For a few moments, Bragus studied the occupants of the cave and then he raised a huge paw in the air with a friendly gesture giving a general greeting. He immediately sensed Red Whiskers’ anxiety. ‘Do not worry little one,’ he said in a slow deep booming voice. ‘We are all friends here.’ Bragus acknowledged the party one by one, then turned and faced the princess and king, ‘we have matters to discuss immediately. I’m afraid we have little time for idle conversation.’ He continued’ as you already know the Wildpack marches south. Ayah’s seekers have seen an abnormal amount of skyriders travelling with the nightbirds towards the south moors. Goblins too, accompany the Wildpack, though I don’t know if the Warlord Shum leads or has stayed in Trunarth.’ Blackpaws spoke, ‘We had encountered a mage at Duskfall Bridge that was likely there to stop us from coming to Aledran.’ Bragus closed his eyes and appeared to be in deep thought for a short time. Then he said, ‘Fortunate for you my wolf king that the Princess and my friend Karvu had arrived to dispatch the Daemon pet.’
The muntjac bowed his great head respectfully towards Bragus upon hearing his name spoken favourably. ‘Lord Bragus’, spoke Princess Eylon, ‘I bring the fox from the far West Marsh with further disturbing news.’ Red Whiskers crept cautiously forward as Bragus dropped to the ground to sit comfortably on his behind in the sand. Nervously Red Whiskers told Bragus of all he had witnessed on the night at Blackmire castle. As Red Whiskers finished his account, Bragus repeated the name NaZuth several times, on each occasion louder than the previous. ‘No, impossible,’ he almost shouted. ‘Who could control the void shadow, and what would they do with such corruption of darkness?’ Bragus thought to himself, ‘The NaZuth’s purpose of existence was to suck the life and absorb the soul of the living, how or why has it been released from the Abysm beyond the Dread-Realm?’ He shuddered at the thought. Blackpaws had listened intently, as he had not heard this account from the fox. He had wondered why the fox was travelling with the Princess and the muntjac in the first place.
‘Ayah’s Falcon seekers had intercepted several Ravens over the past month near Aledran’s borders,’ said Bragus, and now appearing slightly more composed. He continued ‘The Falcons managed to obtain small amounts of information from them regarding the witches’ intentions.’ Princess Eylon interrupted, ‘But no more than what we have already witnessed, as I know this too.’ She continued, ‘Perhaps they gather in the south under Strala’s orders in preparation to attack the southern wolf provinces? If they succeed, they could then move north towards the Elvene and even to Aledran?’ Bragus replied, ‘There are, of course, the bovine herds in the southern highlands. They rarely venture into the moors from their lands in the high mountains, so I don’t think they would be a threat to the witches’ or goblins either.’ Princess Eylon added, ‘Yes, and lord Ironhorn also prefers not to be involved in the affair of others.’ Blackpaws spoke, ‘I would think they may wish to move against the mankind village in the far west on the cliffs.’ ‘No’ said Bragus, ‘Strala would not risk an all-out war against us, and I believe that mankind are merely harmless beasts that are of no significant gain to the witches’ or goblins’.
The Princess and Bragus recalled the myths when mankind were powerful wardens of magic that had allied themselves with the elves to keep the peace and balance of all life throughout the lands. After 1,000 years, the most powerful of mankind's wardens, the Druids as they were called became complacent, believing no other species in Frelith were more powerful than they. It was these Druid priests that had charged the bear sleuth a millennium ago to guard several magic artefacts such as the Arch here in Aledran where the Shah Bragus ruled today. The Wellspring of Power that bubbled deep in the mountain heart of Aledran had been sealed for centuries. The entrance to the caverns leading to the magic warrens was sealed with complex enchantments that neither the bears nor elves could unlock. Nor would they want to and face the inner guardians. The Druids were the only beings that really knew the secret to the springs.
Over centuries many of the Druids scorned their traditions and severed ties with the elves, to ultimately lose their knowledge of the magic craft. The once-powerful mankind species now receded to the corners of the land to eventually devolve to a primitive life in their claimed tribal areas they call villages. Many of these villages were either destroyed or mysteriously disappeared, and only the known few remain. Several of the remaining Druid priests remembered the old ways and their purpose through maintaining their counselling with the elves. Legend also has it that a few of the mankind Druids had thrown in their lot with some Daemons of the Dread-Realm, negotiating in an attempt to become demigods. They were all tricked; however, as Daemons have a nasty habit of breaking bargains. Those wretched Druids that managed to escape the Dread-Realm returned to this realm with twisted and warped minds that gave birth to the ancestors of the witches’.
The elves and the bears had sensed that the last of the Druid priests had disappeared several hundred years ago, and with the last of their influence fading away from the land near Blackmire Castle. The witches and goblins were undoubtedly aware of this also. With the absence of the Druids, specific gateways to the Dread-Realm could now be breached. The Princess spoke ‘Daemons cannot come to the mortal realm unless summonsed or invoked through great means. It’s only really witches’ who would do that. Who would invoke one such as the NaZuth to attack goblins when they are lackeys to the witches’ anyway?’ The Princess seemed to direct that last sentence to herself as she said no more but seemed to be in deep thought.
‘There is one other thing,’ said the Princess, speaking up again. ‘There is a message from an owl that had fought and defeated one of Skraaw’s Raven prowlers near Saltwood Marsh. He relayed to my rangers a story extracted from the dying Raven. A Wildpack lieutenant and a witchling they call a Draugen were trekking towards the mankind tribe of Saltwood on the cliffs near the West Marsh.’ She continued ‘Their purpose is not known, but what is known is that the Draugen is a favoured witch underling when their errand involves magic aspect.’ Blackpaws spoke up, ‘Perhaps they wish to ally with mankind then, to rally against us?’ ‘I doubt that also’ said the Princess, ‘We know the witches’ have not long attended their Occurrens Locus on the night of the Blood Moon. They have behaved strangely since then. I believe they have discovered something in the mankind village that they desire.’ The Princess continued, ‘My cousins of the Grelen Elf Clan in the north advise that some weeks back an envoy led by Lilura the Blind with other witches’ from the Night Grove Coven had met with Shum in Trunarth.’
Blackpaws spoke again, ‘So the witches, ‘goblins and Wildpack gather in the south for unknown reasons, some black shadow creature attacked the goblins at Blackmire Castle, and a hound from the Wildpack accompanied by a witchling is heading towards the mankind village to the west. A party of goblins and a mage trespass into Duskfall; kill two scouts and set a Daemon upon us.’ All the company began talking at once with ideas and theories until Bragus spoke loudly above them all. ‘Friends, it is clear to me the witches’ seek something or someone from the mankind village. We need to send agents at once to intercept.’ Blackpaws spoke with distaste, ‘We owe mankind nothing, and they are merely sport for the Wildpack.’ Blackpaws recalled old stories he had heard many years ago about mankind’s savagery and their desire to dominate all. They had destroyed themselves and the land in doing so, and he did not care if the last of them were finally wiped out. It was only some years ago, he had sent an envoy of peace to consult with their leaders in the tribe they call Pine Ridge. The muntjac lords in the mountains near there had warned the wolves that these mankind animals could not be reasoned with and would attack any not of their kind. However, Blackpaws wanted to see this for himself and give mankind animals the benefit of the doubt.
The tribe was several days north of Duskfall and relatively isolated. When the wolves had arrived at the edge of the tribe grounds, the mankind animals had yelled incomprehensively and shot arrows at them. That didn’t matter an
yway, as six months later a Wildpack scouting party wiped out a number of them that had ventured too far into the New Territories. The Princess interrupted the king's thoughts. ‘Now now king, we don’t want one of the last few mankind tribes destroyed as they too may have a part to play in Frelith’s destiny. However, we must find out what the witches’ want.’ The company chatted quickly again to one another. Eventually, it was decided that a few would travel to the West Marsh and try to establish what the witches’ sought in Saltwood.
The Princess and Bragus spoke in low tones for a short time. Finally, the Princess addressed the company. ‘We think it wise that only a small inconspicuous contingent travels to the West Marsh to learn what they can of the hound and the Draugen.’ Bragus added, ‘King Blackpaws, you must return to your kingdom and ready the provinces, should the Wildpack suddenly strike your lands. Therefore, Jericho will go west to where the moorlands meet the sea, and the fox will accompany him as he has some knowledge of the west moors.’ Red Whiskers spoke up from behind the muntjac, ‘Oh Great and mighty Bragus, I only know the lands around Blackmire; I have never been too close to the mankind village or the Saltwood forest.’
The fox did not wish to meet a mankind animal or a hound of the Wildpack or some witch Daemon, in fact, he had no desire to be shot with arrows either, whatever arrows were. Bragus sensing the fox’s unease said ‘You have bravely travelled a great journey to get here. Do not fear, stay hidden, observe and report back to the Princess and myself through one of Ayah’s seekers who will later join you.’ Red Whiskers felt that he didn’t really have a choice in the matter anyway. He looked up at Jericho who seemed rather eager about the whole thing. ‘Silly young wolf,’ thought the fox. ‘He has no idea what we are actually going to walk into.’ The Princess added ‘Bragus will escort me to the lower combs where I can consult the Soothsayer Chalice for some further direction.’ Jericho shook with excitement. ‘That journey to the West Marsh will take weeks, how do we get there?’ The Princess stepped forward and placed a gentle hand on Jericho’s back. ‘Why through the Arch of course.’ She whispered.
Several hours later, Princess Eylon sat cross-legged on the sandy floor facing the Arch. Her hair floated about her head like mist, affected by some unseen energy. With her eyes closed tightly and her arms outstretched, she recited the necessary cipher as the Ruby Gem at her neck pulsed in unison with the Arch. Runes blazed yellow and red in sequence on the Arch’s surface. A strange wind whistled around the cave as a red oval-shaped ring appeared inside the Arch. A low deep hum reverberated through the ground, causing the top layer of sand to vibrate. The oval turned from deep red to purple-blue colour. A strange white rune appeared and hovered in the centre of the arch that pulsed gently. A cold wind swept into the room from out of the arch. Red Whiskers recognised a scent as being from the west moor and immediately felt homesick. Mustering up much more courage than he really had, followed Jericho with his eyes closed and stepped through the Arch. The ring faded then disappeared with a loud snap. The Arch went silent as Princess Eylon lay back on the sandy floor exhausted.
23.
THE MOONSTONE WITHIN THE TALISMAN
Saniel gazed deeply into the Moonstone for a long time as if his eyes were transfixed to it. He was unable to look away as it was beautiful and soothing. He had never seen anything like it before and seemed strangely attracted to it. The engravings about the surface of the stone cast their images upon the ceiling, amplified by the colour of the sluggishly moving blue veins within the gem’s heart. A loud crash and yelling voices outside in the road awoke him with a start from his fixation on the stone. A series of loud snarls followed by sounds of struggling and the yelling of the night watchmen faded away in the distance. The night watch had heard the crash of the front door and howls of the hound and the bravest of them had come to investigate. They hadn’t bargained on meeting a savage hound of the Wildpack. With the Moonstone clutched tightly in Saniel’s hand he went to a small attic window protruding out of the thatched roof. He didn’t know why, but he put the chain around his neck and dropped the glowing Moonstone inside his coat. He felt as if the stone was reading his mind, implanting suggestions into his conscious, telling him what to do. Saniel tried to squeeze out of the tiny dust-covered window. It broke free from its rotten frame and slid down the thatched roof to fall and hit the ground below with a loud crash of old glass. Saniel awkwardly climbed out of the broken frame and balanced on the edge of the thatched roof.
It was dark now and difficult to see. The frightened boy held his breath, listening for anything below in the front garden. It was quiet; he could still hear distant yelling further up the road. With great difficulty, he cleared his eyes and suppressed his sobbing. He guessed that the night watch was engaged with that giant savage dog. Saniel scrambled down a thick creeper vine at the corner of the house to land in the garden bed with a soft thump. He was undecided as to what to do next. His mother was gone, he had no other living relative that he knew of and the hound that was trying to eat him was still in the village somewhere. In his front yard on the little pathway to the front door lay a man of the night watch on his stomach. A short sword lay loose in the grip of his right hand, which was outstretched in front of him. A stream of blood shining in the moonlight ran down the path away from him. He could see several of the dog’s big prints in the blood.
Instinctively he turned and ran around the house to the back yard. The moon was quite bright, and he could see quite clearly, except in the shadow of the house where he tripped over a woven washer basket of his mothers. The Talisman fell from his coat and rolled away on the grass, with just a small glow coming from it. He hastily reached out to grab the chain and pull the Moonstone back towards him. Picking himself up, he put the heavy silver chain around his neck again and looked around uncertain on what to do. He held his breath again and listened intently, but could hear nothing as he stared at the backwoods completely engulfed in night shadow. Running helter-skelter, he then quickly covered the distance to the back fence and vaulted over a broken section of it to stand facing the black night of the forest. After several moments, his eyes adjusted, and he picked a small path that led away from his house and directly into the wood.
A loud howl came from somewhere behind him near his home, followed by the sound of something running around inside and knocking things over. The dog had come back and was vigorously searching for him. Terrified, he ran and stumbled faster through the moonlight shadows into the wood. A familiar chirping filled his ears. He couldn’t see anything but heard the small Blue Tat he had seen earlier. Its singing was above him in the trees and continued to sing the same tune over and over as it appeared to go ahead in the direction of the wooded path.
Infrequent rays of silver moonlight radiated down through gaps in the trees to illuminate small sections of the forest floor. Saniel fought the urge to curl up and hide in the undergrowth but suspected the dog would sniff him out. He ran blindly on the barely visible path, seemly following the song of the Blue Tat just in front of him. Surprisingly he had managed to travel a little way into the woods without running into anything, then to his sheer terror, he heard distant heavy panting and quick footfalls of something running up behind him. He stumbled as he tried to run faster, but the path was now difficult to see the further he went in, as it became increasingly overgrown. Thorns and spiky branches tore at his clothes. He soon became covered in numerous tiny cuts and scratches.
A sudden strange sensation overcame him, and he felt as if the Moonstone was calling to him. He felt a desirable urge and reached into his coat with his left hand and took hold of it. It was warm to touch and emitted a radiance of swirling bright blue and white light.
Saniel held it in front of him with the chain around his neck at full length. The Moonstone lit up the surrounding woodland showing several large tree trunks and undergrowth around him. It seemed to be getting brighter and brighter and was now humming a low constant tone. The small path could be seen going away from him in eithe
r direction into the darkness. For all its brightness, it did not hurt his eyes to look at it. The small Blue Tat above him chirped in surprise and flew higher into the canopy out of the reaching field of light. Saniel nearly forgot about the dog. This light was brighter than any fire or candlelight he was used to. It did not cast an orange glow but a clean, bright light, almost like daylight. The shaggy hound growled deeply and circled around the boy, hugging the shadows and avoiding the edge of the light. Splashes of mankind blood were visible on his hide as well as shallow marks from a sword. It hesitated and was weary of the light. It had killed three mankind things in the village beyond quickly enough, but this mancub seemed to have an aura of unexplained protection. The hound raised his nose into the air and sniffed hard. To Saniel’s great astonishment it opened its mouth and in a low growly voice spoke! ‘I can smell the stench of the treacherous dogs that live in your tribe. Your scent is thick with it.’
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