Whispers Of Peace And War

14

14

With no sign of Traal or Gaeradine, it fell to Mythrd to gather more wood for the fire. He didn't want to move too far from the stone circle, afraid of what may await him away from its protection. Skirting the edge of the forest, his eyes scoured the undergrowth for fallen branches. Somewhere, out in these woods, the Traal slumbered once again, disinclined to move during the daylight hours.

But, they had moved, called by a whistle from the Gaeradine trackers who, even during the fog of the morning, had found the standing stones of Cythrûn Henge. His efforts to disguise their movements and lead any trackers away had proven fruitless. As had Kaninzir's. The old Priest had told him he would cover his mess, but even the old man had failed to keep the Gaeradine from the stones.

That caused Mythrd great concern. If one set of trackers had found the henge, then he didn't doubt that more would find their way there, too. Looking back to the henge, he wondered how much the power of the standing stones, and the Guardians, could hold off any concerted effort by the Gaeradine to retrieve their errant comrade, Agarang.

"I just wish I understood things better." He didn't speak to anyone in particular, his voice kept low, addressing the trees and the air. "It's all so confusing."

"As is the way of all things." Not for the first time, Kaninzir's sudden appearance made Mythrd jump, dropping the wood in his hands. The old man crouched, picking up the wood and and handing it back to Mythrd. "I wish I could say things ever became clear, but they don't. Not really."

"How do you do that? Appear and disappear like a ghost?" Scowling at the old man, Mythrd bent to pick up the wood, himself. "Is it a gift from the Guardians?"

"No!" Chuckling, Kaninzir lifted a blanket of the nearby undergrowth, revealing a good, thick broken tree limb. "It is a gift of saving my own neck in a forest all my life. I feel that you have doubts. This is good. One should always have doubts. Blind faith only leads to bumping into things."

It was as though Kaninzir had listened in to Mythrd's private thoughts. He had seen the power of the Guardians. Experienced it and felt it. He couldn't doubt they existed, but he doubted that the stones could protect Agarang. Not for another few days. He feared events would take a dark turn long before Hrndrd returned, or the army.

"It's just ... if the stones' protection is as powerful as they seem, how did the Gaeradine destroy the other circles, in the Esservold?" He turned his eyes from the old man, feeling as though he insulted him and the Guardians by voicing his fears. "We are so few and untrained. I don't want to die. I don't want Gythryn, or Agarang, or anyone to die. I ... I'm afraid."

The old man had dragged the thick branch from beneath the vines and weeds that covered the ground within the forest, pulling it to drop upon the ground of the clearing. It seemed a strong piece of wood and the old man tapped it with his staff, rolling it to look at the bottom side.

"This branch was once part of a tree, yes? Strong. Your father would have taken several swings of his axe to break it, no doubt." The old man spoke of Mythrd's father as though he knew him, but Mythrd had never seen Kaninzir before coming to the henge. "But it is old. Separated from the tree, it has lost its greatest strength. Now, one swing of an axe could cut it in two. Less than that, if it is rotted on the inside."

Raising his staff in the air, gripped in both hands, his eyes bulging, Kaninzir slapped the tip onto the branch that he had found. With a crack, the butt of the staff crashed into the wood and penetrated deep into the branch. A fissure appeared in the wood, spreading from the point where the staff had hit. Kaninzir wiggled the staff, breaking the wood apart, revealing a damp, rotted interior.