Envoys Of The Vow

Chapter 30

Blaise’s hand shot up in a gesture to halt.  All the horses stopped instantly rocking Sara forward on Turaanar.  They were rounding another bend in the path, Blaise was further around the curve with Aelthal so Sara could not see what had stopped him.  Fear jumped painfully in her chest.

 “Riders.”  Blaise’s voice sounded low and ominous.

 Daeron rode up alongside Sara his sword drawn as Thomas rode forward to where Blaise had stopped.  Blaise and Aelthal drew their swords in readiness.  Sara could hear the drum beat of hooves approaching fast.  Her breath was held in her throat, her heart hammered.

 Suddenly the tense atmosphere changed to one of wonder.

 “It can’t be!”  Thomas’s shocked voice was full of elation.

 Riders flew into Sara’s view.  All rode enormous black horses.  They were cloaked completely in black, she assumed to shield them from human eyes.  The leader’s hood stood three feet higher than the other two.  The leader pulled up in front of Thomas and Blaise, dismounting to walk over to them.  All the horses dipped low in a bow of respect for the stranger.  As the horses returned to stand, all of the party dismounted apart from the two smaller black riders who remained silently sat on their horses.

 The lead rider removed his cape shocking Sara nearly clean off Turaanar.  Massive stag antlers stood proudly from his head.  He was shirtless and so massive in his build he even dwarfed Blaise.  His skin glowed dimly with a strange green light.  Tattooed markings crossed his face then extended down his neck and over his broad chest.  The other two riders remained back unspeaking on their horses, hidden from view behind their hoods.

 Thomas left his horse to walk forward and greet the stranger.

 “I don’t believe it.  He never ventures this far South.”  Awe sounded in Daeron’s voice.  “Luck is shining on us today.”

 “Who is he?” Sara whispered, as she watched the rider greet the others warmly.

 “He has many names.  His name is Cernunnos, but in your modern world he is known as The Hunter or Lord of the Wild Things.”  Daeron’s voice was hushed but touched with awe.

 Sara’s heart quavered as the massive rider turned to her and walked forward, Thomas at his side.  He stopped next to Turaanar who nearly pitched Sara off as she stooped low in a bow, it was only her hurried warning sounding in Sara’s head, that gave Sara time to hang onto her mane as she dipped

 She looked closely at The Hunter, she should have been terrified.  His eyes were a deep red, not with the savagery of Agar’ksh, they were eyes of the wild.  His power was obvious in every move, he held his hand up in invitation for her to dismount.  Sara slid off the mare, taking his hand she walked with him.  Blaise held no fear in his face just profound respect as they passed giving her even more reassurance that she was safe.

 As they walked forward, the trees and hedgerows rustled either side of them.  As she watched awestruck, all manner of creatures appeared lining the sides of the path as they passed.  Mice hurried forward with their families all stopping to bow down to The Hunter.  Badgers, foxes, rats even snakes slithered forward in silent worship.  Birds landed in the trees all in peaceful harmony, the hunters and the hunted gathered, their rivalries cast aside.  As Sara looked back, the animals had retreated back to their worlds and their jobs, vanishing again into the hidden natural world.

 Feeling no fear just an intense exhilaration in his presence. Her senses were swirling, in his presence so many things became clearer in her mind, it wasn’t exactly visions that filled her mind instead it was feelings and intuition that pulsed through her.  They crowded in filling her with the earthy sense of the wild.  She could feel the power of life, death and birth.  Not in the emotional human way but the interaction of nature in its endless and timeless roll across the earth.  Feeling the beauty and savagery of life itself flow through her, human perspective was stripped away, only the elemental meaning was left.  She could feel the power of a lion taking down an elk, but she could also feel that it held no pleasure in the kill, only instinct and the need to survive.  She let her mind float away, allowing the images to spin, revealing the power of the earth for the very first time.