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  As the sound of the chasers drew nearer, the woods around them came to life. Birds burst into the air flapping on frantic wings and rabbits darted to and fro, but it was the stag that caught Evgej’s eye first. As the large animal made its way readily into the clearing, Evgej offered the first flight to Valam. Valam didn’t hesitate; his arrow took the stag between the neck and shoulder, a near perfect shot but not fatal.

  The stag stumbled, snorted in pain and twisted its head as if to use its small rack to ward off the distant attackers. Evgej aimed, released. His shot, perfect and deadly, dropped the stag where it stood. It was an impressive shot to be sure, especially considering the angle Evgej had released from.

  The sun was beginning to set and the day was getting dark, but the rain had passed for the most part. The hunt master’s steward, a broad-shouldered boy with wavy chestnut hair and a constellation of freckles, dismounted and made ready to retrieve the stag. Evgej waved the boy back. The gray bitch between Valam and Evgej had raised her tail and was pointing with her nose.

  A doe raced into the clearing. Valam notched an arrow and waited. The doe was some distance to the left, and he had to turn sharply in the saddle to aim. He pulled the bowstring to his cheek, but a heartbeat before he released, two fawns followed the doe into the clearing.

  Valam lowered his bow, as did the hunt master. Evgej’s men were soon to follow. Between them they had several game hens and three rabbits—and something unexpected: a half-man, old and scrawny, dressed in rags. He was bound hand and foot and being dragged bodily by a burly hunter named Taggard. Taggard thrust the man at the feet of Valam’s charger, and the horse whinnied but held steady.

  The old man whirled around, turned his head to stare up at Valam. He was missing a hand and an ear. His eyes were wild but there was no fear.

  Valam sat solemnly on his horse, his long black hair stirring in the wind. He had a detached cast to his green eyes, and he seemed suddenly more a prince and less a man. Seth, watching, thought Valam had taken off his face and donned the mask of Prince Valam Alder, Lord of South Province, heir to Great Kingdom’s throne.

  As Valam dismounted, saying “What have we here?” the old man kicked himself backward and away with his feet. Valam had never taken a squire, so Evgej’s steward brought him his sword—an instrument of the king’s justice. “Truth Bringer” the sword was called. It was wider across than a man’s hand and taller than most men as well. The blade was the finest Reassae steel and sharp enough to part a man’s head from his shoulders with but a single blow.

  “Bandit or poacher?” Valam asked curtly.

  The old man spat, continuing to kick his way backward. Valam stepped forward but made no move to strike a blow.

  “Where did you find him?” Valam asked the hunters.

  “Near the mammoth oak, no more than five hundred paces from here,” one of the huntsmen replied.

  “The Sentinel,” Taggard added quickly, seeming to know the tree of which the others spoke.

  Valam nodded knowingly.

  The air was growing chill in the fading twilight and the breath of men and horses was heavy in the air. The hunters, their eyes on the growing shadows in the forest, seemed agitated. Evgej voiced quietly, but firmly, “My prince, I pray your justice will be swift. We should return to camp before night falls.”

  “Have the men return with the game; we are going to stay a little more.”

  “My prince, these woods are—”

  Valam cut Evgej off, “You forget your place. This is South Province. Woods I know better than most men, even perhaps you, hunt master.”

  Evgej waved for the hunters to return to camp with their catch. Soon it was only the five of them: the hunt master, the elf, the steward, the prince, and the half-man.

  Evgej dismounted, his expression dark. “There’s a stump at the far end of the clearing that would serve, my lord prince.”

  Valam rested his boot on the half man’s leg to stop his kicking. He leaned over, almost daring the other to spit again. “Shall it be to the stump then?” he asked.

  The half-man stopped struggling, but did not speak.

  “Your prince asked you a question,” Evgej said, pulling the man to his feet. “Have you no tongue?”

  “Oh, I’ve a tongue,” the half man replied, “and I’m of the mind that what I say won’t matter either way. So put me to the stump then and have done with it.”

  “I warned you the last time,” Valam said.

  “And so you did. Well then, so be it. I’m not afraid of death, only that the blow may stray or your steel may dull.”

  “Watch your words more carefully, I warn you.”

  The half-man grunted and huffed indignantly. “Like such alone would work.”

  Evgej looked quizzically at Valam. “You know this one, do you not?”

  Valam cast a glance behind them, said quietly, “I do. Isn’t that so Eldrick?” At the sound of his name the half-man squealed, though whether it was from displeasure or delight wasn’t clear. “Tell him. Tell them both.” He raised his sword. “Be quick about it. No mischief work; it is your last warning.”

  “And it is a fair one.”

  Valam slashed down with his sword. The other cringed, closed his eyes, waited, but the blow didn’t strike him, instead it cut the bonds from his hands and feet. The half man opened one eye first and then the other, looking down, as if to make sure he still had all his parts. He raised his arms and danced in a circle, then dashed off into the forest before anyone could stop him.

  “You let him go?”

  “I did.” Valam smiled, returning his great sword to his saddlebags then mounting. “Don’t worry, he will not go far.”

  Evgej mounted and looked at the sky. The twilight was nearly gone. Soon the woods would be shrouded in darkness. His expression said he wanted to return to the camp, but he said nothing of it.

  Seth, who had been silent throughout the encounter, mounted the gray courser. Valam led them deep into the forest of ash, elm and birch. Here and there they passed an oak, but they were few and far between. The shadows grew steadily as the canopy thickened and darkness settled in until only a pale light filtered down from the moon and distant stars above. Soon they were unable to go any farther on horseback and were forced to dismount, which was just as well, as limbs and thick boughs of trees were becoming treacherous to pass ahorse. Evgej’s steward reluctantly stayed with the horses.

  When they came to a small stream, Valam turned and began to follow it. Although the forest had become increasingly dense, on either side of the small stream a narrow path was clear and traversable.

  The stream widened ahead, and beyond the widening lay a clearing. Valam pointed to something within the clearing.

  The ground became wet as they progressed and their movements were slowed. The stream circled around a small island with a single ancient oak, which towered over it. Valam led them around to the far side, where there was a sort of bridge, and they crossed onto the tiny scrap of land.

  “Can you feel it?” asked Valam.

  They didn’t have to ask what—they could feel it. The gentle swirling of the water, the soothing breeze, the serenity, it all fit.

  “I discovered this place long ago; such summers I had then. I had been lost and alone and just when I thought I would never find my way out of the forest, I came upon this place and I didn’t feel alone any—”

  “—I wonder why,” said a voice from up in the tree. The half-man hung upside down from a branch by his legs. “Could it be because you weren’t alone any more? And you treating your benefactor so! You should be ashamed—”

  “Watch your tongue, Eldrick, or I’ll have it out.”

  “Yes, my lord,” the half-man said sarcastically, “Should I kiss his royal lordship’s—” Valam grabbed for the half-man’s good arm at the same time Evgej did. Together they pulled him from the tree. He fell to the ground with a thump. “—I see I stand corrected.”

  “And so you do,” Valam said. �
��What were you going to say?”

  “Only to beg your forgiveness, my lord. Surely you’ve no gratitude for the help all those years ago.”

  “Change,” Valam commanded.

  “Must I?”

  “You must.”

  The half-man glared and waved his arms. Where a moment ago he had worn rags for clothes, now finery few had ever seen graced his small frame; and in the place of wrinkles, shaggy beard, and long, unkempt hair was a fair, clean-shaven face, young by any standard. However, the eyes told of age beyond understanding by most. When the transformation was complete, the left ear and hand were missing no more.

  “My forest brother,” Seth whispered, grasping Eldrick’s hand. “I thought your people long lost. We have but songs about your kind now in the Reach.” He kneeled and was near tears.

  Eldrick laughed and danced as he broke into soft song.

  The brothers of the forest, they were a special breed.

  In name, in hand, in deed they took the lead.

  Oh Ash of spring forest, they were the first when all was new.

  In the dawn of bloom and blossom they led us to the mew.

  Yielding wood so strong and long to send the poison yew.

  Oh Oak of summer forest, they were a special breed.

  In the hot long days of sultry sun, they took the lead,

  Giving shelter to our spirits and acorns for our feed.

  Oh Pine of winter forest, they were tall and green and right.

  In the dark hour of the cold, long night they were a delight.

  Lending needle and cone to nestle us through the night.

  Oh Elm of autumn forest, they kept on despite the blight.

  In the twilight at the end of all, they showed their might

  Arching branch and leaf to deliver us from our plight.

  The brothers of the forest, they were a special breed.

  In name, in hand, in deed they took the lead.

  Valam stepped between Eldrick and Seth. “Enough! Trickster, charlatan. Don’t play me or my friends for fools. Show your true self.”

  Eldrick frowned, the finery of his clothes fading to leaf green as he did so and branches replaced limbs. A glowing aura outlined his form and before Seth could step up and away, Eldrick stepped to the great oak. He disappeared within the tree, sending a glowing shimmer up the tree trunk to the thick boughs, then to branch and leaf. Soon the whole tree was aglow and the island as well all the way to the far banks of the stream.

  Evgej touched the tree, his eyes full of wonder. Seth turned to Valam, exclaiming, “A tree spirit, that is just as well! In all my years, I have never had such privilege.”

  “Privilege? I’m not sure I would call it privilege. Eldrick gets what Eldrick wants, isn’t that so?”

  The tree quivered and shook from branch and leaf, then a face appeared in the trunk. “It is so.”

  “It is truly a place of power,” whispered Seth.

  Evgej thought he was out of place here; he didn’t belong. He was sharing an experience that he sensed should have been only between Seth and Valam.

  “You would not be here if Eldrick did not want it so,” thought Seth plainly to Evgej.

  “You read thoughts too?”

  “Don’t worry Evgej. I think I can teach you a way to keep Seth out of your thoughts.” Valam laughed.

  “You can?”

  “Yes, I think I can.”

  “And me?” asked the tree. Valam turned his back on the tree. “Not very nice; still such a reprehensible fellow.”

  “Let us go, Eldrick.”

  “My name grants you no power over me.”

  “What is it you want?”

  Eldrick stepped out of the tree, became a half-man again, though without rags or finery, wrinkles, or semblance of youth. “You bring one of the wood folk to my forest and expect that I am not curious? It has been a thousand years since the fair folk walked beneath my boughs, and I would have the feeling of that joy again.”

  “And so you’ve had it. Now let us go.”

  “You are no prisoner here. You are free to go as you will.”

  “No tricks. We could not have turned away from this path had we wanted to. Is your curiosity so strong that you would bring an entire hunting party to your door?”

  “It seems at times that I have but curiosity. What else is there for an old tree such as me?” Eldrick snorted. “Ho ho, I rhymed!”

  “Let us go then.”

  “Not so fast. True, I wanted this meeting, but only as much as you. You wanted to test the fair one, knowing I wouldn’t reveal myself to one who was untrue of heart, mind or spirit. I have, and the test is passed, so now you want to go on your way. I say again, not so fast.” Eldrick whirled around to face Seth. “Ask?”

  “It is said that the sentinel trees are in all the great forests. Oak in the summer forest, pine in the winter forest—”

  “—ash in the spring forest, elm in the autumn forest. True, true, true, all true. All have sentinels and us, those who watch over the watchers.”

  “Yet there are no sentinel trees in the Reach?” It was a statement as much as a question.

  “Ah, but there would be if you had taken us along on your journey to the new lands. We would be there all, oak and pine, ash and elm, which is why I aim to go with you.”

  Valam threw up his hands. “Not this day or any other, you trickster. What is it you really want?”

  “So unkind, so untrue, so irrational, and I’ve to see my brother, and I will.”

  “Brother? You said there were no tree spirits in the Reach?”

  “And that is where you aim to go ultimately, isn’t it? You won’t betray a friend for a father. You know it in your heart, don’t you?” Eldrick didn’t wait for an answer. He dashed into the tree, sending shimmering sparks up through the trunk, boughs and leaves of the great oak. He returned shortly afterward carrying a dusty gray cloak, a staff crowned with a carved bear’s head, and a worn leather bag with a broken handle. “Ready, shall we be going then?”

  Evgej laughed. Valam scowled. Seth offered to help Eldrick carry his gear, but the half-man waved him off. The four didn’t say much else after that. They remained awhile longer, though, and drank in the peace of the Sentinel. As they left, Evgej didn’t feel such an outsider anymore; he had shared something with Seth and Valam that no others had, and he marveled at their wondrous new companion.

  Eldrick led the way back to the waiting horses. They proceeded in pairs: Eldrick and Valam, Seth and Evgej. Eldrick and Seth, who could see in the dark, kept the other two from hitting branches and stumbling over obstacles at their feet. Soon the steward was calling out, “Who goes there? Show yourselves?” in a fearful voice.

  “Only I, Derworth,” Evgej called back, “and the prince and his fellows.”

  Derworth never asked who the prince’s fellows were though he could scarcely see in the dark. When they returned to camp, it was evident they had been missed. Father Jacob was furious, but his anger lessened when those who had been sent out to search for the prince returned without incident.

  The group broke camp as the first light of day broke the horizon, hoping to reach Quashan΄ by late afternoon of the second day. No one inquired about the strange new companion who rode behind Seth on a white palfrey. No one offered any information either.

  Mysteriously, though, no one saw the stranger again after the group stopped for their midday meal. As they rode, Valam looked to the four corners of the world in search of Eldrick but saw no one and nothing out of the ordinary. He knew with certainty he would meet Eldrick again, and in all probability in the most unlikely of circumstances.

  Chapter Four

  Amir emerged from shadow and bent down to pick up the orb, shouting, “He lives! He has returned! I have seen it with my own eyes!”

  Noman thought to say, “Are you sure? Can you be certain?” but the look in Amir’s eyes answered the questions for him. He asked instead, “Do they know?”

  “He drank
in the mortal wounds of the Gray Lord as if they were nothing. There can be no doubt. He has returned. It has come to pass.”

  “There is no warrant in foretelling only truth,” Noman said as he cast the sticks upon the oaken table, promising himself that it would be his final look at the paths of destiny until what needed to be done was done. Sometimes he thought they were all fools upon the board, he the greatest fool of them all; and like a fool he moved forward only to find that he must move backward.