Through Flame

Part 7

            Faveenia followed the path carved by the Nefelyn through the forest of Ralquar; it wasn’t difficult, the swath that they cut practically left a road behind them. Faveenia’s stag, Liss, ran down the center of the path, Faveenia could stretch out both her arms and there would still be space between the tips of her fingers and where the trees lined the Nefelyn path. The Nefelyn remained off of the existing Dashar-made roads that snaked through the forest, choosing instead to crash through the relatively thick underbrush, crushing all living things and uprooting any trees in their path. While Faveenia disliked seeing the destruction of the forest, she acknowledged that it would slow the wagon down as they had to bushwhack through the brush; their delay would allow her to hopefully catch them before they traveled too far and bypassed the Grey Valley and came upon another small village. 

            Faveenia began to smell the stench of brimstone and decay, even through the white mask she wore over her nose and mouth. Her mind focused on the smell, acutely aware of how wrong it seemed, unlike any other natural smell, like it was an affront to nature itself. She could hear the snapping and cracking of trees and other foliage in the distance, each sound magnified because of the deathly quiet of the normal forest sounds. No birds sang, no creatures rustled along the ground, even the gentle winds that normally wound around through the forest had stopped. Everything stopped, hiding from evil. Only Faveenia moved in the woods, Liss began to protest at moving closer to the enemy in front of them. She could see her mounts eyes rolling in panic, the fear made it froth at the mouth; as the stag bounded closer and closer to the wagon its sure footing began to falter, and Faveenia cursed silently as Liss began to skidder and buck.

            Her plan had been to harry the raiding party, attacking quickly from on top of her mount, firing a few arrows before bounding away. Her ability to shoot from the saddle was unmatched, even among the most experienced of Druids, and she was confident that her threat from atop Liss would halt any progress the Nefelyn made. That would also allow her to attack and retreat quickly before the Nefelyn could counter, she could loop around them and attack from another angle.

“Easy, we can do this.” Faveenia looked down at Liss and patted the stag’s neck reassuringly; he steadied itself and quickened his pace through the forest. She had never known a stag to falter, but she pushed the worry from her mind as Liss regained his surety. Faveenia loosened her grip on the reigns, using only her legs to keep her secure on Liss as the animal neared the wagon, they were so close now the smell was overpowering. She could see the tail of the party at the back of the wagon; she readied her bow, notching an arrow to the taught string. The sounds the beasts of burden made dragging the massive wagon through the forest completely obliterated any other sounds from reaching the Nefelyn, especially the small sounds Liss made bounding through the woods.

The wagon loomed ahead of her, and she could see the strange plant-like growth sitting in the cavity of the wagon, buried in what looked like runny brown mud. Faveenia stifled a gasp of horror when she sighted the Dashar captives, paralyzed in yellow-orange pods, suspended from long green stalks on the flower. The wagon sides rattled and clanked with gear of the Nefelyn, bashing violently against the sides of the wagon with every lurch the wagon took. In the wake of the party, Faveenia nearly wretched from the intensity of the smell, and she veered Liss off the path and into the woods, moving the stag with the muscles in her legs. She quickly drew up to the left hand side of the wagon, and could clearly see the Nefelyn monsters walking along the sides of the wagon.

They were beautiful. Faveenia almost lost herself momentarily at the sight of the creatures. Their skin was a pale blue that almost glowed, and their bodies were tall and erect. The Nefelyn’s hair was long and silken, a silver color that shimmered with the sunlight that broke through the tree tops to shine on their heads. They looked almost like angelic beings. She had expected hulking monstrosities, but she could hardly look away from the enemy she now faced. They wore little armor, and what they did wear was mostly leather or chain mail attached to key areas. Their anatomy seemed to be almost identical to a Dashar’s, though Faveenia had never seen any Dashar as well built as the Nefelyn.