by K.L. Bauman
Chapter 5
Strange Encounters
Echo shook off the eerie feeling that had blanketed her at the sight of the figure as she caught up with the others. She didn’t want to be left alone. The group was nearing the edge of the village when their attention was drawn by a commanding voice. The scarecrow form of Moodey Muckerson stood on a make-shift straw platform. His pumpkin-shaped wife, Mavel, stood beside him. The couple looked strangely out of place in the late spring beauty. A large crowd had circled around them, their attention on Moodey. His beaky nose was red, and his Adam’s apple bobbed grotesquely on his vulture-like neck as he spoke.
“You all saw what just happened back at the square--a dead sorcerer was captured. A dead sorcerer here, in our humble village! People, the time to act is now! We cannot let these dark forces continue to threaten our homes.”
A murmur rippled through the crowd and several people nodded in agreement. Moodey stepped aside, revealing a cloaked figure that had previously been hidden behind the couple. Echo gasped. The blood rushed to her head as her heart lurched against her chest. Moodey leaned his ear toward the hooded figure, whose only visible feature was a pair of bright amber eyes. “I think we found your cloaked man,” Brecker whispered to her.
Echo calmed herself as she took a closer look. This was not the same cloaked figure she’d seen earlier. This cloak was pitch-black and was not of the same silky material. She opened her mouth to tell Brecker this, then changed her mind at seeing the amusement in his eyes. He gave her a crooked smile before returning his attention to Moodey.
The cloaked figure leaned away from Moodey’s ear. Moodey turned and whispered something to his plump, red-headed wife before turning again to the crowd. “You all know we suffered a great tragedy not too long ago.” The crowd fell respectively silent. “Our son, only five years of age, was taken from us.” Great tears formed in both the couples’ eyes as Mavel released a pitiful wail. “It was a horrible thing to suffer, waking in the night to our child’s screams, unable to help him…” Moodey choked and sobbed, and most of the crowd dabbed their eyes and shook their heads.
Echo felt pity for the couple, too, although something was strange about the way they were telling their story. She felt ashamed at her thoughts, but Mavel and Moodey’s display of emotion seemed a bit staged to her. She looked around at the mourning crowd. Was she the only one feeling this way?
The couple finally composed themselves, raising their hands and nodding as they whimpered loud enough for all to hear, “Thank you. Thank you. You are all too kind.” Then, with one wipe of a hanky, Moodey’s expression turned fierce. He looked sternly into the eyes of the crowd. “We can stop this from happening to you!” He dramatically pointed a long, crooked finger at a woman in the front of the crowd who released a startled squeal. “We must keep our children safe! We must defend our homes and our families!” The crowd was getting wound up now, shouting their agreement after each of Moodey’s statements. His eyes gleamed from the attention and the power he now held over the people. Mavel’s round, sweating face beamed at her husband as if he were a god. “We must take action against these creatures and against the magic that has seeped into our villages. Magic that began with the elves.”
Moodey’s eyes fixed on Dorian. Echo’s stomach lurched. Half terrified and half enraged, she looked warily at Dorian, wondering what he’d do. The crowd was certain to turn on them all for fraternizing with an elf. Why hadn’t she brought a weapon?
But Dorian stood annoyingly calm and serene, smiling gently toward his accuser. Surprisingly, the crowd did not notice Moodey’s fixed gaze. They remained focused on him. Dorian whispered quietly to the teens, “I believe that was our cue to leave. Shall we?” He gestured for them to walk ahead of him.
Brecker didn’t move. “I’d like to hear them out, if that’s okay.”
Echo and Mari gaped at him. How could he even think of listening to someone who so wrongly accused their friends of horrible crimes?
Brecker shook his head at his sisters’ expressions. “I don’t believe what they’re saying about the elves, but I want to know more about their plans to protect the villages.” He looked at Dorian.
The elf gazed into Brecker’s eyes for several seconds, considering. Then, he spoke, “You are of age now. The choice is yours. I do warn you to be cautious. Things are not always as clear as they may seem.”
Brecker’s face split into a smile as he quickly placed a hand on Dorian’s shoulder. “Thanks!” he said and then dashed off to the front of the crowd. Dorian forced the girls toward the edge of the village.
“Why can’t we stay?” Mari asked.
“You are not of age and are, therefore, still under my care. When you reach Brecker’s age, you will be free to make your choices.” Mari’s face flamed, whether from anger or embarrassment Echo was unsure. She was too preoccupied with the foreboding that tugged at her insides like an angry pixie demanding attention. She wanted more than anything for Brecker to change his mind and come with them.
Echo and her horse trailed away from the Ulway behind Dorian and Mari, who seemed to have forgotten all about the scene at the village. They chatted non-stop about various plants, flowers, and birds that thrived next to the Wyrna River. Echo looked behind her every other second, hoping to see Brecker following them. Her stomach remained knotted with worry. Things just didn’t feel right.
Dorian had signaled his horse to a stop and Echo, who was still looking behind, nearly caused her horse to collide with his. “Oh, sorry!” She stopped her horse, who snorted impatiently.
“Brecker can take care of himself, Echo. He is well trained.”
“I know. I just feel strange leaving him behind,” she said, not sure how else to explain what she was experiencing.
“Change is in the air. That always causes uneasy emotions. Try not to worry. Change can bring good things.” He looked kindly at her, helping to ease her mind a fraction. But as he turned his horse away and continued forward, she couldn’t help thinking, It isn’t the good things I’m worried about. It’s the bad things.
Just as Echo urged her horse forward, something zipped so closely past that it caused her shirt to ruffle. She had no time to react, but watched as Dorian suddenly leapt from his horse’s back, twisted in the air until he was facing her, and caught an arrow mid-flight. He landed easily on his feet, still holding the arrow at arm’s length in front of him.
The enraged scream of a man jolted Echo from her initial shock. She spun her mount around to face a lone, wild villager charging toward them. He ran full speed beside the river, stringing another arrow. She recognized him as one from Mavel and Moodey’s listeners. He pointed his weapon and shouted, “The evils of the elves must be purged!”
His wild expression and words would’ve seemed amusing if Echo hadn’t been mortified. Dorian’s voice sounded as Echo’s horse twitched and snorted nervously. “Mari, go! Echo, to me!”
Echo coaxed her horse to sidestep next to the elf as she saw Mari gallop her horse away from them. Echo’s heart threatened to choke her. This was no test!
“Leave that girl be, vile creature! I have no quarrel with human-kind!” the man spat. Dorian remained as always--calm, quiet, undisturbed.
“Echo,” he said. Her heart jumped at hearing her name. “What will be your strategy for coaxing this citizen to stand down?”
Echo jerked her head toward Dorian, her mouth and eyes gaping. “Me? I-I don’t know! What should I do?”
Dorian smiled, but kept his eyes on their rapidly approaching adversary. “Use the knowledge you have been given, Echo. I have faith in you.”
Echo’s mind went blank. A total void. She watched the man move closer, his bow and arrow raised and ready. Suddenly, though, he lost his footing on the river bank. Echo gasped as she watched the man’s arms fly upward, attempting to regain his balance. The arrow shot into the sky and for a split moment, he teetered at the edge of th
e bank. Then, with a yell and an unceremonious splash, he was gone.
Dorian ran toward the spot where the man had fallen. Echo snapped into rescue mode and chased after him on her horse. She reached the riverbank, but no body could be seen. Then, Dorian pointed further down the river, toward Ulway. “There!” A bobbing head and flailing arms were quickly being washed down river.
The man’s voice trailed weakly to them. “Help! I--can’t--swim!” he shouted the words between bobs. Dorian turned to Echo.
“You can reach him much faster with your horse. Get to that rocky bank just ahead of him. You will be able to help him from there.”
Echo spurred her horse into a run. The horse’s mane whipped against her hands and face as its powerful muscles launched them across the earth. Echo’s peripheral vision caught the blurred form of the man as they passed. The rocky shore, which protruded further into the river than the other banks, was just ahead. Reaching it, she reined her horse to a lurching halt, dismounted and then…
She looked frantically around for something, anything, to throw out to the man to grab. The edges of the river swirled madly against the rocks. Before the thought was fully formed in her mind, she found herself quickly removing the bridle from her horse’s head. The man was nearly across from her now. She splashed into the icy water until she was in it to her torso, planted her heels in the muddy riverbed, and tossed the long reins into the water. Echo grasped the brow band tightly in her hands.
They made brief eye contact and Echo shouted, “Grab it!”
The man flailed frantically in the water, coughing and sputtering. For one horrific moment, Echo thought he would drown before he reached the target. Then, with one desperate heave, he had the reins.
Echo pulled with all the strength she had. The river pushed against her body and the man’s weight pulled against her arms. He thrashed again, suddenly panicking. Echo was about to panic, too, when a thought struck her like rock to her skull. She was standing waist deep in the river. The man had to be taller than she, and he was only a bridle length away.
“Sir! Stand up! You can touch the bottom! Stand up!”
The man continued to thrash against the water, sending showers of river in every direction. He couldn’t hear her through his panic. Echo was suddenly annoyed with him. She gripped the bridle tighter and jerked the reins--not too hard for fear the fool would lose his grip--but hard enough to get his attention.
“Stand up!” she stated irritably.
The man gawked at her for a split second, then slowly put his legs beneath him and stood. Looking sheepish, he walked shakily toward her. When he reached her, he handed her the rest of the bridle. His bearded face dripped and water sprayed from his lips as he spoke. “You saved me!” he blurted.
Echo scowled at him, wiped his spit from her eye, and then let his words sink in. Warmth melted her annoyance, and she even managed a smile. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“Y-Yes. How can I thank you?” he asked as they sloshed their way to the rocky shore.
Echo let her gaze trail to where Dorian stood with his horse, back where the man had first fallen. The man glared at the elf and Echo’s annoyance returned. “First,” she said firmly, “never attack one of my friends again.”
“But I--”
“Second,” she said, raising her hand to silence him, “stay away from the river if you don’t know how to swim.”
She turned on her heel and her unbridled horse followed obediently behind her. When she reached Dorian, she stopped and looked back. The man was still standing there. She stared at him for a moment before he tentatively raised a hand in farewell. Both Echo and Dorian returned the gesture.
After the man began walking back toward the village, Dorian turned to Echo and blinded her with a smile. His voice was as gentle as always when he said, “Well done.”