At a Distance: The Story of Anariel

Page Five

            “It isn’t safe. Or at least it won’t be when it gets dark,” I glanced at G and then at the bleeding sky. It wouldn’t be long until darkness fell and I really didn’t have any way of defending myself. Well, I had a crossbow, but I wasn’t a very good shot.

            “Fine,” I agreed after a short pause.

            While walking through the woods Mordred and G talked about what had happened at Ravenhold. Apparently something, a beast, had broken free from the center of town, causing the entire place to collapse. G and his group had made out like bandits. They took all the money and supplies they could carry. They also managed to take the best weapons and armor in the city.

            The old man on the dragon was called Toby. He had caused them trouble in Ravenhold and G had thought he’d finally gotten rid of him by kicking him into the pit that first formed in the center of town. Not much was said about the necromancer.

            “So, how do you know the others in your group?” Mordred asked G.

            “Fladnag, Buttersnaps and I have been traveling with each other for a long time. We’re Eskimo-brothers,” Mordred cut him off.

            “Eskimo brothers?

            “We’ve slept with the same woman,” My body tensed, as I was slightly discomforted by that information, but Mordred was amused by it.

            “Anyway,” G continued. “We found Chad in the woods outside of Ravenhold. I wanted to kill him, but Fladnag decided it was a better idea to charm him. So, we took Chad’s Halfling ass with us to Ravenhold.” He sighed.

            “From there, Buttersnaps and I bought some stuff, hustled some guys in a tavern, and bought more stuff. That’s pretty much the gist of my adventures excluding interactions with Toby. I was hoping he’d die when I kicked him into the pit,” At that point I figured I should give up all hope and settle for a life of debauchery.

            Suddenly a faint sound rose up in the distance. It sounded like humming and the settling of an old house. Mordred and G glanced at each other before speeding up. I simply followed, for I had no other reasonable choice. It was less than a minute before movement was visible. The closer we got the easier it was to make out what we were seeing.

            A circle of trees were swaying and twisting. Within them was the only slightly familiar figure of Buttersnaps kneeling, with his sword planted in the earth. Mordred took a step closer to the circle, but G flung out an arm to stop him. I had sat down and dozed against a tree by the time the apparent ritual was over.

            Mordred woke me and, though I was tired, I followed he and G into the now still circle of trees. Buttersnaps had disappeared and all that stood in the center was a sapling. G approached slowly and Mordred and I hung back a ways. G placed a hand on the sapling.