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Chapter 7

 

The next day, they set off on their long journey. The sun was shining, the skies were clear and the birds were singing cheerfully. But the four travellers were far from cheerful. Rebecca seemed distant – which according to Mary had never happened before – Samuel was moody, grumbling about anything that annoyed him, and Mary was quiet, which was unusual for her. As for Alex, she just walked ahead of them, deep in thought. Since none of them knew her that well, they figured that they would just leave her alone. For the most part, the journey was uneventful – the dragons kept to the mountains, so there was no threat from them.

 

Night came, and the travellers settled down for the night. Samuel was surprised at how easily Rebecca adapted to camping outdoors – he thought that because she was a princess that she would’ve been picky about sleeping on the hard ground. Well, apparently he was wrong. Rebecca disappeared into her tent, and came back out a few minutes later dressed in a brown tunic, matching breeches and boots. Her hair was tied back with a piece of leather and her sword was strapped to her back. She sat down next to the fire, and stared into the flames, deep in thought. She didn’t even notice when Samuel and Mary were looking at her, a worried look on each of their faces. Nor did she see the look of panic that they each had when she reached out and put her left hand into the flames, and pulled it out again, closed around something. She opened her hand, showing that she was holding a flame in it.

 

“It doesn’t hurt,” she said quietly. “I can only feel its warmth seeping into my blood…”

 

She was silent for the rest of the night.

 

                                                                        ~~~~~~~~~

 

The next few days were hell. It started to rain heavily, and they were all soaked to the bone and freezing cold. That, and they had reached the denser parts of the forest, and to say that it was dark would be putting it mildly. They could barely see anything, and it was only because Alex had brought torches that they did not get lost – too often.

 

It was on the fifth day of their journey through the forest that Alex realised that they were being followed.

 

                                                                        ~~~~~~~~~~~

 

She was little more than a shadow to the people that she was following. None of them even suspected that she had been following them for two days – though she meant them no harm, she was just a little curious about them. They were settling in for the night now, and the beautiful human girl with the brown hair was sitting and staring into the flames.

 

“These humans are more interesting than most of the Fleshies that pass through these woods.”  

 

She was, in fact, a Forest Spirit. She was young, by her peoples’ standards, being only around 600 years of age. To Humans, Elves and other ‘fleshy’ creatures, she looked like a slender young woman with dark brown eyes and black hair, wearing a dress made of deerskin. Her true form was known only to her and he kind, and could never be revealed to a Fleshy. Being a Forest Spirit meant that she could disappear into the foliage, and no normal mortal could detect her presence. Well, magic-users with enough training could, but there had been no magic users on Trivadia for centuries. The Great War had wiped them all out.

 

She continued watching, and it was then that she realized that the human with the red hair could see her.

 

                                                                        ~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Alex seemed to be taking a great interest in a large Silverwood Tree. Samuel and Mary glanced at each other, shrugged and figured that she might just be interested in large trees. As usual, Rebecca sat and stared into the fire, deep in thought. That was until she lifted her head and looked at the same tree that Alex seemed to be interested in.

 

“There’s something there,” she said. “I can’t see it very clearly, but it’s definitely there.”

 

“Yes,” Alex said. “A Forest Spirit. I doubt that it means to do us harm, but it has been following us for the past two days.”

 

“We don’t see anything,” Mary said, staring into the woods.

 

“No, of course not,” Alex said. “You are normal. Rebecca is a sorceress and I’m an Avatar. We have the innate ability to see concealed spirits.”

 

The siblings looked at each other. They both shrugged and headed for their tents.

 

“Well, if the spirit decides to show itself, call us so that we can see it for ourselves, OK?” Samuel said, a light note of sarcasm in his tone. They went into their tents, leaving Rebecca and Alex alone outside. Rebecca sighed and continued to look into the fire, as if in trance. Alex got continued looking at the Silverwood, as if she were going to will the spirit to show itself.

 

                                                                        ~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The Forest Spirit caught her breath. “An Avatar, and a Sorceress?” she thought. “Such beings haven’t been seen in this world for centuries!”

 

She ran off to find her Tribe and tell them about this turn of events. They were going to want to know about this, she knew, and she was going to be the one to tell her. Stardust smiled to herself, she was finally going to do something worthwhile.

 

Now maybe they would let her know just what they talked about in those Tribal Meetings that she could never get into.

 

                                                                        ~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The next morning, the sun was shining and the birds were singing again. The fact that it wasn’t even dawn yet didn’t seem to bother them, either.

 

“Why are those birds singing? It’s not even dawn yet!!” Samuel yelled as he barged out of his tent. “WOULD YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP?!”

 

Amazingly the birds went silent – for about three seconds. Then they started singing again, louder than before.

 

“Maybe you should put some clothes on,” Alex said, smiling slightly. “You wouldn’t want Rebecca to see you like that, would you?” Samuel went red and rushed back inside. He came back out again, dressed this time.

 

“You’re up early,” he said. Alex shrugged.

 

“I don’t need to sleep,” she said. “Being a powerful Avatar has its advantages.”

 

Samuel grunted and went back into his tent to fetch the flint so that he could start the morning fire. He tried about 5 times before giving up – the wood was dampened by dew and refused to ignite.

 

“Damn it,” he said quietly.

 

Just then the kindling burst into flames, startling him. “Whoa!”

 

He heard somebody chuckle behind him, and turned to look at a grinning Rebecca. “You seemed to be having trouble lighting the fire,” she said, smiling. “So I thought that I’d help you out.”

 

Alex stood up and went over to Rebecca. “She hasn’t even begun to study any really powerful spells, and already she knows how to command fire!” she said. “I must say that I am impressed.”

 

Rebecca shrugged. “I actually studied a little bit of elemental magic,” she said. “Just none of the truly powerful spells. Only the simple ones like the fire spell I just cast on the kindling.”

 

Alex nodded. “I can see that,” she said. “And that Forest Spirit is gone. It disappeared soon after Samuel and Mary went to bed.”

 

Rebecca nodded. “I know,” she said. “Should we be worried?”

 

“No. Forest Spirit’s are rarely dangerous, just curious about people passing through the forests that they inhabit.”

 

“All right,” Rebecca said, smiling. “I wonder why the birds were up so early, though?”

 

“Oh, those weren’t the birds singing,” Alex said, looking around at the forest. “Those were the Forest Spirits. I think they might be a little curious about you and I.”

 

Rebecca looked at her blankly for a moment, before she realised what she meant. “You mean…our powers?” she asked. Alex nodded.

 

“That is exactly what I mean. There have been no magic users on this world for centuries, and now you are here. That would be of great interest to the Forest Spirits.”

 

Samuel sighed. “I’ll believe in these Forest Spirits when I see one,” he said. “Where’s Mary?”

 

He went into her tent, and came out moments later.

 

“Mary’s gone!”