Alphande'

“How much further must we go? The beach was cold but it was much better than this. The mud and roots are difficult to traverse. It is even worse as this minute you step in a puddle and your feet are being cooked and the next it is being frozen.” I complained as the strain of the walk was beginning to take its toll on me. My left knee ached dully, but it held up under the near break-neck pace at which we were walking.

“An appropriate combination if there ever was one. Hot warms cold, cold cools hot.” she replied. In travelling I realised that she seemed to be in a better mood than usual. She’d even started humming. A pleasant sound, one that compelled me to move closer at one point it caused me to walk straight into her back, causing us both to stumble. She was doing it again and my feet were responding.

“Must you do that?” I asked.

“Do what?” she asked.

“Hum.”

“It is the easiest way I can lead you through the forest, since you can’t see it will make you follow my footsteps instead of tripping over roots and slipping into puddles.”

“Well it isn’t really doing a good job of that though.” I said after stepping into another hot puddle. I jumped out of that one quickly before all the heated mud soaked through.

“A bit of scorching and freezing is to be expected as I can’t exactly change the terrain of the land on a whim and even if I could, I wouldn’t want to. All is as it should be.”

“Well could you make us move quicker, like the way you did in the ocean so that we can skip this part.”

“The ocean portal took us as close as we could get to Talithá from that direction. The rest of the journey we would have to make on foot.”

“Talithá is your hometown?”

“Of the sort, it is more like a gathering place for the unaligned of our kind. Some of us prefer not to live in cities or towns like humans. It is quite a confining concept living in one place. Frequent changes in geography fuels us to pursue our own interests or develop new ones.”

“And the portal it’s like a door in the ocean? It cannot take you there? How does that work?”

“The same way most things work, by magic.”

“There is no such thing.”

“You have seen what a feldünstar can do and moved through the ocean to land in seconds and you still don’t believe?”

“Everything cannot be made to work by magic. From what I had read or heard magic is just illusions and trickery. There must be another explanation.”

“And there is. There is so much more to what you humans know or think you know of this world. You will not be told otherwise, that’s why you have not progressed further than your current state. That is the reason your people need our constant interference to help your kind survive.”

“What do you mean by constant interference?”

“Exactly what I have said, but I have already said too much. This is not a conversation that you are ready to have. Wait here.”

“Where are you going?” I said as I climbed up on the root of what I thought was a tree. I wasn’t quite sure as when I placed my hands down the bark seemed to be moving under my hands marking the outline. I took my hand of it and pushed in my pocket instead. The tickling sensation still remained.

“I am going scouting. Here hold this.” she took one of my hands out of my pockets and thrust in it some sort of ivory implement. I was about to feel along the edges with my other hand when she stopped me. “If you move your hands any further you will end up losing a finger or two.” I dropped my hand immediately. “Now just wait here, not everything here will bite but you have the knife just in case.”

“Not even this tree, as I am sure that the bark just moved.”

“It was just curious, your type hasn’t been this way in a while but it is harmless. By now the whole forest will be expecting you as I am sure it has passed the news along.”

“It talks…”

“When I get back.” she said as her voice was disappearing.

What was I supposed to do now? I thought before sitting down. I carefully pointed the blade away from me as I pulled the collar of my cloak around my neck as being stationary had caused the cold to start creeping up on me. It was times like these I missed having my locks as the low fluff of hair did nothing to keep my head or my ears warm. I cursed Gareth thrice with the most damning curses of Avandor. What he wanted with my hair only Avandor knew. I pulled my cloak closer around my neck and over my ears. It helped to put out the sting of the cold but minutely.

I waited for what seemed like an hour, but I knew it was only a few minutes that had passed. Tet’s absence was starting to make me nervous. She said she had gone scouting, but for what?

Out of boredom I placed my free hand on the trunk of the tree again. “So apparently you talk.” I said to it. Again I felt the bark moving along the grains of my hand. I moved my hand to random spots starting the whole process over. “I wonder what gossip you have passed on to the rest of you tree friends about me?” I paused waiting for an answer hearing naught but the emptiness of the forest and faint footsteps of something coming towards me.

“Tet?” I said getting up. I felt a sudden jolt of fear going through me, however it was not my own, but rather like someone else being afraid on my behalf. “Tet is that you?” I called again.

I heard the footsteps coming faster and it was like it had multiplied into two sets. I heard the footsteps stop and somehow I could sense that there was someone or something watching me from a distance.

I heard the creatures chattering to themselves in a strange language, it almost sounded like the one the Verdans used among themselves, except this time it was more guttural. I was not sure but I thought I made out the words human or changeling, as they seemed confused about what I was.

I hid the knife at my side and stood a bit straighter leaning on the trunk of the tree for support. “What is it that you want creatures?”

The footsteps got closer, but I fought the urge to run as I would have left both my back and front open to attack made worse by the fact that I couldn’t tell who or where my enemy was. I felt a shadow fall over me and I tightened my grip on the dagger. It seemed as if the creature was sniffing around my neck. My heart pounded against my chest and my hands twitched reflexively.

“Human.” I heard the creature say and suddenly locked around my neck, were the hands of the creature. The thin scales in its palm were like thorns being pressed into my skin. I grasped the wrist of the creature with my free hand and tried to push it away from my throat. The grip only tightened and it seemed to be laughing at my weak effort as it was more like feathers being brushed against steel.

I steadied myself against the tree and thrust the dagger forward. My mark was true as I felt as the blade cut through the thin plates lining its chest and into the sponginess of the lungs. I twisted the blade more to the left bringing it closer to the heart. The creature screamed out but its grip didn’t lessen. I pulled the dagger out of its chest and thrust forward again quickly marking it into the beating organ which stuttered to a stop as warm blood squirted out from the wound unto my hand and on my cheek.

The grip lessened and his hand fell away. I coughed and fell to one knee as I was finally able to breathe. By Avandor that was only one creature and I was not sure how many more there were. I needed help. “Tet!” I shouted once and coughed right after as my windpipe still felt like it was kinked.

I didn’t have time to stand and I heard the angry growl of the other creature coming towards me. I cowered waiting for the blow, but the growl was cut off by the feral snarl of another beast entering. I heard what sounded like a fight between two wild animals taking place. I heard the sound of massive jaws clamping around plates of steel. I couldn’t tell who was winning and I crawled forward.

There was a final clamp of steel pulling flesh and I could hear the final cry of the first creature come to a dead halt. Silence again encompassed the forest and I heard a slight whimper of a hurt creature. I felt a familiar brush of a consciousness against mine.

“Greyshanks,” I said hopefully and I stepped towards it.

Finalíel-Sharp-Tooth to your aid human wolf-talker.

“I thank you great wolf.” I said a largely disappointed, as this wolf was definitely not Grey as its voice was distinctly male. “How did you know to come?”

You asked for help and I was the nearest one to you, so I came.

“You sound like you have been hurt badly.” I stretched out my hand towards the animal and it placed its nose under my hand. I ran my fingers over the animal’s head. It was taller than I expected as it took full arm extension to rest on it shoulders, my fingers lost in the thick fur.

I am hurt but not greatly. The axe of the Ulgana had struck me in the leg but I will heal quickly.

I felt along the front leg until I found the spot wet with blood. I shrugged out of my jacket and wrapped it around the wound. “I have a friend who is a changeling, she will be able to help you heal quicker, if you will stay until she gets back.”

I will stay. I felt as it settled down into a crouch and I sat beside it. Sinking into the thick fur at the side. I had partially fallen asleep when I heard running towards me. I got up alert, but I wasn’t too bothered as Finalíel hadn’t bothered to move.

“Tet.”

“Evander,” she said coming towards us. “Are you alright?” she said stooping in front of me.

“For the most part, thanks to Finalíel. I managed to take out one of the creatures and Finalíel the other. The wolf called it an Ulgana?” I said as I knitted my brow trying to remember if that was the term the wolf had used.

“They are the same things you call Verdans except the ones here are much stronger and aren’t so green.”

“His leg was hurt, perhaps you could help.” she didn’t say anything but I could feel her moving to the bandaged area. I heard her whispering a soft song to the wolf. I felt the skin around my neck prickling. I put my hands to scratch, but I found that the small puncture wounds caused by the creature’s scales were gone leaving just smooth skin behind.

“He doesn’t need this anymore.” she said draping my coat around my neck. “Thank you Finalíel-Sharp-Tooth.”

It was my duty. I take my leave of you Tetjana of the changeling and human wolf talker Evander. He said as he lopped off.

“Just your luck. I go scouting for Ulgana and they manage to find you after I was gone.” she said sounding annoyed. “From now on you will be glued to my feet as I refuse to leave you behind again.” she said as she helped me to stand.

“Tetjana,” I said using the full name the wolf had supplied. “How is it that I am able to speak to the wolf yet I don’t have the bloodstone?”

“The magic in Gé Addar is weak. The bloodstones amplify the latent magic enabling you to use your gifts there. You don’t need it here as the magic is strong enough.”

“So how is it that I don’t see my visions anymore?”

“Because you need to be able to see them and you can’t, but you still sense them.”

“Like on the ship…”

“Yes, like on the ship.”

“Who do you think…?” Died. I didn’t want to say it out aloud. Curly made me realise that I only got visions of death and danger.

“I don’t know. We should move on. If there were two Ulgana here that means that there are others nearby. You were lucky this time, it might not be so on another encounter.”

“Did you happen to find any food when you went scouting. I haven’t eaten since morning. How many hours has it been since then?” I asked as my belly grumbled noisily.

“Two days.”

“But that can’t be. We haven’t been walking that long.”

“Time moves differently in some parts of Envladane depending on the path you choose. I chose a path that would get us the fastest the Talithá. We should be there in another day, what will seem like six hours to you. I have gathered food, but it is not safe for you to eat as yet as you have not been made immune to the poisons here. So you will have to wait until we get there.”

“A whole day without food. I might die from starvation before the poisons kill me.”

“That is overly dramatic, even for you Evander. But death from starvation would be a much kinder than eating of the fruits of Envladane. If you think of the spider venom and what it did to you, you will know what I mean.”

“It would be that bad?”

“It would be ten times worse. We should get moving. The faster we leave the sooner you get to eat.”

“I will not argue with that. You might want to start singing this time as humming is not going to make me move fast enough.” I said as my belly growled.

“As you wish.” And she started her song and I found myself moving swiftly along the forest floor although it was more like flying than running.