,¡± I answered vaguely.


    ¡°You should tell him about Armenelos and that time when you stopped the screaming of the monster,¡± Spook¡¯s grin widened.


    I shot him a furious look. ¡°I escaped the Hunters by disappearing in the crowd here. Only now the Silver Soldiers started looking for me as well. I found Spook and he brought me to the underground city. Also, known as Armenelos, literal translation of Noble Haven city. Here I discovered I must have elven ancestral blood in me for I could speak with the city. The elves of the past put their memories and thoughts inside the stones of the city. Making it come alive for any elf that touches it. During our fight with the demon, I used a minor form of magic to protect the man from the terrible sound the demon could make that would melt your brains from the inside.¡± I put the emphasis on minor, in the hope Spook wouldn¡¯t exaggerate my powers. Digging deeper into a place I had no knowledge of yet. ¡°She could also make the city light up like a starry sky. A pale moonlight scattered over the city, making it come more alive than ever. She has fought a demon before, for she recognized the smell or sound the demon made in the dark tunnels of the underground. She also shoots with her bow so precisely and fast. As if she¡¯s trained for generations. I¡¯ve never seen anything like it. Not even our best archers could match her bow skills. She has a quick reaction to danger and learns extremely fast. Therefore, I think she must have had training of a good and skilled fighter. You should be warned, my friend, she is not what she seems,¡± Spook said, ignoring my warning glance. Jesper looked at me with surprised eyes. ¡°Well, well, it seems we have a mythological creature among us tonight. I¡¯m sorry, Spook, for ever doubting your stories.¡± I suddenly felt very uncomfortable between these two man with their penetrating, searching eyes. Artemis growled low and showed his teeth. There was a tense feeling in the air. And a painful silence descended upon us. I looked at them suspiciously. Should I run? I could make it to the door. But Spook put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. ¡°She carries the notebooks of Barnabas. And a friend of Barnabas is a friend of me,¡± he said to Jesper. Who was looking even more surprised. ¡°And where is Barnabas if I may ask? He disappeared such a long time ago,¡± Jesper asked me. A flash of grievance washed over my face. And I looked away. ¡°He is not among the world of living any longer,¡± I whispered.


    ¡°I regret to hear that.¡± It was quiet again. Everyone lost in thought. Trying to eat even when your stomach was full of hurt. The tong-less girl took away our dirty dishes and Jesper leaded us to our room in silence. I got an own room completely for myself. It was a big room. With big windows draped with beige curtains. There where white sheets on the bed. And a warm red, woollen cloth laid on top. A small fire lit up the room. Two armchairs faced the fireplace. And above the hearth was the map of Ancestral Region, carefully framed behind glass. A few candles were burning on the side tables next to the bed and a clean white gown was folded on the bed. A small door in the corner led to a bathroom where a tub with hot water was waiting for me. I saw a small bucket under the sink and filled it with some of the tub water. When I came back to the bedroom, I saw Artemis was laying in front of the door. His ears pricked up and eyes focused on the small light that peeped through the door. ¡°Artemis, come here. It¡¯s safe now. You need to be cleaned. You smell.¡± Artemis grunted and licked himself. There, I¡¯m clean now.I rolled my eyes and walked towards him. Fortunately, he was laying on a wooden floor and not on the carpet so cleaning him was easier. I found a sponge and crouched down near Artemis. He struggled a little, but new that I wouldn¡¯t stop until his entire body was clean. After a few minutes, he was soaked wet. Grumbling and protesting he moved towards the hearth to dry up. I was too tired to start a discussion and threw the dirty water out of the window before cleaning myself and my clothes in the tub. I hang everything over the chairs near the fireplace and put on the night gown. It was soft and beautifully decorated with lace. As I climbed in the bed I took one of the notebooks of Barnabas to read. I scanned through the books looking for the word demon of demonic entity. And after a while I found something.


    3E 917- the 16<sup>th</sup>of the third moon.


    Villages are being raided by Orion. Innocent people are suffering. But I can¡¯t find this Returner. I went to Blackthorn, a small fisher¡¯s town near the city ruins. Everybody knew the ruins of this city. And that Sir Ludwich Blackthorn, a rich and greedy man, provided the small fisher¡¯s town with gold and mystic objects from the city ruins. But lately rumour has it, Blackthorn Mansion is hunted. People say the mansion whispers and groans in the middle of the night. It is always chilly there and candles are being blown out even when there is no wind. A few days ago, his lady-wife committed suicide by jumping of the cliffs. Sir Ludwich and his daughter are grieved beyond words. Yesterday his daughter committed suicide. She hanged herself with her own curtains. Awful. Now I arrived in town and talked to this sweet old man who lives with his wife here, Hugh. He told me he thinks it¡¯s the black diamond Sir Ludwich has found. That this diamond is cursed. I think I will investigate this further in the morning.


    3E 917- the 17<sup>th</sup>of the third moon.


    Two servant girls have slit their throats and the rest of the servants left the house. There saying a sickness is laying over it. And Sir Ludwich has locked himself in the attic. I found some scrolls in the place Sir Ludwich found this diamond. It was written in the same old language I¡¯d encountered before with the writing to the king. It says that they were able to lock this mind possessing demonic entity in this diamond. Who, ¡°they¡± are, I have no idea. I only know that Sir Ludwich must be an incredible strong mage to open this magical sealed case where he found the diamond in. I feel something strange in the air. The deal with the Fiend we created, is weakening. I can feel it. This chest, or so it¡¯s written, was banished to the underworld. Locked with an extremely strong curse. Anyone who dared to opened it, would be killed immediately. How did this chest came up here? Someone or something must have brought it here. This information must be brought to the Sorcerer¡¯s.


    3E 917- the 18<sup>th</sup>of the third moon.


    Sir Ludwich Blackthorn has passed away. May his soul find rest in the worlds above. I locked the attic again. I will gather some of the Sorcerers to put this black diamond, with his demonic entity inside it, back in the chest. And hide it for everyone.


    ¡°The deal with the Fiend we created, is weakening,¡± I repeated the words softly. ¡°Does that mean, what I think it means?¡±


    Mostly I know what you think, but now you make no sense to me, Wen, Artemis resounded in my head. ¡°I mean¡­ I think¡­ I think that the Fiend isn¡¯t defeated as the stories tell, but that the king made a pact with the Fiend. I wonder what that pact is.¡± Artemis looked confused at me as I searched through my backpack for the right notebook. According to my calculations, the Fiend was known ¡°defeated¡± in the first year Talron became High King. It was but 42 years ago. The memories were still fresh. And the fear run deep. ¡°I¡¯m starting to have this strange feeling Barnabas was more than just a mage, Buddy.¡±


    He is, Artemis confirmed. I stopped turning the pages and looked stricken at my wolf. ¡°Excuse me?¡±


    He is more than that, Artemis clarified himself. ¡°And how is it that you know and I don¡¯t?¡±


    That¡¯s another story to tell for another time, first read the journals from your caretaker. Artemis curled himself up again in front of the fire and turned his back to me. Leaving me with thousands of questions. I continued searching, eagerly turning the pages. I found it in Barnabas¡¯ first journal. The story of the Fiend. It was written in poetry as if to hide the true story behind it.


    2E 897- 28<sup>th</sup>of the sixth moon


    I write these words to conceal


    The truth that¡¯s hidden in our deal


    Keep the darkness away


    Let us live another day


    This plan we have is not for our self


    Let the war end for demon, men and elf


    With the help of those hidden in forest of green and gold


    Let us be rid of this demon of old


    Unreachable were the terms he wanted


    Yet our leader of worlds stretched out his arm


    The deal is sealed, forever haunted


    I stared up at the sky


    Wishing for the wings


    That could teach me how to fly


    But I¡¯m trapped here


    My feet tied to the ground


    The forces of gravity with the weight of this burden on my shoulders, pusing me down


    ¡°One day each year


    am I allowed to do as I please.¡±


    haunting the land of living like a disease


    ¡°After my victim is consumed,


    I will turn back to the dark until the next time you¡¯re doomed.¡±


    There must be a way to make this stop and destroy him once and for all


    I plead for the freedom of this loss


    Here the story ended. I stared into the darkness, Barnabas¡¯ notebook still open on my lap. I couldn¡¯t all grasp it. Still it was so clear. The fiend was still alive. One victim each year. His words resounded in my head. ¡°He was there,¡± I whispered, barely making any sound.


    Yes, he was, Artemis answered without looking up at me.


    ¡°But I thought that only the High king and¡­¡± my words fell silent when I understood.


    without any emotion, I closed my caretaker¡¯s book and put it away. Resting with my head on the pillow, I wondered what would happen if anyone else knew. I assumed the Black hawks knew, for how else could Barnabas have freed lady Rosemary from her death sentence?


    I wondered if the Hunters knew of it too. And if that was the reason why they were haunting me now. My head full of thoughts, darkness swept over me and I slept. A restless night full of doubts and fears.

 7. Light at the end

    I woke up by a soft thump at my door. Artemis yawned and stretched himself out. First his front legs, then his back. yawned again and leaped on the bed. I saw him coming but was to slow to roll aside. His heavy body landed on my stomach, making me gasp for air. ¡°I¡¯m awake,¡± I said through gritted teeth.


    ¡°Good, we¡¯re leaving. Pack you stuff and meet me downstairs.¡± Spook¡¯s soft voice spoke.


    ¡°Okay,¡± I answered, while I tried to keep on overly excited wolf not to lick my face. ¡°What¡¯s got into you, buddy?¡±


    Artemis jumped up and down on the bed. His tong lulling out of his mouth, his face in a difficult look. I really need to go. You know what I mean? I can¡¯t hold it any longer. He jumped out of the bed and sat for the door, his tail sweeping. Looking back at me with pleading eyes. I rolled my eyes and opened the door for him. He sprinted down the hall, almost running Jesper of his feet again. ¡°Hela! Watch where you run, strange wolf.¡±


    ¡°Sorry,¡± I apologized for Artemis. Jesper turned around and made a gesture that it was alright. A big smile appeared on his face when he stared at me. ¡°That nightgown fits you beautifully, little lady.¡± I felt my cheeks blush and avoided his wide grin, pulling the nightgown lower of my knees. ¡°I¡¯ll see you downstairs,¡± he said and stalked off to the dining room. I quickly closed the door and got dressed. Packing my stuff together I didn¡¯t have much and still it¡¯d be nicer if my backpack was a little lighter. Reluctant I looked at the room one last time. The soft bed, the clean sheets, the fireplace with the comfortable sofa¡¯s and pillows. ¡°I¡¯m going to miss this room,¡± I said to the empty space. It be most unlikely I would be sleeping in a bedroom like this again for most part of our journey.


    We ate our breakfast in silence. The tong less maid served us some fresh milk and disappeared again into the kitchen. After we had all finished, the tong less maid came in with a small package and gave that to me. I thanked her and saw it were some rations for on the road. But not enough for two. I looked confused at Spook. He shook his head. ¡°So, you¡¯re just going to leave me behind?¡± I asked him a little hurt. Spook lowered his gaze, hiding the look in his eyes for me. He licked his lips before he spoke. ¡°My part in your journey has ended. I will lead you safely out of the city and return to my daily duties.¡±


    I clenched my teeth and hold in my frustration. How could he say such a thing? I was disappointed for I liked having him around. I slicked away my disappointment and frustration. ¡°Okay,¡± I whispered lowering my gaze as well. An awkward silence followed until I stood up. ¡°Shall we go? I don¡¯t want to spill precious daylight on my journey.¡± Spook nodded and stood up as well. I walked to Jesper and greeted him the way I always said farewell to someone. I knew now that it wasn¡¯t a human gesture to say goodbye. But was it elvish? I had no idea. ¡°I thank you for your hospitality and sincerely hope we¡¯ll meet again,¡± I spoke. Jesper bowed gracefully back. ¡°The pleasure was all mine, young lady. May the stars illuminate your path, little elf maiden,¡± Jesper answered with a big grin on his face. The elves worshipped the stars for they believed that your soul would live on among the stars. Eternal life, the undying lands. The elves believed the stars were cities where elven souls would live on for ever. I knew my mother worshipped the stars. From her I learned how to greet and say farewell. The fact that Jesper spoke these words, meant he knew more about elves than I thought. I turned to Spook who was already standing at the doorway. ¡°You know the way?¡± Jesper asked him. Spook nodded, his face hidden beneath his hood.


    I followed him through the corridors of this small house. We walked into a bedroom. It was a big room, probably the bedroom of Jesper. Against the wall on the opposite of the entrance, stood a bed. Covered in red blankets and black pillows. On the right side of the room was a window, that looked down into the alley and the entrance of the house. On the left hang a carpet of a veiled black person holding a scythe. He was hovering above the graveyard. Spook closed the door behind us. ¡°Close the curtains,¡± he ordered me. I closed the curtains, but still a small beam of light flowed into the room and ended exactly on the veiled person. His eyes, hidden in the dark, started to light up. A strange, red light illuminated the room. Something clicked and Spook walked towards the carpet. There he revealed a secret door. ¡°Ladies first,¡± he gestured towards the darkness beyond it. I took a deep breath and with Artemis at my heels, I stepped into the darkness. It took a while for my eyes to adjust themselves to the dark. Spook closed the door behind us. ¡°Follow me,¡± he whispered and took a turn to the right.


    We were back in the underground tunnels. This time we were walking down stream. I slightly touched the wall and like I expected, the wall lit up. But the pictures and words were broken. Mixed with the cement and stones, the Thief¡¯s guild used to reinforce the tunnels. Such a shame really, Artemis complained inside my head. I nodded in silence.


    I was listening very carefully for any sound that wasn¡¯t familiar. And I saw Spook do the same thing. We didn¡¯t want to walk into another demon like creature again.


    We seemed to walk for hours. Turning right and left. I had no idea where in Westray I was right now. But Spook seemed to know the way this time.


    We turned around the corner and stood in front of a three-way intersection. Until now we always came across crossroads where you could either turn right or left. Spook stopped and turned his head a little sideways. ¡°What is it?¡± I whispered.


    ¡°Be quiet, I thought I heard something,¡± he hushed me. I shut my mouth and listened closely too. But heard nothing. I closed my eyes and let my spirit collide with Artemis. When I opened my eyes, I looked up at Spook. With my soft paws, I barely made any sound on the ground, when I walked towards the middle of the intersection. I sniffed, and dread rose inside of me. The smell of something rotting in the dark reached my nostrils. It wasn¡¯t a strong sense, and my own body wouldn¡¯t have noticed it. But with Artemis keen senses I could smell it. I pricked up my ears and in the distance, I could hear a slurping noise. I felt Artemis¡¯ body shiver form fear. It was coming from the tunnel in front of us. I tried to see what was in there, but even with Artemis¡¯ keen eyes, I couldn¡¯t see past the darkness surrounding the tunnel.


    ¡°It is coming from there,¡± Spook said to my body who was just standing with her eyes closed in the middle of the intersection. He pointed towards the tunnel but turned around when I didn¡¯t respond. ¡°Hey, little fox, you alright?¡± he stepped forward and started to shake my body. I felt my concentration ebb away and my spirit was pulled back into my own body. A little dizzy I opened my eyes. ¡°Yes, I was fine. I heard it too, the slurping sound.¡± I answered my fingers massaging the sides of my head. Spook looked confused and grunted something. Then suddenly Artemis started to yelp in fear. Out of the darkness something dragged itself fort with a terrible slurping sound as if it was still devouring its prey. With his tale between his paws, Artemis walked slowly backwards, growling towards the horrific creature. ¡°What is that?¡± My voice trembled. Spook held up a small knife. In the faint light, I could see he was trembling, his blade slightly shaking. ¡°Hell has unleashed his demons,¡± Spook whispered. The creature slowly became more visible. I could see it had no legs anymore, just two weird stumps on the places where his legs should have been. Its entire body was covered with torn rags of clothes. The half of his face was melted away, his jaw, I assumed it was a male creature, hang ajar. Making a terrible gurgle sound. As if trying to speak. This was no demon. The demon I met in the cave, close to Thalor, could change in shape, had complete control over everything. This creature was suffering, in pain. I reached out with my magic and through the gurgling I suddenly heard a human voice. A young man, pleading for food, crying from the pain. I tried to reach deeper into its mind, but something blocked me out. The creature had stopped moving and looked straight at me. I heard other faint voices in a weird language. I think it was the language I found on the scrolls from the demon mage. The faint voices sounded commanding. Suddenly a familiar force pulled me back. Where do you think, you were going?! Don¡¯t switch places with that creature, Artemis¡¯ voice resounded in my head.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think this creature is a demon at all. I think it is a living dead man. It follows the commands of a demon mage,¡± I tried to explain my theory. Spook still with his eyes fixed on the creature, whispered through his teeth. ¡°Good to know, how do you kill it again?¡±


    You don¡¯t, Artemis answered Spook. ¡°You don¡¯t,¡± I answered for Artemis. Spook¡¯s blade lowered a little. Despair seemed to sweep over him. The creature feeling not threatened anymore started to drag itself forward again. ¡°Which way?¡± I asked spook. Spook pointed with his knife towards the tunnel the creature came from. Okay, I did not expect that. I took a deep breath and ran as hard as I could. No! ¡°No!¡± I heard Artemis and Spook yell at the same time. But it was already too late. I jumped over the creature, his long, crooked, fingers reaching towards my ankles. I felt its cold fingers touch my skin. His plead and cry for food and mercy would hunt my dreams forever. I reached the other end, bend my knees and rolled back on my feet. Not soon after that I heard Artemis land next to me. And after another second, Spook also jumped over it. ¡°Run!¡± Spook grabbed me by my cloak and pulled me with him. Some strange light in the distance illuminated the tunnel. ¡°There¡¯s the way out!¡± I yelled in excitement. ¡°No, that is not the way out. I don¡¯t know what it is,¡± Spook answered me.


    The strange light came from a small orb, hovering above the ground in the middle of a drawn pentagram. I recognized the pentagram from the drawings of the scrolls from the demon mage. Can we walk around it?I asked Artemis in thought. Artemis grunted something. Yes, we can. But be careful, do not touch the orb. It will take you to a different universe. One you¡¯re not yet ready to experience.


    ¡°What?¡± I whispered and thought and the same time. ¡°I think it is dark magic. Let¡¯s not touch it. I don¡¯t know what will happen,¡± Spook answered my confused whisper.


    Slowly and carefully we walked around it, avoiding the drawn lines of the pentagram and the orb itself. What do you know that I don¡¯t,I asked Artemis. The feeling of fear creeped up on me. Artemis knew so much more about everything. And I had the feeling that it was not because he was older than me. I more had the feeling he was appointed to watch over me. That he is my..


    ¡°¡­Mentor told me about this dark magic. He says that whoever gets involved in the dark magic, will never be able to leave it. You¡¯ll be forever bounded to the dark side.¡± Spook looked back over his shoulder to me, expecting an answer. ¡°What? Ohw uhm¡­¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°You¡¯re far away with your thoughts, little fox. I warn you, wandering off in a place you don¡¯t know, can bring evil things back to you.¡±


    ¡°I would never touch any of that dark stuff, don¡¯t worry,¡± I reassured him with a smile, ¡°I know the consequences,¡± I whispered, looking back over my shoulder to the place where we left the creature behind. He had some magic. I could feel his connection with the Weave. I wonder if he were a necromancer, before the Fiend took his life.


    That night I wrote my thoughts down into Barnabas¡¯ notebooks where he ended.


    3E 939- 13<sup>th</sup>of the ninth moon


    Today I¡¯ve encountered a strange being. When I reached out to him, the same way I reach out to Artemis, I could hear his words clearly instead of the gurgling that was coming out of his mouth. He was in pain, pleading for freedom and release from his suffer. He was hungry and crying. It was a young necromancer, for I could feel his connection to the Weave. I reached out deeper into his thoughts and heard faint commands from other creatures, in a strange language. I think it is the same language written on those letters from the mage demon. I have to put the puzzle pieces together. The pentagram, the orb with its strange light, the suffering spirit, the demon mage near Thalor, the story of the king and the fiend that Barnabas wrote about, the strange box found in blackthorn mansion.


    My theory:


    The high king Talron made a pact with the fiend with the help of Barnabas (and the elfs?). War broke out between mages and non-magical people. Mages split in two groups, necromancers and sorcerers. Sorcerers leader: the Archmage (Barnabas) who disappeared. Necromancers leader: Orion banished son of Talron. War continues. Barnabas feels something is wrong and the finding of a strange box in blackthorn mansion, that was supposed to be in the underworld, confirmed his theory. The deal with the fiend was weakening. Barnabas tries to find the elves and solve the war. Find a way to make people see the greater danger coming towards them from out the darkness. Barnabas dies, I continue his search. I fight a mage demon, he tells me about the Weave a magical river where mages pull their energy from. Something inside me blocks me to completely use my magic. I find a drawing of a pentagram and a very frightening drawing of a dark entity. I find the same pentagram as on the drawing with an illuminating orb, which is a portal to the underworld where the creature came from, according to Artemis. Dark entities walk through the portals into our world, consuming everything in their path. This suffering spirit used to be a necromancer, probably made a pact with the fiend. But the fiend took his life, now he is forever doomed to walk this realm as a living dead man. The dead man follows orders from other demons, so there are demons or necromancers that control these creatures. And can call for them.


    Wait a second. A portal in the tunnel has to be created by someone. There is still a demon here somewhere. A mage demon!


    ¡°Guys, I think we have to move on,¡± I whispered to Artemis and Spook. They had just settled down in the darkness close together to keep each other warm and looked up at me, a little frustrated. ¡°Why?¡± Spook asked irritated. I explained my theory, leaving away certain parts which I thought were not mend for his ears and saw Artemis smile. I knew you¡¯d figure things out. You¡¯ve always been a bright kid.I tried to hide my smile, to look focused and serious. Spook nodded, still thinking about my theory. ¡°May I see your sketches and notes from your findings?¡± he asked.


    ¡°No time, we have to go!¡± I quickly made an excuse, while I hid away my notes. groaning he stood up and stretched his back. ¡°Fine, if you say so. We¡¯re almost there. Just a mile or two.¡±


    I touched the wall again, so our path would be enlightened by its beautiful white moonlike light. With great caution, we continued our way to the exit of these underground tunnels.


    After an hour or so, Spook stopped at an intersection. ¡°Here should have been the way out.¡± I looked over his shoulder and saw that the tunnel was blocked. Rocks had fallen down the ceiling. ¡°These tunnels are old, and sometimes one collapses. I¡¯ve to report this to my mentor. For now, take what rest you can, I¡¯ll try to figure out which way we have to take now.¡± After his words, he took the left tunnel and started to explore. I sat myself down to the wall of the collapsed tunnel. Through the cracks, I could smell fresh air from the world above us. I wished with all my heart I could be there right now. The walls were creeping up on me. The darkness was slowly eating away my mind, leaving only fear behind. I dared not to close my eyes, for I knew out in these tunnels somewhere a demon still walked around. Now and then my heart leaped in fear, when I heard a strange noise coming from one of the tunnels. But never did a demon walked out of the darkness. Artemis had closed his eyes and was softly snoring at my side. Slowly I too fell asleep. What I did not notice was that Artemis guided my dreams, connecting them with my memories to the day we met.


    With my wooden sword at my side and my handmade bow in my hands, I ran through the forest ahead of Barnabas. ¡°Hey! Wait for me!¡± I heard Barnabas voice behind me. But I didn¡¯t listen. I wanted to go faster and faster. My feet carrying me away from everything. I wanted to fly over the leaves on the ground. I could see the trees widening, the end was near. I would soon reach the hills and look down upon the little town next to the sea. But I did not see the whole in the ground and my tiny feet got stuck inside of it. With a loud thumb, I fell hard on the ground. I sat up and looked at my hands. There were bruised and bleeding. My bow had fallen out of my hands. Look what you¡¯ve done to yourself. You¡¯re to reckless, little one. A voice resounded in my head. With a shock, I jumped up. ¡°Who was that? Who spoke to me?¡± Out of the whole in the ground, a small wolf appeared. I knew nothing about wolfs, but I did know wolfs could hurt me. So, my first reaction as an 8 year old was to scream. ¡°Barnabas!!¡± I yelled. Hush! Hush! Don¡¯t yell, you hurt my ears!


    ¡°Stay out of my head, or I¡¯ll shoot you!¡± I warned him, groping for my bow and a slightly bended arrow. The wolf bent his head sideways and glared at me with what looked like a smile. You have courage, little one. What may I call you?


    With my bow, in attack position I introduced myself. ¡°My name is Faelwen, daughter of Eyela.¡±


    Nice to meet you, Wen. I don¡¯t have a name yet, what would you like to call me?


    I lowered my bow and looked confused at him. ¡°Why would I give you a name? you¡¯re not mine,¡± I answered. The wolf seemed to grin and walked a step closer. I simultaneously took a step backwards and heaved my bow again. I won¡¯t hurt you, Wen. Don¡¯t you feel the connection? You¡¯re special, I can talk to you, communicate. I cannot communicate with every human. Only with those who are cursed as my kin would say. I prefer to call it gifted. It has saved my life more often than it has endangered it.


    ¡°Gifted with what?¡±


    ¡°Magic, my child,¡± Barnabas answered out of nowhere. He nodded at the wolf and smiled. ¡°I see you met my friend. How are you doing Buddy?¡±


    The wolf grinned and stretched himself. I¡¯m fine, although I¡¯d love to have a nice hot meal and the comfort of a warm cloak, sleeping in front of the fire hearth.Barnabas laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t you always?¡±


    ¡°Shall we take him home then?¡± I asked and Barnabas seemed to think about the question but in the end agreed. The wolf seemed very pleased with this thought and started to walk down the path. I put my arrow back in my quiver and followed Barnabas further down the hill to get our supplies in the town. I now did not wander in front of him, but strolled behind him, the wolf at my heels. ¡°Artemis?¡± I tried the name out. The wolf looked up at me. I like that name, he answered. I smiled. This would be the beginning of a long friendship.


    The memory seemed to ripple and change into an event I could not remember. If this was a memory than it wasn¡¯t mine. It took me to Barnabas¡¯ house. I was looking out of Artemis¡¯ eyes, but could not control his movements or words. Artemis was dozing in front of the fire, when Barnabas walked into the room and shook him awake. He slowly opened his eyes and yawned. I could taste the fresh meat he had eaten that evening. ¡°What I¡¯m going to tell you is very important. But she may not know. She needs to discover it for herself. Find her own path and not choose a path because she thinks it would be appropriate to take that route according to her history. Do you understand that?¡± Artemis nodded and stretched himself. I¡¯ll listen. Barnabas started telling, but the memory faded again and the next moment I saw Artemis looking worried. He was standing next to my small bed. I will always protect her. As a wolf protects his pact. For we are pact.


    I opened my eyes in the darkness of the tunnel. Back to the cold and away from all that was safe and warm. I will always protect you too, buddy. We are pact.I send the thought towards him. Even if I couldn¡¯t see his face in the darkness, I could still feel his joy through our connection. My eyes got heavy again and I almost had fallen back into that beautiful sleep, when a sound startled me. Something was approaching. I dared not to move, not even to breath. I kept perfectly quiet and still. ¡°Little fox? Can you turn on the light?¡± A whisper reached my ears from the dark. My heart made a leap, but I soon calmed down when I realised who it was. I reached my cold and stiff hand to touch the bare, icy wall and the white, blue light danced through the tunnels. I blinked with my eyes to adjust them to the light. ¡°I¡¯ve found another way out, follow me.¡±  I stood up, feeling my muscles protest the coldness and stiffness. With my hand on the wall and Artemis on my side, I followed Spook through the tunnels away from the collapsed tunnel. ¡°How far is it?¡± I asked in a soft whisper.


    ¡°Not far, trust me,¡± Spook answered me the same way. We walked slowly ever watchful of our surrounding. Fearing we might come across the demon who opened the portal.


    After what felt like an eternity I could see a vague light at the end of the tunnel. I let go of the wall, but this time we weren¡¯t overwhelmed with darkness, for a small streak of light tried to fight the black shadows inside the tunnel. ¡°There it is,¡± Spook whispered and started to walk faster. The light became brighter and brighter until we reached a door. Spook leaned against it and with a loud creak the door slowly opened. We had to shelter our eyes for the bright light from the other side. But when our eyes adjusted, we realised we weren¡¯t outside. We were inside a building. ¡°Spook¡­¡± Spook raised a hand to silence me. I listened closely, but couldn¡¯t hear anything. ¡°Alright, I think I know where we are. If my calculations are right, then this should be the temple of Herdus.¡± I tried to remember the place of the temple on the map, but couldn¡¯t picture it inside my head. When I reached for my backpack to grab the map Spook turned around. ¡°Here is where our path will divide, little fox.¡± I knew this moment would come, and yet it still hurt. How can I move on without someone like Spook to guard my back? In the short time that I came to know him, I had grown very comfortable with the idea of him always by my side, I started to like him. And now he was going to leave me behind. He saw the distress on my face and walked towards me. A little uncomfortably he put his arm around me and hugged me. At least that¡¯s what it looked like. ¡°You¡¯ll do fine, little fox. I know you will. Trust me,¡± he said to me, squeezing my shoulders. ¡°Okay,¡± is all I could answer with a choked voice. He nodded, put on his cap and walked away from the tunnels out of the building without ever looking back. Just like that. I just stared after him a little bewildered, standing there seeing him leave me behind. I don¡¯t know how long I stood there. Tears were burning in the corners of my eyes. I didn¡¯t want to cry over this. But it seemed I had lost control over my emotions. Suddenly I wished Spook would come back, see my tears and change his mind. ¡°I can¡¯t leave you behind like this,¡± would he say. His words sounded in my head, even though he was already gone. One tear escaped and rolled over my cheek. I quickly wiped it away, not letting myself cry. I couldn¡¯t. Crying is a weakness.


    Tears are the words you can¡¯t find to describe how you feel, Artemis comforted me. It¡¯s okay not to be okay.His words broke the barrier my thoughts were creating. I sat down on the ground, my arms around me, feeling completely lost and scared. Scared of being alone. No one knew how much I cried that night. Artemis at my side saying nothing, just being there and making me feel less alone. I knew Artemis would always take care of me. In the end, all I learned was how to be strong. Alone.

 8. Trust?

    I closed the door from the tunnels and left the temple behind. After drying my tears, taking a deep breath I stepped outside.


    Outside I could feel the fresh air brush away all the fear. I closed my eyes and just breathed. Feeling all the grieve, sadness and anxiety disappear. Not knowing someone was watching me from out of the shadows. I more felt than heard Artemis¡¯ warning growl towards the shadows. I opened my eyes and look defiantly in that direction, my hand close to my sword. As a response, someone stepped out of the shadows. A young man, probably somewhere in his twenties. His light brown curly hair contrasted with his light greenblue eyes that seemed to brighten up by the moonlight. He was wearing the black robes with red runes of the necromancers. He was tall and walked graciously towards me. Enchanted by his sweet laugh I stood frozen, watching him approach me. Artemis showed his teeth and put a step closer towards the stranger. The young man didn¡¯t seem to see it as a threat, but still he stopped just a few steps away from me. Now he was closer and I could see his high cheekbones and strong jawline. He had a small face and his eyes were enchanting, small wrinkles next to his eyes indicated that he laughed a lot. He was wearing black gloves and his robes looked more like the clothes of an assassin than the magical robes mages used to wear in times past. ¡°What is a beautiful young lady like you doing here in the middle of the night all by herself?¡± he asked. His voice was soft and warm. I felt a strange urge to put my sword back in its sheath. Consciously, but with no idea why, I put my sword back in its sheath. Artemis stopped growling and we just stared at him. Lost for words. ¡°Are you okay?¡± he asked, looking worried. I wanted to spill out all my sadness, telling him I¡¯m not okay. I¡¯m not okay at all. But all I could say was. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine.¡±


    He didn¡¯t seem satisfied with that answer but made no gesture to push me to spill my story. ¡°Are you lost?¡± he asked me again. I didn¡¯t know what to answer. Yes, I was lost, mentally. But I knew where I was supposed to go. I guess. Then I remembered my map. I searched for it in my backpack, but couldn¡¯t find it. Shit, Buddy, I think I lost our map.


    Okay no stress, we will find our way, Artemis answered. I looked back at the young man. Without a thought I said: ¡°Yes, I¡¯m lost. I lost my map and I don¡¯t know where I am.¡± Stupid woman! I heard Artemis complain in my head. The young man nodded and smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, dear. I¡¯ll help you find your way back to the light. My name is Ash,¡± he grinned and held up his hand. I thought he wanted to shake my hand as a form of greeting. What most humans do. But when I gave my hand he graciously turned it and kissed the top of my hand. A weird warm feeling spread through my body. I tried not to show and kept my face as steady as I could. But he must have seen my eyes light up in the moonlight by his touch, for his smile widened and he stepped closer. Not to close, but close enough that he could pull me towards him. It was a little threatening, but strangely I wasn¡¯t threatened. I suddenly remembered what Spook said and wondered if he had seen this man. ¡°We¡¯re at the temple of Herdus.¡± Ash nodded and looked up towards the temple. Gleaming white in the starlight. ¡°Do you believe in Herdus?¡± he asked me.


    ¡°Not really, I think I believe more in Elyon and Veras,¡± I answered awkwardly pulling my hand out of his hand.


    ¡°Do you know the story of Herdus?¡± He let my hand softly slip through his hand.


    I shook my head. I had heard of Herdus being the creator of human beings¡¯ millennia¡¯s ago. But that was all I knew of him. Even though it was a summer evening, the wind from sea was cold, colder as usual. And I started to shake a little. I was tired, hungry and cold. ¡°I need to rest,¡± I whispered, more to myself than to anyone. But Ash heard me and he got that sweet worried look on his face. ¡°Come, I know a place where you can rest.¡±


    I¡¯m not sure if it is wise to follow him, Wen, I heard Artemis in my head.


    Don¡¯t you worry. You didn¡¯t trust Spook in the beginning either, and in the end, he wasn¡¯t so bad. Same goes for him. Besides what else can we do? We don¡¯t have a map, no shelter, no idea where to go. And something tells me we should keep him as a friend instead of an enemy.


    Artemis grumbled a little in protest but followed us anyway into the dark. Between the trees was a little wooden cabin. ¡°This used to be the house of the priest, but these days he lives inside the city walls for protection. So, it has been abandoned for a couple of weeks. We can stay here for the night.¡±


    He opened the door and inside was already a little fire burning in the fireplace. The cabin wasn¡¯t big. It was one room with a bed, a small table and a small kitchen. In front of the hearth was a big chair with pillows. And several blankets were folded onto the bed. It looked as if Ash had been here for long. Ash walked towards me and helped me pull of my cloak. I dropped my backpack, sword and bow with quiver on the ground next to the bed and sat down. An overwhelming tiresome feeling swept over me. It¡¯s weird Buddy, I have slept in the tunnels not long ago. Why am I so tired?Artemis looked up at me with sleepy eyes and curled himself next to the fire on the carpet. I don¡¯t know, Wen. Maybe we should just sleep.And he fell asleep. Just like that. Ash placed himself on the chair. ¡°You can have the bed,¡± he said. And his smile warmed my heart again. I curled myself up and fell in a deep dreamless sleep.


    Somewhere in the night I almost woke up, I heard Ash whisper something and after his warm, strong hand stroke my hair out of my face, I fell asleep again. Realising he was putting us to sleep, but no energy to worry about it.


    The next morning, I woke with the smell of backed eggs and bacon. My stomach grumbled in response. I stretched myself and looked around me. Ash was standing in the kitchen, flipping the bacon and Artemis just woke up by the fireplace. The fire was burning low, some smouldering ashes still gave off a little warmth. On the table stood a bowl with bread and a small cup with butter. ¡°Here is something to eat,¡± Ash said while he put the bacon and eggs on a plate. I walked towards the table and filled my plate with a piece of buttered bread. Ash poured in some fresh herbal tea and seated himself across me. I gave Artemis some of my bacon and bread, which he took with him to the fireplace. ¡°Did you sleep well?¡± Ash asked me. I looked up at him, his blue eyes not saying anything, but still trying to pierce my mind. I dared not to mention my thoughts about his magic that put me to sleep. ¡°Sure, I slept fine,¡± I answered casually, avoiding his eyes. ¡°You knew the story of Herdus, right?¡± I asked to change the subject. Ash leaned backwards swallowed a big piece of bread and took a nip of his tea. ¡°Yes, I do,¡± he answered while he licked his lips. I couldn¡¯t help myself to stare at his handsome face. His mysterious eyes and beautiful laugh that gave me shivers all over my body. He held his head a little sideways as he stared back at me with that small grin on his face. I felt my face turning red and looked stubbornly the other way. Stupid to be so infatuated with someone I barely knew. ¡°Very well, I¡¯ll tell you the story,¡± Ash answered after a moment of silence. ¡°Herdus created the human beings¡¯ millennia¡¯s ago. That was the only time he visited the earth. After he was done with his task, he left, never to return.¡± His voice was warm and soft. I could listen to it all day. ¡°Even though the story tells Herdus never returned to earth, some say that they had dreams with messages from him. But I don¡¯t believe those dreams are from Herdus. For I don¡¯t think Herdus would ever come back to rescue the humans in danger.¡±


    Danger. ¡°Danger from what?¡± I asked, for I knew that many mages stopped believing in Herdus, but the non-magical humans needn¡¯t fear the king as the mages did. Maybe he knew about the demons coming to this world?


    ¡°In danger of evil within themselves and from darker places,¡± Ash answered while he picked up the empty plates to clean them. Darker places. He knows it. He knows about the demons. On the other hand, who doesn¡¯t? That demon who attacked me and Spook went into the open as well. ¡°To where are you travelling, darling?¡± Ash pulled me away from my thoughts. Darling? ¡°To the Andu?n,¡± I answered. Ash walked back towards me and put on his cloak. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take you there. I still have to deliver something in Erandur.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    I looked at Artemis and he seemed to shrug his shoulders. Why not? We do need a guide to bring us. I bet we¡¯ll find our way in Erandur. We¡¯ll only need to cross the lake.


    I nodded. ¡°Okay,¡± I accepted his request.


    As I gathered my stuff I saw Ash putting out the fire and cleaning everything up. I was wondering how he got into this cabin in the first place. There was a lock on the front door, but when we walked outside he just closed the door behind him without locking it. He broke into this place, Artemis growled. I know buddy, but don¡¯t worry. We only have to travel with him for a couple of days. Maybe when we reach a town we can buy a new map.I kind of felt sorry I lost that map. It was Barnabas¡¯ map and now I wouldn¡¯t know where he¡¯d been and what he still had to discover. ¡°Darling, are you coming? Or are you going to keep staring towards the door?¡± Ash teased me with a grin on his face. ¡°I was merely putting the puzzles together. You broke into this place, for what?¡± I answered, my arms on my hips. The grin on his face disappeared and was replaced by a darker more irritated look. ¡°That is not of your business!¡± he hissed. I backed away a little shocked by his sudden mood change. Without another word he turned away from me and walked off into the direction of the road. I shook away the unpleasant feeling of fear and stalked after him, Artemis cautions at my heals. It was a long journey and we hadn¡¯t spoken to each other for hours. Now and then we stopped to drink and eat something, but even then, he didn¡¯t speak to me. When the evening was closing in on us he finally spoke. ¡°What is your name?¡± His voice startled me, for I was deep in thought. ¡°My name is Faelwen,¡± I answered realising that all this time I knew his name, but he had no idea who I was. ¡°That¡¯s a special name. You don¡¯t hear that often among the humans.¡± He looked down at me with his magical eyes. His lips whispered something, and I felt a strange sensation go through my head. I became a little dizzy and within seconds after the dizzying feeling, words started to spill from my mouth unintentionally. ¡°My name is probably not completely human. I recently found out in the underground tunnels of Westray that I happen to be part Elvish. The underground tunnels of Westray used to be an Elvish city before it got buried underneath the earth. Even though the Elves have disappeared centuries ago, my mother somehow never left with her kin. I found I could understand the elvish words when someone speaks them to me. It all started when I was running away from the Hunters who had killed Barnabas. I ran away and then helped a farmer get rid of a demon of old who was hiding in a cave. And in¡­¡± It was as if I was outside of my body looking down at myself and hearing me spill all my secrets. Ash seemed to look very interesting making mental notes of everything I told him. Wen! Stop it! Artemis pleaded. I¡¯m trying buddy, but I can¡¯t!I send my thoughts to him. Try to push his magic out of your mind. I tried to call for my small magical ability but seemed to fail. With great struggle I tried to stop thinking about everything that happened to me and started focussing on just one thought until I spoke that thought aloud. ¡°When I found out that I also had magical abilities I¡­. You¡¯re poisoning me with your magic!¡± And just like that the weird fuzzy feeling left me and I had control over my speech again. Ash looked shocked for a second at me for breaking his spell, before he got control again and smiled. ¡°I would do no such thing my dear. Why would I want to know your entire life story? It was only you that got yourself lost in telling me all your amazing adventures.¡±


    I felt anger boil inside of me and clenched my teeth. ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me,¡± I hissed at him. He looked confused back. ¡°Darling, I¡¯m not lying. Believe me when I tell you that I¡¯m speaking the truth,¡± He answered me calmly, looking me deep in the eye. I felt a wave of magic sweep up against me. And thoughts that were not mine tried to convince me I was wrong. No! Built a wall around yourself, Wen! Don¡¯t let him in.¡°No! Stop doing that! You also put me and Artemis in sleep the other night!¡± He laughed softly at my pathetic try to break his spell. ¡°My dear, maybe we should rest for today. You look very tired.¡± He stroke a hair out of my face and my eyes suddenly got very heavy. In the distant I heard Artemis growl and Ash cursed him when Artemis bit him in his ankle. The spell disappeared, and I was awake again. The sleepy feeling from a minute ago, washing away by the anger I felt. While Ash groped for his ankle I hid the side of his head with my fist. I had no idea how painful and hard a skull could be. But I had hit him pretty well for he stumbled backwards and fell on his back. I rubbed my fist and knelt by his side. ¡°You¡¯re a strong little lady, Faelwen,¡± he groaned while he tried to sit up. It was the first time I heard him use my name. It gave me a pleasant shiver up my spine. Irritated for that I stood up and pointed my sword towards his chest. ¡°Don¡¯t you even think of standing up, mister genius.¡± He laid himself back down on the ground and heaved his arms in surrender. Pressing his lips together and raising his eyebrows looking out at me with blue-green puppy eyes. He licked his lips before saying: ¡°I did mean no harm.¡± I sighed and almost fell for his innocent face. But I quickly grabbed myself together and shook my head, avoiding eye contact. ¡°I should¡¯ve known better than to trust a necromancer.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m no longer part of the necromancers. I do still wear they¡¯re clothes, but that¡¯s just because I¡¯ve nothing else to wear.¡± That got me off guard. ¡°What are you?¡± I asked confused. He pleadingly looked from the sword towards me. I put away my sword under protest of Artemis and helped Ash up on his feet. He brushed off the dirt from his clothes and looked a little anxious at the wolf. He¡¯s standing too close to you.¡° According to my wolf, you¡¯re standing too close to me,¡± I translated for Artemis. Ash raised his eyebrows in surprise and took a step back, a big grin appearing on his face. ¡°I knew you had some kind of magical link with your wolf.¡± I shrugged in response and waited for his answer on my question, my sword still in my hand. He sighed and suddenly he looked very tired and sad. ¡°Let us first find a place to stay for the night. I¡¯ll explain everything during dinner.¡± He gestured for me to take the lead and I started to walk in front of him. Artemis trotting after Ash. There weren¡¯t any small cabins here in this area. We were around 30 miles away from the temple and surrounded by grassland. Here and there some trees and bushes were gathered together to create some shelter. I picked one of those places to make our camp. We soon settled down by a small crackling fire and ate some left over from this morning. Ash pulled out a small kettle from his backpack and filled it with water to make some tea. When he sat down again, his knees drawn to his chest, he looked up at the stars. His hands were resting on his knees. ¡°As an answer to your question, yes I¡¯m still a necromancer. But I¡¯m no longer part of that association. I choose a different path a long time ago.¡± He was silent for a few minutes. ¡°I thought Orion, our leader, could lead us to victory and stop the hunt on mages. But Orion lost himself in the dark arts. He wanted more and more power. Many followed in his footsteps, but I choose a different path. The group didn¡¯t agree with me and so we parted. I went my own way and have been on my own for a couple of years now.¡± It didn¡¯t fully comfort me. ¡°And why were you trying to get your hands on private information? Why did you put us to sleep the other night? Why did you try to convince me that you were not lying? You lied to me!¡± I tried to stay calm, but the more the questions rolled out of my mouth, the more hurt I sounded. He looked at me with sorrowful eyes and sighed. ¡°I had to know if you were the good kind of mage. If you were not working together with those foul creatures that seem to come from the darkness below.¡± His voice quivered by the words ¡®darkness below¡¯ as if he experienced something traumatizing. I could imagine what, thinking back to the first night I encountered a demon mage and the old lady that was now called the Black widow. For she was wearing black clothes as if in mourning. Artemis seemed to calm down also by what Ash just said. His muscles relaxed and he set himself closer by the fire. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever fully trust this man. But for now, I believe him. Like you said, we¡¯ll soon part ways anyway.I nodded towards Artemis and stroke his fur. ¡°I can assure you that I¡¯m not working together with those demons. I¡¯ve been attacked by two of them, and I do not wish to encounter them again. I¡¯m only trying to find my own path,¡± I answered. When I looked up at him he smiled making little wrinkles by his eyes. I felt myself blushing a little and Ash pulled up one eyebrow his smile getting bigger. I heard myself laugh a little and looked up at the sky. The sky was very clouded. No stars tonight. No comforting light of the moon. Just darkness. Somehow that awoke a fear in me. A deeper fear then anything I¡¯ve felt. A fear that seemed long forgotten but was always remembered by the humans. ¡°It¡¯s getting darker and darker each night. As if something is approaching.¡± Ash whisper darkly. ¡°Let us rest while we can.¡± I heard him making himself comfortable by the fire. I looked around me towards the darkness that covered the land. An unpleasant shiver went up my spine. I quickly settled myself between Artemis and Ash. Listening to the whispers from the dark, I started trembling. Not from the cold, but from fear. Knowing these whispers were the beginning of some greater danger coming to our world. Ash crawled closer to me and put his arm around my waist. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m here,¡± he whispered. I closed my eyes.