Hidden Magic

Chapter 6

Meren retrieved the rope and stashed it back in her bag. Only then did she realize that she'd had her back to Phillip the whole time. When she faced him again, it was to find that he remained where he stood with a sad, distant look on his face, as though he was thinking hard about something. It wasn't until she'd walked over and poked him in the arm that he snapped out of it. As he blinked down at her, Meren noticed that his eyes were an uncanny shade of dark brown, almost a black. Was that because he was human or because he was a wizard? "I'll lead you to the edge of our lands. Be sure not to come through here again because the other guards won't be as kind."

"Trapping me in a hole is kind?" When he saw Meren frown he bowed his head, letting his now rather-mussed long hair fall over his face. "I didn't mean- look, thank you for getting me out and fixing me up. I do appreciate that, elf-girl."

He sounded sincere enough. Meren nodded as they began walking at the speed of his slight limp. "It's fine. And I suppose if you're going to keep showing up, I should ask you your name. I'm Meren."

"Surprisingly pronounceable. I'll try to remember that for the next time I need a healer... not that if I get hurt, I'll wander around a forest, of course. I'm Phillip."

Now that they were being civil to each other, Meren wasn't going to wait on asking the thing that had bothered her since she found him in the pit. "Why were you here this time?"

There was that sad look on his face again that made Meren regret asking. "I'm trying to get home. My master-" he stopped in mid-sentence to glance over his shoulder.

"Isn't here," Meren finished, assuming that that was who he was looking to avoid. She was sure of that; anyone wandering this area wouldn't be doing so undiscovered for long, whatever this "master" was.

As he gulped audibly, Meren was sure that she'd hit a sore spot. He whispered to her, "No, you don't understand. He's... horrible, evil, unhinged. He may not be here, but what if one of his servants are?"

Now Meren was entirely confused. Why would servants be a problem? Didn't humans just use them for pouring tea or watching their children or something? Clearly this was a cultural misunderstanding. "Come again?"

Phillip shook his head and continued in a low voice, "You don't want to understand, elf-girl. Trust me."

Whatever had gotten to Phillip had obviously upset him and she didn't think he was faking that fear. Deciding to change the subject to try to calm him, she said, "Alright, I won't ask. Where is your home?"

Phillip loosened his grip on his quarterstaff, his knuckles fading from the white that they'd become. "Birchlyn. It's a village-"

"To the southwest," Meren answered with a smile, one previous mystery solved. So that was why he spoke the halfling language! She knew that to be the nearest town to Woodedge, a halfling village and, oddly enough, where the shorter side of her family was from. Since he was local, that would mean that he had at least heard of the forest he'd ended up in. "You overshot when trying to get there and ended up in the outskirts of Fayiron."

For the first time she saw him give a genuine smile, which made him look a lot less haunted. "Then I am close to my destination. That is good to hear!"

Meren was extremely curious about those halflings who must have taught him their language. He was quite fluent, so it was likely that it wasn't something he'd picked up secondhand. She was just about to ask him more about his home when she was startled by horrible laughter to her right.

They'd left most of the trees behind them and Meren's curiosity had distracted her from just how out in the open the two of them were.

They were surrounded.