Shalia led Barney to a nearby cleft in the cliffs that had small narrow steps cleverly carved into the rocks leading down to the sea below. It was almost dark as they stood above the high tide mark in a sandy inlet. Barney sat down in the mixture of sand and dried seaweed and looked to the west over the Moaning Sea. It was still surprisingly calm, and the sky was clear. In the fading red light, he could just make out the dark silhouettes of several islands offshore. ‘What do we do now?’ asked Barney. Shalia smiled and tapped Barney on the shoulder with her staff. The jewels in one end twinkled like small stars. ‘We sleep’ she said. Barney fell back suddenly into the comfortable soft sand. It was the best dreamless sleep he had, had since leaving Saltwood.
44.
SANIEL CARLOW
Saniel lay on a comfortable thick bed of moss. It felt damp under his back and cold, but he was rested enough even though he was hungry. A cold object seemed to be pressing down on his chest. He looked down his shirt and realised he was still wearing the Talisman which was cold to the touch and appeared lifeless. A handful of red berries lay in a neat pile next to his head. He blinked several times to focus and shivered. He vaguely remembered the previous afternoon’s events. Jericho and Red Whiskers had been hurrying him along as that big hound, and other things were hunting them down. ‘That’s right’, he remembered. ‘I hid in some rocks,’ but what happened after that, and where was he now? It felt like morning as light was coming through the grey clouds in the east. There was no rain yet despite the overcast, dull sky. This was still the moors he figured as he could see grass ahead of him with stunted trees scattered about.
The pleasant sound of a small babbling brook came to his ears. He then heard some hushed conversation behind him and turned to see who was there. Red Whiskers and Jericho were chatting quietly. They noticed him sit up, and Red Whiskers bounced over. Jericho stood up and commenced to survey the surroundings, he frequently looked into the sky. ‘You have slept all night, eat some berries to get your strength back’ said Red Whiskers. ‘Thanks’ said Saniel. He continued, ‘Where are we and how did I get here? I don’t remember walking. Did we get away from the hound?’ Red Whiskers laughed nervously, ‘One question at a time young Saniel’. Saniel started eating some red berries, which were quite plump and juicy. Berry juice dribbled down his chin, and he wiped it with the back of his sleeve as the fox continued. ‘To be honest, I thought we were done for until help arrived.’
‘Help?’ said Saniel in a puzzled voice. Jericho came over and cleared his throat. ‘We told you about the witches’, goblins and animals, now there is something else.’ He paused before continuing. ‘Creatures we hadn’t seen before either but had heard of I suppose and mostly thought a legend until now.’ Saniel swallowed, and then answered. ‘What kind of creature?’ Red Whiskers and Jericho looked at each other, hoping that the other would explain. Together they both told of the previous day’s events, of the green one-eyed giant covered in dry mud that had either killed or chased away their pursuers. They didn’t know who he was or why he helped them. He didn’t speak and ignoring the growling wolf and the fox, he had scooped Saniel up from the rocks while he slept and carried him gently to this place. At first, they were concerned following behind him, but then realised he was leading them to the northwest, the direction they needed to go anyway. Then after placing Saniel in this very spot, the giant had sat on the ground and stared at the boy sleeping through his one great eye for a good few hours. Every now and again a low hum came from the stone Saniel wore. The giant would cock his head slightly to one side as if listening to something. He suddenly got up and lumbered away to the south out of sight. They haven’t seen him since. Jericho spoke, ‘Now that you’ve rested and its daylight, we need to keep moving. This giant does not seem to have any harmful intent for us, but all the same, I don’t want to hang around.’ Red Whiskers added, ‘We must be getting close to meeting with the elves by now?’ He said in a cheerful voice.
They followed a small creek for a short way and then found some large rocks scattered through it that Saniel managed to jump across without getting too wet. The overcast sky didn’t change, and it made the entire green landscape appear grey and dreary. Jericho led them away from the creek along an old pony trail to the top of a small rocky outcrop. They rested for several minutes while they surveyed the expanse terrain in front of them. It all looked the same to Saniel. A sprawl of grass, thickets of thorny bushes, the occasional solitary rock and clumps of stunted trees. Sheen off the ground in the distance caught his eye, indicating surface water of a distant marsh. A long way to the west he thought he could see a low green haze in a line that marked the woods in the direction of his home. To the northeast where they were going, he saw nothing but a distant grey curtain. It seemed to block out the view in all directions with a darker sky above it.
They continued through some open grasslands and noted that the carpet of green and brown drab was occasionally broken by pretty patches of yellow and white from the wildflowers rising above the grass. They talked about the one-eyed giant again, and Saniel looked around expectedly as if would suddenly appear, though he was a bit fearful of actually meeting him. It was close to midday when the first Raven appeared. There was nowhere for them to hide as they were traversing a very open area of the moors. Jericho let out several loud warning growls, but the Raven was not concerned. It hovered high above them, circling and screeching loudly. Red Whiskers had not long displayed some excitement after recognizing an area he had travelled through before when first commencing his journey to the Elvene.
A second Raven appeared, and Jericho became concerned. A few Ravens he could handle, but they were spies for the witches’ and goblins after all, and he didn’t want any of them showing up. They came to the edge of a vast marsh that crossed their path, there was naught else they could do but follow it and hopefully get back onto their intended bearing. Red Whiskers told the others of his encounter with some great snake-like creature with fat legs and lots of teeth that lived hereabouts. Well, it wasn’t really an encounter. It had come out of the water heading in the fox’s general direction, and Red Whiskers ran away, but he didn’t tell them that part of the story. All the same, they moved a bit further away from the marsh’s edge as a precautionary measure. It was brown coloured dirty coloured water with black piles of mud and broken reeds through it everywhere and didn’t look at all appealing. They managed to keep the marsh on their right as they headed directly north.
The occasional swarm of biting insects circled around them in small clouds whenever they got too close to the edge of the marsh. After a few hours, Red Whiskers commented that he recalled the area again and that they would soon reach the northernmost point and be able to resume their northeast journey. They noted the absence of birdlife that was usually abundant in this type of landscape. Red Whiskers thought it may have been because of the Wildpack army he witnessed heading south near here some time ago. The only birdlife was the two Ravens circling high above and following them, marking their position. They had little choice but to continue onwards.
By late afternoon, the marsh started breaking up into random shallow muddy pools with thick reeds. Then they ended, and the terrain was once again predominantly open grassland. The sky had grown darker, and it felt like it was nearly into the night, though that was still several hours away. Without warning, the two Ravens departed and were last seen flying to the south at a high rate of speed. Then a torrential downpour of rain came straight down from a black sky above, it was so heavy that Saniel exclaimed that the storm was the type that had ‘big old fat drops.’ The wolf and the fox did not hear him. The roar of the sudden deluge on the ground and foliage around them was deafening to their ears.
The grass lay flattened, and tiny streams appeared everywhere, crisscrossing the terrain. Saniel held one arm above his head and closed his eyes as the drops stung his face. He barely heard Jericho bark above the din of noise as he gave directions to follow him. A short walk and slide through the mud saw t
he three of them taking shelter under a low canopy of stunted trees. It only gave a minimal amount of reprieve as it blocked the initial hard stinging rain, but plenty of water still filtered through the branches and leaves to keep them drenched to the bone. Poor old Red Whiskers looked more like a half-drowned rat with his coat, ears and whiskers drooping low. They were all soaked through, miserable and cold. After a while, the rain did ease up slightly, and as suddenly as it started, it stopped to be replaced by a dense grey fog. The sound of numerous frogs and toads croaking began all around them. They could see now a short distance around them through this mysterious fog. Jericho growled and looked to the south. Saniel wiped his eyes with a wet, muddy hand and squinted, trying to see what Jericho was looking at. The sound of several quick blasts of a low-pitched horn came out of the fog that gave Saniel the shivers. It was a tone he had never heard before that sounded sinister and gloomy. It echoed after each blast to fade away.
Several black shadows moved about in the wall of fog. Just obscured enough that Saniel could not see what they were. Jericho and Red Whiskers knew what they were, however as they gave off a particularly known odour. Goblin reavers a dozen of them their broken goblin speech now coming to Saniel’s ears. Saniel had never seen such ugly red skinned men before with pointy ears and cruel faces. They weren’t much taller than he was and all brandished club-type weapons threateningly as they faced them. Crooked teeth were visible in many triumphant smiles. Their facial expressions changed to a stern look on their determined faces as three of them emerged fully into their sight from the blanket of fog. Red Whiskers pushed against Saniel’s legs to move him back. Jericho leapt forward and snarled a loud warning. Several more goblins appeared behind them, and Saniel saw that they all wore black coats of some sort with a picture of green slugs on a rock painted on them. Some had tattoos on their necks and faces.
Saniel had seen Tattoos on some of the fishermen from home before, but they were usually of skiffs, fish and other men’s wives. He didn’t know what these pictures and symbols on the goblins red skin were. One goblin, taller than his comrades walked cautiously forward and hefted a gnarly looking club from one hand to the next. Jericho timed his leap in a pre-emptive strike, passing through the goblin’s raised club to strike him in the chest and knock him to the ground. The low-pitched horn sounded again, as the other goblins ran towards the struggling wolf and goblin. Yells and the sounds of fighting suddenly came from behind them in the grey fog. A distant hazy white glow was just visible somewhere illuminating within the fog.
45.
ELF TAEGAN
Jericho jumped back, and the goblins stood frozen for a moment, confused. Suddenly Red Whiskers heard a voice he recognised and shivered in excitement. ‘This way.’ Said the voice and the elf highborn Taegan appeared with a dozen elf rangers around him carrying bows upon their backs, a shield and short blade in each hand. Red Whiskers recognised the Elvene house Sigil on the shields. Taegan carried a short marble staff of wavering colours. At one end of the staff, a white light source cast a glow in the immediate area cutting through the dreary fog. He pointed his staff at the handful of goblins in front of the company and said, ‘This is the last of them.’
The goblins now outnumbered looked for a means of escape and suddenly ran sideways into the fog to disappear from sight. The elf Taegan raised his staff, and his company of elves gave chase and was soon also gone from sight. Saniel looked at this funny little grey man with a big fluffy blonde beard and brown coat. He had the strangest shape eyes Saniel had ever seen, though they had a kind spark about them. Where the red men had looked cruel ugly, this grey man radiated warmth and kindness. Taegan smiled and said, ‘So I have found you at last. Greeting friend fox, we meet again.’ Red Whiskers shook his head vigorously, trying to dislodge the large amount of water that had settled in them. He finally succeeded only to have them full again when Jericho shook the water from his thick coat. Taegan continued, ‘wolf, I give you my respect for I have heard a lot about you.’ He looked at Saniel curiously, ‘So this is the mankind cub we have ventured far from the Elvene for’. He paused for a moment and glanced at Saniel’s left hand hanging by his side, then continued. ‘He doesn’t look very fearsome.’ ‘Mr Elf’. Said Jericho, ‘It’s the trinket he carries that has a power of sorts and has helped get us this far.’
Saniel pulled the cold Talisman from his shirt and held out for the elf to inspect. The Moonstone was clear, and the whole thing did not look like anything much other than a fancy bauble. All the same, Taegan was careful not to touch it as he examined it curiously. He saw the runic glyphs carved around the edge of a silver housing around a white Moonstone and immediately recognised it as a powerful Talisman. The runes were far more advanced than anything he knew. Red Whiskers who had the most acute hearing of all present thought he detected a high-pitched humming come from the Moonstone, which was then echoed by the staff Taegan carried.
The fog began to lift, and visibility increased. Taegan’s elves soon came back, and one of them advised that the goblins had disappeared. Taegan spoke again. ‘There is witchery involved here. This was only a scouting party, our Falcon seeker Scoo had seen a larger hunting party not far behind headed this way and being led by a witch’ Saniel spoke, ‘A witch? What are they hunting for?’ Taegan smiled at this mancub’s innocence. ‘Why you, of course, mancub.’ A sudden loud rustle and whoosh of air had everyone looking up. Scoo had been diving fast and cut the wind to stop quickly on the ground in front of Taegan. In small whispery gasps of breath, he spoke in an urgent tone to Taegan ignoring the others. Saniel could not understand anything he said. After a moment, the Falcon clicked together the two silver spikes on his legs and took to the wing-flapping vigorously and rising quickly.
Taegan seemed lost in thought and stared directly at his marble staff. ‘It seems out little victory is short-lived.’ He said quietly as he smiled uncertainly and looked directly at Jericho. Jericho turned to Saniel and announced ‘A larger force of goblins and hounds are but a short distance away. They are being led by the witch they call Salum, who flies in the sky above them. It seems they will not give up until they have the Talisman you carry.’ Taegan added, ‘I know her, she is a particularly fearsome witch and one of Strala’s favourites.’ Saniel replied in a shaky voice ‘Perhaps if I give them this stone, they might let us go?’ ‘Ahhh.’ Said Taegan, ‘I doubt that. Scoo is trying to lure them into another direction, but they have Raven prowlers ranging out wide looking for us now. We must press on to buy a bit more time.’
They headed north at a jogging pace. Taegan in the lead with Jericho running beside him. Red Whiskers and Saniel behind and the dozen elf rangers behind with bows drawn and crouched low. They turned and peered behind them frequently. As they ran through a shallow muddy soaked area of long grass, the sound of hounds baying came close from behind them. ‘They’ve picked up our scent.’ Panted Red Whiskers. The fog almost completely cleared now; however, it was still relatively dark as the sky was entirely obscured by a dense black cloud. Saniel’s joints ached and his legs burned from chafing as his wet trouser legs rubbed like sand against his skin. The sounds of the baying hounds were abruptly drowned out by screeching voices of Ravens.
Several dozen Ravens, like a low black cloud, swooped low over the advancing hounds towards them. Taegan said something quickly, and his rangers turned and dropped to one knee. In unison, they loosed a wave of arrows into the sky. Ten Ravens fell silently to the earth in a ball of feathers, each with an arrow finding its mark. The remaining Ravens and there were still quite a few, rose and circled above them out of the reach of the elf arrows and screeched angrily. The hounds baying came closer to them. ‘They come.’ Said Taegan despairingly. The fog had now completely gone, and the group saw their pursuers much clearer emerge over a small stony covered rise behind them. Six giant hounds bounded down the gentle slope towards them, red tongues hanging out to the side between large teeth as they looked left and right. Several howled in delight at sighting th
e group ahead and increased their pace. These were brawlers from the Rottweil house. Shiny black coats covered sturdy frames, though a number of them had ribs showing as they had not eaten for days. They had been promised the flesh of elves and wolves, for it was an inbred trait that they hated the elves and wolves more than anything, and they were hungry.
Taegan yelled at his rangers’, ‘Do not fire until they are almost upon us.’ Jericho bounded forward to stand behind the elves as they pulled back bowstrings and picked targets among the advancing hounds. The hounds were now in the long grass of the shallow mud soak and would soon reach them. Saniel grasped the Talisman in his hand as he looked at the hounds. Behind the hounds came a good number of red goblins running haphazardly and yelling some sort of battle cry. A faint green glow shone high in the sky beyond them. It stood out against the black backdrop of the clouds, and the sound of a victorious scream came to Saniel’s ears. ‘Salum.’ Said Taegan in dismay as he hefted his staff. A dozen black arrows arched out towards the six hounds.
Two fell dead, their forward momentum sending them skidding into the mud with arrows protruding from their heads. A third slowed down and snapped at an arrow in his side as he spun around in circles. It attempted to run drunkenly after his three uninjured comrades but fell over dead. The rangers fired again, this time only killing one hound. They dropped their bows and held their shields and short swords for close quarter battle. As they engaged the two surviving hounds, the Ravens circled lower, sensing victory and a meal. A high-pitched screech in the sky and Scoo dived right through the centre of the Ravens, his legs extended in front of him. His silver fighting spikes finding two Ravens, which then spiralled to the earth with their throats torn. He landed on the ground between Taegan and Red Whiskers and reached down to remove a black Raven feather caught on one of his spikes. Scoo rose again and engaged several further noisy Ravens circling above.
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