Authors: Kathryn Fogleman
Keegan jolted awake out of a sound sleep, feeling a buzz of electricity run through him, shaking him. A dark feeling began creeping up his spine. He instinctively grabbed the hilt of his sword. Something dangerous was lurking nearby. He could feel its presence. He sat up silently and tried to adjust his eyes to the darkness. Clouds were in the sky, and they concealed the twin moons and the many stars that normally lit the night sky.
A twig snapped. Keegan jumped to his feet in one swift movement. He stood still and tried to listen for any inkling of movement. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He loosened his sword in its scabbard and gently nudged the still sleeping Saul with his boot. Saul groaned and rolled over then was silent again. Keegan rolled his eyes and kicked Saul in the leg.
Saul groaned and slowly started to sit up. “Keegan, is something wrong?” he asked groggily.
“Shhhhh!” Keegan whispered. Saul seemed to blink the sleep away, and, seeing that Keegan was disturbed, he slowly and quietly began to stand up.
A low, unearthly growl in the darkness caused both men to freeze, Keegan standing and Saul in a half-sitting position. A tall shadow leapt from the darkness and lunged for Keegan with a vicious snarl. Saul rolled out of the way, and Keegan jumped off to the side. The hot twinge of claws breaking skin shot up his left arm as he jumped away. He swung his sword at the shadow as he fell to the ground, landing on his back.
The shadow evaded Keegan’s sword swiftly, crouching to the ground a few feet away with a growl. It glared at Keegan through glowing yellow eyes. Then it stood to full height, as would a man. Keegan gasped as the clouds broke and moonlight poured from the sky, chasing away the shadows of the night and exposing the creature well.
It had a human appearance, with mottled black skin and was wearing only a loincloth. It was at least a head and a half taller than Saul and had long matted hair that trailed down its back and two ivory fangs protruding over its bottom lip. Sharp claws tipped its large fingers, and, as it stared at Keegan through hideous glowing eyes, it flexed the massive muscles that covered strong arms and broad shoulders.
Keegan’s gut began to twist as he realized that this was the creature that had attacked Susun. The beast crouched slightly, curling clawed fingers. It then roared and lunged for Keegan, aiming its claws for his throat and torso. Keegan rolled out of the way and jumped to his feet, swinging his sword at the monster. The sword struck the beast across the ribcage, slicing across thick flesh and opening only a small wound in the large monster. The creature roared in anger and leapt away from Keegan, just as the moonlight disappeared behind the clouds and plunged everything back into darkness.
Keegan rushed for a nearby tree, hearing the heavy footfalls of the beast as it came after him. He ducked behind the tree, preparing to swing his sword for the beast again. His boot suddenly caught in a protruding root of the tree as he shifted his position. His foot twisted, his ankle snapped, and pain jolted up his leg. He cried out in anguish as he fell to his knees, his ankle unable to bear his weight any longer.
Instantly, Saul jumped over Keegan as the monster came around the tree with a vicious snarl. The monster looked somewhat surprised by Saul’s sudden appearance, but it recovered quickly enough to dodge Saul’s sword thrust at its abdomen. It grasped Saul by the shoulders, digging its claws into Saul’s muscles, making the tall man buckle under the intense pain, then it flung Saul aside as if he were but a sack of potatoes.
Keegan heard Saul cry out as he collided with a tree, then he was silent. A familiar, warm glow began to pulse in Keegan’s chest, letting him know that help was coming, giving him strength to add to the power that his rage was now feeding him. He crawled away from the tree, cringing in pain as he moved.
“Come on! Come finish this!” Keegan yelled into the night.
The creature came around the tree and approached Keegan, malice and amusement gleaming in its yellow eyes. The moonlight shone, making it easier for Keegan to see. Blood dripped from the monster’s side where Keegan had cut it, but it seemed not to notice. It let out a quiet snarl, flexing claws and arm muscles, ready for its kill. It stooped and grabbed Keegan by the top of his scalp, staring intently into his eyes.
A strange stone around the monster’s neck began to glow, and Keegan felt a sudden panic sweep over him as all of his memories involuntarily swept through his mind. The monster continued to stare at him; its glare becoming more malicious by the second.
“Son of the dragon,” growled a deep, throaty voice as a memory of Pharrgon passed through Keegan’s mind.
Saul leapt from the shadows and onto the creature’s back with a war cry. He wrapped his arms around the beast’s neck and tried to pull it away from Keegan, throttling it. The creature roared loudly and released Keegan. Then it reached up, grabbed Saul by the head with its claws, and yanked him over its head, slamming him to the ground. It roared at Saul in anger and kicked him harshly in the shoulder. Saul cried out and rolled away, but the creature kicked him in the ribs, drawing a loud crack from Saul’s body and sending him flying several feet through the air. The monster stormed up to Saul again and grabbed Saul by the scalp, pulling the tall man to his feet with ease. It grasped Saul by the throat and slammed him up against a tree then snarled low and long, as if about to sink its long teeth into the man’s face.
With glazed eyes, Saul pulled out a dagger and stabbed it into the creature’s arm. The beast let out a vicious roar and released Saul, staggering back a few feet. It drew the dagger from its arm with a snarl, grasped the gore-covered blade between its forefinger and thumb, and then threw the sharp object at Saul. Saul, barely standing on his feet, gasped and collapsed to the ground, just missing the dagger as it embedded in the tree behind him. He then lay completely still, his body shaking as it struggled for air.
Keegan made it up to a tree and used it as a prop to help himself to his feet. He watched as the monster stood still, staring at Saul’s body in silence. It turned and looked back at Keegan. Its eyes had lost the extreme cruelty that had been in them before, and they looked tired and forlorn for a moment, but as the monster stared at Keegan, the cruelty seemed to come flooding back in greater amounts. The beast roared in extreme hate, and it turned fully, marching for Keegan with a malicious fire lighting its eyes.
Suddenly, a hot wind passed through the trees, and a hiss filled the air as a huge shadow halted over the trees. A pair of enormous golden eyes stared down at the monster, filled with rage. A mighty growl, accompanied by a hiss, vibrated through the air.
The monster stood stock still as it stared up at the shadow in the sky, terrified at what it saw. Its whole body actually began to shake in terror, and it let out a piercing scream just before a huge torrent of bright yellow flames engulfed it, silencing it forever. Keegan shielded his eyes with his hand, cringing as the bright light hurt his eyes and the smell of burning flesh stunned his nose.
Then the fire disappeared, and the area was plunged back into total darkness. “Keeeeegan,” a rich, deep voice whispered in the darkness above the trees. When his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, Keegan noticed Saul’s body lying terribly still on the ground, showing no signs of breathing or life.
“NO! Saul!” Keegan cried out. He took a step forward, pain ripping through his body as he fell to the ground and hit his head.
The last thing he remembered was the call of his name from a familiar voice that was not Pharrgon’s but, instead, that of an old man, “Keegan…”
Chapter 12: All In Time
No thought or feeling passed through Keegan as he lay still in silence. Darkness simply swirled all around him. Slowly, his mind began to come back to life. First, soft sounds were all he heard: the rustle of a breeze through tree branches, the sound of someone’s raspy breathing. Then he began to smell things: rain in the air, smoke from a fire, and fresh grass. Then he began to feel: firm ground beneath him and gradually increasing pain that ran up and down his leg and back.
What had happened? Where was he?
A pain-filled moan from someone made Keegan’s heart stop for a moment, and then all the memories of the night burst upon his mind with ferocity.
His eyes opened, and he shot up into a sitting position. “Saul! Pharrgon!” he jumped and cried out as sharp pain ripped through his right leg, and he clenched his knee as if to stop the flow of pain.
“Gently, Keegan. Gently,” counseled a soft voice said, which was accompanied by the moan of another person. “There now, lad. I know you are in pain, but drink up,” said the voice again, directing the command toward someone other than Keegan.
Keegan looked up and focused his blurry eyes to see a green cloaked and hooded figure leaning over Saul, gently slipping a steady hand under Saul’s head and lifting it carefully, while holding a drinking flask in the other hand. Keegan glanced briefly at his own throbbing leg to find that his pant leg was torn open, his ankle was wrapped tightly, and the wrapping went partway up his leg, which looked swollen. He raised his eyes back up to watch with curiosity as the hooded man tended to Saul.
The man held Saul’s head and gently poured liquid into Saul’s mouth from the flask. Saul took a couple of gulps then moaned again. His face was badly bruised, and his breathing was labored and came in harsh gasps. The hooded man eased Saul’s head back on a pillow of moss, speaking kind words in soothing tones. He reached into a bag on his side and pulled out a wide mouth jar, which he opened to scoop out a handful of salve. He raised Saul’s shirt, and Keegan shuddered to see the grave wounds on Saul’s side: colors of blood red, black, and dark blue tinted Saul’s entire ribcage and abdomen under the skin, which seemed tight and puffy.
The hooded man carefully began to apply the salve to Saul’s ribs, making the tall man writhe and moan in pain. “Try to lie still. I will be finished quickly,” the hooded man said.
Keegan could hardly watch because of the pain Saul suffered, but he could not tear his eyes away. As a compromise, he instead watched the steady, skillful hands of the man tending to Saul. The tip of a silver and white beard occasionally came into view as the man moved to apply the salve to Saul. All the time he worked, he spoke soothingly and reassuringly in a voice that sounded familiar to Keegan.
Once he had finished applying the salve to Saul’s ribs and belly, he moved up to Saul’s head and face. There, he applied it to the bruises on Saul’s face and, after moving some blood dried hair, to the punctures in his scalp and shoulders where the monster had sank in its horrible claws.
Once he had depleted all the salve in his hand, the hooded man pulled a roll of white cloth from the bag on his side and began to wrap Saul’s head. He then carefully raised the moaning Saul up and slipped a knee under the tall man’s shoulder blades, propping him up. Next, he took a soft, rectangular sheet of cloth and placed it over Saul’s chest and began to wrap the roll of white cloth firmly around Saul’s chest and ribs.
When the stranger had finished wrapping Saul up, he gently tucked the end of the cloth in and carefully laid Saul back on the pile of moss. He then stood and turned to Keegan, placing his fists on his side. The hooded figure stared at Keegan for a long moment from the depths of his deep hood before he finally raised a hand and knocked it from his head.
The silver beard framed the pale face of the old man who stared at Keegan. He had intense diamond blue eyes under large silver eyebrows. Thick, streaked hair was pulled back above the ears in a half-ponytail, letting the rest of the long, wavy locks fall behind the old man’s square shoulders.
“Well, I had hoped that we would meet again in more pleasant circumstances, but then I knew trouble would be the thing to bring us together,” the old man said.
Keegan blinked. “Walneff?” he asked.
“Ah, yes, it is I,” answered the old man with a nod of his head, still keeping a stern eye on Keegan. “You certainly take your time to wake up. You most definitely broke your ankle as well as strained the muscles in your leg, and you undoubtedly are slow and clumsy to conquer your enemies. Did we not talk about the importance of claiming level ground when fighting a fierce foe?” Walneff spoke quickly and firmly. “I had expected much better conduct from you when faced with the heat of battle.”
Keegan blinked again, feeling flustered and offended. “What? How can you… well we…” he sputtered, then slapped the ground in frustration. “Perhaps you should try waking up from a sound sleep in the dead of night, with clouds obscuring the moon, and having to fight an 8 foot tall monster before you accuse me of doing badly!” he said with a huff, crossing his arms.
Walneff chuckled sadly and waggled a finger. “Ah, but I have done such. And many times have I had to do it,” he sighed as he hobbled up to Keegan and knelt down to gently examine the wrapped ankle and leg. Keegan squirmed uneasily as Walneff’s fingers probed his ankle, but he settled down as his mind began to formulate questions. He remembered the little healer woman in Temroth.
“Were you the man who sent the healer from Temroth to the house of Jormand?” Keegan asked. Walneff simply nodded his head as he unwrapped Keegan’s leg. “How did you know that we were in need of a healer?” Keegan asked suspiciously.
“The word came to me on a gentle breeze,” Walneff said, pulling the jar of salve out of his pouch once more. “One must learn to listen carefully to hear the words on that breeze, and that breeze will speak only to those who will listen,” he riddled as he gently began to apply the strong smelling salve to Keegan’s leg and ankle.