The Wizard's Assassin

Chapter 9 (Onyx)

We traveled off the bridge, Piscar matching my pace. He had a huge goofy smile on his face. I glared at him and then glanced back to the gate. I let go of a sigh. "Thankfully we made it" I said in relief. Piscar didn't seemed to understand how lucky we were to have escaped the angry gnome.  

The road we were following soon led into the Ever Changing Forest. There was one road that led all the way through it. The road was magically woven in, so that even the ancient magic of the forest could not change it. To create this road it took ten extremely powerful dragons, shortly after it was made they all died. 

Still though that did not stop the forest from adding false trails. Normally people died in the forests because they were tempted off the path and then killed by many of the wild creatures or maybe a bad tempered centaur. "Piscar no matter what follow me and be sure not to step off the path" I said sternly. Piscar nodded like he understood but I could tell that he wasn't taking what I was saying seriously. He thought this was all a joke. This was just one of those things that you had to experience first hand to believe. Unfortunately though experiencing this first hand would most likely kill you.  

The forest from the outside seemed overly packed with trees. Leafs were over lapping each other and trees were twisting every which way to get to the sunlight. So it surprised me when we entered the woods and could still see the starry night sky. We walked down the path lit by the stars, both of us content in the silence.  

Hours passed with little more than random chatter, provided by Piscar. I wasn't used to having a companion or having to keep someone entertained. So every conversation Piscar started I ended with an annoyed glare. Normally when I travel I have a feeling of freedom and have no care in the world. Now though I feel responsible for taking care of blue boy... I mean Piscar. Luckily I was there as well, since he was attacked repeatedly by the trees and in the beginning didn't know what to do. Without me the boy would have been hurt or worse dragged off the trail.  

Piscar shifted his eyes to slyly look up at me, then he began to speak. "So Onyx do you think anything fun will happen during this little adventure?" he asked. His eyes sparkled with excitement and he resembled a child on Christmas morning.

"Piscar this is a job. We have no time for fun" I said turning my head to look at him. He shrunk down as much as anyone could riding a broom. His emerald green eyes looking up at me in a puppy dog look. I had to use all my effort to look away and stay mad. Piscar took the hint and stayed quiet. Of course though it didn't last for long.

"Onyx?" He said in a whisper. I slumped down defeated.

"Hmm?" I mumbled and he then began to stutter nervously.  

"I know you're the smart one on the streets but don't you find it rather odd that we have been walking this path for hours and still there is no sunlight." I looked up to find that of course he was right, the sky was still black with countless stars shining down on us. I felt stupid, I would have noticed this a lot earlier if I was alone.

"Whoa" I called to the horse pulling back on it's reins to stop it. Piscar stopped next to me waiting for my next move. I gave him a quick look and then I reached my hand up and as expected it came in contact with a leaf. I plucked it and it looked as if I was plucking a piece of the night sky out of the air. The stars and darkness stayed on the leaf for a few moments than the magic drained from the leaf leaving it to look ordinary. I hit my head for being so stupid. "We were lucky this was just a harmless trick. From now on we should be more observant." I lectured. Mostly it was for my own benefit, to remind myself to stay attentive. Piscar nodded though because we both knew that next time the trick might not be so friendly and might lead us into harm's way. I sighed "We'll stop here for a rest. It's as good a place as any" With that Piscar got off his broom and I climbed down from my horse. I laid my tattered black blanket down on the road then laying down using one of my few bags as a pillow. Piscar followed suit with a lot more grumbling and complaining.