The Secret of the Sword

Glenowen guided her back to the log and gently sat her down, saying nothing. Nael wasn’t quite so tactful.

“What-” he cut off abruptly as he caught Glenowen’s sharp look.

Glenowen lifted Melina’s bad arm, and felt along the bones. She whimpered in pain and flinched as he reached her shoulder.

“It’s not broken,” he concluded. Melina nodded her agreement. “What happened?”

“I fell off Mist.” Melina looked up at him and saw his eyes widen in surprise. “He shied in the storm, and ran away when I fell. I don’t know where he is.” Even to her own ears she sounded like a lost child. She felt weak and helpless, and she hated herself for it. The princess had always been strong of will and body, and it was always she who assisted others in their weakness, never the other way around. Glenowen tore a wide strip from one of their thinnest blankets and fashioned a sling for her arm. Her pride was hurting as much as her arm, having to admit she fell off her horse, and having him take care of her, but she simply did not have anything left. The will to fight was gone. She sat there dumbly, accepting the plate of food offered, but not eating any. Glenowen and Nael conversed with each other, and sometimes spoke to her, but she said nothing. When they too fell silent, the trees started again.

Worthless. Stupid. Your horse will die out there because you couldn’t stay on. You will never reach Syrelius. You shall wander through this forest forever, and we shall torment you....

“Stop it!” Melina yelled at the top of her voice, jumping to her feet. Both Glenowen and Nael started, and stared at her in astonishment.

“Melina...” Glenowen began, getting to his feet.

She ignored him, and continued to shout to the trees. “Stop it, stop it! Just shut up!”

Glenowen reached her and pulled her into his arms. She struggled to get free but he held her tightly, in spite of her injury. She cried out in pain, and stopped struggling, but did not relax. He didn’t release his grip.

“What is going on, Melina?” he asked firmly, his voice holding all the authority of a father.

She twisted to look at him. “Can’t you hear them?”

His gaze flicked to Nael, then back to her. “Hear what?” he asked more gently.

“The trees. They keep telling me things. Bad things,” she explained.

Nael stood and approached them. “I can feel the trees judging us,” he said unexpectedly. “They don’t want us here. But I can’t hear them saying anything.”

“What do they say?” Glenowen asked, still holding her.

She looked into his worried green eyes and hesitated. Was she going crazy? They obviously couldn’t hear the voices. She fought off panic. What was she becoming?

The men were still waiting for her answer. She licked her lips and told them some of the things she had heard. “Why can’t you hear it?” she finished, hoping desperately for an explanation that didn’t involve her being insane.

“I’ve read about this,” Nael replied. “The forest is enchanted, and the trees are able to implant thoughts in someone’s mind in order to manipulate them. I don’t know what their agenda is here, but we had better keep moving, and if anyone hears anything or starts thinking anything, say something immediately. If you vocalise the thoughts, they won’t have as much impact.”

Glenowen didn’t move, his arms still tightly around Melina. “But how come none of us heard anything last time we came through here?”

Nael thought for a minute. “I think it’s because we were fighting the goblins, and the goblins are also the enemies of the forest. They cut down trees and trample the earth carelessly. I think the trees must have recognised us as allies then, but now for some reason they’ve forgotten who we are. We need to keep moving, and get to the other side of this forest as soon as possible. There’s no telling what the trees might do next.”

As though they were listening, a great rustling of leaves was heard, although they couldn’t feel any breeze. They all looked up, not certain of what they expected to see, but they saw nothing except the darkened forest ceiling, and the dim patch of sky beyond. Nael moved first, hastily grabbing their belongings, including Melina’s plate of food that had fallen to the ground when she had leaped to her feet. Glenowen finally released Melina, and picked up his pack. He handed her a blanket.

“Wrap this around yourself.”

She took it and did as he said. “Thank you,” she said softly, referring to more than just the blanket. He caught her eye and smiled gently before moving to untie his horse.

Mirage was a much larger horse than Nabatu, so Melina climbed up behind Glenowen. They could not gallop through the forest, but they alternated between a trot and a fast walk, always heading towards the Dark Mountains.

Once Melina heard Glenowen say under his breath, “Dear Erius, help us.”

Nael apparently heard it too, for he demanded sharply, “What did you hear?”

Glenowen just shook his head, his mouth set in a grim line.

Nael pushed. “You have to tell us. What did they say?”

“They said....” Glenowen paused, sounding more unsure than Melina had ever heard him before. “They said I would never find what I’m looking for.” The last few words trailed off, and Melina, sitting right behind him, only just caught them.

Nael continued speaking firmly. “They can’t know what is going to happen in the future, Glenowen. You know that. No one can know. And as long as no one knows, there is always hope that you WILL find it.”

Glenowen did not answer.

“Do you hear me?” Nael had taken on an authority role in a way Melina had never seen him do. This forest, this journey, was changing all of them. When, if...no, WHEN, she told herself. When they returned, no one who had previously known them would recognise them.

“I hear you,” Glenowen finally responded with an effort.

They continued in silence for a while. Incredibly, Melina hadn’t heard anything since her outburst. She did not know why, but she was thankful for the relief. She started to relax for the first time since being awoken that morning, which now seemed to be years ago, and rested her head on Glenowen’s shoulder.

They rode through the darkness for a while. Melina couldn’t really tell how long it was. In the dark there were no indicators of time except the moon, and they couldn’t see the moon through the cover of trees. She was tired, and her mind was drifting aimlessly, when she heard a sound. At first she thought it was the whispering, and her body tensed in preparation for the mental blows. But the sound did not form words. It was more like a gasping breath. She lifted her head and listened. It was ragged breathing, coming from one of the horses.
As if in answer to her question, Nael’s voice floated through the dark. “I think Nabatu’s pulled a muscle. I’m going to stop.”

Glenowen also pulled on Mirage’s reins and brought the large stallion to a halt. Melina slid down first and carefully walked to where she could faintly see the shadow of Nael and Nabatu.
“What happened?” she asked.

She heard Nael’s voice, even though she could not make out his face. “I think he stumbled in a hole or a ditch. It’s not good to be moving them in the dark.”

“But we had no choice,” she reminded him.

“I know,” he agreed. “But we need to stop. I don’t want Nabatu to do anymore damage to himself.”

They unloaded blankets, food and water, but decided against building a fire. They couldn’t afford to anger the trees further.

“Glenowen,” Nael said. “Can we use your Spheritar for light? I want to check Nabatu’s legs.”

Glenowen pulled out the stone, and the area was instantly illuminated with the ghostly white light. Nael and Glenowen’s faces looked pale, although Glenowen’s face also had the drawn look of someone who was going through an internal struggle.

While Nael inspected his horse, Glenowen and Melina sat on the ground, and drank some water. Melina still didn’t feel like eating, but the water felt good going down her throat. She briefly wondered if the whispering could affect animals. She hoped Mist wasn’t wandering around in the forest, being tormented into insanity by the cruel trees. She pushed the thought out of her mind, and took another swig from the waterskin.

Nael gave Nabatu a final pat, and came and sat on the ground next to Melina. “It’s not very bad, but we should probably let him rest for a few hours before we go on.”

“Well-” Glenowen began, but stopped abruptly. He looked around the clearing, a concerned expression on his face. The Spheritar disappeared back into Glenowen’s pocket.

“What is it?” Melina asked in a hushed tone.

Glenowen was silent a few moments longer. “I thought I heard something,” he said eventually.

Nael and Melina also peered into the darkness, trying to see anything that might be lurking out there. After several minutes, Nael said hopefully, “It was probably just a rabbit. There’s nothing out there.”

Melina began to relax, but in that instant, shadowy figures silently appeared in a tight circle surrounding the travellers. In shock, Melina gazed down the shaft of a long arrow and saw that it was being held by an elf, his pale face appearing ghostly in the light held aloft by another elf. The watery white light was coming from a compact lantern of ornate design.

For a long moment no one spoke. Then one of the elves articulated one word: “Stand.”

Melina, Nael and Glenowen cautiously stood to their feet.

“Walk.”

They were herded into the gloom at arrow-point by the tall and graceful creatures. They walked without speaking, and without light, as the light held up earlier was now covered. The moon had set and the darkness was almost complete. Melina tried to force her eyes to adjust, and held out her hands in front of her to prevent herself from running into anything or anyone. Presumably the elves’ night vision was good, but hers was not. Gradually she was able to make out shadows, but her eyes began to ache from straining to see. The three prisoners stayed close to each other, regularly brushing against each other as the darkness threw one of them off balance. They walked for what seemed like an age before the tall elf leading the way spoke once again. “Halt.”

The company stopped, and stood still in the inky blackness. Being unable to see anything gave the illusion of floating, and Melina had to focus on staying upright. The leading elf continued walking and was swallowed up by the gloom. The rest of the party waited, never speaking, never moving.

At one point, Glenowen spoke. “What do you want with us? We are not - “ he cut off abruptly.

“Silence,” a whispered voice commanded almost inaudibly.

They waited.

Melina’s throat became dry, and she attempted to swallow. It was a cold night, and the chill was seeping into her bones, making her muscles become stiff. Eventually she was unsure if she would ever be able to move again, or if she would ever be able to see again.

Then she thought she saw a pinpoint of light far in front of them. Thinking her eyes were playing tricks on her, she shut her eyes tight for several seconds, then opened them. The point of light was still there.

“Do you see it?” She whispered to the others.

“See what?” Nael responded.

“The light, in front of us.”

Silence, then, “yes. What is it?”

Melina opened her mouth to say she didn’t know when an arrowpoint pressed firmly into her back, threatening silence. Nael did not ask again, so presumably he received the same treatment. She kept her eyes on the tiny white dot. Was it getting larger? She couldn’t tell. Just as she was making up her mind that yes, the light was growing, the leader of their group was holding a lantern identical to the one Melina had seen before. Behind him, two tall elven warriors stepped into the clearing, flanking a lady elf. She was slender and long-limbed, with long dark hair contrasting with her pale skin and eyes. Her flowing gown was shades of green and grey, causing her body to blend into their surrounds. The two men with Melina both caught their breath, and Melina would have rolled her eyes if she had not also been in awe of the elegant being with poise like that of royalty.

“Who are you?” the woman asked, her voice soft, but rich and clear.

Melina replied, “We are travellers, and we wish to cross the Dark Mountains. We don’t mean to cause trouble, and we didn’t realise we were trespassing. If you will please let us continue on our way, we will not disturb you any longer.”

The elven lady raised a slender eyebrow. “You wish to cross the Dark Mountains. There are few that cross who return, and there are fewer still whose motives are pure.”

“Believe it or not, our motives are pure,” Melina replied. “And we are well aware of the risks.”

The elf looked the travellers up and down for a long moment. “I do not believe you. You will be our prisoners.”

Melina opened her mouth to protest, felt a small prick on her arm, and the elves faded from sight.