"You rest," she ordered. Then left the room.
After a few minutes, Gen walked in and sat down beside Duncan on the bed. He held an unlit candle in his hand. "How are you feeling?" Gen asked.
"My head hurts and I just broke that beautiful glass," Duncan replied staring down at the shards.
"Don't worry about the glass. Do you remember what happened last night?"
"I remember I had another spell and I was fighting it off because I didn't want to miss out on the conversation. Then I remember waking up here."
"Yes, you did have another spell as you say. It was a bad one. You are lucky I was there."
"Thank you. I don't deserve this help though. I just wish I knew why I keep having this problem."
"I know why Duncan, and I will tell you later when you feel better. For right now, how about something fun?" Gen asked with a smirk.
"Like what?" Duncan replied.
"Like magic."
"What do you mean? You mean me? I can't do magic."
"Yes you can, once you learn how. Anyone can do it. Now I want you to listen to my words very carefully and remember them." Gen incanted slowly four words and the candle in his hand lit up with a small flame.
"Wow!" Duncan said wide-eyed.
"Now you try it," Gen said and blew out the candle.
"I don’t know. I don't think it will do anything." Duncan stumbled over the words and on his second try he felt a rush flow through him and the candle melted all the way down covering Gen's hand with hot wax.
"Oh my gods. I'm so sorry! I knew I would screw it up." Duncan said chewing on his lip.
"Don't worry about it. You didn't screw it up. You just have too much power. Try it again and concentrate on the logs in the fireplace this time," Gen replied as he peeled the wax from his hand.
"I'll try," Duncan said the words again and the logs burst into flame the first time.
"See. You did fine. I'll teach you more later but for now just lay down and relax."
"What about the glass?" Duncan said looking back at all the glittering shards.
"I'll fix it." Gen incanted softly and the glass instantly pulled itself back together. He picked it up and put it back on the table beside the bed. "Now get some rest and I'll be back after while. Your father left you something.
A few hours passed and Duncan fell back to sleep. He awoke when Gen returned with a large package and a note.
"Here." Gen said and laid the package beside Duncan and handed him the note.
Duncan opened the note and read:
Dear Son,
You are to go with Gen and his friends. They can help you. Come back and see me and your mother when you are better. I left last night. It is easier this way.
The package is for you. Use it well.
Love,
Paul
P.S. I have always loved you like my own son but now its time you knew that you are not mine. We found you on our doorstep when you were but an infant. Please don't hate us for never telling you.
Tears ran down Duncan's cheeks as he folded the note back up and placed it inside his shirt pocket. He then turned to the package beside him. It was big. He untied the twine and unwrapped the leather. More tears came to his eyes when he saw what was inside. It was a beautiful axe. It had a large head made of a silvery metal and a handle that was a bit short. "Dwarven," Gen said when he saw it. "Very nice. We leave in three hours." Then he walked out of the bedroom.
XV
The Forest
The day was gray and the sky poured down with a constant rain that was a bit more than a drizzle. The group, with the exception of Duncan, pulled their hoods down low over their faces to keep them from the moisture. Duncan didn't seem to mind the day at all. They walked down to the stables and acquired the horses Thomas had purchased the previous night. Duncan found that his father had left him one of the horses and had provided him with some provisions as well. Tears once again came to Duncan's eyes. He wasn't ashamed of them and they joined the drizzle that covered his face. After making sure they had everything, they rode slowly out of town towards the forest that covered the area to the east. Silence filled the group till they reached the trees. Thomas pulled his horse back and rode beside Duncan.
"So, friend, tell me. Where do you come from?"
"Would you believe I don't know? Though till this morning, I would have said I came from nowhere, just a small farm a day's ride to the west of here."
"What do you mean?"
"Well in the note Dad left me, it said he wasn't my real father. They found me on their doorstep when I was but an infant. It changes nothing though. I will always think of them as my parents."
"I'm sorry," Thomas said as he found himself at a loss for words.
"Don't worry about it. He also gave me this," Duncan replied pulling the axe out of the pack behind him. He liked the feel of it. It seemed right for him as though the wooden handle had somehow formed to fit his hand perfectly.
"Wow! That is very nice. Dwarven I think.
"That’s what Gen said, I've never met a dwarf but when I do, I shall thank him for his people's talent in making something so beautiful."
"Well then, let's hope we meet one," Thomas said with a smile.
They rode on in silence a few more miles when they came to a narrow part in the trees. A man stood in the middle of the path and there was no way around him. He leaned lightly on his long bow. Gen pulled his horse to a halt, as did the rest of them.
"Hello there," Gen said loudly. "Would you please move so that we may pass?"
The tall man chuckled a bit and replied, "Sure I'll move, but not till you pay the toll."
"Toll? I didn't know there was a toll on this road."
"Oh yes there is. You see, my friends and I, well we have to eat, and eating requires money. So we have a toll."
"How much is this toll?"
"Four silver for each person."
"That is a pretty steep toll. Would you accept food instead?"
"Depends on the kind of food," The tall man said, coyly as he eyed Meeka like a cannibal dying of hunger.
Gen saw the look and decided to pay the man and get on their way. "I'll pay your toll, but I have to ask. Are there other tolls on this path?"
"Not unless we get hungry again before you are through," the tall man said laughing. His laughter was high pitched and got under the skin.
"Fair enough." Gen got down off his horse and took his katana down as well. He slowly walked up to the man favoring his right leg and using the scabbard sword like the walking stick it resembled.
"Got a bum leg?" the tall man asked, his hungry eyes going once again to Meeka.
"Yes. I broke it a couple weeks ago. I still can't put any weight on it."
"That’s a shame." The tall man managed a very fake look of sorrow.
Gen reached for his coin purse and opened it. He removed three gold pieces and handed it to the man. "Will that cover us all?"
The man's eyes glittered at the golden coins in his hands. "Yes that will do fine. Thank you." The tall man put the coins in his pouch and walked into the woods disappearing into the trees.
Gen walked back to his horse and pulled himself up onto the saddle. Then the group continued on down the trail. They rode the rest of they day without incident and when night came they were on the other side of the forest.
"Let's set up here and get some sleep," Gen said dismounting and pulling his pack down as well. The group went about setting up their sleeping pallets and Duncan started a fire using his newfound spell. He grinned a big toothy grin at Thomas after he did it and Thomas clapped him on the back.
"You're catching on fast, my friend. How about coming with me to find more wood? You can try out that new axe of yours."
"Sure," Duncan said, the huge grin still on his face. They walked away back into the woods.
Aaron got his pallet set up, then went right to sleep grumbling the whole time about there not being a bar nearby or a roof over his head. The rest ignored him. Gen and Meeka set up their pallets side by side and lay down as well. Gen put his arm over her and pulled her close. She pushed back against him and fell asleep when he kissed the back of her neck. She was worn out from the day's riding.
Gen found that he could not sleep. He lay awake picturing the man they had met earlier that day. He kept seeing the man's hungry look and he kept seeing Meeka looking ravenously back at him. Then they both turned and laughed at him. He awoke with a start and realized he had been dreaming. Then he noticed that Meeka was lying beside him with her eyes wide open, but she wasn't awake. A look of horror filled her face and she began shaking her head back and forth. He tried to wake her up but she just kept on shaking her head. Finally, she screamed and came to. The scream was bloodcurdling and rang back at them from the forest. It woke Thomas and Duncan who rushed over to see what was wrong. Aaron grunted and went back to sleep.
"I'm fine," Meeka insisted as she became fully awake, "It was just a bad dream, nothing more. I'm sorry if I woke you." She emphasized her claim several times before Thomas and Duncan let her be and went back to their pallets by the fire.
"Tell me about it. Start from the beginning and tell it to me." Gen said with a piercing look at Meeka. His voice held a tone of command that left no room for refusal. She didn’t like the look in his eyes. It made something deep inside her feel funny.
"Alright Gen," she agreed solemnly, "I'll tell you, just give me a moment to recover. It just... It seemed so real."
Gen got up and put on his robes. He was instantly awake. The need for sleep ran away screaming. "I'm still not used to that," he mumbled to himself under his breath. Then he went back and sat in front of Meeka.
She looked up at him with large eyes riddled with fright. "Okay," she said as she drew in a calming breath, "Listen close, Gen. It was the same dream I had the other night. The one I told the Headmaster about. It begins with you and me in a field of flowers. You know, like the one beside your grove?"
He nodded, and she continued, hugging her knees to her chest.
"Well, at first it all seems beautiful. I'm happy, and so are you. You are wearing the blue robes of a teacher and I’m wearing the white of the healer. It's as if it is a vision of our future. I pray that the truth in it ends there, because then everything changes for the worse. An enormous black finger comes out of the clouds above and knocks me down, piercing my heart with its black fingernail. Now when I say black, Gen, I don’t mean like a burnt elf black. I mean it was like the night, completely devoid of color, or somehow all colors are devoured by it. The pain of it searing through me strikes me quick but then fades to nothing, to numbness. I lay there on the ground, looking up at you helplessly. I can't move, I'm paralyzed, Then you, you change. Your robes drain their color and become black, like the finger. Your skin grows very pale white and your cheeks become gaunt. You age. I watch, terrified as you grow older suddenly in front of me, and then you turn away from me. I try and try to scream at you, but I am still unable to move, and you cannot hear me. Wait! I'm still alive! Don't leave me! I love you! But you are deaf to my cries. You turn and walk away and the blackness seems to spread behind you. Then the darkness covers me and all I hear is laughter. Not the joyful kind... it is laughter that chills your soul." She closed her eyes as tears began to run from them.
"I'm afraid, Gen," she whimpered, "I'm afraid that the dream is a vision of things to come." She began to cry and clung to him. He held her close to him and ran his fingers through her dark red hair.
"Don't worry. I love you. I will never turn away from you. I will be yours forever," Gen said and kissed the tears from her face.
"I pray to the good gods every night for that to be true." Meeka said and kissed him softly.
"Go back to sleep," Gen said to her and pushed her back onto her pallet and covered her up with their blankets. "I'll stand watch now and make sure no finger of some dark god shall touch you." He grinned upon saying this last bit. She merely shuddered and looked up at the sky.
XVI
The Crow
The night passed and with the coming of dawn, Gen woke the group. Meeka still looked troubled as she roused. Aaron was once again difficult to wake up. Thomas woke himself before the dawn. Duncan woke fairly easily and was the first that was packed and ready to continue. Gen packed their belongings and was about to mount his horse when he saw a big black bird in the tree above them. It was staring at him. The eyes felt as if they burned through him. Gen mounted the horse and called to it. "Do you want something?" The crow cawed three times then flew over and landed upon the saddle in front of Gen. "Are you here to show us the way?" Gen asked the bird. The crow cocked its head to one side then made a slight nodding motion before flying off down the trail. Gen looked around and laughed at the surprised look on Duncan's face.