The Shadow of Eons

Chapter 5

The night air was chill, and the moon shined upon the earth with beneficence, sharing its bountiful light with the two travelers hiking through the brambles back to Rosemont. They kept their cloaks close to their bodies, but in spite of this their teeth chattered. The wind moaned through the trees, trying to claim as much of the travelers' warmth as it could

"You never told me your name, noble woman," Jonas was telling the child as his long legs made swift strides through the undergrowth that forced her almost to run to keep up.

"My name is Rose, if it pleases you, Master," she told him, curtsying deeply, although he could barely make it out through the murk of the night. "I am from Manar by birth, by way of Rosemont village and Volsemuth's cave." This last part she said with a slight upturning of her mouth, as if she was trying very hard not to laugh and not quite succeeding.

Jonas regaled her with a chuckle, then said, "My mother was from Manar. That is quite a ways south."

"Really? What was her name?"

"That is of no import," Jonas told her steadily, thinking of things that should have been forgotten long ago. "What matters is that she was a good woman, kind-hearted and brave. She took me when I was only an infant to Escelion, and looked after me when my father was killed fighting in the war with Balkava."

"My parents kicked me out when I stole a loaf of bread from their pantry," Rose said sadly. She kicked a rock down the slope, and it bounced several times before settling to the bottom to rest. "It was the saddest day of my life. I was five. I never saw them again."

Jonas was silent, continuing to think while he walked. There was nothing he could do to improve her situation, so he didn't volunteer anything. He kicked a couple of stones, watching as they sailed away. "Perhaps someone from the village will take you in," he said after a while.

They stopped at a small stream to drink their fill, then continued onwards toward the village. "You still didn't tell me where you got that sword," she pouted, her latest attempt to make him confess the secret origins of his precious weapon.

"No, and I don't think I will, ever," he told her yet again, gritting his teeth in frustration. "Certainly not if you keep asking me with such frequency."

"How much longer do we have to walk, Master?"

"It is another league or so to the village," he told her. "We can stop to rest here if you want. There are some berries we can pick from these bushes, they will sustain us until we can have a proper meal."

"Eeew, those berries taste bad," said Rose, making a face. "I tried them when I was exploring the woods around the village, and they almost made me vomit."

"They're better than nothing," Jonas said, ending the discussion, or so he hoped. The last thing he needed after wrestling with that creature and using his last ounce of strength was to waste energy bantering with a child. They still had an hour to walk before they reached the village.

"They're not as good as manflesh," echoed a voice from the din of the forest.

"Goblins!" Jonas shouted, drawing his sword with a hiss of steel. "Grab a branch, use it to defend yourself!" he told Rose. "And stay behind me!"

Before he could say any more, a net had fallen from the sky and had enveloped him and the girl in its tight ropes. He struggled mightily to cut the cords with his sword, but only managed in cutting the ropes that bound one of his arms before a goblin rushed in and removed the sword from his grasp. He could hear Rose screaming beside him and could feel her kicking and squirming in the net's clutches.

The goblins, who numbered a score, rushed in and bound their hands and feet. Then they cut thick branches from the trees and tied him and the girl to them. There were many loud cracking sounds as the goblins broke more branches off from the trees; they were building a fire. Several of them had produced shovels and had begun to dig a pit. "Anyone have any garlic?" slavered one particularly large goblin, who had approached the two of them, sniffing them with his large and fetid nose. "I think the small one could use some; they usually don't have any flavor when they're young. Perhaps some onions, too, and maybe also mushrooms?" He looked around to its companions, as if hoping that one of them would produce the desired items on cue. When none of them responded to his whims, he kicked Rose spitefully, causing her to squeal, and grumbled, "Well, I guess I'm just doing to have to have to eat the big one." He set himself to climbing a big tree with bare branches.