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Chapter 10The light came from nowhere and from everywhere at once. The figure before me was a young man slightly taller then myself. He was wearing a dark cloak over a deep green tunic. His soft leather boots came midway up his legs, which were covered in dark brown pants. He had black straight hair like mine, which fell to his shoulders. His eyes were green and almost glowed with the light. He looked a little younger then I did.His features were startlingly familiar but that was not what gave him away. The spell he used to light the clearing did. It had a distinct evilness to it. I was looking at the very person who had been trying to find me! I almost fainted with fear. He had caught me!! I had failed Illiquith, and I had failed myself. Danny, unaware of this fact, was looking between the young man and me. Amazed at what he saw, he exclaimed, “You two look like twins!” The young man gave him a half smile and said, “No not twins, but we are of the same blood.” Finally I understood why he looked so familiar; he looked like me. That explained that odd feeling of familiarity that I kept feeling. He was family and there are magical bonds between family. I stood there speechless as he said with a bow, “I am Diranth. And you would be my sister.” Danny was stunned “You’re her brother? That’s great!” Diranth gave him an irritated glance. Turning to me he said, “I have been searching for you for some time now. You were difficult to find. Our mother will be very pleased to see you returned to her.” Danny gasped as finally he saw the connection between my follower and my brother. He reached to his side for his dagger, only to remember that the guards back in the town had taken it away. He was prepared to throw himself against my brother unarmed. I placed my hand on his arm and he reluctantly let Diranth be. “We should camp here for the night.” said Diranth after the initial introductions were made. It was more of a command then a suggestion. We set about making camp. This wasn’t a major task seeing as the only one of us with any supplies was Diranth. He handed us his cloak and a blanket and told us to sleep. I felt uneasy with Diranth taking the watch. I’m sure Danny felt the same way, but we were in no shape to argue. We hadn’t eaten a decent meal in days and we were weak from our escape. That night I was tormented by horrible dreams. In one I was falling from a sky full of black clouds into fire below. As I fell, I passed Illiquith and called out to him to save me. He told me I had failed him and let me fall. I watched as he drifted away from me and saw the flames coming nearer. They burned my flesh. In another dream I could hear Danny screaming in pain, but I couldn’t find him to save him. His screams just kept coming and coming. I woke to a hand gently shaking me. I was shivering with fear and the cold sweat that covered my body. There was a figure beside me but it was too dark to make out his face. I hoped it was Danny. “Andrea, hush, you’re safe. Everything is ok now.” It was Diranth; my heart sank. He continued, “You were calling out in your sleep.” I wondered what I had been saying in my sleep and how much of it Diranth heard. “Do you want me to take the next watch?” I asked him through a yawn. “No, it’s alright. You should sleep. You need your rest.” I was about to argue that he needed rest too, but he left my side. I looked over to where Danny lay and could just make out his shape in the darkness. The sound of his breathing lulled me back to sleep. If I dreamed afterwards I never remembered them. When I next woke the sun was already bright in the sky. The light made everything look bright and happy, but I had a feeling it was just a mask. I did not feel bright and happy. Memories of the day before brought down my mood. Danny had already been up for a while it seemed. My brother was nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Diranth?” I asked him. “He left to hunt. He woke me to look over you while he was gone.” He glanced into the shadows outside of the clearing, and then moved closer to me. “I don’t trust him,” he told me in a low voice. “I know,” I replied not looking at him. “He uses evil magic.” Danny shook his head. “It’s not just that.” He told me. “There’s something about him. I can’t lay my finger on it but I don’t like it.” When he did finally come back an hour and a half or so later he had a buck over his shoulder. Danny offered to help clean and prepare the animal. Diranth looked annoyed but took up the offer. It was apparent that he wasn’t used to having assistance and that he liked to do things his way by the tone his voice took when Danny did something a different way then he wanted. Danny, who actually had little idea of what he was doing, took the instructions to heart and caught on quickly. I could tell he didn’t enjoy the tone of voice Diranth used but he suffered through it. Finally the meat was ready for the fire, which I easily built while they worked. Soon the meat was roasting beautifully over the fire. Danny and I were practically drooling over the succulent odor. Our stomachs - which hadn’t had any edible food in quite sometime - rumbled loudly in the anticipation of food. The meat was delicious, but then again we were so hungry that the meat could have been very undercooked and we would have claimed it to be the best we’ve ever eaten. As I ate I could feel my strength returning. It was a wonderful feeling after being so weak. “You cannot return to that town,” Diranth was saying after we finished our meal. The rest of the meat was being smoked over the fire so that it would keep for longer. “But, as you have nowhere else to go, would you care to journey with me to meet with our mother?” Though his question seemed perfectly reasonable, I could sense some hidden intent behind it that he was not telling. I could see it in his eyes. Though I was suspicious of the reason, I was curious at the same time. As well, I wanted to meet my mother and learn more about where I come from. Perhaps Diranth could tell me my history on the way there. I thought about Illiquith’s warning not to let my follower get me. I know my brother was using magic in an evil way, but he seemed to be a noble man. Why did Illiquith fear him so? Did he know he was my brother? Diranth was looking at me, waiting for my answer. What choice do I have? I thought to myself. He had some dark purpose in mind and I knew it. He was stronger then me, in magic as well as physical strength. I doubted he would think twice to use his strength if I didn’t fall in with his plans. Better to go along with it and avoid harm until I could ascertain his scheme and prepare myself against it. I gave Diranth a cheerful smile. “Of course I’ll journey with you. I have waited long to see my, I mean our, mother.” Danny cast me a questioning look as if to say ‘do you trust him?’ My returning look told him to follow my lead. “And you good sir,” Diranth continued not noticing our silent conversation, “Will you join us?” The tone he used to ask this question suggested that it made no difference to him what the answer was. “I go where Andrea goes.” was Danny’s answer. I was glad; I didn’t think I’d be able to face my brother alone. Diranth smiled. “Then you well need supplies for the journey. There are many more dangerous things on this mountain then a town full of religious psychotics. For your safety I well go back to the town and get what is needed.” I was grateful for Diranth’s concern for our safety, as I never wanted to see that town again, but I knew it wasn’t exactly genuine. He left us to ourselves, promising he’d be back in an hour or two. During that time I led Danny through the trees to a mountain stream that ran nearby. The trees we passed by were not like the trees in the forest in Renklan. Those trees there were tall and formed a leafy canopy high overhead. These trees were tall and well but their branches stuck out at all heights and were covered in needles. No leaves grew on these trees. The bark was thick and cracked and in some places oozing with sap, unlike the smooth and unbroken bark of the trees I knew. The trees grew close together and presented very little walking room. The needles jabbed at us until I had a brilliant idea. A bit of magic caused the branches to part before us and close behind. It was still a narrow path, but at least we weren’t being stabbed to death. I was still getting used to using my magic again and loved it. We bathed in the frigid water. Two week’s worth of dirt took awhile to wash away, but finally we were presentable again. We washed away a horrible smell that we didn’t notice we even had until it was gone. Clean once more, we headed back to the clearing to await Diranth’s return. “Do you think those towns’ people would have let us live if we hadn’t been so dirty and smelly?” asked Danny on the way back. Both of us were shivering slightly from the cold water. “Most likely,” I answered with a little laugh. “I think even the people from Renklan would have thought we were evil. They would have burned us to get rid of the smell though.” We laughed together. “Why are we going with your brother? I don’t trust him.” “We can’t. You see, we have no supplies, no food, and no protection. If we ran off right now I don’t think we’d be able to survive. Also we don’t know how to get where we’re going, do we?” “Well…ummm… no, we don’t.” “So the only thing we can do is go with him. He’ll give us food, and protect us; at least as long as we go freely. If we don’t, do you really think he’ll let me get away? You said yourself there is something about him; I think it’s that he must have me go with him for some reason.” But my thoughts weren’t as cheerful. If we had been clean, maybe they wouldn’t have tried to kill us, maybe I wouldn’t have had to use my magic and maybe Diranth would never have caught up with us. I shook these thoughts off and reminded myself that what was done was done, and I couldn’t change it. At least I got to meet my brother, I told myself. But now that I had all I wanted to do was leave. Now would have been a perfect time to leave as Diranth wasn’t around. I knew how pointless that would be. We had no food and no idea how to get where we wanted to go. There was also the fact that we were unarmed. Diranth was right; there would be more dangerous things on the mountain then that town. We had to stick with Diranth. He had supplies, weapons and he knew where he was headed. He also had that purpose in mind and I doubt he would have allowed us to be away for long. He needs me for something and he can’t do it without me. I wondered what it was, but had no idea what intentions an evil person might have. Lost in thought, I found that we had arrived back at the cleaning again. Danny had noticed that I was wrapped up in my thoughts and didn’t disturb me from them.
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