Eth looked over his shoulder. Only an open field stretched
out behind them and he wondered if this woman knew what she was talking about.
It was midday, where could someone hide in the short grasses? But Marcson
seemed to take her seriously, so they sped up their pace and Eth followed. But
he wanted to talk to Marcson alone to see why he had trusted this woman so
quickly. She did seem to command respect. But they didn't know where she came
from. She did know a lot about them. She could've heard it from some god. But
it was almost as if she had been listening to their private conversations and
that made him leery.
The openness of this world was something he was sure he'd
never get used to. The sun was high in the sky. About noon, he would guess. Eth
felt inner pride at his knowledge of the sun and the time. Soon they left the
field and trudged yet again into a thick forest. It was similar to forests he
had already seen. The multicolored huge leaves created the forest canopy. And
Tittles rested like glowing lights on the bottom sides of the leaves. They
occasionally swished down and about them. But as Marcson had explained, they
were sacred. And seeing them in a forest was an honor because of their
connection to the Islands of the north.
As Eth understood that Elderworld was all the same and a
small world. That is, except for the far north which was ethereal and eternal,
and an altogether different sort of place. The only creatures who could
come and go from the Islands of the north were the Trivdels. Trivdels were said
to be more powerful than humans. They were an ancient race which were known for
their incredible artistry, architecture and weaponry. Marcson himself had
obviously never been to the Islands of the far north. But the stories had been
past down for generations. Even some of his fathers old friends had been taken
to the Islands, by the will of Milanius and returned to the mainland. As Eth
understood it, Milanious, although he looked like a common man, had been
present at the creation of Elderworld itself. A participator in the beginning
of time. The group of three walked the thick forest all deep in thought,
it seemed. For no words were spoken between them. The forest grew thicker and
spaces between the trucks became smaller. They could no longer travel
side-by-side. The woman led with Marcson behind her and Ethory brought up the
rear. He looked over his shoulder occasionally, but he couldn't see, hear or
sense anyone watching them.
"Are you a Trivdell?" Ethory asked the woman.
"You said you were sent here..."
She couldn't help but laugh and he wondered if she mocked
him.
"You are a clever one." She said shaking her
head and adjusting her long bow as it was strapped around her. The ornate
wooden handle was wrapped in front of her with the thin rope hugging her pack.
Her leather pack and supplies looked much like Marcsons and Eth felt strange
carrying nothing but the clothes on his back. When Marcson and him had
practiced swords together they had just used sticks. Ethory hoped when they got
to the kingdom to get a sword of his own. When they had hunted they had merely used
Marcsons bow (which was much smaller than the woman's long bow). Finally she
spoke again, "I am half Trivdell."
"Half?" Questioned Marcson. "I've never
heard of such a thing."
"Shows how much you know." Replied the woman
sarcastically. "My name is Sheera and my mother was a Trivdell and my
father was human."
"How did they meet?" Marcson asked.
Ethory thought it a rather impolite thing to ask, but he
waited for Sheera's reply.
"They met in the old days. When humans traveled to
the far north more readily. Before the humans were as corrupt as they are now,
when they were right with the higher powers they could travel to the Islands as
long as a Trivdell accompanied them; on a boat over waters to the two
stars."
As Eth understood it, the Islands looked like two stars from
afar and could be seen on a clear night.
"My father came with a Trivdell friend of his, to the
north, and met my mother on the Islands. Because humans are not allowed to live
in the paradise until death, my father offered to die in the mainland in order
to live with her. But my mother didn't want him to give up all his human
family, friends and life. She didn't think it was right." Sheera looked at
the trees ahead and picked up her pace.
"What happened?" Ethory asked. "I mean,
they obviously got together or you wouldn't be alive."
Sheera glanced at Ethory... "My mother gave up
paradise for my father,” Sheera’s eyes shown with distain. “Baffles me... I
wouldn't have done it. But that is what happened.” Sheera didn’t speak for a
few minutes.
Eth wondered that she scorned her own birth.
“My mother eventually moved to the mainland and gave up
eternal bliss for a man… She lived with my father in Natchare until his death."
"I'm sorry." Said Eth, who knew something about
loosing a parent.
"It wasn’t by your doing. That was more than fifty
years ago." Replied Sheera, turning to grin at him.
Marcson and Eth looked at each other. Sheera looked no
older than twenty. But the Trivdells were eternal beings. Would a half child last
for hundreds of years or would she live forever like her father? It seemed
impertinent to ask.
"How could someone be following us?" Ethory
finally asked.
"Magic." Replied Sheera, "They're invisible
and have soundless magic. But we might meet them yet."
Ethory wanted to laugh, but he was learning quickly that
nothing in this world was like his own.
She had spoken about the human race, and the change. The
fact that all humans were no longer worthy to go to the north made Ethory think
about earth.
Every person he'd met in Elderworld had seemed more
trusting and kind and generous than anyone he'd ever met. He couldn't even
comprehend the purity that the first humans of Elderworld must have possessed.
But if someone invisible and soundless was following them, then shouldn't they
be careful what they said? He cataloged everything they had talked about. They
had definitely talked about where they were going. Ethory wished she had been
more descript from the beginning. He scanned the trees, the upper branches, he
thought he saw unusually movement. Or was it just a strong wind? He decided not
to mention it. Certainly Marcson and Sheera would notice if something was off.
They were natives and people of the land.
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