• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

|\flarrec can handle himself," grunted Gunggari, not for the first time.

Elowen gritted her teeth as she slashed the length of Dymondheart through the form of yet another twigblight that had sidled too close. The creature explosively shattered with the contact. The living wood of her intelligent blade was anathema to the obscene creatures. Dymondheart's mere touch not only robbed them of animation but violently dissembled the creatures into so much kindling. The larger ones were smart enough to stay back, but every few seconds a smaller twigblight forgot the fate of all its earlier siblings and rushed forward. Despite the dozens she had shattered, a whole herd of the constructions followed behind them down the arch-defined lane, keeping pace. Maybe that was what they were supposed to do, merely keep her and the Oslander busy.

Elowen guarded as Gunggari paused and got down on his haunches again, studying the dirt, still on the trail of Fallon, Henri, and Ash. Elowen's training and natural abilities were sufficient to follow the trail without too much trouble, but she had to keep Dymondheart ready. Besides, Gunggari's ability to track verged on the supernatural. He made observations about their quarry that even Elowen at her best could not deduce from simply looking at the disturbed ground.

Gunggari said, "This track is over three hours old." He rose, continuing his swift pace. Elowen followed after, her eyes to the rear, guarding their flank.

She asked, "How did Fallon get so far ahead of us?"

The elf saw Gunggari's shrug out of the corner of her eye. He offered, "Ususi said time was mismatched between the interior and exterior of her pathway dimension. The elf must have exited much earlier than we thought."

Elowen checked to make sure the rustling, creaking, walking grove of dead sticks keeping pace with them moved no closer. Satisfied, she stole a glance forward along their route. The green haze was thicker, further limiting visibility ahead. The stone arches were getting farther apart, more eroded, and less able to keep out the undergrowth. Trees and other forest growth crowded into the lane from either side. Whatever property kept the lane open at the other end seemed to be failing so far into the forest. Elowen had never walked so far under the Arches of Xenosi. She was idly curious about finding the last arch.

Though the mist was thicker ahead, their passage up the lane seemed to have dispersed the haze behind, because she could see at least twice as far along their path in that direction. Still no sign of Marrec.

Elowen bit her lip. She was torn between continuing along after Ash, or going back to see what had become of the other half of their group.

"Gunggari, tell me what you think about this," began Elowen. "Fallon and Ash are three hours ahead. That means that Ash is at least three hours out of our reach, but Marrec and Ususi are only minutes out of our reach I think we can sacrifice a few more minutes out of three hours just to make sure everything's OK with our friends."

Gunggari paused again, wrinkling his brow. Finally he said, "Very well. We can head back, though I have never known Marrec to fail any challenge."

"Challenges have a way of escalating."

"True," responded Gunggari. He turned a full one hundred eighty degrees to face the woody facade of their chaperones. "Perhaps Marrec's spear is not quite so deadly against these evil wood spirits as your elf blade."

Elowen raised one eyebrow. "Elf blades have their uses, after all."

She brought the blade in question up, then swung a wide roundhouse arc, shattering two creatures that had skittered too near into a spray of twigs. The others ceased their forward movement, while those immediately in front of the two travelers tried to backpedal. The monsters further behind failed to stop immediately, pushing yet another twigblight forward to lose its cohesion on Dymondheart's length.

As dead twigs rained down around her, Elowen yelled, "We're going this way." She pointed with the tip of her sword back along their path.