The Dark Age Chronicles: The Fall of Night. -
The Broken Nest
Ihloden moved about silentlyin his room. He was half dressed and groping about in the semi-light to replacehis jacket. Dawn was still a fair set of hours away, but he wanted to get anearly start on his hunting. His hands closed on the tough hide of his leathersleeveless jacket. He quickly pushed his arms through the holes andstraightened the rough cloth. The end of it just brushed the top of his trouserwaist. He reached for his unstrung bow and swung the quiver strap around hiswaist and secured it there. He grabbed his shoes and slipped out the front dooron bare feet.
The entire village lay inthe misty blue of the late night. There was a comforting silence about thevillage as if even the houses were asleep. Ihloden walked through the village;the cold air freezing in his lungs. He hadbeen kind of hiding from going out for the past week since his warning from thetree. Every stranger that had passed through Molvn, he looked upon withsuspicion. But after a while the warning had begun to dim in his mind and itseemed as if the tree was wrong. And he had had no chance to ask them anything,for they had suddenly grown silent. He reveled in their silence. He had beenable to lead a fairly normal life for two days. But despite his gladness he wasalso uneasy. It was extremely unusual for the trees to stay quiet for so long.He wondered if he had somehow chased them away. While the thought should havemade him happy, it did not. He found that deep down he missed the soft woodyvoices of the trees and mostly the even deeper whisper of the land itself. Hesighed and shook his head, angry with himself.
He approached the edge ofthe village and turned towards the east and began to head into the Forest ofBehrud. The sky was a little bit lighter and the wind had begun to die down; itwas now only a small breeze kissing his skin lightly. As he approached theforest he could just make out the outline of a small house situated on the edgeof the tree line. He shifted his courseand headed for the house. The grass was soaked in dew and his feet werethoroughly wet by the time he had reached the house and was tapping on the doorwith his bow. The door opened and a woman with broad shoulders stood in thedoorway, her entire bulk filling the frame.
“Ihloden,’ she said in a matter-of-fact voice.
Ihloden grinned, “Nurilah.You have a space in there for me to finish my dressing?” Nurilah grinned backand pulled him inside.
The house was dark and warminside. A fire was roaring in the fireplace. It cast a red glow over everythingand made the entire room seem larger than what it really was. Ihloden lookedaround and sighed in contentment.
“I have to get a house likeyours someday, Nurilah,” he said setting down on a wooden bench, “I would loveto live like this.” Nurilah smiled and poured a hot liquid into a rough cup.
“It’s not easy,” she said,“You have to hunt almost every day and it’s a killer in winter.”
“But you make it alright,”Ihloden protested.
“I’ve lived like this for years,” Nurilahchided gently, “I have adapted to it.”
Ihloden grudgingly noddedand placed his bow on the floor. He proceeded to try and wipe his feet dry,with a small rough cloth he carried.
“Oh, sit near the fire boy,”Nurilah said with a laugh when she saw his antics. He grinned and went andplaced his feet in front of the fire and groaned a bit for the pleasure of theheat on his cold skin.
“So where are you off too?”Nurilah asked as she handed him the cup. Ihloden took a sip,
“Hmm...” he said andswallowed, “this is good.”
Nurilah smiled patiently.Ihloden hurriedly wiped his mouth, “Hunting, maybe a little north this time. Ihaven’t been close to Upper Behrud for a while so I thought that maybe I willtry my luck there.”
“So you will take aboutthree days to reach and replace game and about the same amount of time to comeback. A totally of six days; make it seven for delays,” Nurilah mused. Henodded and took another sip. Nurilah sat thoughtfully at the table.
“A small Star fell northhere a few weeks ago,” she said suddenly. Ihloden jerked up.
“A Star!” he exclaimed.
“Yes, about the size of myforearm,” she stretched out her arm. Ihloden looked at the broad arm allknotted with muscle.
“Small?” he asked with a mischievous grin,“that was one huge Star.”
Nurilah pulled her arm back self-consciouslyand then tapped the back of his head. Ihloden laughed and drained the rest ofhis cup.
“Well I will look out foryour Star. What shall I do if I replace it?”
Nurilah laughed, “Bring itback home of course.”
Ihloden grinned at her then gotup and slipped on his short leggings that reached from his knees to his toesand pulled on his shoes over them. Nurilah had strung his bow and was tighteninghis quiver strap. She handed them to him and held his arms for a moment.
“Be careful,” she saidseriously,” there are rumors of strange things in the forest these days. It isbest to stay away from things that we do not understand...for now. So maybe ifyou replace that Star…well…let your heart lead you as to what to do with it.”
Ihloden felt a certain dreadfall upon him and he nodded back to her, just as seriously. Nurilah suddenlyembraced him in her thick strong arms. The embrace was gentle but it held acertain fear in it. Ihloden wrapped his arms around the tall woman and suddenlyfelt like crying. Then he was out the door and warmth of the fire was shut outfrom him behind the thick wooden door. He pulled his jacket around him and setoff into the woods.
The sky was now a rosy pinkand the wind had stopped. He rain lightly across the field and dove into the forest.The new dawn did not pierce the thick leaves enough to show that the morningwas here. Ihloden breathed in the still air and smells in the darkness and setoff with a happy feeling in him. He always loved it at this time when it wasjust him and the trees alone. He crouched low and allowed his eyes to getadjusted to the nothingness. He gradually began to notice that there was indeeda faint light and massive trunks of the trees stood as dark sentinels in thediminishing gloom. Then he rose and began to move. He slipped through the treesstaying near the trunks, darting across clearings and avoiding where thebrushed thrust their branches outward. There was still complete silence andonly a faint shift in the leaves of the forest floor to show where he hadpassed. He weaved and twisted; stopping every now and then to listen to thesilence for any wayward animal that felt safe in the darkness. But there wasnothing. Then a faint breeze ruffled his hair. He looked up and saw that theleaves were looking greener. ‘The sun is now greeting the Krogas,’ he thoughtand the as if to vindicate his words and the whole forest began to lighten up.Ray upon ray of sunlight shot through the spaces in the canopy and hit thecarpet of leaves below. Then as if on cue the forest burst into song. Ihlodenclosed his eyes and took in the music. He sighed and the within his mind came asoft brush and familiar voices touched his mind again. He opened his eyes andlooked around at the towering statues of trees.
“Took you long,” he said tothem, “where were you?”
“There was much for us to do,”they said, “Proceed to the range that is called Krogas.”
“Why?” he asked. But theyhad fallen silent again. He felt a strange twinge of jealousy that they had hadsomething more important than him to see too. It had never occurred to him thatthere may be like him. He shrugged it off and started through the woods.
The forest was now alive andbathed in light. The sounds of waking animals drove the trees command fromIhloden’s mind as he spotted a pack of deer moving between the trees. He kneltquickly and hooked an arrow in the bow. The deer moved in front of the treesand stopped. They began to nibble on the surrounding bushes. Ihloden grinnedand raised the bow; he covered a tall broad deer with the arrow and pulled backthe string. He focused and set his jaw. The deer raised its head and hisfingers began to loosen. Suddenly there was a bright light in his head. A wallof pain struck him.
“Ahhh!!!” he yelled and thearrow shot forward. He was flung back with the intensity. He could hear thecries of the deer and the sound of their running and he knew that he hadmissed. Yet the pain did not relent, He squirmed on the ground, holding hishead.
“Go the range called Krogas” the trees hissed in his head. Theirvoices were forceful.
“You?” he asked his voice so low that he couldhardly hear it himself. The pain strengthened. He cried out again and rolledonto his stomach and then onto his back. “Okay, I’ll go!” he screamed. Therewas a moment where he thought that they would not let him go. Then the painslowly subsided. He lay there for a while and then got up. The deer were longgone. Hatred filled him up as he saw his arrow hooked up in a bush. Heretrieved it and with a huff he set to get out of the forest.
The sun was hot outside. ButIhloden was so mad that he didn’t notice. He never thought that the trees wouldturn on him like this. ‘That’s what you get for trusting plants,’ he thoughtangrily to himself, ‘You see you are actually happy to hear them for one andthen they throw you on the ground and force you to do what they want.’ The windbrushed up against him.
“It’snot what we want but what the land wants,” the trees whispered. Ihloden ignoredthem.
“Stupid plants,” he said outloud. There was a sensation of hurt for a brief moment and the wind passed on.Ihloden frowned away his guilt and turned Northwest to head toward the Krogas.
After endless hours the talkpeaks of the Krogas loomed in the distance and nearer stood the tall trees ofCloudWood. The sun had long gone past noon and it was now burning his left handside. He looked into the forest and saw the shade. He wanted to go and walkthrough the forest and escape the heat while he made towards the Krogas but hispride held him back. He was extremely cross with himself. He could not make uphis mind if the considered the trees his friends or his enemies. He looked atthem again and stopped walking; he had to make that decision now. It was toomuch to carry the burden of fear in his heart. All his life since he had begunto fear his ability he had been plagued with that one uncertainty. Carefully hecleared his mind and stood facing the trees. The air became heavy and tense. Thebreeze swirled around him but the trees made no noise. And he decided. Hesighed and turned away. The air lifted and he leaned back his head and laughed.He opened up his mind and the trees flooded his mind with their voices. Hegrinned as their woody voices sang and began talking all at once. Suddenly hewas aware of a deeper voice. Not a voice really but a presence old and strong.He realized that the trees had stopped talking and the deep presence rolledinto his mind. Emotions began to flood him. He noticed it as the force that hadheld him in the forest. He felt the intense approval of the Land itself and thewarning that it imbedded in his mind. It then slipped into its usual rumblingin his mind and the trees took over with their usual banter. He continued hiswalk until he entered into the shade of the trees and continued towards theKrogas.
Night fell fast and Ihlodentook refuge under the trees. He set his pack down and gathered brush togetherand took out his flint stones and set them to the brush. As he hit them togetherand the sparks flew out he heard a faint rustle above him. He looked to see thetrees swaying. He shrugged and hit again. The rustle was louder. He looked uponce more.
“What?” he asked.
“Fire?” they asked.
“Yes. So?” he said.
“Fire burns,” they trees whispered. Ihloden sighed and put away thestones.
“Can you keep any wildanimal from eating me?’ he asked.
“Yes,”the trees said in a relived tone.
Ihloden smiled, shook his head and spread outupon the forest floor. A faint tune, slow and soothing began to play in hishead. He smiled wider as he recognized the tune as the one the trees used tosing to him when he was a child to get him to sleep; the song of the creationof the trees.
“You sing about this Cirvanquite a lot,’ he said.
“Cirvanmade the land called Cysia,” the trees said, “Without him, was none of us made.”
“Hmmm…” said Ihloden hiseyesbeginning to feel heavy. “How did Cirvan make Cysia?”
“He spoke the Words of Being and it was,’ the trees said.
“Spoke it?”asked Ihloden through a yawn.
“Yes. And His first races; the Roners and Griffins also spoke thistongue,” the trees replied.
“Roners?” asked Ihlodenagain.
“Yes,” said the trees, “thefirst race of Cysia.”
And with that they began tosing again. The last words that he heard were the trees singing of how Cirvanbegan the building of the race of Roners and then he dropped off to sleep.
Ihloden was up before thesun had flowed into the tress. He once again witnessed the almost magicaltransformation of the forest from night into day. With a regretful eyes hebypassed all the healthy flocks of deer, packs of squirrels and other wideassortments of plentiful game. His thoughts turned to his mother and sister andwondered how they would feel if he turned up home after six days without asingle gain for his absence. His heart began to sink as his thoughts becamemore melancholy. The trees suddenly swished into his thoughts. He jumped.
“What?” he asked more harshly than he meantto.
“You will not return home empty handed,” the trees rustled to him.
“Oh really?” he askedsurprised, “you can get me game?”
“We can’t kill,” the trees replied, “but we can guide.”
Ihloden nodded and smiled.And with a lighter heart the trudged the weary miles. The Krogas seemed a bitcloser. It would take him at least another half day maybe to reach the East Baseof the Central Range of Cysia and then goodness knows how long to replace whateverthe trees had sent him to replace. He sighed and set his mind to his task. Hewasn’t worried about food, he had stored plenty of that, but it was more of themany miles of walking he still had to do. He sighed and set his mind. He couldnot turn back now so he might as well continue.
Ihloden quickened the paceand in a few hours he had covered half the distance to his destination. Hestopped by a small brook to have lunch, rested for a few minutes and then setoff again. The sun was directly overhead when the vast base of the Krogasgreeted his tired eyes from between the trees. Ihloden heaved a relived sighand walked on moving away from the forest till he was right at the base of themighty mountain range. The wind rolled around him and the voices of the trees,facing a little distance away from where he stood, spoke out.
“Krogas! Krogas! The Smallest among the Ranges. Yet in thy halo ofForest lie the Legend to be fulfilled.”
A tremor of excitement ranthrough him but he controlled himself. Ihloden sat on loose rocks near themountain base trying to get his wind back. Just then the trees rustled loudlyas the wind coursed through their branches.
“Hurry,”they said, “the time is almost past.”
With a groan he got to hisfeet and then strangely he felt the great force that always sat at the back ofhis mind push forward with powerful momentum. Suddenly the world had becomehome and the forests were his children. He felt the earth reaching down beneathhim; the depth of it, the richness of it and the feeling of his childrendrawing life and strength from him and even stranger the sensations of themillions of inhabitants in it.
“Go,” the Land intoned.
He dropped his pack and dashed off back intothe trees. The land was no longer unknown to him. He had lived for many yearsand this patch of earth was just another part of him; like his arm or his leg. Thetrees blurred past him. He felt their consciousness touch his, just briefly,urging him on. His breath was controlled and deep as he weaved in and out ofthe thick trunks. Then he began to feel the force pulling back. His own sensebegan to register. He slowed down his stride as fatigue and pain stopped him. Hestopped finally in a clearing, holding his sides and almost crying withexhaustion. He took a deep breath and steadied himself.
“Look,” the trees said. He looked. And before him was a huge pile ofrocks as high as the trees themselves. The rocks were arranged in such a way asto build a cave. He noted the depression in the ground around the rocks. Herealized with a start that these rocks were dropped here. He shuddered to thinkof the size of the creature that could move rocks of that size. He walked towardthe rocks. The cave seemed deserted. Still he moved warily with the air of ahunter as he approached the pile. He slipped around the pile and pressed hisback against the rock. He then slowly dragged himself along the coarse wall ofrock and then very cautiously bent his head so that he could just see into thecave. Inside was dark and warmness extended from it. It was definitelydeserted. He then abandoned his caution and slipped into the cave.
The roof of the cave washigh above his head. Whatever had lived here was very large. He walked to theback of the care, his boots scrapping on dull rock. He scanned the walls of thecave and saw blood smeared on it. He touched the blood. It was dry. He felt alittle sick as he looked toward the back. There seemed to be something in thefar end of the cave. Ihloden put back on his caution and approached stealthily.He took a while before he reached the end of cave, but what he saw was brittlepiece of egg shell. He stooped and picked them up.
“A nest?” he asked and thetrees outside rustled loudly. He looked around and saw another shell; this onewas almost perfectly intact. The top had been neatly raised off and the resthad remained as it was. It was an agate colour and iridescent. Ihloden whistledin awe of its beauty. He reached out, touched it and suddenly it broke intopieces. He leapt back in surprise and stumbled over the other bits of shell. Hehit the rock hard. He snorted and rubbed his rear. Beside him somethingfluttered. He turned quickly to replace that it was a feather; of brown hue but aslong and broad as his forearm. He sighed in disbelief. Nothing could be thatbig. Suddenly the trees hissed.
“Ihloden,get out of there now!”
Ihloden spun around and ran out. There was noplace to hide.
“Up here,” a tree called and he climbed into its branches as fast ashe could. He settled in the tree and waited. A few minutes later two creaturesemerged from the trees and stood in the clearing.
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