“What lives in this place?” Scede queried in a chilling tone.
“Maybe Cahrume forgot to tell us about something,” Jahrra murmured quietly.
All three of them shivered at the thought of some strange creature capturing them and eating them alive, leaving their remains on a pole just like these poor animals.
“Perhaps it-it’s just a war-warning, to stay out of the woods?” stammered Gieaun, gripping Aimhe’s reins tightly.
“Cahrume wouldn’t send us this way if it were dangerous,” Jahrra insisted. “He said it was safe himself.”
“No,” corrected Scede in a morose tone, “he said it was safer than going down Ehnnit Canyon, not safe.”
Jahrra frowned. She didn’t like the look of the path ahead of them. The forest backed right up against the steep hills with only the old road between them.
“I think the best way to go about this situation is to get past these woods as fast as we can. Even the trees look unpleasant,” she finally said, eyeing the forest with suspicion.
So Jahrra, Gieaun and Scede turned their hesitant horses to the left and began traveling along the dusty road as quickly as they dared. The time ticked by slowly, and every now and then a frightened bird or a creaking branch spooked Phrym, Aimhe and Bhun. The horses felt a tense sensation of fear surrounding this place, just as their riders did. Finally, after what seemed like ages, the three friends spotted the lake in the distance, glittering like a welcoming beacon.
“We need to get away from this forest!” Gieaun pleaded, and they continued on without resting or even looking out across the placid lake.
Jahrra had never felt so uneasy before, not even when she entered the Black Swamp for the first time. She had always felt calm around trees, and just a few hours ago she’d learned that she was more connected to them then she had thought. Something about these trees, however, made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She felt as if they were watching her, as if they had invisible eyes that bore into her soul. Phrym shivered, reflecting his master’s mood, and Jahrra clicked him on nervously.
The children trudged on and the forest continued to watch, but it wasn’t the trees that held the three riders in their sight, it was something else. Some wild thing eyed the trio closely, scarcely breathing in case the young ones noticed they were being followed.
The spy had been sent here from far away, sent by another, one capable of great evil. A rumor had been brewing all over the land, a rumor about a prophecy from long ago. The report traveled quietly and slowly, spreading like a sluggish disease, but it had reached the far corners of Ethoes, even into the far northeast where an immeasurable danger lay sleeping. This was why the foreigner was here; to see if there was truth behind this ancient prophecy and all of the rumors surrounding it.
The creature blinked and refocused its attention on the three children it had been following for over an hour. The dark onlooker grinned maliciously as it recognized one child in particular. Not the two Resai, obviously siblings and no doubt of Elvish blood, but the other girl had very few elfin traits, if she had any at all. She was the tallest of the three, with golden hair and grey-blue eyes, yet this wasn’t the first time the creature had gazed upon this particular child. For quite some time now it had stalked her, listening for any clues that might give her away as the chosen one. Yes, the promised one, the creature thought to itself bitterly. That is why I’m here, to find the promised one that so many have begun talking about once again. But could she really be human, the stranger mused, and not Nesnan as that old dragon claims?
Yes, the dragon and the girl had spoken many times and the foreigner had heard them, but that old Korli lizard had never told the girl, or anyone else for that matter, that she was human. But he would keep the truth from her, for her own safety. Its lip twisted in thought. And why would an old dragon be so concerned about a Nesnan child in the first place?
The creature spat, curling its lips in disgust. It hated Nesnans, hated all beings of Elvish descent for that matter. But here it was, thousands upon thousands of miles away from home, following a girl around like a starved flea, waiting for the right time to bite. No, a dragon shouldn’t be concerned with a Nesnan child. Unless . . . unless she was really a human.
Yet, there was still so much doubt. Nesnans had enough human blood in them to deceive anyone who had never seen a true human before, and this particular foreigner had been born after the fall of the Tanaan. The only way to be sure was to wait for the dragon to say something or for the girl herself to claim she was human. Until that moment, the creature would continue to watch from a distance and continue to be silent, waiting until it could make its move. Slowly and quietly, the spy crept back into the silent woods, and as it did so, the horses stopped dead and looked straight into the trees, their chests rumbling with abject alarm.
“What is it?” Scede asked rather frantically, tensing up to match Bhun’s attitude.
“The horses must have smelled or heard something,” Jahrra whispered harshly, her eyes wide with fear. “Let’s just keep moving. The sooner we get away from here the better.”
They urged their horses into a faster pace, and after several nervous minutes, they finally reached the trail that led through the hills and into the Longuinn Valley.
“Oh, finally!” Gieaun breathed, looking truly relieved for the first time the entire day. “C’mon, let’s not stop–”
But she was cut off when she noticed Jahrra staring wide-eyed into the forest. Both Gieaun and Scede followed her gaze and suddenly caught sight of what she had seen. Just beyond the edge of the Cohn Forest there stood a unicorn, a real live unicorn. This rare sight quickly brought Jahrra’s memory rushing back to the day she had found the unicorns in the Wreing Florenn, and she couldn’t help but stare, her body rigid with excitement. This one was just as beautiful as the others and it looked like a mare, coppery red in color. The lovely creature lifted her graceful head and noticed the three riders and their horses standing stark still, gazing at her in mesmerized wonder.
“Wow!” Gieaun whispered breathlessly.
Scede just gawked, not believing what he was seeing.
Jahrra swallowed hard, her thoughts lost among her disbelief. She felt Phrym tense below her, knowing he would want to move towards this other animal, this creature whose blood called out to his. And Jahrra would have let him, despite the fact that approaching the magical animal would mean crossing the macabre barrier that surrounded the Cohn Forest.
Phrym moved to step forward, but every one of his muscles tensed and a bone-chilling fear gripped Jahrra’s stomach as a baleful howling filled the air. The unicorn stiffened only for a moment, then took off deeper into the forest as several horrifying creatures broke through the undergrowth, their evil intent obvious.
The monsters, visions from Jahrra’s worst nightmare, barreled down on the graceful animal and although the unicorn disappeared over a small rise in the land before she could witness its demise, Jahrra had no doubt that the demonic wolves had captured it. A strangled whinny, sounding like a glass chime breaking upon a stone floor, was quickly overshadowed by snarls and growls. Jahrra felt the blood drain from her face.
A few of the beasts, those in the back of the pack, were forced away from the kill. Having nothing better to do, they lifted their heads, scenting the wind, and immediately snapped their attention on Jahrra and her friends. They had no eyes, that was the first thing Jahrra noticed, or at least it seemed so. They were almost as big as the unicorn they had just killed and along their back ran a ridge of protruding bones. Their faces were grotesque; a mixture of skull and rotting skin, and their teeth were like those of a bear.