Halthor marched along the rough path that resembled a road towards the next arm of the forest. Davian's guide markers were fairly clear. The boulder at the fork in the road stood up as a white and grey lump a good distance ahead of him. The pony nodded as it walked behind him. The dog with the red ears seemed to bound happily. On the right hand side of the fork was the road to Weck-in-Wood. On the left hand side of the fork was the road to some town he couldn't remember the name of. Hyle, Wynrode, Wye, and Starhaven. Halthor supposed he had accidentally become a well traveled man in but a week. He wished he hadn't left Starhaven and stayed with Alaric. He wished that Alaric had told him that he truly was his father. He wished many things. Halthor, mostly wished it was spring so that he didn't have to trudge through the snow.
Halthor began to move off of the road and walk along the treeline west. He soon came to the end of the large meadow. "South it is," he muttered. Halthor's red hair escaped his hood to fall into his eyes as he started walking into the trees. As he moved forward, something crunched beneath his feet, muffled by the snow. Halthor looked down and realized that a very small brook had frozen over. Deciding that it was but dumb luck that he found the third trail marker, Halthor began to follow the narrow dip in the snow beneath the trees southward. The ground began to rise and Halthor found his footing getting uneven. He glanced over at the pony that was following blithely on its lead. The pony was moving as though the ground was even and the rise was far more gentle. "This is a stupid idea," he muttered to himself, but he mounted the pony.
"Go on with yeh," he said and found it was truly a better idea than he worried it was. The pony navigated a path that was beside the stream and buried in the snow. He marveled at how surefooted the creature was. He still was amazed that the pony could bear him with as much ease as a creature twice its size. The dog merrily bounded up the hill, almost but never quite getting underfoot of the pony as it steadily made its way. They had nearly reached the top of the hill when a figure came forward out of the trees.
The dog immediately ran to them, tail wagging happily. With joyful yips and yelps, the dog practically danced around the person waiting ahead of Halthor. A woman dressed in clothes better suited for summer stood before him. Her kirtle was sky blue with flowers embroidered in bands about the breast and the guards on the lower hem. The gown beneath was a darker blue. The woman's hair fell in golden ringlets about her face and a mass of longer waves down her back. A light shone in her eyes though she stood within the shadows of the trees. Halthor was uncomfortable with her lack of proper winter gear. Given his recent experiences, he wondered if this was one of the hungry shades that Ewen and Davion had told him about. He reined in the pony a good distance from the woman who had stooped to pat the dog on the head. As the dog bounded back to him in a clearly delighted fashion, the woman spoke.
"There is a better road for you to follow that your enemies can not pursue you upon. It will take you deeper into the wood but to the traveler's rest beyond Weck-in-Wood and Weck forest." Her voice sounded like the musical burble of water. Some hint of joyfulness hidden in her bluntly factual words, as though she held some happy secret about the place she wanted to lead him.
"You're talking about two days travel through deep wood with at least one of them where I build my own shelter, if the weather lets me," Halthor answered, not bothering to keep the suspicion out of his voice.
"You wear Alyrin's sign and carry a shard of the world that should have been. You can see truly through what ever glamour I would cast about me. As you would through the glamour that the dark ones would use. My sister's gift means that you may follow our roads through the forest to safety. I can guide you to the northern woods of Memmin. You may even find what is lost along the way. A shield was lost in the woods of Memmin during the last great battle. Count Olerand's great-grandsire dropped it in the heat of battle and none have been able to find it or the glade of slaughter where it happened. Perhaps you may find the vale of bones. You bear Alyrin's children who call out for each other. I am sure they will guide you."
"Who are you?" Halthor asked. The woman smiled. She gestured towards the stream. "You're the water spirit?" She laughed.
"I am a child of the forest. I gaurd the streams and waters of it. My name would be unpronounceable to you. Call me the Blue Lady as the villagers do. Just as I guide them to safety, so shall I guide you. For we must not tarry here longer because danger comes even into the shadows of my wood."
This is a two part post. Look for the second half next week. :)
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