A Wolfren howled, its eerie night cry split though the forest, as it trailed off the creatures chirping and chattering capped to a standstill.
He had rolled off the blanket and the dry bitter pine needles stuck to his lips, he brushed them away and spat out the taste.
The instant quiet startled Parcival awake, he stepped over to Han and patted his shoulder.
"Han, hey! Wake up!"
"I want the pretty ball, mommy!" Snorting, he batted in the air before him.
"What?" Han said.
"She's gone." Pointing to where she had been sleeping. "Come on wake up!"
"Go-way." Han muttered, then fell back to sleep, snoring.
Parcival waited another ten minutes, and climbed on the gray horse tied to the large fern tree. He urged it North, and into a gallop.
Several hours later he caught up to Merryn, on the path back the way they came. Walking his horse up beside her.
"Merryn! Why did you take off?"
Merryn sat on the horse her eyes stayed unblinkingly off ahead, the horse continued to move forward. Parcival stopped the horse, and jumped down.
"Merryn? Are you going to answer me?"
He grabbed her horse's reins, stopping the animal. The horse swished its tail, and nickered at him. She continued to stare straight ahead, this unsettled him. He pulled her down off the horse, and held her there. She was stiff, he took her hand but she still didn't move. Her hand was cold.
He turned around, and tied the other horse behind the first one, and lead it back to camp. When he turned back, she had started down a faint pathway leading back the way out of the forest.
"Come back."
She ignored him. Something was terribly wrong, but what?
"I don't know if you can hear me or not," he said.
"Like it or not I'm taking you to my home city. This requires the help of an elder healer."
Parcival picked her up, and put her on his horse. The horse whinnied, and the rims of its eyes grew white. He petted and talked softly to the animal until it calmed down. He hoisted himself up and turned the horse back around.
The branches on the trees kept catching on the back of his cape.
"Woh, Jet."
The horse stopped and he unfastened the cape rolling it up and placed it in the pack on Jets right side. The horse stepped back and nickered, its ears flattened back.
"What is it girl?"
He looked around nothing was there. He shifted Merryn and patted Jets neck.
"It's alright girl keep going."
The shadows under the trees appeared to move up the trunks. He looked up at the sky. Almost sunset, had better hurry back. Near the camp the shadows under the trees climbed up and struck out faint tendrils. He blinked and they disappeared. It's nothing, just need some sleep.
Back at the camp, he took her down, and set her by the campfire, where she stood.
"Come on Merryn, talk to me!" He said.
Han stood up, and walked over to him. His bushy eyebrows lowered.
"Odd, how long has she been this way?"
He shrugged.
"Uncertain. I found her like this."
He turned towards her, and held her shoulders. This turned out to be a mistake, as several wet vines along her back reached out and wrapped around his fingers.
"Blurrrg!"
He backed away and shook his fingers. The sensation still clung to his skin.
Her eyes were filmed over, the usual bright green muted to a swampish dull green.
"Can you do any thing?"
Han tapped his pipe, took a puff. He stood there for a while. "I've never seen the like before. It appears to be some sort of infection or parasite. Perhaps a simple cleansing spell would work?"
He stepped over to her and held her hands, "Goddess cleanse this woman, if it's your will."
Parcival turned, the sun had moved down further, the light was slipping away with each second.
A light shone from Han's hands it shimmered and moved up her arms. There it stopped. Han repeated the prayer again, but with more force. The light only made it up to her elbows.
He shook his head. "This isn't an infection," Han said.
"Marain! Come on, snap out of it!"
He cupped her face in his hands.
"Appareo nunc," he repeated this until he ran out of breath.
The vines wrapped around his fingers again, he suppressed a shiver. Concentrate, ignore it.
His hands glowed yellow, with a pulsing of light, emanating from them. Continuing to whisper the chant, his hands glowing brighter each time it was cast. The surrounding forest, became a bright white nova. He chanted faster, and faster with each word.
The hair on his hands stood straight up, and it seamed like every cell in his body was exploding, he wanted to scream, but doing so would break the spell.
Tears ran down her cheeks in streams.
She's in there I know it. It hurt to breathe, but he pushed harder and continued.
Merian's face became a mask of rage, her skin turned a gray-green and her features contoured to something other. She backhanded him he flew off to the right, tumbled into the forest, and crashed into a tree.
He jumped back up and ran back to camp. Her sights were now on Han. The vines on her neck hissed, and they crept up over the back of her neck, and around her ears. Han backed away from her, and stumbled over backwards.
"Marain, you're scaring me quit it!" she grabed at him, just missing his neck as he tumbled onto his side and rolled away.
Parcival sprinted over and tackled her to the ground. She pushed and shoved at him, throwing him on to the ground. She snarled, before he could blink she was leaning over him, and stabbed at his chest. He kicked her stomach and rolled away.
Han padded behind her, jumped on her back and started praying.
"Goddess banish this possession!"
The vines reached out wrapped around him an tossed him off into the fire. He screeched words best not heard by children.
She stomped over to him, her movements stiff and mechanical.
He started chanting the same spell again.
Han had managed to jump back out of the flames with his tail a little burned.
Parcival rushed over to her and smashed into her. She wobbled and fell. He sat on top of her holding her down.
"I'm sorry."
He didn't want to be he had to, she was out of options.
"Nova of the heavens slam down on this evil!"
This would either kill her outright or destroy the parasite. A soft light rippled over her body, it grew brighter with every breath until it outburst around them both. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for it to pass. The noise was deafing. She screamed, and thrashed under his hold.
He opened his eyes and let go of her. The vines were turned to ash. It worked? He picked her up holding her tight against his chest. She collapsed against him.
"I couldn't give up on you," He caressed her cheek with a hand.
She flinched but let him.
What had changed? She had warmed up to him yesterday. He held her gently.
Han came over and sat next to her.
"It's alright now." He patted her back.
"It's not, it's still there it'll never leave," she balled up his shirt in her hands and buried her face in his chest.
He'd never seen her act so fragile, it worried him even more then when it had taken over.
She let go of him, her cheeks flushed.
"There might be someone who can help you. We are going back to my home city, no more arguments."
"Let's get some sleep. And thank you." Her voice cracked on the last word.
She rolled over facing away from them. Han laid down near her and also went to sleep.
He watched the fire as it jumped and danced. He wondered if all elvish woman were like this, so cold one minute and so warm the next.
He supposed they were not that different from human women. With her boots gone, he enjoyed the rare view of her long legs. Nice. It was a shame to cover them up again. He wanted to touch them, but decided to let her rest.
Jet came over to him and nudged his head.
"Hey, girl are you hungry?"
He got up and took out a sugar cake. She lipped it off of his fingers and crunched it. He patted her side and leaned against the piled party's packs. Soon he slept.
The morning came, the light glowed through the treetops, blue butterflies a flutter, they flew through the forest, passing over the party, their iridescent wings sparkled in the sunlight. Yawning, a hot mug of snasgy right now would be nice. Stretching he woke the others.
They ate, and climbed onto the horses. As they went deeper into the forest, they came on, a winding river that ended in a small lake. Streaming down into the lake, a waterfall gurgled and gushed from a gigantic split rock crest at the top. The afternoon breeze breathed a veil of mist of the sides of it, the bubbles foamed and burst, before they dissipated in the air. He usually ignored such things, but the immense height of the waterfall was astonishing.
Merryn slid off her horse by the waterfall and gazed at it for a long time.
"This forest is beautiful."
She went over to the pool under it, she bent over washing her feet.
Parcival came over holding an object wrapped in a cloth he lifted a corner off revealing a large blue flower, in its center it went from purple to a bright red center. Raising a eyebrow as he held it out.
"I don't know reminds me of you." He shrugged.
She smiled and took it.
"Thanks, it's pretty." His cheeks darkened.
He turned going back over to his horse and climbed back on.
After wrapping it she put it into the magic pouch. She sighed.
"Ah. That's better, I need to get some new boots soon. Feel pretty silly with nothing but these knee high jerkins covering me."
Han's eyebrows went way up and his lips quirked. He chuckled and sat on an old stump, packing his pipe.
"I uh. Think they look fine. Beautiful, actually."
Han put his head in his hands and shook his head.
Merrin blushed a bright red. "What?"
Did I say something wrong? "Yes, you need some new boots." Preferably ones that showed more and covered less.
She stepped out of the pool, tilted her head and eyed him for a moment.
Better to change the topic now, don't like the way her eyes are glinting.
"Haven't you been here before? Is this not the area of your people?"
"I never left the city of Dentree, when I was younger. This is the first time I've been out here."
"Um, if you have never been in this wilderness, how will you be able to find the Adapts?" Parcival stretched and arched his back.
"I've been following this map I bought."
Taking out a map from a large pouch tied to her waist, and rolled it open, showed it to him.
"See? If we follow this path here, it leads to a road into the middle of this forest. We need to go over the long bridge spanning over Tiger Fang canyon, here."
She pointed to a spot on the map. And, on the other side where the road continues.
"Until we are in the middle of this forest. At the end of the road is the Elvin city of Nirv-lun."
She rolled up the map, and put it back into the pouch.
"is that your homeland?" he asked.
She shook her head, "No, but I have a friend there that can get us passage on the one that travels to it."
As they made their way down the road past the waterfall, he heard a hair-raising growl it appears as if it was coming from several directions at once.
Turning around he noticed that her long ears were twitching.
Hans fur stood up on end, his ears perked forward, and his whiskers quivered.
"Did you hear that?" His white ears rotated around.
The others nod. Merryn put a finger to her lips, and looked at the other two.
"Let's just keep moving the horses forward. And, maybe it'll leave us alone."
They moved the horses forward, doing their best to keep them from breaking into a gallop.
A form streaked down from the treetops in a blur of motion.
A jade striped cat dropped down, its shoulders as tall as the horses and nearly as wide as the bridge.
It swiped at his horse, and ripped off several long ragged strips of the horse's side.
Four angry red claw marks seeped a river of blood from its neck to its rear.
He tried jumping off but, Jet let out a heartbreaking neigh, and collapsed to the ground quivering. His legs were pinned beneath, he shoved at the horse's back, but gave up exhausted.
The Jade cat, chuckled as it stepped back into the endless shadows of the woods, and faded away.
"Parcival!" Merryn jumped down after him.
As did Han and struggled to lift the horse. Han pushed on the horse's haunches while she pulled and wrapped her arms around his chest. The horses quivered, then with a last breathy raspy rattling gurgle, laid its head down.
A leg freed and he pushed, shoved, and wiggled free as they pulled. He felt alright. Standing up the blood rushed from his head and he kneeled. Groaning he got up slower.
"Do you need help?" Merryn asked.
"I am fine."
He went over to Jet and petted her muzzle.
"Goodbye," he took out his sword and cut her neck with it, four hacks later before he could cut fully through her thick hide.
Funny, Merryn turned away from this, she acted so human at times, perhaps they weren't so different.
Her chestnut mare had hidden in the woods, she nickered to it. She'd named it Fortuna, as after all that had happened so far this day, the mare seemed to have a bit of that goddess' blessing. It leaned its head into her hands, and she she rubbed it's cheek, and then patted it's muzzle before grabbing it's reins and lead it out, walking over to him with her.
"Here, take mine," she said.
His body slumped back a fraction and his back curved back into the saddle. "Keep a look out it might come back."
"Thanks."
He eased onto the animal it turned its head and watched him.
"Haw," he said, and it moved closer to the bridge up ahead.
Merryn shimmered and vanished from view. It was unnerving when she did that. Was it not only the higher ranking adapts that had spirit powers and full bloods at that? He would have to look at the history of the Eleven people, again when he returned home.
A whisper behind him, "I'll be back in a bit going to scout up ahead."
"Don't take too long."
Far up ahead rapids roared down below the canyon, he maneuvered her horse next to the sharp drop off.
It went down a straight 90 degrees. The swift waters of the river twisted, and turned throughout the canyon.
It bubbled and sprayed upwards, its waves like a behemoth's open maw, ready to swallow all that dared to enter it.
On the other side of the canyon he saw the pegged rope ends of the bridge bob up and down.
She appeared in front of him.
"It's all clear! Let's get going!"
The rapids down below where a deafening roar, he tried talking to them but no one was able to understand.
He pointed at a dead tree on the other side. They both nodded their heads and made their way onto the middle of the bridge.
A loud growling sound behind him?
Something roared again, this time it towered over the roar of the rapids.
Lo'! The Jade Cat was there at the back of the bridge sitting on its haunches. It managed to smile with a mouthful of fangs. It pointed at her, then leaned back. What was it doing?
He turned around. Yay it is back. He groaned. Dear goddess I tire of this.
The jade cat breathed in deeply, like the bellows of a furnace. Out of the sides of its mouth wisps of smoke trailed out.
"Run!"
He jumped off of her horse and smacked Han's horse on its flank. The horse whinnied, and reared up almost tossing him into the waters below.
Merryn jumped up into the air and grabbed it's reins, pulling it back down onto the bridge. The cat released its breath onto the bridge it breathed forth a burst of fire that engulfed what it touched in an instant. The fire reached his ears as if a crackling demonic wind, intent on overtaking them all. The end of the bridge, burst into a mass of flames that rushed forward, and popped as it ate away at the ropes.
Han's horse took off in a wild run, the poor healer slipped and clutched its mane, dangling over the edge of the bridge.
As Merryn sprinted after him, the bridge rope cables snapped. He turned around watching as they frayed, unwinding and arching up as they catapulted from each other in rapid secession.
The fire ran up the last thin line of the rope coil, setting it ablaze. A breeze scattered the ashes.
No time to think, he smacked her horse and until she ran off ahead. They looked so small from back here. He ran faster trying to catch up to them. The blasted armor weighed him down too much.
To late.
"Help!" Han called out, his voice shrill.
The fiery inferno consumed it with whooshing breath. Merryn leapt at Han as he fell but she missed and almost went into the waters herself. She clung to a remaining peg on the other side.
"HAN!" she punched the canyon wall.
There was no mistake the fear in his eyes as he fell, into grave waters. It wrapped around him like an angry water spirit and swept him away. On land again he jumped off the house and pulled her back up.
She leapt onto the horse and followed the edge of the canyon. Did she just jump straight up? He ran after her while trying to keep an eye on Hans bobbing head as the rapids below drew him further away.
Up ahead the rapids become a swirling vortex that sucked Han down under into it. Hans head popped up again several feet away.
His limp form rolled as it floated turning him on his back, while he floated away further down the river.
She was far ahead of him, and he cringed as Han slammed into a pair of boulders jutting out in the middle of the river, wedging him between them.
Merryn jumped off the horse. As he caught up to her she reached into the packs, and pulled out a rope. He went over as she handed it to him, he tied it around his waist.
She nodded, and did the same. She plunged down into the river. He held the rope and dug his heels into the ground.
Merryn foundered in the water, he held a breath when the angry waves pushed her under. Her body shimmered and she batted the water with her hands.
Her legs for a second stayed above it. She continued this way until she reached Han.
He gave the rope more slack, as she grabbed at the boulder near Han. A large wave spammed into both of them, and he pulled back lest he to would fall.
She shook her head, and inched closer to him. She untied the rope and tied it on Han.
Another wave came and enveloped them. A sharp tug. He wound the rope shoulder over elbow, pulling Han to him.
He set Han down well away from the edge and looked for Merryn. She was clinging to one, her head hung down.
"Merryn!"
The water beat at her, it slammed at her sides. He tossed her the rope, hoping she had heard him.
It slapped the water, her head turned, she reached for it, but missed.
Tossing it again, and again. She caught it just as the last of the light faded away.
He pulled and heaved her up, she kicked and grappled the wall, as she came near the edge he took her hand and pulled her the rest of the way.
He sat down, next to Han who had plopped on his back, breathing in deep breaths. Merryn crawled over to him and patted his arm.
"Glad you're alright fur ball," she said.
Hans rolled over, stood up still dripping wet and shook his body, sending the water flying off in all directions.
"Don't call me fur ball." He wrung out his tail and grinned at her.
"Hey ..."
He smiled at her with a lopsided grin.
"We should find a place to camp soon you need to dry off by a fire," she said.
Fortuna clopped over, he took the reins.
"It's too dark, but we need to try and find our way into the forest."
Merryn brushed up next to him, "Let me take the horse, I can see."
Parcival held them out and she took them.
"Hold onto the horse and walk carefully, we're going in."869Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWbytL0NwY
869Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB82QlZ8jQm
