The Dark Elf

Chapter 7

The forest grew darker and darker as Lymerra and Honey continued. The darker it got, the keener Lymerra's vision became, and she decided that it would be better if she continued to travel at night.

For a while, her nerves were set on edge, anticipating some creature or a human around every turn. Each time she braced herself, and each time she was proven foolish. Eventually, she felt her guard beginning to come down, she was beginning to embrace the freedom of her seclusion.

When Lymerra was certain the day had turned to night, she pressed on, elated in the predatory feeling her acute vision gave her.

Honey, however, was aching to conclude what had been the most exciting day in her life thus far. Lymerra first tried to encourage the mare, but her sympathies for the tired creature got the best of her. She conceded to traveling during the day until they reached the end of this forest, then she would begin her journeys at night.

She realized then that she had no rope, or method of securing Honey to a tree or rock. All she could do was find a comfortable spot to lay and hope her horse did not run off.

"Stay here," Lymerra commanded while looking at Honey in one of her vacant brown eyes. The horse began to chew on a bush, and Lymerra ventured into the brush to find an acceptable place to spend the night.

She noticed a sunken area in the underbrush, most likely a place where some large creature had slept before. After a glance back at her softheaded companion, Lymerra thought it was better if she remained close.

"If the creature returns I will rely on the sword in my hand," she thought. "Years of training must have had to prepare me for something."

Lymerra took off her cloak and laid it over the compressed ferns.

"Still better than stone," she thought to herself as she smiled.

The song of the forest was different now, the singing of the birds had faded, replaced by the hissing of insects. The way the branches of the trees rustled in the wind had turned eerie. Lymerra enjoyed the stirring of energy in the air, even at night trees did not stop watching.

As she lay on her back and looked up towards the treetops, a small sliver of the night sky shone through. The blue abyss was dotted with orbs of light, twinkling ever so slightly.

"Stars," Lymerra thought. She had read about them in so many books. Entire societies operated under the influence of the stars. They determined what season was to come, what direction one was traveling in, and the very passing of time. Now she could see them with her own eyes, and they were just as mysterious to her as they had been to the authors of her books.

"The wisdom and power a sorcerer wields are all I've ever heard about from the mouths of Drow who didn't even know that one walked in their midst. Perhaps, if they were able to look at the stars, they would see that there was more to magic than authority."

For the first time in her life, Lymerra was smiling as she fell asleep.

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