Sharmat's Folly

By Clinton A. Seeber

Trena Treelimb is a beautiful young Redwood Elf living in a time of peace in Wildingwood Forest, but she is about to become a woman, an adult, and that peace shall be disturbed. After Trena meets a strange man, she finds out that the life-giving Elder Tree has been poisoned. The Redwood Elves believe that this strange new bard can be none other than the hero of prophecy known as Slayer who possesses a special thing that they call Evilbane. Thus the elves send Trena and the bard on a quest to destroy the source of the poison, which is the only way to save the Elder Tree and prevent the evil god and enemy of the Creator, wicked Samhain Sharmat, from escaping from his prison. This is Sharmat's Folly, Book One of The Slayer Series!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clinton A. Seeber
• Release date: Jun 12, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310701283

Clinton A. Seeber

I am a mystery. I am an enigma. Currently, I am like unto an evanescent wisp of vapor. What exactly am I? I have not yet become what I shall be. Only time will tell.

Book preview

Sharmat's Folly

Book One of The Slayer Series

by Clinton A. Seeber

The story of the desperate quest of a reluctant bard hero

Published by Clinton A. Seeber at Smashwords

Copyright 2012-2014 by Clinton A. Seeber. All Rights Reserved.

Acknowledgments:

I mention no names in specific, but I give special thanks to those who have ever known me, believed in me and supported me throughout my life, especially those who have encouraged me throughout the creative writing process – you know who you are! I also want to profusely thank everyone who reads the words of this story that took me so long to write, edit and finish. For the pleasure and the magic of a great story is not in the hand that writes it, but rather in the eyes that read it and the hearts that thrill to it.

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Table of Contents:

Chapter One: Trena Treelimb

Chapter Two: Redwood

Chapter Three: Coming of Age

Chapter Four: The Stranger

Chapter Five: Jacob Hope

Chapter Six: The Path Before

Chapter Seven: Getting By With A Little Help

Chapter Eight: Journey to Pine Valley

Chapter Nine: Melek

Chapter Ten: Treading the Needle

Chapter Eleven: Caught in the Noose

Chapter Twelve: Losing Hope

Chapter Thirteen: Divergent Paths

Chapter Fourteen: Creeper

Chapter Fifteen: Bad Times in the Badlands

Chapter Sixteen: The King's Folly

Chapter Seventeen: The Pool of Death

Chapter Eighteen: A Conspiracy Revealed

Chapter Nineteen: A Most Unseemly Proposal

Chapter Twenty: Master of Poisons

Chapter Twenty-One: Getting There

Chapter Twenty-Two: Stonekeep

Chapter Twenty-Three: To Where All Paths Lead

Chapter Twenty-Four: To Purge the Scourge

Chapter Twenty-Five: Grey Dark Heavens

Chapter Twenty-Six: Master's Master

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Sharmane the Darkstar

Chapter One: Trena Treelimb

The sun whose light shined down through the high treetops into the woodland below seemed immense and unfathomable, a dazzling orb of radiant, yet dangerously ominous, brilliance.

Trena Treelimb ran silently through the forest, surefooted and lithe. With her midnight black hair pulled behind her high-rising ears into a ponytail and joy reflecting from her deep river-blue eyes, which were set beneath pencil-thin eyebrows, she ran at a brisk pace with long, soft strides. She was tall, in fact one of the tallest amongst the generally small-statured Tree People of Wildingwood Forest, standing a full sixty-eight inches plus another half-inch. While she was very proud of her tallness, it also felt awkward to be so gangly at times.

The milky-white skinned young woman had her redwood longbow strapped across her back along with a quiver with about a score of arrows in it. The arrows were also fashioned from redwood, with heads fashioned out of smooth, polished stone. Her garb was a light, almost skimpy, armor made entirely out of the pelts of white wolves wrapped around pieces of tree bark resin woven together with light, but almost unbreakable, ropes of string. Her tailor-made suit offered both protection and flexibility while hardly encumbering her at all. Her boots extended to just below her knee level, but the shortness of her breeches allowed a considerable bit of her ample legs to show. Her cuirass extended down to just above her belly button level, and the uppermost parts of her breasts were visible above the top line. Straps of the armor on both sides of her torso extended up to protect her shoulders. Other than that though, it left her arms completely uncovered. Her gauntlets extended only to just past her wrists, and she, of course, wore no kind of helm. Why cover up a face of such rare comeliness? At least that is how most would view it. Although she was a pale woman, she did not appear very white at all with the snow-white wolves’ hide contrasting against her skin.

Her slender frame flowed along seamlessly and flawlessly as she moved through the trees. She would be an absolute dream for any man to behold.

Trena’s long arms allowed for her to be able to get a fuller, longer draw on her bowstring than the vast majority of other Redwood Elves would have been able to. Therefore, many of her brethren were resigned to using shorter bows that could not generate as much force and velocity as her longer bow. She was one of the relatively few of her people blessed enough by genetics and nature to be able to wield a longbow rather than a shortbow. She was a natural dead-eye, and it was the custom of those trained to be hunters and fighters among her people (and that was no small number) to be great archers. But she liked animals and did not hunt a great deal. Also, this youth had so far lived in a time of peace in which her people had seen no war. Her greatest love was pursuits in the field of alchemy. Alchemy is the magic, or science, if you would, of combining herbs, plants and other ingredients and boiling them down into potions that can achieve miraculous, almost unbelievable effects.

She placed the odd purple mushroom she had picked in the satchel around her waist. Ah! Times of peace! But peace would not last. Peace never lasts, does it? At least not while darkness still exists in the world.

Lucky for Trena, she had still one other thing going for her: she was a natural acrobat. She could jump great distances and jump down from seemingly impossible heights, all the while floating down like a feather to no harm. She had learned to combine this ability with the martial arts of hand-to-hand combat, and as such, had no need for dagger, sword or scabbard. Although she had fought only in training, none were ever able to best her in melee combat. She had taken to training against armed opponents and was always able to easily disarm them with nary a scratch on herself.

Trena spotted the red and white fox from a distance as it raced toward her direction. She leaped onto a branch of a nearby oak that was some twelve feet above the ground. As the fox scurried along, she jumped to the ground in front of it, laughing gaily. As the frightened fox spun around and ran in the other direction, she drew her bow after it, except she did not notch an arrow. She continued to laugh as she replaced her bow to its place behind her back.

It would start getting dark soon, and she wanted to be home around the time of the last light of the day. So she changed direction and headed homeward, absolutely in love with the music that the chirping of birds and crickets made to her ears as the sun lowered.

Chapter Two: Redwood

About the time that the last vestiges of light disappeared from the sky, Trena Treelimb stepped into the place that she called home. This was the fabled tree-nation known as Redwood, aptly named because here grew dozens and dozens of towering redwood trees in which her people dwelt that dwarfed any other growing thing in the whole land. This was the only inhabited part of the entire vast Wildingwood Forest. It was one huge community of many thousands. It stood at the center of this large forest that stood at the center of this land known as Talmora as if placed there by the immutable design of some omnipotent creator.

She strode toward the center of town, where the shops were, with long, graceful strides. It was now almost fully dark as she headed for the town’s most renown alchemy shop, a shop run by her friend, Mercy Hearthealer. She passed by a number of other elves that walked to and fro as she neared her destination.

She traveled along this twisting and turning roadway system of reddened earth, starlit and often canopied far overhead by the massive interlocking boughs of the monstrous redwood trees. Almost all of the traveling in this metropolis of trees was done by foot, with no horses in this land and few animal riders of any kind.

Mercy’s shop was located at the lowest level of one of the vast redwood trees. At last she arrived, ducking slightly to gain entrance through the arched doorway with the shop sign and burning oil lamp above it, Trena walked up to Mercy, who was standing about at the moment. Mercy was an older lady of typical Redwood woman height, the top of her head a little below Trena Treelimb’s shoulders.

Mercy’s greenish eyes flashed merrily up at Trena as she came to a stop in front of her. A wide smile crossed Mercy’s face. Her light-grey hair flowed behind her head to about shoulder level. Though her face showed the wrinkles of age, she had not aged badly. She was very old, older than she appeared to be. She was dressed very simply in a hoodless dark-red robe that went all the way down to her ankles. She wore no footwear, standing barefooted.

The shop in which they stood was arranged simply with a large counter a few feet in front of two large shelves stocked with alchemical ingredients and potions placed neatly against the far wall. They were made entirely of the native redwood and had a smooth polish to them. In one corner, near the far wall, was a round redwood table with a basin set on it and all the tools needed for brewing alchemical potions. A doorway led to a separate room where Mercy slept and ate. As always, the smell of fresh ingredients and brewed potions tickled Trena’s nose.

Trena bent forward sharply and hugged the much older woman in her embrace, wrapping her arms around her shoulders, pressing her cheek firmly against Mercy’s. A few seconds later, she stood back up straight.

Well, little one who is not so little, Mercy beamed at her, the time has come. Your coming of age is upon us, and you shall be a woman at last.

She had almost forgotten her own birthday; it was to be her twentieth, which meant that she would have her coming of age ceremony, her passage into adulthood.

You haven’t forgotten, have you? asked Mercy playfully, as if reading her thoughts.

You are far too young to be forgetting such things, my dear. Mercy teased her.

After a short pause, Trena responded in a loving tone, I do not forget. It is just that… well I’ve been keeping my mind preoccupied with that that I love to do, and this coming of age is such a huge thing that it worries me.

Trena had every reason to be nervous, anxious. As a direct member of one of the four reigning noble clan-lines, her official passage into adulthood was to be a major event in Redwood. Though it was to be a time of mirth and celebration, the thought of it brought butterflies to her stomach.

Each of these four noble clans was headed by a matriarch or patriarch. From amongst the four, a chieftain for the entire people of Redwood was chosen, whenever the need to choose a new chieftain arose. The current chieftain was not of Trena’s clan; that honor belonged to Sinpul Wolfrunner, patriarch of his clan. Amongst the elves of Redwood, these matriarchs or patriarchs were referred to as Clan-Mother or Clan-Father, and the chieftain was referred to as the Clan-Khan.

You’ll be just fine, dear. Mercy assured her, You, Trena of Clan Treelimb, are destined for greatness! I have dreamed great dreams of you! You are to be a savior of your people and your land!

But perhaps that was exactly what was making Trena nervous. It was well known amongst the people of Redwood that Mercy was more than just a healer; she was also a dreamer of great dreams whom was apt to have prophetic visions in her dreams.

Trena did not know how to respond to her, so Mercy took her by her right arm and guided her toward the wall that had been behind her. On the wall was one lone tapestry, the only work of art in the round room.

Against a dark-red backdrop was a drawing of a young Redwood Elf woman, that looked exactly like Trena Treelimb, wearing white wolf armor astride an eagle of great size with her right arm raised fully above her head, shouting out a victory cry. Below her were several Redwood Elves cheering, with their arms raised in the air, and the corpses of foes both beast and manlike strewn about them, lying dead. This work of art had been made by an artist several years before Trena was even born at the request of Mercy Hearthealer in response to an inspiring dream that she had of the future of her people.

The time will soon come that you shall lead your people and the land to a great victory. Mercy said in what was almost a whisper.

Trena mused at the artistry. She had, of course, heard in the oral legends handed down through the generations of her people (for they kept few written records) of the great Eagleriders amongst her people. Some great Clan-Khans of distant generations had been Eagleriders, but there had never been more than exactly one score of Eagleriders in existence at any one time in the history of her people. Furthermore, there had not been even a single Eaglerider at all in the past five hundred years. The Eagleriders were believed to be something that was gone and was to be no more by the vast majority of the present Redwood Elves. For it was the rider that was chosen by one of the great eagles of the distant Eagle’s Peak Mountains, not vice versa. When the time was right, when the calling could be felt, then the great eagle that felt the calling would make the long flight to Wildingwood Forest. Despite the great distance between Eagle’s Peak and Wildingwood, it was said that the swift and relentless flight of the great eagle always brought it to Wildingwood by the very next day after the journey had begun.

While Trena did not doubt Mercy, she wondered if this was possible. Would one of the great eagles return to be rode by a denizen of Redwood after so long an absence? She did not know of anyone in all of Redwood that had ever even seen one of these magnificent creatures before.

After trading a few items with Mercy, Trena wished her farewell, then headed out of the doorway into the night.

Chapter Three: Coming of Age

Trena Treelimb stepped out into the night. Autumn filled the night air. Tomorrow would be the twenty-fourth day of the tenth month of the year and her twentieth birthday. Though lanterns hung on iron fasteners outside the entrances and round windows to shops and homes at various levels of the great redwood trees, burning to give light, the full autumn moon would have given her keen eyesight plenty of light to see by anyway. She strode forward several yards.

To Trena’s left, about a hundred yards away, at the exact center of Redwood and Wildingwood Forest, stood one tree of ancient grandeur, taller and greater than all of the rest. It was clearly visible through the long gap of the road that led directly to it. This ancient tree was not used to delve homes or shops into; no one would dare. For this tree was that one known as the Elder Tree. It stood very tall and proud, unmolested in its magnificence and splendor.

The Elder Tree was a tree unlike any other in the forest. It had an almost evanescent silver hue mysteriously wrapped around the basic whiteness of its smooth trunk. At its base, it measured past one hundred-forty feet in circumference. It towered seemingly impossibly tall, being known to stand over one thousand feet tall. Its first branches appeared about one hundred feet above the ground, yet the luminous yellow-gold of its leaves could be discerned even by the moonlight and from this distance. Those leaves never withered and fell dead from the tree, even in autumn or winter.

Around the tree stood a dozen of Trena’s Redwood Elf kindred in a circle. They were dressed in silky robes of a bright yellow-gold color with simple white sashes tied about their waists. Underneath their robes, they wore suits of fur armor which could not be seen. These were the Elder Wardens, the caretakers of and providers for the Elder Tree. At all times, twelve of these Elder Wardens tended to and watched over the Elder Tree.

The Elder Tree itself was said to never stop growing. The oral traditions of her people stated that the Elder Tree was the oldest living thing in all of the land of Talmora. It was the Elder Tree that gave life to all of Wildingwood Forest and all of Talmora. Without the Elder Tree, there could be no life. Therefore, being selected to be an Elder Warden was considered to be the greatest of honors among her people.

Though the Redwood Elves of Wildingwood Forest were considered in many ways to be the most primitive of all the peoples of Talmora, and though they were amongst the smallest statured physically, to them was given the warding and the serving of the Elder Tree. This responsibility made them, in turn, responsible for all life in all of the land. At least that is how they saw it, even if some of the other denizens of Talmora around them didn’t always see it that way.

The Elder Wardens stood stoically in their places like beacons of vigilance and fealty. Their eyes bore a look that seemed to say that the warding of the Elder Tree was the sole purpose of their existence. Trena turned her head forward and passed by into the cool autumn night.

A short time later, Trena arrived at the redwood tree in which her family home was. Through a ground-level doorway she walked unto a tall, spiraling stairway. The entire stairway was carved naturally of the inner-wood of the tree. She ascended upward past several levels of entryways to dwellings and such, each about seven feet higher than the last, until she came to her family home. Above the entryway was a circular crest, about two feet in circumference, carved of the native redwood and trimmed in broided silver-hued lining. Filling about three-quarters of the circle was a carving of a leaved tree limb outlined with the same silver-colored material. This insignia was the family crest of Clan Treelimb.

Trena pushed open the plain, handleless arch-door and walked inside. Tomorrow was to be the biggest day of her life, and she wanted to sleep away the hours and the anxiety as soon as possible.

The next day, there was a large gathering for Trena Treelimb’s birthday/passage-into-adulthood ceremony near the bank of the Land’s Heart River, scant miles west of Redwood. This is that grand river that stretches very nearly the length of the continent of Talmora from a high mountain brook pouring into it near the northern border of the land mass, where a great expanse of tall mountains dominates the region, to the great ocean in the south. Running a length of nearly two thousand miles, this river was the source of all other rivers in the land and the greatest source of water in the land, naturally.

Hundreds of Redwood Elves were gathered in a large glade by the river, cramming it. Nearest the water were Clan-Khan Sinpul Wolfrunner and Trena’s parents, Marisk and Shema, presiding over the ceremony. Trena, the eldest child of Clan-Father Marisk Treelimb, stood nearby. Her tall form was draped in a dark-green robe secured at her collar with a small disk depicting her family emblem. Her mother and father were similarly dressed, while Sinpul Wolfrunner wore the full-bodied fur garb of the Clan-Khan. The silver-grey colored clothing was both regular clothing and armor. His white-grey hair flowed to his shoulders behind his head, and his kind, but stern, dark-blue eyes nearly offset his heavily wrinkled face.

Early on in the ceremony, which began an hour before the time of high sun, the formalities were gotten out of the way. The introductions and announcements were done by Sinpul Wolfrunner and Marisk Treelimb. Afterward came the giving of gifts, then the mingling. There was much conversing and merriment in this place near stately elms and maples to the north, south and east, and the River Land’s Heart to the west. The hours waned into late afternoon as the celebration continued. Harpers harped a joyous tune as the gentle breeze brought the heavenly scent of ever growing wildflowers to their noses.

Soon, an excited yell quickly hushed and stilled the crowd. It came from Trena’s little brother, a lad of seven years named Marlon. The brown-haired, blue-eyed young boy pointed the index finger of his right hand west toward the river; there everyone looked. Swooping down into view over the river and east, toward the gathering, was some grand flying, feathered creature. Although it was still some distance away, it was obvious that it was a very large bird. As the magnificent beast drew ever closer, descending lower and lower, it could be seen that its entire body was white except for its dark-yellow beak and talons. It was an eagle, a very large eagle. Gasps of awe escaped through the lips of those gathered as the eagle ended its eastward descent, landing perhaps five yards from the east side of the river. Those nearest that spot had cleared out of the way.

Trena instinctively drew closer from some twenty yards off, near Marlon. Mercy Hearthealer, who had been standing right next to Trena, whispered to her He has come for you!

Trena continued forward until she was near enough that she could have reached out and touched the bird. This bird was not just an eagle, he was one of the fabled White Eagles of Eagle’s Peak Mountains, which no Redwood Elf had laid eyes upon in centuries; certainly none physically alive today had ever done so.

The yellow orbs of the eagle’s eye sockets were directly on level with Trena’s blue eyes as they two gazed into each other. She could feel the bird communicating with her telepathically. His name was Wind Eye, and he was here for her. He wanted her to come with him, come with him now.

Trena moved behind Wind Eye and leaped onto his back. He let out a joyous and triumphant squawk that pierced the air. He spread out his wings to their full span of twenty-five plus feet, and then he leaped into the air. He turned around, back westward, and carried Trena across the river. The river was also the widest in all the land, more than two miles across. Wind Eye carried her across the deep blue below her in just two or three minutes. They came to the other side of the river, then they went several miles more, near the western edge of the forest. Trena had never left the forest in her life and was now further from her home than she had ever been. Finally, they came to a clearing, a valley, very near the forest’s edge. This small valley was free of the pine trees and sycamore trees that marked the westernmost part of the forest. Trena saw a sight below in the valley which she could scarcely believe.

Chapter Four: The Stranger

Trena saw below a man, human-like in appearance, with dark, bushy hair and wearing very strange clothing, the likes of which she had never before seen. He was surrounded by ten large dark, furry shapes that had pursued him into the narrow valley. They had the appearance of very large and feral wolves. Their fur was blackest black, and red eyes of fire had they. Their humongous fangs and curved claws were a sickly yellow in color, an unhealthy cancerous looking yellow.

The man had descended fully down into the narrow grassy strip, which was no more than about two yards wide. His pursuers had descended the few yards down the slopes, five on each side, until they were nearly upon him down in the valley. The man was stumbling and nearly fell before catching his balance. His left forearm was wounded and heavily bleeding. It was clear that one of the vile creatures had already gotten to him and attacked. The black beasts were growling a lunatic foreboding growl. They were relishing the moment before pouncing upon their prey. This could be heard in their growls and seen in the perverse merriment of their evil red eyes.

SAVE HIM! Trena implored Wind Eye with a gasp of trepidation in her voice.

Without hesitation, Wind Eye began a rapid and furious descent toward this strange, wounded man. Wind Eye let out a grandiose, piercing call as he worked his way downward and forward through the length of the crevice, now perhaps ten yards away from and fifteen yards above the stranger.

The demented wolf-like beasts turned their heads to face Wind Eye’s approach. The sight of this pure and regal eagle filled them with dread and loathing. They let out hideous howls that spoke of torment, derangement and malice. He had turned their attention away from their prey for mere seconds before they realized why he had snared their focus, but it was enough. As they returned to leap upon their prey, Wind Eye easily lifted the man up in his talons as he swooped past the enraged monsters. Massive black forms crashed into each other, tumbling upon each other and unto the ground as Wind Eye lifted him to safety.

She waited until they got back to the other side of the river to tend to the man, trusting Wind Eye to keep him secure in the grip of his talons. When they made it back to the eastern bank of the river, back to where Trena’s birthday celebration had taken place, the sun had begun to set. The glade was empty. Presumably, those in attendance had begun the less than five mile trek back to Redwood to await Trena’s arrival there. But Trena wanted to attend to the wounded stranger now.

Wind Eye placed the man gently on the ground as he landed near the place where Trena had mounted him at. Trena lighted off of Wind Eye, to the right, then moved to examine this man whom they had just saved. He had a ruddy-white complexion, and his eyes were closed now; he appeared to have lost consciousness. A rough visual examination of him confirmed Trena’s earlier impression that his clothing was odd. In fact, they were the strangest garments Trena had ever seen. His footwear was made of some hard, leathery black material and had some kind of small heels at the bottom. The footwear appeared to extend to well past his ankles, but covering the upper parts of this footwear were the leggings of his pants. These pants were made of a durable-looking, yet well-fitting, dark-blue material. In the general area of his crotch was some kind of very odd zipline made of a hard, metal-like material, and above that, there was a small round thing made of a metalish type of material that appeared to be fastened through a small hole cut into the strange fabric of the garment. The lower part of the garment that covered his torso was tucked beneath his lower garment. It was made of a thin black material, and the sleeves of it only went a little past his shoulders. In the center of it was a star-shaped design outlined in yellow, having five points. Above this design was written in red letters the word Slayer. Trena was quite bemused and did not know what to make of this very odd arrayment.

Trena noticed Wind Eye remaining still and waiting. She had no immediate need of him right now. She did not wish to confine him here. She communicated these thoughts to him with her mind, letting him know that he was free to go. He sent back to her the thought that he could never be far from her in a time of great need. Then he opened his beak to teach her the high pitched, piercing call that would always call him to her. After this, he soared away.

Trena now returned her attention to the strange man. She knelt next to his supine body on one knee to inspect him more closely. He was a little dirty, but he appeared to have suffered no other great harm than the gaping wound on his left forearm. She gently stroked his forehead with the palm of her right hand. He stirred, opening his eyes. He blinked a few times and moaned, but then slipped back into his previous state.

Trena gripped his left arm with both hands to inspect the wound. At this time she also noticed that at his right hip was a small scabbard containing a short wooden-hilted blade. Perhaps it was some sort of dagger? Returning her attention to the wound, Trena saw two large claw marks running nearly the entire length of his forearm. They were deep, and the twin wounds seemed to have somekind of inner blackness. This black was corrosive-looking and sickly-looking. Hurriedly, she took the blade the man carried out of its scabbard; it was about six inches long at the metal blade, not including its hilt. She lifted up the bottom of the robe she was wearing and cut a couple of generous sections out of it. She then returned the blade to its place at his hip. She immediately began to use one of the sections she had cut from her cloth robe to wipe away blood from his forearm.

After she finished doing this, she removed vials of healing ointments out of the pouch at her waist. She removed the wooden corks from the small wooden vials and spread the ointments in and about his wounds with her fingers. Lastly, she took the other strip she had cut from her robe in her hands and used the large strip to bandage his arm tightly. By the time she finished doing these things, the sky had begun to grow dark.

Trena then went to pick some of the wild berries that grew on vines all along the river’s bank. These were potent and revitalizing berries of bright-red color known simply as Landheart berries. She picked quite a few of these plenteous berries and fed them to this stranger. She gently pried his mouth open and inserted berries. Then she would use her left hand to gently move his jaw open and shut, causing him to chew, then swallow, the berries. After a little while, he began to show inner signs of consciousness or awareness and began partially chewing and swallowing on his own. Yet she still needed to assist him in this. When she finished feeding him all the berries that she had picked, he seemed on the verge of consciousness, but still he did not open his eyes again. It was now fully dark with the moon overhead.

Now she decided it was time to try to help him to his feet and attempt the less than five mile hike back to Redwood. Nearby, there was a straight, clear trail through the trees all the way to the western border of Redwood. She knelt on both knees near the top of his head. She then hooked her arms underneath his armpits in an effort to bring him to his feet. He had gained enough awareness from somewhere within him to help her in this effort. He was, however, still incapable of doing anything on his own or even of opening his eyes. She flung his uninjured arm around her shoulders, holding him close to her. He was significantly heavier than she, and they seemed to be of comparable height. As he seemed to be of human stock, Trena mused that he might not even be considered tall amongst his own people, but would still be taller than most any elf of Redwood.

Before she could take a step forward, Trena saw one, then two, then three pairs of malignant glowing red eyes staring straight at her and the stranger. With a sudden gasp, she looked around and saw ten pairs of those inhuman eyes hungrily glowering at her and the man she had just saved, from her left, all the way around to her right. She froze into the paralysis of fear. The eyes were perhaps ten to twelve yards away from them. At first, the eyes were all she could see, as the moon and stars were hidden behind thick clouds. She had to squint her eyes and focus in order to make out their thick, coarse black coats of fur against the night sky. She did not know what to do. Though she had her full armor on underneath her now frayed robe, she did not have her bow and arrows. Also, she did not have any way to protect the stranger which she had just worked so hard to save. All hell and evil! How had they gotten across the river!

These beasts began to growl lowly in unison as they slowly began to move toward their prey. A few feet closer now, the growling had grown louder and unmistakable. Then Trena heard a sound through the growling with her acute hearing. It was the sound of arrows strumming, two of them. Two of the evil beasts were struck from behind and began to howl. Now all of them began to share in this howling with all its malice and agony. Two more arrows were loosed. The shafts struck the same two beasts, then they crumpled to the ground. The remaining eight, now forgetting Trena and the stranger, began to run around while howling shrilly in a demented combination of pain, terror, malice, and anger. Arrows began to fly more quickly now, coming in rapid succession, every one striking its moving target. In what could not have been much more than a half-minute of time, every one of the creatures lay dead or dying.

Moments later, as the last of the death howls silenced, Trena saw two people moving across the clearing toward her and the stranger. One figure approached from southeast toward them, and the other from northeast. These two, wearing hooded cloaks, converged, then stopped a few feet in front of her. Their cloaks were dark-brown, and each of them stood some sixty inches tall. The two lowered their hoods in exact timing with each other, revealing identical faces. They were male Redwood Elves with big green eyes and curly, but not long, honey blonde hair and a youthful appearance.

Greetings, sister Trena Treelimb, they began to speak in perfect unison, We are the Rover twins…

Emerald. said the one to the left

And Sapphire. said the other.

We’re the best at what we do. said they, speaking together as before.

They bent their torsos toward the ground together in a formal display of respect. A moment later, they stood erect again. They also did this in perfect unison.

Trena noticed that their cloaks were indeed fastened at the collar by circular redwood insignias, each with the likeness of an arrowhead colored as stone carved into it. This was the insignia of the Rovers, an elite unit of elven scouts from Redwood that specialize in guiding, tracking and archery. The fame of the Rovers was known throughout the land, and their services were in demand through all of Talmora. As such, the duties of the Rovers kept them abroad oftentimes. These mercenary-type scouts were compensated well for their services.

Thank the spirit of the Elder Tree that you were here to help us, else we were as good as dead! Trena thanked the twins.

But how did you know to come aid us?

It was the big eagle! explained Emerald.

Sooth! If we did not know with certainty through our knowledge of land and lore that this was in truth one of the legendary White Eagles, we scarcely would have believed it! continued Sapphire.

Their voices were just a bit high-pitched, but winsome.

It is true. Trena assured them, His name is Wind Eye. Just this day at my birthday ceremony, he chose me as his rider.

Ah! For the first time in five centuries a rider of the eagles has been chosen! This is glorious news indeed! exclaimed Emerald.

Where is he now? Trena asked.

We do not know this. He led us here, then he flew away. explained Sapphire.

Trena was now sure that she had met these brethren of hers at least once before. They now began probing the bodies of the beasts they had slain.

I am in need of escort to help this stranger to Redwood. she said, looking after Emerald and Sapphire, He was earlier attacked by these evil beasts, but Wind Eye saved him.

"These vile creatures are known as the kurgon. said Emerald while inspecting the corpse of one of them, See ye? Even their blood is black!"

Trena then took notice of the black ooze pouring from their corpses.

And their claws are most venomous poison. added Sapphire.

Then we must take him to Mercy Hearthealer. Trena insisted.

Come on, Slayer. Let’s get you out of here.

Trena stood talking