by Heath Pfaff
"I don't think you should get any closer." Telistera protested as I moved forward.
"Lowin, don't." Laouna said, but I shook my head, curiosity had long been a failing of mine. I would not be satisfied until I had seen all there was to see.
"I'll be careful." I said, as I drew next to Ethaniel. I had not feared the ring before, but Ethaniel's story, true or not, had given me a hefty respect for it.
"Look across the ring, from the side. What do you see?" He instructed, and I did as he asked.
At first, all I saw was stone. I could still feel that tugging at my chest, as though the stone were trying to draw me closer, but I resisted that pulling firmly. I was about to ask Ethaniel what he was trying to show me, when I saw it. I had to get my head at just the right angle, but if I looked flat across the surface of the gate, from the side, I could see a shimmering black curtain at the opening edge of the stone. I watched it for a moment, as it shifted and churned. The strange, rippling blackness filled my heart with a terrible sense of despair. I had to look away.
"A working gate would look similar, but it would be white. The blackness means that this gate is dead. That which goes in, will not come out." Ethaniel said, moving back away from the gate. I followed him, doing my best to avoid looking as afraid as I suddenly felt.
Even though I could still feel the compulsion of the gate, I no longer had any desire to draw nearer. I had seen enough. That blackness had been terrifying. It had been as though it were trying to reach into me. I felt shaken.
"We'll cut a wide path around any further stone circles." I told the others, an informal order that clearly needed not be made. "It would be wiser not to take any unnecessary risks." There were no protests from my travel companions.
We set out again, back on path, but it was a long time before I felt the dark pressure from the ring leave me. It was as though it kept watching me, expectantly, ready to devour me and my travel companions. I felt as though I had just denied a monster the feast it desired.
We drew closer to the mountains with every day of travel. We ran day and night, only stopping when it was necessary for the others to recuperate from the hard pace. I did not grow tired, no matter how far I ran. I could run for two days at a hard pace and I felt only mild fatigue in my muscles that would quickly flee as we came to a stop. My strength and energy seemed to be increasing with every step I took nearer the mountains. I knew that, in truth, it wasn't the nearness to the mountains that was giving me strength, but the life of a Uliona woman, somewhere far across the sea. I tried not to dwell on that fact. The process, once began, was irreversible. Ethaniel had doomed another innocent, and I would have to accept that burden upon myself, since I would reap the benefits. To take the power and feel no guilt at all would be a crime unto itself.
Our first week of travel had gone the fastest, but Telistera was beginning to slow down. She could still run for days at a time, but her pace was beginning to fall off. I knew what it meant, and I could tell by the sadness in Malice's eyes that she was only too aware of the truth as well. All of us knew what was happening. Only Ethaniel seemed completely unperturbed. His cold indifference raised my ire, but I had done my best not to come to any further confrontations with the old Knight. He had begun to act strangely. There was a certain excited exuberance about him that worried me. He should have had nothing to be excited about, certainly the rest of us were more troubled than eager.
"We should stop for a time." I heard Malice's voice, soft and close, and I drew myself out of my thoughts. "The others are tired. We could use four or five hours of rest." She finished.
I looked at the others as I drew to a stop. They looked worn. It had been four days since we'd taken more than a brief break. I'd promised Telistera that I would not push everyone too hard, and I had been on the verge of doing just that. I looked at Malice's face, and I could see the fatigue written across her features. Had she not come to me, I probably would have run for another day without even thinking about it.
"Of course, you're right. We should have stopped hours ago." I admitted, realizing that I was slowly losing touch with the others. It was far too easy to get lost in my thoughts and just go on forever. My travel companions dropped their packs in place and fell to the ground. We were running across hills with only a light covering of brush and sparse patches of forest, and just about anywhere was a good place to rest. The hill we'd just crested gave us a nice view of the surrounding area. It was a good place to keep watch.
I was not certain keeping watch was entirely necessary. We had not seen so much as a single sign of the Hungering since arriving. The day before, we had passed through a large open clearing that Telistera assured us had once been a village of her people, but all that remained was an open field of grass. There were no buildings, no wreckage, and no signs of war. Animals had freely entered the clearing, wary of us, but apparently unworried about any other threat. I had feared we would be fighting constantly from the moment we made land, but we had received no resistance at all. There were no signs of the Hungering, and there were no signs of Telistera's people. We had passed three different places that should have once had villages, but all of them had been like the one we'd seen on the previous day.
Had Telistera been one to joke, I might have believed that she was attempting to play a strange trick on us. However, I knew the silver-eyed woman well enough to know that she was not joking, and I didn't believe she was intentionally deceiving us either. For some reason, all signs of her people had been erased from the land, and nothing had been placed in their absence. I felt as though we walked through an undiscovered world.
"I'll keep watch for the night." I announced, not feeling much like sleeping. Whether it was only my new energy, or a combination of that and my anticipation of finding Kay, I could not be certain.
"Lowin, you can't. You haven't slept since we arrived here. I can take the first watch. I feel good enough to stay up a few hours. You get some sleep." Laouna said, speaking up at me from where she sat on the ground, leaning against her pack.
"I'm fine." I insisted. I didn't believe I could sleep even if I wanted to. All I really wanted to do was keep running. My body burned with unquenchable energy, my mind writhed in eagerness at obtaining my long sought goal.
"We don't even need a guard." Tower said. "There is nothing here. We haven't seen any sign of danger since we arrived. I don't know what lies ahead, but I don't think there is anything other than the wildlife here to trouble us."
"I really am not tired. I'll keep an eye on things while the rest of you sleep. I'm sure Tower is right. We could probably all sleep without worry. This place is quiet, but I'll keep watch just to be safe." I stated again. Tower shrugged and laid down a few feet from where Snow had sat down. Ethaniel was already sprawled across the grass, his pack under his head. Telistera had lain on the other side of him, furthest from the camp.
"I'll stay up with you for a bit, at least. You shouldn't have to watch alone every time we make camp." Malice said, exasperated that the others had given up on trying to convince me so quickly. They needed their rest, and I knew that Malice needed hers as well. I also knew that my beautiful green-eyed warrior had her mind set on a course of action, and I would not be convincing her otherwise any time soon.
"As you like." I acquiesced with a small smile. Fighting it was useless, and I was not really so eager to deny her company. My growing strength was leaving me feeling detached from the others. It was only Malice that kept me grounded.
We sat for a time in quiet, watching the valleys around our hilltop with no real worry that we would be attacked. Malice leaned against me, her head upon my shoulder. Under the spread of the stars above, the world truly seemed at peace. It was impossible to imagine that once the Hungering had passed through the area, massed in the thousands. On that night, beneath those stars, it seemed as if the entire world consisted of only Malice and me. The others were all but forgotten.
I felt the warmth at my side shift, and looked over to see M
alice standing up. She reached a clawed hand down to me. "Let's go for a walk." She said quietly. I took her hand, though I didn't need it, and let her draw me back to my feet. She was strong, powerfully so. It was easy to forget that when one's eyes were so quickly drawn to her beauty. We walked beneath the stars, traveling down the hill and through the valley that surrounded it.
"You should get some rest." I said to her, after we'd walked for nearly an hour. She was in front of me, leading our way, but she stopped as I spoke, and turned to face me. Her green eyes were bright, even in the dim light of the stars. I could see the rise and fall of her ample chest, highlighted by my motion sensitive sight. It was only at that moment that I realized why she had wanted to go for a walk. Behind her eyes was a naked lust, and yearning that was hard to miss. She didn't speak as she reached up and unfastened her cloak, letting it fall to the ground. She knelt upon it as she pulled free the draw strings of her shirt and drew open the front of the fabric.
She removed her shirt, and set to work on her pants, unfastening her sword belt and removing the fabric with graceful precision. I could feel my excitement rising. It had been too long since we'd lain together. My desire for her pounded through my veins like a hammer against an anvil. I set about unfettering myself of my own clothes, as I watched her undress. Her body was as beautiful as it had ever been.
Her Fell Beast legs blended into her silky white hips with artistic perfection, a contrast of terrible power, and terrifying beauty that defied comparison. She drew her legs together as she cast away her pants, hiding that soft tuft of hair that concealed the mysteries of woman. Her breasts were still tightly bound and wrapped, but even so constrained, they were not insignificant to behold. I went to her then.
With careful haste I unfastened the knot holding back her ample bust. As it loosed, she spilled forth from it, a fountain of femininity from which no man could possibly turn. I cast aside her bindings, and revealed her to the stars in full glory, though not for long, as I was soon upon her, my mouth, my hands, my every exposed inch of flesh savoring in the touch of her skin against mine. My hands searched her for the places that gave her greatest fire, and her hands returned the tribute. We were a warming inferno upon a cold winter day, we were unending joy amidst a world of loss and regret, we were two parts made one whole.
Her hands upon my flesh were soon not enough to sate the hunger I carried for her body. I pushed her to her back, and parted her so that I might, in so doing, draw us closer together. The moment of connection was sublime, and every moment thereafter was greater still. I gave into her time and time again, and we lay together in passion until all desire was temporarily sated.
We dressed in the aftermath of our lust, and began our walk back to camp. Malice stumbled as we went, and I held on to her. Our love making had been vigorous, and she had been exhausted before we started. I lifted her into my arms, her weight so light that it seemed almost nonexistent. She resisted but for a second, and then laid her head upon my shoulder and drifted fast to sleep. When we reached camp, I nestled her into the grass carefully, and sat beside her.
I watched the starlight as it shimmered against her clear and pale face. Her lips were turned up in the barest smile as she drifted through her dreams. No nightmares plagued her that night. . . . my Malice, my Laouna, my love.
I patrolled the hilltop, not because I was worried about attack, but because I couldn't force myself to sit still any longer. The woods were not entirely quiet at night, but without the sounds of footfalls, the singing of the birds, and the voices of my companions, the night seemed endlessly silent. The others appeared to be sleeping soundly, so I was careful not to wake them in my pacing. I reminded myself that we would make better time once they were fully recharged and ready to run again. It was unfair of me to ask any more of them than they had already given.
A motion in the valley below caught my eyes and I stopped in my tracks. I had seen various animals throughout the night, so I wasn't entirely surprised, but still I stopped to get a clearer view. The stars were bright overhead, and my strong vision was able to discern a great deal of detail from the minimal amount of light available. Still, it was my ability to track motion that first caught my attention. I was surprised by what I saw.
A human figure, female, attired in what looked like a flowing black dress, was walking through the forest below. She had long hair, and from her slender features, I guessed her to be young. Seeing her amidst the trees sparked a terrible yearning in my heart. She was familiar. Something about her was undeniably familiar. Before I knew what I was doing, I found myself running down the hill towards the fleeting figure. I reached the valley in seconds, and fell in amidst the trees grouped there, searching for the woman that had been far easier to see from atop the hill. I moved in the direction I'd last seen her, carefully, slowly so as not startle or alarm whoever it was.
"Hello?" I called out, thinking I must be close.
I saw the glimmering light trail that my Uliona eyes recognized as movement, the edge of a dress disappearing behind a tree ahead of me. I dashed forward. I restrained myself from using the full speed at my disposal. I didn't want to terrify whoever it was. A young woman alone in the woods at night probably would not be happy to have a man as terrifying as I appear in front of her out of nowhere.
"I mean you no harm. I just want to talk to you." I tried to reassure the other in the woods as I moved forward. The outline of a young women stepped out from the trees even further ahead of where I'd just seen movement before. She stopped and turned to me.
"Milady, if I could have a word. My friends and I have. . ." She turned and stepped back into the trees, and I found myself running forward again. In the woods, where the stars did not shine so brightly, I could not make out any details of her features. Why did she seem so familiar to me? Who was she, and how was she keeping ahead of me so easily? I ran forward, passing between the trees with ease. I was mindful of the distance from camp that I was allowing to form, but I could not make myself turn away from the black dressed girl.
I reached the tree by which she'd been standing, but there was no sign of her. I looked at the ground but could see not so much as a single footprint or snapped twig. How she had passed through the area without leaving any sign at all, was beyond me. In the woods, one simply could not move without leaving something, especially not if one was moving hurriedly. To stay ahead of me, she would have to be running.
I pressed forward, desperately trying to follow someone I could not see, and then she was there again, just ahead of me once more, watching from between two trees. I could reach her in a dozen long strides if I pushed myself, but I stopped, and held my hands up to show that I was unarmed. Of course, my monstrous claws, I realized belatedly, probably looked more fierce than any sword or bow.
"Please, don't run. We can talk from here. I will get no closer. I just want to know who you are, and how you got out here all alone." I pleaded with the girl in the black dress. I didn't know what good that would do, but I was certain it couldn't hurt my cause. She was agile, and moved through the woods as though she were part of them. I might never catch her if she kept running, that was if I didn't use the advantages I had.
She ducked back behind a tree, and this time I did not restrain myself. Desperation clenched at me as I feared that I would never catch up with the elusive girl. I was wrapped in the void of speed, scouring forward through the woods in an instant, slipping through the pounding resistance of the wind with little trouble. I took only the twelve steps necessary to reach the place she had just been, before I stopped myself. She wasn't there. I had arrived less than a second after she'd ducked back behind the tree, but there was no one there. I stood alone amidst the foliage, in the darkness created by the canopy above. A chill ran down my spine.
I felt a pressure on my shoulder and jumped, spinning around. The girl was there, just behind me, with human eyes, only lit with purple light like that which shone from my own. I knew her then, beyond any doubt, I knew that face.
Her hair was pale and long, like her mother's had been, and her skin had that same flawless white purity, almost translucent. She was no longer the little girl she'd been when I'd last seen her. She'd grown and was now something between a girl and a woman, partially filling out her strange black lace dress, but still with the awkward innocence of youth. As I took in all of her features, I was struck by the pain of lost time.
"Kaylien . . ." I lifted a hand and reached out to her. I wanted so desperately to hold my daughter, and there she was.
Her eyes filled with tears, distorting the beautiful purple they held. "I remember. . ." She said, and then she vanished.
It was as though the wind struck her and carried her away. She just distorted with the breeze, and then faded as though she had been a creature of naught but smoke and light. My heart wept agony, and I crumpled to my knees.
"Kay!" I called, crawling to the place where she had stood just a moment before. Nothing. I couldn't feel anything. The air was no warmer there. The ground was untrod. There was no sign that she had ever been there. Was I dreaming? No, I'd had many dreams over the years, and I could tell the difference. I turned in place, looking all around me, searching for some sign that Kay was hidden somewhere nearby, but I saw nothing. She was gone, and every trace that she had ever been was gone with her. I searched the woods, combing back and forth, but she did not appear again.
Broken and with a heavy heart, I began the trek back towards the hill on which we'd made our camp. In that moment where she had stood just beyond my reach, I had felt so very close to her. In a way, I still did. I felt as though she had somehow touched my heart, as if I was still connected to her. I wasn't sure what to make of my experience in the woods, but I could not deny that something had happened. I wondered if I should tell the others, or if they would think that I was losing what was left my mind. Their confidence in me was already fading, I knew. My outbursts and violent behavior were not helping that.
