by MJ Schutte
‘Marion will drive the front wagon and I will take the second. Brighton, do you want to join me?’ Lance asked.
Brighton nodded and walked to the wagon. The convoy started rolling down the road.
Softly, so that Marion could not hear, Lance said, ‘You know he is testing us. He wants to find out what our limits and shortcomings are. I believe he will try to kill us both very soon.’
‘No, he will only try to kill you,’ Brighton replied.
Lance frowned at the younger man.
‘There is a connection between us. I think it is because he is the former master of the forest and I am the current one. We feel each other’s pain. He knows this and that is why he will not attack me,’ Brighton explained.
‘What about a few days ago, when he almost killed you?’ Lance asked.
‘We were outside the forest. I am guessing the link is only active if we are both inside the forest. Perhaps it is Livia Farasnei’s way of protecting its masters and former masters from one another. We are supposed to help the forest grow, not kill each other. I could also be wrong and this link only works one way. Maybe I feel his pain, but he does not feel mine. Maybe the link does work outside the forest. I really don’t know,’ Brighton shrugged.
Lilian, Adri and Clarissa rode out of Weston, followed by five soldiers. They had decided to leave the wagon behind since there was no road leading to the swamp. When Ashley had heard that they were going to the swamp, she offered to send half her personal guard with to protect them. Lilian had tried to argue, but Donic simply called the five soldiers and explained in graphic detail what he would do to them if there were even a scratch on one of the three travellers.
Lilian turned to the soldiers behind her.
‘We really do not need the escort. You can go back now,’ she said.
‘We have been ordered to protect you, ma’am,’ the commander replied.
‘I’m telling you it is not necessary,’ Lilian argued.
‘We have our orders, ma’am,’ the soldier repeated.
Adri giggled a little and said, ‘They are far more scared of Donic than they are of you.’
‘I see that,’ Lilian smiled.
For the next few days, Lilian set a blistering pace.
Clarissa surprised everyone. Even though she was still very young, she did not complain once.
The soldiers took care of hunting and foraging for food.
‘General Donic’s orders, ma’am,’ the commander said when Adri asked him about it.
Standing on the edge of the swamp, Lilian said to the soldiers, ‘Wait here.’
‘No, ma’am. Where you go, we go,’ the commander answered.
‘The man we’re looking for does not want to be found. He is also a powerful wizard. If he thinks we’re a threat, he might just use his powers against us,’ Lilian replied.
‘But, we have to protect you. General Donic…’ the commander started.
‘Is not here now. You will wait here until we return. I am leaving Clarissa in your care. If anything happens to her, Donic will be the least of your worries,’ Lilian said.
The commander looked very uncomfortable and a little panicked by this, but he did not argue further.
‘Come, Mischief. You have to find Erostagnos for us,’ Lilian said.
Adri and Lilian stepped into the swamp, followed by the big cat. Lilian cast her sense wide but could not detect anybody in front of them.
After struggling through the mud for a while, Lilian said, ‘I hope Erostagnos is still here.’
‘We have to believe we will find him,’ Adri replied.
They travelled through the sticky mud until it was to dark to see.
‘I was hoping we would have found him by now,’ Adri said.
‘Yes, me too. Spending the night in this place is not my idea of fun,’ Lilian agreed.
‘We should make torches and continue on for a while,’ Adri suggested.
They found some suitable branches and quickly made some torches.
Adri produced two small rocks from her pocket, struck them together to make sparks and soon the torches were lit.
‘Brac taught me to always keep fire rocks in my pocket,’ she said, sadness creeping into her voice.
The two women carried on walking, Mischief following closely. At around midnight, a thick mist started rolling over the swamp. Even with the torches, Lilian and Adri could not see more than a few paces in front of them.
‘We should stop and get some sleep,’ Lilian suggested.
Adri looked down at the ankle deep mud.
‘That sounds unpleasant,’ she mumbled.
‘Let’s find a suitable tree to climb,’ Lilian said.
They walked a while longer before Lilian said, ‘This one looks good.’
Climbing up to the lowest, biggest branch, they settled down for the night. They agreed that they should keep one torch burning. Lilian started dozing off.
She opened her eyes. Squinting against the bright sunlight, she looked around her. The swamp was gone, replaced by an endless sea of sand. She spotted movement in the distance.
Brighton’s unmistakable muscular body and someone else. Lilian recognised Clarissa’s long, flowing hair softly blowing in the breeze. She tried to shout for them, but it came out as a whisper. They turned away from her, Brighton putting his arm around Clarissa’s shoulders. Slowly they started walking away.
Lilian started running, but her legs felt like dead tree stumps. She fell forward, face first into the sand. Her nose and mouth started filling up with water. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, a little voice screamed, It is a dream!
Lilian did not try to get up. For a moment, she wondered how it was possible to drown in the desert, but then sadness filled her mind. She saw her husband and daughter walk away. There was nothing to live for anymore.
She closed her eyes and waited for death’s merciful embrace.
Wake up!
Why? They are gone, she thought.
They are not gone. You can still be with them.
Slowly, Lilian slipped into the darkness.
Would Brighton give up on your love? Would Clarissa abandon her mother? the voice said.
No, Lilian thought.
WAKE UP! Fight for them!
They would never give up. Fight for the ones you love, flashed through Lilian’s mind.
She pushed the darkness away, willing herself out of the dream. Someone, or something was tugging on her arm. Lilian was lying face down in the mud. She shot up, spluttering mud and water. Desperately, she snorted and coughed to expel the mud from her mouth and nose.
Big gulps of air filled her lungs.
‘ADRI!’ she shouted.
She wiped the mud from her eyes. Mischief was standing over Adri, trying to pull her out of the mud. Lilian realised that it must have been him tugging on her arm earlier. She crawled over to Adri and took hold of her arm. Lilian’s arms felt dead, but with one mighty heave, she rolled the younger woman over.
‘Adri?’ she said as she slapped her sister’s face.
Adri was not breathing. Lilian shoved her fingers in Adri’s mouth, trying to clear the mud out.
‘Adri, wake up!’ Lilian shouted.
Still, Adri did not breathe. Desperately Lilian looked around. There was nobody nearby to help her.
She slapped Adri hard in the face and shouted, ‘ADRI! WAKE UP!’
Lilian called her sense forth and felt Adri’s fragile grip on life slipping. She tried again to clear Adri’s mouth, but the mud was already deep down her throat. In desperation, she sat up and punched Adri as hard as she could in the stomach, driving the last of the air from her lungs.
Big chunks of mud flew from Adri’s nose and mouth. For a moment longer, Adri remained motionless, then took a big breath of air.
Adri shot up, coughing up more water and mud.
‘What…’ she tried, but another coughing fit shook her body.
‘We nearly drowned,’ Lilian said.
/> Adri wiped the mud from her mouth, taking a few more deep breaths.
‘I had the strangest dream. I saw Brac dying over and over and it made me feel like I wanted to die too,’ she said.
‘I had a similar dream,’ Lilian replied.
‘That’s odd. I wonder if this swamp is affecting us,’ Adri said.
‘Something is affecting us, but it’s not the swamp. Someone planted those thoughts in our heads,’ Lilian whispered.
Adri tried to get up, but sank back down holding her stomach.
‘I think that someone also punched me in the stomach,’ she winched.
‘Sorry, that was me. I was desperate to get the mud out of your throat,’ Lilian apologised.
‘I never thought I would thank anyone for punching me, but thank you, it probably saved my life,’ Adri replied.
Lilian started to say something, but clamped her mouth shut when she heard a deep growl coming from Mischief. She noticed for the first time that it was not dark anymore.
The big cat stood staring into the swamp.
‘Do you see someone, boy?’ Lilian whispered.
The panther did not seem to hear her. Slowly, he flattened himself against the ground, the muscles in his legs tense and ready.
Lilian got up and helped Adri to her feet.
‘Someone is close,’ she whispered.
Adri saw the walking stick on the ground.
She quickly picked it up and whispered, ‘We should have brought the sword.’
‘It’s too heavy for me. I’ll use this,’ Lilian replied as she pulled a knife from the secret pocket in her dress.
A white energy link raced out of the mist. Lilian brought up her black smoke to block it, but the white link destroyed the black one easily and slammed into her head.
‘No!’ Adri shouted as she shoved the cane into the white energy link.
Mischief was off in a flash, racing through the trees.
The energy link transferred from Lilian onto the cane and into Adri. Her body started shaking, he eyes rolling back in her head. Lilian tried to interrupt the white energy link with her black one, but it had no effect.
Suddenly, the energy link simply disappeared. Adri sank to the ground, still clutching the cane. As Lilian dropped to her knees next to Adri, a high pitched, panicked scream reached her ears. She used her sense, but could not determine where it came from. When she felt that Adri was still alive, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Another scream reached her.
‘I’ll be back soon,’ she whispered to Adri’s unconscious form.
She grabbed the walking stick and ran towards the sound. Mischief had a man pinned down to the ground, his powerful jaws around the man’s neck. The man was shrieking, hitting Mischief repeatedly on his side with a thick piece of wood. It seemed like the cat did not even notice.
Lilian swung the walking stick, knocking the wood from the man’s hand.
‘Mischief, do not kill him,’ she snapped.
‘Get this demon off me!’ the man screamed.
Lilian put her hand on Mischief head.
‘Let him go, boy,’ she said soothingly.
Mischief reluctantly stepped back.
‘It’s the second time that panther almost killed me,’ the man complained as he sat up.
‘If Mischief wanted you dead, you would not be breathing right now,’ Lilian replied.
She was ready to swing the walking stick.
‘That’s funny, Brighton said the same,’ the man commented.
‘If you know Brighton, then you must be Erostagnos,’ Lilian guessed.
‘Yes, I am. Who are you and why are you disturbing my peace,’ Erostagnos demanded.
‘I am Lilian, Brighton’s wife. You already know Mischief. My friend, Adri, is lying unconscious in the mud because you tried to kill us,’ Lilian hissed at him.
‘Well, you should not come uninvited into someone’s home,’ Erostagnos defended.
‘I need to go check on Adri. You’re coming with me and if you try anything, I will let Mischief rip your head off,’ Lilian threatened.
‘That is very hostile. Have you ever tried asking someone to do something instead of forcing them?’ Erostagnos replied sarcastically.
‘You tried to kill us twice without asking what we were doing here!’ Lilian snapped.
‘Only once,’ Erostagnos defended.
Lilian shook her head and said, ‘You planted nightmares in both Adri and me so that we would lose the will to live and drown in the mud.’
Erostagnos did not respond, but the guilty look on his face confirmed Lilian’s words.
‘Get up,’ Lilian hissed at him.
A low growl from Mischief made Erostagnos jump to his feet.
Lilian started walking back to Adri.
‘Mischief, if he runs, kill him,’ she said to the cat.
Erostagnos followed Lilian back to where Adri was still lying in the mud.
‘Heal her,’ Lilian commanded.
‘I can’t,’ Erostagnos shrugged.
‘You are lying! Heal her!’ Lilian shouted.
Erostagnos sighed and lifted his hand.
‘If you try anything underhanded, I will tell Mischief to kill you,’ Lilian threatened.
A thin energy link jumped to Adri’s body. Her eyes snapped open.
‘There, she is fine now. I did not take a lot of her energy,’ Erostagnos said.
Lilian helped Adri up.
‘So this is Erostagnos,’ Adri said.
‘Yes,’ Lilian replied.
‘Good. Ask him so that we can get out of this place,’ Adri said.
‘Ask me what?’ Erostagnos frowned.
‘We need your help. Brighton is trapped in the elf forest and I am not allowed to go there,’ Lilian said.
‘What can I do about that?’ Erostagnos gasped.
‘You were the master of the forest once. Tell me how to fix this so that I can go live with Brighton and Clarissa in the forest,’ Lilian demanded.
‘First tell me why you can’t enter the forest,’ Erostagnos replied.
‘I have the dark talent. The spirits have decided that I am not welcome there,’ Lilian replied.
‘And how do you know this?’ Erostagnos asked.
‘They told Brighton,’ Lilian answered.
Erostagnos shook his head and said, ‘If the spirits told Brighton, that means he is dead. You cannot be with him anyway.’
‘Brighton is not dead. He went to the spirit world after they took Lilian. He struck a bargain with them to give Lilian back if he could find and destroy the evil that was killing the forest,’ Adri answered.
‘Impossible!’ Erostagnos exclaimed.
‘It’s the truth. We have no reason to lie to you,’ Lilian said slowly.
Erostagnos’s mouth hung open. He could see that the two women were telling the truth, but he had trouble believing what they were saying.
‘Brighton went to the spirit world and bargained with them?’ he whispered.
Lilian just nodded.
‘That is unbelievable! When he was here, I felt that his gift was strong, but I had no idea he was that powerful,’ the old man gasped.
‘Can you help us?’ Lilian asked.
Erostagnos shook his head and said, ‘No.’
Brighton’s words rang in Lilian’s ears.
Ask Erostagnos for help, but if he refuses, do not try to force him.
She decided to ignore it.
‘If you don’t help us willingly, I will drag you to the elf forest myself!’ she shouted.
The old man smiled sadly.
‘Young lady, I believe that you will try, but it would be of no use. It is not that I do not want to help you, it is simply that I can’t,’ he said softly.
‘What do you mean? You lived in Livia Farasnei once. You know how it works,’ Lilian said.
‘True, but I’ve never heard of anyone being banned from it. I have never spoken to the spirits but have always believed that they
are kind. If they banned you from the forest, there must be a reason for it. Find that reason and you might be able to think of a solution,’ Erostagnos replied.
He slowly turned and started walking away.
‘Erostagnos, please help us,’ Lilian pleaded.
The old wizard stopped, but did not turn around.
‘What is the one thing you fear most in life?’ he asked.
Lilian and Adri slowly came walking out of the swamp.
A soldier rushed up to them and said, ‘Ma’am, are you all right?’
Clarissa and the other soldiers also rushed forward.
‘Mamma, what happened?’ Clarissa exclaimed.
Lilian frowned, but then realised that she and Adri were covered in mud.
‘We’re fine, it is just a bit of mud,’ she said.
‘There is a river not to far from here. We can take you there if you want to wash off,’ a soldier offered.
‘Perhaps we should tell the ladies where the river is,’ another soldier suggested.
‘Yes, of course,’ the soldier replied, going as red as a tomato.
He quickly explained where the river was and added, ‘We will wait here for you.’
Adri thanked the man and took Lilian’s hand.
‘Come, we will feel better once we are clean.’
Lilian followed wordlessly. She was so certain that Erostagnos would know what to do.
When they reached the river, Clarissa said, ‘Give me your dress, Mamma. I will wash it for you.’
Lilian looked at her daughter and said softly, ‘Pappa used to wash my dresses in the river when I was slightly older than you.’
The tears started rolling freely over her cheeks.
‘We’ll keep searching until we find the answer,’ Adri assured her.
‘Where? We have nowhere else to go. Erostagnos was the only hope and he gave us nothing!’ Lilian sobbed.
‘What did he say, Mamma?’ Clarissa asked.
Lilian did not answer. She took her dirty clothes off, dropped them on the ground and walked waist deep into the river. Slowly she sat down, letting the water wash away the mud covering her body. Clarissa picked the clothes up and started washing them.
‘Mamma, what did the man say?’ she asked again.
Lilian relayed what Erostagnos had said. Clarissa listened carefully until Lilian had finished.