The Count of Castle Rock

Chapter XXXIII- The Felah Forest

The expedition sets up camp a couple of hours east of Du'Shadrak. Flattened grass provides cushion to the bottoms of their tents. The forest at their backs provides ample firewood and a steady breeze off the coast makes the night air comfortable. The horses are tethered to trees to ensure they don't run off in the night. The blue giant chooses to sit with them, cross legged and silent.

Hans ponders as he watches the steady rise and fall of the giant's chest. As soon as the slave trader had removed the man's restraints, Hans declared him a free man. To Hans's frustration, the blue giant refused under the belief that he could not be freed now that he had been paid for. He'd followed the expedition through the bazaar as they purchased supplies. Thinking the giant merely feared his chance of survival with only a loincloth to his name, Hans had made sure to buy the man clothing and traveling essentials. Leesa made most of the selections. Thus supplied, the giant continued to follow them. Even after they'd ridden out of Du'Shadrak, the large man merely jogged after their trail. Hans, it seemed, had acquired a big blue shadow.

Luis, a sergeant of the castle guard, strums his lute, beginning a gentle prelude as he stares into the campfire.

"Hags were once prominent threats like dragons and leviathans. Their evil motivations were beyond the understanding of the first settlers. Before humans spread across the realm, before the disappearance of the elves, the hags stalked the land and spread darkness wherever they tread. The elven archmages and their feliruu armies hunted the hags to extinction. It's been two millennia since the last hag walked the mainland." He strokes the strings faster, subtly altering the tune.

Leesa picks up Luis's same cadence.

"Feliruu merchants sing a different song. They say hags have been seen in the true north, beyond the borders of the kingdom and the Felah Forest. For centuries they've been gathering their dark magics and working malicious machinations, plotting their revenge against the forces of goodness and life. The feliruu haven't moved against them merely watching. Without the prodding of the long absent archmages, time and the capricious nature of the catkin has allowed the old grudge to wash away."

Luis nods in appreciation. They recite a popular bardic oration about the evil hags and their fate. Allowing himself to forget the blue giant for a moment, Hans watches the firelight dance in Leesa's green eyes and his pulse quickens. She smiles, her beautiful dark skin looking ethereal in the dancing orange flames.

"Their vengeance will shake the foundations of the world," Luis and Leesa say in unison.

He finishes his playing and the gathered guardsmen all clap. Luis stands and bows, then gestures to Leesa. She blushes and bows from her seat. The musically inclined guard sits beside Juanita and she hugs him tightly. They are siblings who've trained under Captain Carlos since very young. Hans glances at the older man, but Carlos is lost in thought, seeing things in the fire that the apprentice can only guess at.

Luis starts to sing a song of home and comforts and those familiar with the words quickly join in. Soon the entire camp is swaying to the music of his lute. Across the fire, Hans and Leesa lock eyes, wordlessly speaking to one another. She's in her element and though this is his first time on an adventure, Hans feels like this is the natural course of his story.

The following morning the guards draw straws. The two losers are tasked with taking the horses to the nearby town of Brimlay and awaiting the expeditions return.

Fall in the Felah Forest is a time of magnificent colors, sounds, and smells. Blue is the honey Moth as she collects nectars to hang from the sticky canopies where she glues her eggs. Yellow is the Viper Worm who hides among the four-eared snakes in wait for unwary prey. Red is the Monk Squirrel hopping from branch to branch, the king of the treetops. Purple is the Pharaoh Leech whose parasitic kiss leaves its victims drained and dry like mummies of old. Green is everywhere and everything, underbrush and leaves, grass and moss-covered elder trees.