The Journey, Warrior

Chapter 2, On The Road

Loki flew ahead and stopped on a branch to wait for the others to catch up, the forest loomed ahead its treetops reaching into the distant horizon. Willows, conifers, beeches and oaks all stood tall and proud, there was an ancient feeling of wisdom and pride emanating from the trees as they gently swayed to and fro. Nekonata stopped at the beginning of the forest and looked down to the floor to see the pathway long overgrown, barely visible.

"Here we go" Said Nekonata quietly, and they all stepped into the forest. Birds, squirrels, rabbits and insects all chirped, ticked and clicked away, as they walked further into the forest. Santaya and Kristolia found a small stream gushing with fresh water, they rushed forward with their tails wagging as they had a big drink.

A deer stopped dead in its tracks a few feet up ahead and stared at the wolves, it flinched when Santaya looked up at it. Kristolia wasn't interested and just lay on the floor by Nekonata' feet as he also had a drink. Santaya stood up and slowly walked towards the deer.

"Santaya" Nekonata quietly said, "Not now my friend, we still have a long way to go today"

Santaya reluctantly obeyed and came back. Once again they moved forward, with Loki flying ahead and in some cases hopping from branch to branch as the trees got closer together. The atmosphere in the forest was slowly starting to change, Santaya and Kristolia were now more alert walking closer to Nekonata. Nekonata patted the wolves on their heads in a reassuring way and they purred. Loki jumped, his feathers on end and flew to perch on Nekonata' shoulders. An Owl hooted loudly as darkness started to descend.

Nekonata set up camp in a small clearing, he gathered twigs from nearby and stacked them up, he rubbed his palms together to warm them up, "Fajro" He muttered and a small fire sprang to life. Nekonata kept feeding sticks and twigs into the fire till it was big enough to stand on its own. Nekonata had a small meal of cheese and bread, which he had packed, while Santaya and Kristolia wandered off to find their own food.

The night got darker, Nekonata threw down his thin mattress and lay down to go to sleep, Santaya and Kristolia had come back and laid down on the side of the fire, eating their hunt. Loki perched on the branch of a tall tree above Nekonata's head.

The night was at its darkest hour, and the ancient sentient trees swayed to and fro still, whispers all around could be heard, a language of the ancients, so ancient it had long been forgotten. Nekonata was relaxed, the fire was still strong, and warm. Slowly he fell into a deep sleep. The occasional grunt from Loki could be heard in the now silent forest.

Birds tweeted as the morning sun began to rise, the early rays filtering through the canopy of leaves gently falling on Nekonata's face, he stood and stretched already noticing Santaya and Kristolia were awake eating a fish they had caught from some stretch of water a few miles to the east. His companions stood and stretched and casually walked to him. Nekonata knelt down and hugged both his friends, then turned to roll up his thin mattress. Once again they set off on their journey. Days had gone by and they continued to walk all day and rest at night.

Some days later they came to a road leading to the west. "Hmm we are on the right path, I was starting to feel like we'd lost our way," Nekonata said to Loki, all he heard was a chuckle from the raven.

The ground started to shake and a rumble could be heard gaining speed coming in their direction. They all ran from the road and hid behind some trees just as a group of riders came to a halt just where they had all been stood. Loki gasped "Those be elves!" he said to Nekonata.

The group of Elven riders muttered to themselves for a few moments and then continued to ride on down the road. When the riders had gone some distance Nekonata and his companions came out of hiding and stepped back onto the road again, they started to walk up the road heading west once again.

"Elves haven't been seen around here for years," Nekonata said.

"Hundred years not seen" Loki replied, "Elves live far east, far east."

"Then why have they shown themselves now? Nekonata asked, but he got no response from Loki, instead, the raven screeched "danger, danger" at the top of his lungs.

Nekonata looked up and saw another group of riders galloping straight for them. Nekonata could see with his keen eye that their clothes dirty, ripped and well worn, the swords down by their sides were bloody and rusty... "Bandits" muttered Nekonata.

"Santaya, Kristolia into the woods now, if they see you they will kill you and make clothes out of you!" The wolves snarled and refused to move, "Go now, please do as I tell you, get in the forest now!"

The wolves ran for the forest and hid in the tall grass, Nekonata pulled his travelling cloak around him, hiding his armour and weapons. His heart pounding, and brow sweating as the Bandits came upon him surrounding him.

"Who are yeh? An where ya goin?" Demanded the lead bandit...

"I'm just a Priest, travelling to Colkeeth" replied Keeper calmly.

A snort of derisive laughter rose from the group, and the lead bandit kicked Nekonata in the face knocking him out cold before he could react, and he slumped to the floor. The bandits picked him up and threw him over the back of a horse, tying his hands and feet together, and they headed straight back into the forest going east...

The lead bandit was smaller in height that Nekonata, but not by much. He had tanned skin from travelling a lot in the sun, his hair was dark his eyes a dark blue. He was strangely well-spoken with the occasional use of a slang dialect. He was well-liked in amongst his group and seemed to have a strong leadership presence.

"We have come a long way from Ukiah Sands. We have been victorious in our pillagings. We will soon be rich!"

"Hey Jole, where we headed next? I hope there is some fine-lookin' ladies when we get der!"

Jole the lead bandit laughed and slapped his thigh. "We are going to Souleh Tomb's, should be lots of treasure in those ruins. Never know might find some warm flesh on the way!"

Laughter and howling rang through Nekonata head, he tried to sit up but couldn't, he went drowsy and fell to the floor again. Nekonata took a few deep breaths and sat up looking around groggily. He realised his hands were tied behind his back, he dislocated his thumb on his left hand and slipped his wrists out of his restraints, once his eyes had adjusted he could see the bandits grouped around a fire, the lead bandit was wearing Nekonata's armour it was too tight on the bandit, it did nothing to enhance his appearance, he was also waving his sword around in the air, laughing loudly at some obscure joke.

There was a rustle in the branches to the left of where he was sitting, and he saw Kristolia, Santaya and Loki pop their heads out so he could see them. Nekonata smiled and shook his head, his companions hid again. A sense of relief spread across his face knowing his companions were close by.

Nekonata quietly watched the bandits as they slowly one by one started to fall asleep. The bandit leader was scruffy, he wore green and brown pants and tunic, with a loose leather belt at his waist. He was tall and well built, his eyes were blue and his black hair was tied up in a long plait down his back. Nekonata stood up as quietly as he could and then slowly walked towards the bandit leader. He reached down to pick up his hand and a half sword that had been placed next to the sleeping man. Nekonata reached for it slowly, as his hand touched the hilt the lead bandit woke up, Nekonata grabbed his sword and jumped back, he swung it round in a smooth arching motion, adjusted his stance and prepared to make a defence.

The lead bandit stood up and laughed loudly waking up the others. "Yeh wanna ave' a fight do yah?" The lead bandit was fast, he drew his sword from his scabbard and swung for Nekonata's face, Nekonata stepped back and blocked the attack, and then countered the man's attack.

The other bandits jumped to their feet and drew their weapons getting ready to pounce on when Nekonata, Kristolia and Santaya burst through from behind the trees, jumped and snapped at two of the bandits heads killing them straight away. The lead bandit and Nekonata were still attacking and counter-attacking each other's blows. A loud whistle pierced the air over the clangs and scrapes of metal against metal, the lead bandit flinched, and Nekonata swung his sword round pivoting on the toes of his feet stabbed the man straight through the heart in a clean decisive strike. Twangs from several bows as arrows launched from behind the trees killing their targets instantly. Nekonata jumped into a defensive stance, while his wolf friends joined him either side.

The next few seconds passed agonizingly slow as he crouched in a defensive position in case of another attack. Nekonata heard the snorts of horses from behind the trees, and the crunch of feet on twigs as a rider dismounted.

A cloaked figure came from behind the trees and cautiously approached Nekonata, with arms raised to show they were unarmed. The figure stopped in front of him and slowly lowered the hood of its cloak. The figure had long blonde hair, high cheekbones, very refined features, and her eyes were of hazel.

"Saluton, sunt vobis bene?" she said in a soft gentle purring voice. Nekonata looked at her mesmerized but confused. He didn't understand what she said.

She smiled, and then said, "Hello, are you ok?" She turned to look at the bandit leader, Nekonata gasped slightly noticing she had angle pointed ears, the female elf took no notice, "You have very good swordsmanship skills" She said looking at him again.

Nekonata shrugged his shoulder as he lowered his sword, he moved slowly to retrieve his armour to put them back on again. Nekonata turned to see the elf had knelt down and was stroking Santaya and Kristolia, they purred at the elf's touch. "What are their names?" She asked

"Santaya on the left, Kristolia on the right... and Loki is around somewhere" replied Nekonata. The raven squawked, flying down to perch on his shoulders. The elf looked up with a keen interest in the raven. Before anything more could be said the rest of the elf riders came from behind the trees, and silently looked around.

The female elf stood and walked closely to Nekonata, looking him up and down "I sense a power inside you, one you don't understand, soon you will, you just have to believe, I will see you again Warrior" She turned and walked away, another elf walked forward and handed her the reins of a horse. In one swift motion, she jumped and mounted, and turned to ride away.

"Wait please!" Nekonata shouted, "May I ask your name?"

The female elf turned and responded, "Gabija of Clan Panther," with that she rode back into the forest heading east.

Nekonata watched as Gabija left with her riders, he sensed power of authority from her but dismissed it thinking maybe she was the Captain of the group. He looked around to see the carnage and the dead on the floor around his feet.

"Food good, tasty" Squawked Loki.

Nekonata laughed and told them all to 'tuck in.' Santaya looked up and then continued to lick her fur, while Kristolia bounced up and down on her front paws trying to knock over the roasting deer. Nekonata walked up to the spit and pulled the stick of from one end, he took a knife from his waist and cut a leg off for himself and gave the rest to Kristolia.

"Santaya, come eat my friend," said Nekonata quietly. Santaya rose to her feet, then turned and disappeared behind the trees, a few moments later there was a yelp and a flutter of wings, and she appeared again with a goose hanging from her mouth. Santaya lay down and started to eat, Nekonata shook his head rolling his eyes and tucked into eating his own.

Nekonata decided they needed to move away from the dead bandits before the flesh-eaters arrived, he and his companions were well fed and well-rested. He looked to Loki who was asleep with his head under his wings perched on a low hanging branch from a nearby tree.

"Loki it's time to go, we need to get away from here," Loki looked at Nekonata and stretched his wings. "Fly up and see if you can find the path where I got captured" Loki stretched his wings one more time and flew away in a spiralling circle till he reached the treetops, a few moments later he flew back down and landed on Nekonata' shoulder.

"West," Loki said quietly...

Nekonata put out of the last remaining ember's of the fire, he searched around the dead bandits and found a few pouches with small amounts of gold and silver, he transferred them into his own pouch. He picked up his backpack and readjusted it to make sure the contents were safe and secure, and they all set of west at a slow pace, Santaya and Kristolia's ears were pricked upright listening carefully at all the sounds around them, birds tweeted, insects chirped and other animals chattered. There was a light breezy wind in the air, and everything was calm.

A few days later they found the road heading to Colkeeth, as they walked along it Nekonata spotted dried droplets of blood on the ground, from where he was kicked in the face a few nights before. Nekonata scuffed his feet on the floor kicking up some dust to cover the dried blood, and then continued to walk up the road that turned east towards Colkeeth. The road was dusty and well worn, remnants of cobbles could be seen in the ground from a time gone past. Signposts leaning over precariously, able to fall to the ground with a well-placed finger. Old watchtowers stood crumbled and barren...

"Once great" Loki muttered quietly from Nekonata' shoulder, "Once..."

Nekonata didn't reply, he just sighed and carried on. His wolf companions were still at his feet, they had relaxed a little and were now enjoying the walk, every now and again Kristolia would run ahead and then lay down to wait for the others to catch up. That night they headed a mile or so into the forest away from the road so they could rest, from their journey, it would be another week or so before they reached their destination.

Colkeeth was a small city used as a trading post where people of all races could sell their wares, and that was why he wanted to go there. Nekonata had planned to buy a horse and food for their journey, after that he would simply travel to wherever his feet took him. Loki was watching him quietly from his perch on a high tree branch. Nekonata was fully aware that Loki was watching him

A small fire was lit and his wolf companions curled up close to it, the weather was getting colder. After a small meal of bread and cheese Nekonata lay down to get some rest He pulled his travelling cloak around him, but was still cold, Santaya and Kristolia came and lay on either side of him and rested their heads on his chest. Nekonata fell into a deep sleep.

Everything was quiet, no animals could be heard, no water trickling or rushing in its streams, no branches or trees swaying in the wind. Everything was as silent as stone. Something flew in the sky, high up, too high to be seen... But it cast a large shadow over the spot where Nekonata stood. It turned, it was coming towards him fast, faster than anything he had ever seen. He wanted to run, but he couldn't, he was rooted to the spot. Whatever it was almost upon him, he couldn't make it out, other than it was huge, absolutely massive, something jumped high in the air, and landed gracefully in front of him. A young girl stood there, she had curly ginger hair and piercing green eyes, her skin was so light and pale... She was beautiful... She smiled. "Warrior... Help"

Nekonata sat up, awoken by a loud snort. He hit his head on something sharp and knew straight away his head was bleeding. He looked around to see Loki sat staring at him an inch away from his face, Santaya and Kristolia were looking at him confused.

"Damn it Loki! What are you doing?" Nekonata shouted.

"Talk sleep" muttered Loki, he stretched his wings and flew back up on the tree branch he had chosen as his perch.

Nekonata watched him while wiping the blood from his head. "I saw a girl, green eyes, orange hair, pale skin, asked me to help her, it felt so real Loki." He clenched his hands to try to stop them shaking.