Descent of the Moon

Chapter 2: Secrets of the Forest

Tamrii released the arrow in shock. It cut through the air and missed the elk, embedding itself in a nearby tree trunk. She glanced warily around for the source of the voice. Had the human boy followed her? But no..the voice had been softer, more musical, unlike the rough growls of the human.

The elk continued to graze on the island, apparently undisturbed by the voice or the whistling arrow that had nearly pierced it's hide; the water twinkled silently and lay flat and still but for the insects that crawled across it's glassy surface and the fish that darted up to eat them; the trees swayed in time with the wind and rustled their branches.

There appeared to be no one there except for the elk and herself.

The sudden silence pressed upon her like a heavy blanket.

"Where are you?" she breathed, breaking the heavy silence. There was no answer. The elk flicked its ear as it moved on to another clump of grass. Then, the voice spoke again.

"I am standing right before you," answered the same musical voice, sounding slightly amused. She realised she was not hearing the voice with her ears, but in her mind. Was she going mad? She stared out across the lake and watched the elk graze.

The elk raised it's head and surveyed her.

"I don't see you," she said out loud, her eyes still lingering on the elk.

"Strange, considering you are staring straight at me," said the voice again.

Tamrii blinked. The elk was chewing grass and still gazing at her.

"This must be a dream," she muttered after a pause. It was impossible to think that an elk was speaking to her.

"You are not dreaming, young hunter," said the elk. "I am Tokur, the Forest Guardian."

Tamrii gaped and her eyes widened. A forest guardian? Here? And speaking to her!? She recovered quickly from her shock and dipped her head to the elk.

"I am honoured that you have chosen to speak to me," she said, her eyes still still wide. She remembered stories her mother had told her of the forest guardians; how they protected the dragon wraiths' homes from outsiders, that they rarely spoke to any creatures apart from the wraith's themselves, and they were known to be very wise from those few occasions when they did choose to speak.

Tokur acknowledged her words with a flick of his ears, then resumed grazing, one eye glancing up at the sky, where streaks of orange, pink and blue spread across the sky, indicating that the suns had almost completely set. A bright, full moon was appearing high above the horizon.

"You should leave, psikani, while you can," echoed Tokur's voice within her mind. Tamrii blinked and nodded. Her family would be wondering where she was.

She started toward her arrow, embedded in a tree trunk across the lake, but then stopped and turned, thinking the better of it. The lake was so large it would take hours to circumvent.

"Farewell then, Tokur of the forest," she said, and strode off back the way she came.

When she passed the tree where the human had spoken to her, she wrinkled her nose in disgust at the strong, bitter smell still lingering around. She then noticed in alarm that it was quite fresh. At first she though it was the human, but the smell wasn't the same as his. She also noticed a large footprint in the dust. She crouched down to examine it. As far as she could tell, it was something like a wolf's paw only a lot larger. In fact, it looked like her own footprints, only she wasn't walking barefoot today, so it couldn't be her. Before she could think more about it, a loud howl distracted her.