Dragon Valley Trilogy

by Linda McNabb

  ‘What’s up?’ Dyahn asked sleepily without moving.

  ‘Wanna go see the wild ponies today?’

  For a few seconds there was no reply then Dyahn rolled over to stare at Rhonan in the weak moonlight. Her eyes were wide with excitement but then her face creased into a heavy frown.

  ‘We can’t. Father doesn’t want us to go,’ Dyahn reminded him. ‘And you don’t have an elf stone.’

  ‘It’s the moors,’ Rhonan pointed out. ‘Nobody goes there in winter except us. And I have to go to Shaldoh soon. This might be my last chance to go and see them for a long time.’

  ‘It’s too risky,’ Dyahn insisted. ‘Father might catch us this time.’

  ‘Who will take you to see them when I’ve gone?’ Rhonan asked quietly and smiled in the dark as his sister suddenly sat up and swung her legs off the edge of the bed.

  ‘I could take some paper and draw pictures of some of them for you to take with you to Shaldoh,’ Dyahn said with an excited voice but she paused and looked worried. ‘Do you really think they’ll give you an elf stone so you can come home again?’

  ‘Let’s hope so,’ Rhonan replied. He had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t as simple as it sounded but he decided he would worry about that when the time came.

  ‘I wish I could come to Shaldoh as well,’ Dyahn said with a pout as she tugged on her boots.

  ‘Let’s hope you don’t need to,’ Rhonan muttered and Dyahn scowled at him.

  They crept down to the kitchen, helped themselves to a cold breakfast of ham and bread, and then packed some more for the trip and some apples for the ponies.

  It was a still, cool night and they made their escape from the small village without incident. It wasn’t until they were on the road, which led around the forest, that Rhonan remembered their last trip through the forest.

  ‘We won’t be going through the forest again will we?’ Dyahn asked, slowing her step and looking hesitantly at the trees.

  ‘No, we’ll make sure we don’t stay too long this time,’ Rhonan assured her. He took a few steps away from the trees and walked along the middle of the dirt road.

  A snuffling noise came from the forest and Rhonan gulped as he remembered the green eyed, shiny creature from their last trip through the forest.

  ‘Did you hear that?’ Dyahn asked nervously as she stood motionless in the road. ‘Maybe we should go home.’

  ‘No,’ Rhonan said firmly. He took hold of his sister’s arm and pulled her along the road. ‘There are a lot of rabbits in the forest.’

  ‘Rabbits don’t snuffle like that,’ Dyahn pointed out, but Rhonan ignored her.

  They walked quicker than usual and every now and then the snuffling could be heard clearly. It definitely wasn’t a rabbit. Whatever was hiding in the trees seemed to be following them! It made no attempt to show itself and Rhonan reasoned to himself that as long as it stayed in the trees there was no problem.

  It was past dawn when they finally left the trees behind. For a few minutes Rhonan expected the animal to follow them but the snuffling creature stayed in the forest. Rhonan dared a look back at the trees and he was sure he could see two small green eyes watching from the darkness of the dense forest. A glint of gold flashed as the creature came right to the edge of the forest then shrank back into the gloom.

  The moors weren’t far away now and they broke into a gentle run for the rest of the way. Finally they reached the dry-grassed flat lands but there was no sign of the wild ponies.

  ‘They’re probably down by the river,’ Dyahn suggested as she pointed to a small hill not far away. Rhonan knew there was another forest and a river on the other side of it and the ponies often stayed in the warmth of the trees in winter.

  ‘We’d better find them fast though because we can only stay until noon.’ Rhonan broke into a run again and Dyahn followed. Neither wanted to risk going through the forest on the way home.

  They saw the horses down by the river as they reached the top of the hill. Rhonan glanced behind them and a movement caught his eye.

  ‘Dyahn, can you see what’s back there?’ Rhonan asked as he shaded his eyes with his hand.

  ‘It’s a man I think,’ Dyahn replied. She lay on the grass and Rhonan joined her. He knew some people came out here to hunt the wild ponies and he didn’t want to give away the ponies’ hideout.

  ‘So it is,’ Rhonan agreed. ‘And he’s heading this way.’

  ‘He’s dressed in green and there’s a quiver of arrows and a bow on his back,’ Dyahn pointed out. ‘He must be a hunter.’

  ‘He’s heading straight for the hill. He must know the ponies are by the river,’ Rhonan said with a glare of hatred for the hunter. ‘We have to get the ponies to move or they’ll be sitting targets.’

  ‘There’s not much time. He’s moving very fast now.’ Dyahn had wriggled back down out of sight of the man and stood up to look at the horses. ‘I guess we don’t get to ride them today.’

  ‘But we can save them,’ Rhonan said, joining his sister and they ran down the hill as fast as they could, waving their arms and stamping their feet.

  The quiet ponies grazing near the river looked up, startled. Then they whinnied loudly and scattered in every direction. Rhonan and Dyahn hid behind one of the clumps of trees near the river.

  ‘Here he comes,’ Dyahn said as they peered around a large tree trunk. The hunter strode into view but did not even hesitate when he saw there were no ponies by the river. His expression, which they could see now that he was so close, was set in a determined and focused look of a true hunter. He was a fair skinned man, with a wispy beard, black hair and a large hat to keep off the sun. He wore loose fitting trousers and shirt of pale green with a small satchel slung over one shoulder. He walked at a ground-eating pace that showed he was well used to travelling and he didn’t look the slightest bit out of breath from climbing the hill so quickly.

  ‘Why isn’t he following the horses?’ Dyahn whispered right next to Rhonan’s ear.

  Rhonan shrugged, he had no idea, but he was more than a little bit unsettled by a hunter who wasn’t following his prey.

  The hunter paused suddenly and poked around the grass with his foot and then strode quickly down the hill.

  ‘That was where we were laying,’ Dyahn commented nervously.

  The tall man continued his confident stride, directly towards where Rhonan and Dyahn were hiding.

  ‘I think he’s after us,’ Rhonan said in a tight, worried voice. ‘He must be angry at us for scaring the ponies off.’

  ‘Us?’ Dyahn let her voice rise a little too loud and Rhonan glared at her then looked around, frantically trying to find an escape.

  ‘We’ll head across the river, through the trees over there and then across the moors towards the forest,’ Rhonan said with a small nod of satisfaction that his plan would work. Then all they had to do was outrun the man. Rhonan dared one last glance out into the clearing and grabbed Dyahn. The hunter was only a dozen steps from them.

  With a huge leap Rhonan threw himself across the river, dragging a stunned Dyahn with him. They made it across in one go and were almost at the trees when the hunter came into sight.

  ‘Stop!’ the hunter called loudly.

  Rhonan ran harder and just as they reached the trees they heard the swish and thud of an arrow as it struck a tree trunk only inches from them. It didn’t look like a normal arrow, as the tip was more rounded than it should be - but it was still an arrow.

  ‘He’s shooting at us!’ Dyahn said and her face went ghostly white.

  ‘Just run!’ Rhonan ordered. He kept hold of his sister’s shirt and they ran as fast as they could.

  ‘He’s getting closer,’ Dyahn yelled as she dared a look behind them.

  Rhonan flicked his gaze back and saw the hunter slowing to notch up another arrow. This time the man’s aim was sure to be true with no trees to get in the way. Rhonan pumped his legs as fast as he could and almost carried Dyahn across the moors.

&nbs
p; A sudden sound of steps behind him made his heart race for a second then he realised there were far too many for it to be the hunter. A dappled pony came up on one side of him and a grey one on the other side.

  ‘I think they’re trying to help us,’ Dyahn gasped out.

  Rhonan didn’t hesitate to wonder about why the ponies were there. He just picked Dyahn up and literally threw her onto the back of the grey pony. Then he grabbed the dapple’s mane and mounted at a full running pace. The ponies gathered speed as soon as the children were on their backs.

  Rhonan leaned in low on the pony’s back and another arrow whizzed past, just missing both him and the pony. The ponies were fast, as all wild ponies have to be, and they quickly lost sight of the hunter. They rode all the way to the edge of the moors, where the ponies stopped and refused to go any further.

  ‘I think we should go home now,’ Dyahn said in a scared and worried voice.

  ‘I wonder why he was so angry,’ Rhonan mused as he dismounted and then fed the pony an apple from his backpack. He rubbed the pony’s neck fondly as he stared back across the moors.

  ‘As long as I never see him again - I don’t really care,’ Dyahn muttered, feeding the grey pony.

  ‘I don’t think we should wait around to see if he’s still following,’ Rhonan said. He slapped the pony firmly on his rump to make him go back into the moors and then did the same with the grey.

  Dyahn agreed and they headed quickly back towards the forest. Unfortunately the ponies had taken them to a part of the moor that was a fair distance from the road and it would mean a lot of backtracking to reach it.

  ‘Dyahn, we’re going to have to cut through the forest for a little way,’ Rhonan said gently. He knew the response he would get and it wasn’t far off his own thinking.

  ‘No way!’ Dyahn shouted and she stopped to glare at Rhonan with her hands on her hips.

  ‘You’d rather give that madman time to catch up with us?’ Rhonan asked. His heart was still thumping loudly from their narrow escape and he was trying not to think about what might be in the forest. At least the snuffling creature hadn’t shot at them with arrows!

  Dyahn didn’t answer but the ashen shade of her face said she did not want to wait for the hunter.

  They reached the forest within a few minutes and even Rhonan hesitated before stepping into the gloomy darkness. It was well into the morning now but the thick foliage kept out most of the daylight and it felt like they were walking into the night.

  They walked quickly but quietly through the trees and Rhonan wasn’t surprised to find that Dyahn was holding tightly to his shirt.

  ‘We’re almost there,’ Rhonan said quietly. He couldn’t see the road but he had judged the distance in his mind and he was rarely wrong. Then his heart skipped a beat as he heard the now familiar snuffling just behind them.

  ‘Rhonan!’ Dyahn whispered frantically as she stepped closer. ‘I can hear it again.’

  ‘Just keep walking,’ Rhonan replied woodenly. He put his arm around Dyahn and walked faster. The snuffling came closer and Rhonan strained to see the road that must surely be right in front of them. He didn’t know why he turned to look, but he did, and the small green eyes were there, just a few paces behind them, staring out of the gloom.

  His mouth went dry and he turned away, and then almost cried out with relief when he saw the road through the trees. Light was streaming in and he hurried towards it, mindless of what was following them.

  They were only a few steps away from the safety of the dirt road when he felt something wrap around his right foot and anchor it to the ground. He wrenched against it as hard as he could. With a howl of pain, as his foot stretched further than it was meant to, Rhonan collapsed forward. Half his body was out on the road with Dyahn but the other half was still in the forest, trapped painfully and firmly. As he fell, his head struck the ground and he had a fleeting glimpse of horse hooves heading towards them before he sank into unconsciousness.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  UNCLE TERAC

  The first thing Rhonan saw was feet. The smallest ones were obviously Dyahn’s but the others made his mouth go dry all over again. There were two other people standing next to him and he could hear voices arguing. Was one of them the hunter? If it was then who was the other person?

  He had intended to pretend to be unconscious until he found out what was happening but he couldn’t help the groan of pain as someone moved his injured foot.

  ‘Ah, so you are still alive then. What have I said about going to the moors?’

  Rhonan felt a wave of relief to hear his father’s voice, even though Bryn had spoken with a harsh tone.

  Rhonan sat up and groaned again as his ankle moved, then remembered being followed through the forest. Had it followed them out onto the road? He turned far enough to see Kheron behind him but there was no sign of any creature from the forest.

  ‘Something grabbed my foot!’ Rhonan exclaimed and spun around in case the animal was about to leap from the trees at them.

  ‘Your foot was stuck in a tree root,’ Kheron informed him dryly. ‘That sort of thing happens when you run through a forest.’

  ‘A tree root?’ Rhonan echoed. ‘I thought something attacked me.’

  ‘Perhaps you can tell me exactly what you were doing out in the forest anyway!’ Bryn said with a warning tone in his voice.

  ‘I…’ Rhonan turned to look at Dyahn as he suddenly remembered the hunter. He felt his face go white as he stared back through the forest and then down the road to see if there was any sign that they were still being followed. ‘I’m sorry. I just wanted to see the ponies again. But I won’t do it again, ever! Can we go home now?’

  Bryn seemed suspicious and he looked at Dyahn to see if she would add anything to their story.

  ‘I don’t want to go there any more either. We’re too old for ponies anyway,’ Dyahn said blandly. Rhonan wondered if he should tell his father about the hunter but he decided that there was no point. They wouldn’t be going back to the moors so there was no need.

  ‘It’s important you tell us where you’re going from now on, Rhonan.’ Bryn still seemed to be considering his son’s promise. ‘It’s not safe for you to wander around anymore. There are hunters everywhere.’

  ‘Hunters?’ Rhonan said with a gulp. He kept his face averted and pretended to be examining his hurt ankle.

  ‘Shadow Hunters. Remember we spoke of them a week ago,’ Bryn replied. ‘They can follow the trail an elf leaves for days or even weeks.’

  ‘What sort of trail?’ Rhonan asked as he looked at the ground leading into the forest.

  ‘It’s not one you can see.’ Bryn was leading a horse over to Rhonan. ‘It’s more of a shadow that the hunter can see. It fades after a few weeks.’

  ‘So that’s why they’re called Shadow Hunters?’ Dyahn asked. Rhonan had remained silent as he knew his shaky voice would give their secret away. Dyahn obviously hadn’t realised that the man on the moors was probably a Shadow Hunter.

  ‘Would they see the trail if I was on a horse?’ Rhonan finally asked as he mounted the sturdy horse his father had brought.

  ‘The only thing that stops the trail is being near an elf stone. Even one worn by another elf is enough to block out the trail.’ Bryn had mounted behind his son.

  Rhonan was so relieved that he almost sighed out loud but stopped himself just in time. Even if the Shadow Hunter followed them through the forest he wouldn’t know which way they had gone from there.

  They rode back towards the village and Rhonan had never been so pleased to be home. He knew he would never go and see the ponies again until he had an elf stone of his own.

  It was only midday when Rhonan collapsed onto his bed but he was so tired that he fell asleep as soon as his mother had strapped his ankle. Dyahn seemed exhausted as well and they both slept the afternoon away. When they finally woke it was late afternoon and the sun was only an hour or so away from setting. The muted noises of patrons in the public
room and the smell of the food being served was enough to stop Rhonan from going back to sleep. His stomach complained loudly and he met Dyahn in the hall as they both went in search of some food.

  ‘Shouldn’t we have told them about the hunter?’ Dyahn asked as Rhonan hobbled down the stairs.

  ‘There’s no point now,’ Rhonan said with a shrug.

  There was a large pot of stew keeping warm by the fire and they both grabbed bowls from the shelf. Rhonan had just filled his sister’s and was about to fill his own when his mother came in from the public room. She was smiling broadly and sounds of laughter followed her. Her smile fell away as soon as the door swung shut and she looked worried.

  ‘I was just about to come and wake you,’ she said quietly and Rhonan could tell there was something wrong. ‘We have a visitor.’

  ‘Who?’ Rhonan asked as he ladled stew into his bowl. He took a smaller spoon and tasted it, sucking in air to cool it as it burnt his tongue.

  ‘My brother, Terac,’ Elezan said with a tense voice that showed she would rather he wasn’t here at all.

  ‘I didn’t even know you had a brother,’ Rhonan said with surprise.

  ‘If he’s your brother, then he’s our uncle. But wouldn’t he be a…’ Dyahn seemed reluctant to finish the sentence but all of them knew what she meant.

  ‘Yes he’s a hunter, but with your father wearing an elf stone there is no way he could tell who he really is,’ Elezan assured them and then frowned as she looked at Rhonan. ‘Perhaps it might not be a good idea for you to be too near him even though he won’t feel anything with an elf stone so close by.’

  Rhonan had stopped listening as he put his bowl down and walked slowly over to the swinging doors. He pushed one open just enough to see into the public room and saw his father sitting at a table with a dark-haired man. The man had his back to Rhonan and snatches of their conversation floated over to him.

  ‘Father is never going to believe it when I tell him where I found Elezan. You do know he’s been looking for her for years don’t you? I doubt he would ever have looked for her in a little Inn out here in the middle of nowhere!’ Rhonan’s Uncle Terac sounded delighted and didn’t appear to notice Bryn’s lack of enthusiasm. Then he looked directly at Bryn ‘I don’t imagine he’ll let her stay here.’