Elaye and Thurstin: Chapter 1

It was the morning of the fourth day that Elaye had gotten lost in forest between Falgarholm and New Targonor. The trees overhead swayed gently back and forth as a distant storm approached from the north. If he was lucky he would make it out of the forest before the snow storm hit. Shivering from the cold wind whipping through the threes, Elaye tightened his cloak and proceeded alongside a creek that slowly wound down a hillside through a thicker part of the forest. Patches of melting ice showed the fast pace of the creek water streaming down, causing the ice to become temporarily wedged between rocks and other debris. Up ahead a small tree had fallen over the creek bed, causing a pileup of debris that slowed the creek water.

Carefully climbing over the fallen tree, he walked at a crisp pace down the path that wound alongside the creek. A few birds here and there chirped from high in the trees as he passed by. Several times through the woods he turned around suddenly at a whisper passing by his ear, carried by the cold wind. Kobolds had excellent hearing and thus caught sounds from afar. At first he thought he was hearing animals and creatures further than he could see, but then a little over a day ago the sounds he were hearing turned into voices.

Walking further down the hill, mindful of all the loose rocks and branches across the path, he aimlessly followed the breaking up of ice on the river as small pieces broke apart and melted on their way down. The wind suddenly picked up overhead as the tree tops swaying increased, causing the trees to complain through their trunks creaking in a strange symphony across the forest.

"That way." A cold wind blew across his left ear again.

Pulling the cloak tighter around his small fur body he flipped the hood over so he wouldn't hear the whispering. There were stories about these woods. Stories that sent chills through him every time he thought about them and the chills weren't just from the cold. One of the stories, told by his grandmother, was about how you never trusted the river in the woods because it would end up changing and deceiving you. The apparent path was often not the correct one. It was his third time now through these woods, being the shortest route from his home to New Targonor. He ignored his emotions and continued on despite the warnings by his grandmother and his past successes at moving through the woods by following the creek.

"Wrong Way!" He spun around so fast his left foot caught hold of a loose branch of the nearest tree, throwing him off balance and sending him flying into the frigid creak water. His head hit hard against an underlying rock, momentarily blurring his vision.

For a moment he wasn't sure where he was because his long facial hair had wrapped around his eyes and face, that and the oncoming freezing water was pouring over him. The cold woke him from his stupor as he became aware of his surrounds in a flash. Feeling the creak bottom for a solid footing, he bent over a nearby large rock to help steady him.

A strangers hand came into his view although he did recognize the race it belonged to. Peeling back the wet hair that was still partially obscuring his vision, he spied a barbarian standing along the shoreline. Hesitating, he took the hand while shivering from the freezing water. The barbarian pulled him back to dry land with an iron grip he found surprising even from a large race as the barbarian.

"Behind you." A strong wind whispered in his left ear again, his hood falling back when he was tossed into the creek. He spun around to view who spoke in his ear, only to see the creek water continue onto two paths just a few yards up the stream. A small slope where the water diverged continued into a large hill as you went downstream. He had fallen into the water on the south stream just after it diverged. A warm hand grabbed his right shoulder, spinning him around. The large barbarian looked down upon him with a quizzical look on his face.

"The woods have not been kind to you. You look distracted." The barbarian inquired. "In fact, you look a little green in the face."

Elaye didn't find the barbarian's comments very funny as his normal color was green. "I'm fine and please call me Elaye."

"I was just teasing you." The barbarian smiled. "My name is Thurstin, come we have much traveling to do before it gets dark." Thurstin began down the path they were on. Elaye followed, thinking about the whisper in his mind. What would he do if he chose the other path? He had never been down that way before now that he thought about it. While thinking about taking the other route for once he scratched his thick beard, picking out debris from the fall in the creek. Suddenly he thought of something else.

"How do you know where I am going?" Elaye called to the barbarian.

The barbarian turned towards him and smiled, slapping Elaye on the shoulder, letting out a laugh that sounded more like a deep cackle. "There is only one place to go from here, and I doubt you are simply touring the woods." Thurstin suddenly looked around with a worrisome look on his face. He tilted his head as if he was listening for something. "Come, we must keep moving." The barbarian turned and continued down the path.

"Wait!" Elaye called after him. "I think we should go that way instead." He pointed back where the creek split down to the north.

Thurstin shrugged. "Suit yourself. I wouldn't stand another hour in these woods, and even though the creek comes together again farther down, that path will take you at least another two hours to follow."

Thurstin didn't bother waiting for him to make up his mind as he kicked aside several branches on the path and continued down the hill.

Elaye stared at him, back at the divergence in the creek, and then back at the Thurstin. There was an extremely strong mindful push for him to follow the other path. He wasn't sure why but even though he resisted it he couldn't help bug go back up the creek and take the other path.

As Elaye walked the other path he began to feel better about the choice he made. At first he worried about Thurstin but decided that he could take care of himself, being nearly twice as tall as Elaye was and probably far stronger. If he recalled correctly from their brief encounter Thurstin wore an impressive array of weaponry around his belt. He thought he also recalled a large cane that had markings of the arcane order on it. A jack-of-all trades as some would call him.

The path continued to widen and pretty soon he came to an area of the forest with berry bushes and nut trees. The cold here didn't seem to penetrate as far, allowing the life in the area to grow. Two stags were watching him from a nearby cliff, no doubt using the area to feed but were scared away at his approach. Looking around he stood there puzzled at the immediate area's considerable density of life than the rest of the forest. Birds were chirping away high in the trees, frogs were croaking along the opposite side of the creek, and there were also numerous footprints along the path. It was obviously a high traffic area for the local fauna.

Grabbing a handful of berries, he began to follow a set of small footprints down the path when he heard a splash from the creek. He looked down into the water, spying several small fish circling around and around in a tight circle. He didn't think anything of it until he noticed small bubbles coming through the light colored sand creek floor from the center of the fish. "Now that is rather strange," Elaye thought to himself.

As he bent down to get a closer look, the fish suddenly swam off in different directions while the bubbles from the sand increased their rate of expansion. It was almost as if the water were boiling now, even though small chunks of ice from upstream continued to flow by.

Sticking his hand into the water he was surprised to feel extreme warmth flow up from the sandy bottom while freezing water flowed over. A strong spring was clearly very active here. He was pulling his hand out of the water when the bubbling stopped and the sand partially gave way. A small glimmer of metal was revealed where the sand had shifted.

Elaye dug into the sand, clouding the water from the disturbance but grabbing hold of the metallic object. Pulling it out of the water he discovered an intricately carved metal medallion attached to a necklace. Turning the medallion over, he noticed one side had an intricate carving around a large symbol set in the center, while the opposite side had a similarly intricate carving around the outside edge but no symbol. It was rather strange because it looked as if something belonged there. At first he thought that perhaps the symbol was worn away but the carvings around the empty space were perfectly preserved.

Elaye brought the necklace around his neck, letting the warm metal rest against his fur. It was almost as if it was giving off its own heat. Leaving the area he followed the path down the sloping forest floor, thinking about the medallion, continuously playing with it in his hands. Before he knew it he had arrived at the convergence of the creek and to his surprise a familiar face was waiting for him on a rock in the middle of the convergence. It was Thurstin!

"You should understand something Elaye. Warriors never leave their companions alone in a forest such as this one." Thurstin jumped off the rock and over to Elaye, slapping him on the back again. Elaye didn't cry out from the wet slap stinging his back. "Come! We must continue before the storm approaches. I have a feeling we'll get to New Targonor before the day is out." Thurstin laughed, pulling Elaye after him.

While exiting the forest Elaye thought several times to tell Thurstin about his discovery but never really was able to for some reason. Elaye also never noticed the medallion that Thurstin wore tightly around his neck. A medallion very similar to Elaye's but one that held a difference Elaye would soon discover once he reached New Targonor.