The Charlatan

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

"Sheldanon evestinane, Cerberus! Be gone!‚" I heard before a bright light blinded me from seeing who had spoken. The voice vibrated through my chest and the crushing weight of the dying dog above me vanished, the white light fading slowly leaving the dark forest in my sight. "Hurry, take the girl and follow me."

I sat up, my sword bathed in dark blood, pain shooting through my legs where the dog had been. I blinked rapidly, trying to understand just what had happened, knowing at least that the old man with the glowing staff who was standing over us had something to do with it.

"Now!" the man urged us fervently, and I fought to stand and not be sick, quickly pushing aside the branches that covered Tandy. She was more pale than before we had lowered her down, and when I called to her she didn't answer. Dennison was beside me after just a moment, and together we pulled her gently from the hiding place before following the wizard. Dennison and I found ourselves falling a few steps behind him, suspiciously. He was obviously a magician, judging from the jewel that rested atop his staff and the long braid of his beard that flipped back and forth with each step he took.

"Hurry now," he urged us to follow him, through an overgrown path towards a destination we knew nothing of. To trust him was certainly a gamble. All the while he sung to himself an unfamiliar tune, the jewel of his staff glowing in the gloomy light of the forest and fog.

After what felt like miles with Tandy's lifeless body in my arms, we came to a small house leaning against a tall tree. The roof was of thatch much like the smaller houses at Alden, the walls of his home covered in the filth and dirt of the forest. His front door was ajar, and half off of it's hinges, opening to darkness through which I could see nothing. We could be walking from one ambush into another.

I held her close to me instinctively, wary of the man and his home. He turned to look at us over one shoulder when Dennison and I stopped walking, silently looking to each other in indecision. "Come, come now, you must get her inside," the old man reminded us, his toothy smile anything but reassuring.

A strange feeling had begun to grow in the pit of my stomach from the moment the dogs had disappeared. I was wary of magic and sorcery, however it was used, a fact that Dennison knew well. "Treat her out here," I called to him, gently lying Tandy down in the smooth dirt of the path. She moaned, her eyes still shut, clutching her shoulder with her one working arm. The fever that had begun when I held her close on my horse had worsened, sweat forming on her forehead even as she shivered. Without help she would not last the night.

"No, no no, that will not do," the man shuffled his way back towards us, hunching over Tandy with thoughtful eyes. He did not seem deceiving. "Dirt will only make her worse, please, bring her inside." He turned and disappeared through the front door, leaving it open behind him. After a moment a faint glow could be seen from the windows, making the house seem a bit more inviting. Still I was cautious, even as Dennison and I lifted Tandy off the ground and into the home, realizing quickly why the outside seemed to bleak.

Inside the wizards home was bright and clean, a stone floor and wooden ceiling luxuries that none but the king of Alden himself could afford. The shuffling man shut the door behind us and locked it with a key he pulled from his belt before turning to us and shedding his coat. I gasped and stepped back, narrowing my eyes and before us the hunched old man transformed into a young maiden.

The curve of her back disappeared as she straightened, the white hair of her beard disappearing. She smiled at the three of us with white teeth and shinning brown eyes, her long curls now thick and luxurious. She wore a simple robe that fell past her knees, and the same sandals as the man had worn, but now young feet instead of old gnarled ones inhabited them. She held out both arms and bowed slightly as if to illustrate her harmlessness. The staff she had held now leaned in the corner.