Chapter 16-1

Chapter 16: Madness

Almonihah camped just short of the Line that night, and then crossed it in the morning. It was quiet on the other side of the line, but he could feel the wrongness in the air. Ignoring the feeling, he pressed forward, moving quickly. Falloen's writings had made clear that making the journey quickly was essential, in order to complete it before running out of supplies.

The first two days of travel were uneventful. The half-dragon traveled warily, ate sparingly, and made sure to use water that was flowing in from the other side of the line. This close to the Line, it was still safe to drink water if it was coming from outside the Madlands. Later that wouldn't be the case, so he needed to conserve his supplies as well as he could.

It was partway through the third day when Almonihah finally became aware that something was stalking him. He'd been expecting this, so much so that he was somewhat surprised it had taken this long. Regardless, he had to figure out what he'd do with the thing now.

Almonihah had turned hunter into prey many times before when facing Javni'Tolkhrah, so he easily fell into his usual tactics. Doubling back to get throw off pursuit and try to get a glimpse at the beast, going around a large tree and then climbing the other side of it and keeping watch for a while, and so forth. This Javni'Tolkhrah seemed pretty clever, as it took him a while to finally catch sight of it, but he eventually did.

It was a rather bizarre monstrosity, even for a Javni'Tolkhrah. It had probably been a deer, once—a big buck, though certainly not as big as it was now. It was covered from head to tail in antlers, that stuck out in every direction and seemed tangled with one another. And most disturbingly, sharp teeth jutted out from its oversized jaw. Overall, it looked like the kind of thing Almonihah wouldn't want close to him.

Instead, he looked for a good spot to hide in ambush for it. It didn't take long to find a little rock outcropping that was just high enough that it wouldn't be able to reach him. Quickly, he climbed up, then lay flat to wait for its approach.

It wasn't long before the Javni'Tolkhrah came into view. Carefully, Almonihah rose to a crouch, nocked and drew and arrow, and then loosed. The arrow sizzled through the air, straight to its mark, but when it struck, it somehow became tangled in the antlers around the beast's body, though it did shear bits of them off.

The half-dragon grunted as he drew another arrow, but just then the ground underneath him gave way. Quickly, he rolled with it and jumped off, landing on his feet, but now in a vulnerable position. Sensing this, the Javni'Tolkhrah charged at him, making some strange, gargling noise as it did. Almonihah recognized an opportunity and fired at its open mouth, but the monster swerved aside. The arrow did manage to penetrate its tangle of antlers to graze its flank, but the beast just seemed to be angered by the injury.

Drawing another arrow, the Ranger waited for his quarry. At the last possible moment, he dove aside, then rose and fired another arrow. This one found its mark, driving into the Javni'Tolkhrah's rear thigh. It screamed in pain, stumbled a bit, but then turned to renew its attack. The stumble had given Almonihah time to draw another arrow, and this time the monster didn't turn aside as the arrow plunged into the roof of its mouth.

Still it refused to fall, but rather stood there and shook its head, foul smoke trickling from its mouth as the magic on the arrow burned its flesh. Calmly, Almonihah drew and fired again. This time, it dropped, an arrow in its eye. Almonihah considered his kill for a moment, but decided to just travel on. If it got to its feet and chased after him again, he'd just kill it more thoroughly next time, and if it went the other way, well, the Ranger on the Line would kill it more thoroughly. And if it really was dead, he was saving himself some time by not making more certain it wasn't going to get back up.

*********

So, I realized I mislabeled the last post. I've now fixed it. THIS is the start of chapter 16. So I've now gone back and fixed that.

In other news, I'm hoping to get back to the Saturday update schedule. Hopefully I'll keep up with it this time.

Chapter 15-7

Almonihah had a vague idea of what he wanted to do, but he needed to do some research first. He started by asking around the fire at night for more stories about Falloen Surebow. As the half-dragon had expected, he didn't get a whole lot of information he could trust, but it did further awaken his curiosity.

What he really wanted was something that Falloen had written. He asked Imlloen about it, and was rather surprised to find that he'd actually written a journal which was still in existence. He was a bit less surprised when he learned that some magic had been involved in its preservation. Imlloen seemed a bit reluctant when Almonihah asked to look at it, but he allowed the half-dragon to read it after some strong warnings about what not to do with it.

Almonihah spent as much time over the next week with the journal as he could. He had to get some paper and writing materials for himself for taking notes. If the other Rangers guessed what he was up to, they said nothing, though they did give some odd looks at times.

It was only when he started trying to requisition supplies that Imlloen called him in.

“Almonihah,” Imlloen said when the half-dragon entered his office, “Just what do you think you're doing?”

“Planning t' cross th' Madlands,” Almonihah responded, meeting the Commander's stern gaze unflinchingly.

The elf sighed. “You know I can't support that, and that means the Rangers won't supply you.”

Almonihah just shrugged.

Imlloen stood up explosively and spat out an Elvish oath. “Almonihah, I lose enough Rangers just holding the Line. I can't afford to lose another one to crossing it.” He wasn't quite shouting, but his sudden anger was startling.

“'m done with the Line for a while, 'nd I'm not going t' get myself killed,” Almonihah growled back.

Imlloen slammed his palm on his desk. “That's right, you're not, because you're not going to cross the Madlands. You're not even going to cross the Line! If you're so tired of the Line, you can go north, but I am not going to let a Ranger go kill himself just because he thinks he's Falloen.”

Almonihah's response was as much a growl as speech. “'m not Falloen. I know what t' watch for, thanks t' him, so I'll have a better chance at 't.”

“Do you have any idea how long it's been since Falloen crossed the Madlands? Centuries! Thinking that Falloen's journal gives you some kind of edge is exactly the sort of thing that will get you killed!”

“'nd that's another reason I need t' go. We don't have a clue what's going on. 'nd something is.”

“And you're the one to do the job, huh?”

Almonihah shrugged. “Got any other volunteers?”

The office was silent for a long moment. Finally, the elf slid back into his chair with a sigh.

“I'll have to think about it, Almonihah,” he said. “I still think you've got a good chance of getting yourself killed, but from what I've seen of you, you'd go off and do this without Ranger support. And Naishia knows, we need to know what's going on in the Madlands that's making so many Madness-Touched come across the Line.” Imlloen sighed, then waved a hand dismissively. “I'll give you a decision next morning. Just... let me think about this.”

Imlloen called Almonihah in again the next morning. The Ranger Commander looked like he'd hardly slept.

“Your first priority will be coming back alive,” he said without preamble as the half-dragon walked in.

Almonihah snorted in amused agreement.

“Your other priority will be seeing what's changed since Falloen's time, especially anything that might hint at why the Madness-Touched are coming across the Line in such numbers.” Imlloen paused for Almonihah to nod in acknowledgement, then continued, “But I don't care what you think, if you get the slightest hint that you won't be able to complete the crossing, you come back here as fast as you can. You do this, and you can have whatever supplies you need.”

Almonihah nodded again. Imlloen looked the half-dragon in the eye and said, “Do I have your word?”

“You have my word,” Almonihah responded, evenly.

The elf held his gaze for a long moment, then sighed and said, “I still have deep reservations about this, but... you're right about one thing. We've gotten too complacent about just holding the Line. We need to know more about what we're up against, see if there isn't something more we can do. I still feel like you're going to get yourself killed, but someone needs to take a look on the other side of the line, and you've got about as good a chance as coming back as anyone else I can think of.” He was silent for another moment, then said, “Go talk the the quartermaster and get what you need. See me again before you leave, though.”

The half-dragon nodded one last time, then turned and walked out the door. Just before he closed the door behind him, Imlloen said, “Just... come back alive, Almonihah.”

It took Almonihah the rest of the day to prepare. He would need a lot of food and water—Falloen's writings suggested that even the water in the Madlands was tainted, and was to be drunk only when heavily diluted, and even then only at the edges of the Madlands. Eating anything from the Madlands was out of the question.

The next day dawned bright and clear, a beautiful spring morning. By now, the everyone at the Headquarters knew exactly what he was doing, and while some of them still tried to dissuade him, most responded to his farewells with their own well-wishes. Imlloen settled for a few last admonitions, and he even walked outside to watch the half-dragon walk from camp.

Almonihah glanced back, a bit surprised at the response to his departure, then focused his gaze on the south. A good day's travel would put him at the Line, and after that... the Madlands.

*******

Christmas Eve post! Though... it's not a particularly Christmas-y post. Oh, well.

So who thinks what Almonihah is doing is a good idea?

Chapter 15-6

Almonihah wasn’t sure how many days it was before the first Ranger courier came by. It must have been weeks, though. He’d fallen so quickly into a routine that he’d lost track of time. You wouldn’t think that living in constant fear for your life, waking and sleeping, could become routine, but it had. It was still simultaneously terrifying and exciting at times, but somehow that was part of the routine, too.

Almonihah reported Lonan’s death, as well as the number of Javni’Tolkhrah he’d killed, to the courier. He said no when the courier asked if he needed a relief, and his only request when the courier asked what supplies he needed was for more arrows. The Ranger courier pulled a bundle of arrows out of his pack and handed them to Almonihah, and then was on his way.

The time passed swiftly. Seasons came and went, but they seemed not to matter so much this far south. Sometimes snow would be further down the mountainsides, and sometimes it was further up or just gone, but Almonihah paid it little mind. Hunting the Javni’Tolkhrah took almost all his concentration.

One thing the half-dragon found interesting was just how literal the Line was. He could tell the instant he stepped into the Madlands—there was a palpable difference in the air, in the light, in… everything. It was hard to put a claw on exactly what was so different, but it was a difference that he couldn’t miss.

At first, he stayed well away from the Madlands, even letting Javni’Tolkhrah who he’d been pursuing go if they crossed the Line. Then there was one who’d injured him that he just couldn’t let go. Once he brought it down, he realized he’d been in the Madlands for several minutes. Almonihah quickly returned to the other side of the Line, but not before he started thinking.

The Rangers had few tales of what went on in the Madlands—just what Falloen Surebow had learned in his time crossing them so many years ago, combined with a few observations from Rangers on the edges. They knew that normal animals that wandered south eventually came back north as twisted monstrosities. They knew that there was something… wrong about the very air and ground in the Madlands. Beyond that, there were just the stories from Falloen, about how, deep in the Madlands, even the land under your feet changed from stone to dirt to water.

So Almonihah started straying over the line sometimes. He never went far, and certainly never ate or slept on the other side of the Line, but he explored around a little. He still couldn’t figure out just what was different in the Madlands, just that something was subtly… wrong.

It had been winter once when Almonihah started to feel the fatigue setting in. Being constantly on edge like this took its toll, even for someone used to being watchful. The next time the courier came by, Almonihah asked for a relief. This was exactly why there were always a few Rangers around the Headquarters—no one could stay on the Line forever. It just wore you down.

It was about a month before another Ranger came to relieve Almonihah. The half-dragon was glad enough for the break by then. He’d had a couple of close calls that shouldn’t have been as close as they had been.

Traveling back to the Headquarters was uneventful. He reported to Imlloen when he got back. After the report, Imlloen asked him what he planned to do now.

“Not sure,” the half-dragon replied. “Guess I’ll stay here for a while ‘nd figure out.”

*****

Gasp! Another post! Amazing, isn’t it?

Anyway, this is a bit shorter of a post, but it sets things up for the next chapter, which is an important one. And then the chapter after that, Almonihah finally meets Zakhin’Dakh, and that will be a lot of fun.

Chapter 15-5

The quartermaster gave Almonihah’s new armor on odd look, but other than that just gave him the equipment he asked for. More arrows, a leather shirt to go over his armor, a new pack, waterskin, a few other little necessities. He also picked up a new sword, a plain, serviceable blade, to replace the one he’d left with the Griffon Tribe. Then, once he felt ready, he set off to his post.

It took three days to reach the general area he was supposed to watch. It was a pass in the mountains that edged this part of the Madlands, high enough to be only warm instead of hot, even this far south. An important post, where many of the Javni’Tolkhrah who were wandering north would go. That was probably how Lonan had died… if the Javni’Tolkhrah were more active than usual this year, this area would have been hit hard. Of course, it was quiet right now…

Almonihah narrowed his eyes. It was too quiet. There weren’t even the normal animal noises he’d expect in a wooded area like this.

Slowly, he pulled out his bow and knocked an arrow. Then the half-dragon cautiously advanced, his senses alert for the slightest hint of trouble. His first hint was the softest hint of a sound, so quiet it was barely there. Almonihah gave no sign he heard it save for a slow rotation of his head.

There it was. A flash of movement seen out of the corner of his eye. The thing was stalking him. Almonihah held still, and so did it. He slowly pulled back on his bow. Then suddenly he snapped erect and fired off an arrow at the same moment the creature jumped at him.

He didn’t quite get out of its way in time, and grunted a bit as he felt the impact on his shoulder. He was able to twist away instead of getting knocked over, however, and drew Zithrandrak as he turned to face the beast. He soon saw there was no need. The Javni’Tolkhrah, which he now saw was some sort of giant wolf-thing with a scorpion tail and huge claws on its feet, was twitching on the ground, an arrow buried in its eye. Faint wisps of steam rose from the socket, a testament to the powerful magic the bow had bestowed on the arrow. Just to be sure, Almonihah stabbed Zithrandrak through the thing’s head. It stopped twitching.

That done, Almonihah slowly searched around the area in case there were other Javni’Tolkhrah around. He doubted it, but it was better to be cautious than dead. He didn’t see any signs of other monsters, but he did stumble across an old campsite. Following some tracks from the camp led him to Lonan… or what was left of him.

One glance was enough to tell him it wasn’t the wolf-thing that had gotten to him. The kill was old, but no scavengers had dared touch him with the taint of Jivenesh about. Even decay seemed slow to set in. The tracks gave away the time, however—more than a week, if Zrathanzon had taught him anything about reading such things. What was clear, however, was that it was a much larger beast that had killed the other Ranger. From the tracks, Almonihah could tell it had gone north… of course.

The half-dragon frowned. He was faced with a dilemma here. There was an obviously powerful Javni’Tolkhrah headed north. It had at least a week’s head start on him. He had little doubt he could catch up in time, but it would take him away from the Line…

Almonihah sighed. He had to stay here. Whatever that creature did, it would be worse if this pass was open for another three weeks or however long it would take him to hunt it down and then get back. All kinds of Javni’Tolkhrah could slip through in that time. He’d just have to hope another Ranger got to it before it managed to find its way into populated lands. At least it was loose in the Lost Sea area instead of Khinet.

The half-dragon growled a bit in frustration as he turned back south. He couldn’t worry about that now. His job was to make sure nothing else got through.

******

Well, I finally posted again! Sorry it’s been so long. I plan on posting a fair amount over Christmas break, here. Maybe not enough to make up for lost time, but at least enough to finish up this (long) chapter.

Chapter 15-4

It didn't take long for the beasts to realize that this was a bad place to be. When Almonihah finally stepped out of the tree-shrine, the only fell-wolves in sight were the four he'd felled. Almonihah looked around for a bit, then turned back to the tree and said, a bit gruffly, “Thanks,” before continuing on his way South.

The Northern Ranger Order Headquarters looked pretty much the same as when he had left it, just a few rough log structures in a small clearing in the forest. He'd already passed the sentry, and was headed toward the cabin that was Commander Imlloen's 'office'.

The elf commander looked up as Almonihah entered. “Almonihah,” he said in greeting.

“Commander,” he responded.

“Are you here to do better than your old lizard of a teacher at reporting in?”

Almonihah grunted in acknowledgement of the joke. “That, and join th' Line.”

Imlloen was silent for a moment, looking at the half-dragon. “Well, we could certainly use you,” he finally said.

The elf started pulling out some pieces of paper and looking at the map on his wall. “We're stretched thin right now, Almonihah. I won't lie to you. It's been a hard year, like something has the Madness-Touched all charging out of the Madlands all at once...”

He paused for a moment, then pointed to a dot on the map. “Here,” Imlloen said. “The Ranger assigned to this stretch” he indicated a small part of the red Line next to the dot, “hasn't been heard from for three weeks. In case you don't know, that usually means he's dead.”

The Ranger Commander sighed. “See if you can find him, or what's left of him, while you're manning your post. A human by the name of Lonan. Wears some boiled leather, carries an ax and a bow.”

Almonihah nodded. “Anything else?”

“Go talk to Kina. You look like you need some equipment replaced.”

Almonihah nodded again. After a moment of silence, he turned to leave. He heard Imlloen get up and open something behind him.

“Almonihah,” he called out.

The half-dragon turned just in time to see a shirt of chain mail flying at him. He instinctively caught it.

“Put that on. Not all of us want to see so much of your scales.”

Almonihah grunted in acknowledgement, then turned to leave again. He looked at the mail shirt as he did so. It seemed too small to fit him, but... he tried anyway. He was rather surprised to find it slip on easily, almost like it was made of cloth. Examining it, he realized it was forged not of well-polished steel as he first had thought, but of mithril.

“Too bright,” he muttered to himself—and was startled to see the brilliant links fade until they were even duller than the leather of his pants. He dropped the corner he was holding and noted that it didn't even clink as it hit his scales. Almonihah glanced back over his shoulder, as if to ask Imlloen if he knew what he'd given away, but then just grunted and made his way to the quartermaster's cabin. There was no way the elf had given something like this to him by accident.

*****

Well, I remembered to post this time. Just didn't quite do it on Saturday.

Chapter 15-3

Once he picked himself up off of the ground and looked around, he saw that the tree was much bigger on the inside than the outside. The interior reminded him of some kind of shrine, but one that had been grown rather than built. He could see outside through several archways which seemed to be somehow naturally formed by the tree. Almonihah started when he saw that there were fell-wolves prowling around outside, but it quickly became clear that they didn't realize the arches were there.

Now that he had a bit of time to calm down, the half-dragon thought he knew more or less what this was. He'd heard stories about sacred places of Naishia hidden in the wilderness—valleys that could only be entered once, groves hidden behind waterfalls, and so on. No one knew if they were the work of long-dead Druids, or if Naishia herself had created them as refuges for her followers in their times of need. Certainly this one was serving him as such right now.

The fell-wolves didn't seem to be giving up easily, though. They were sniffing all around the perimeter of the tree, trying to figure out why his trail ended right at its edge. From what he knew of fell-wolves, it might be all day before they gave up and hunted for easier prey. He was kind of surprised to feel a little bit of pity for them. Their ancestors had once been like other wolves, like the ones he had run with, but now they were... twisted. Almonihah wondered what had happened to them. Something to do with Jivenesh, no doubt.

Now, though, what he had to worry about was whether or not he was going to sit here all day waiting for them to go. If he had a bow, he'd be able to convince them to leave fairly quickly from his unassailable position, but his bow was back with the Griffon Tribe. And it wasn't like there was going to be a bow just lying around here or anything.

Almonihah blinked. Or maybe there would be. Not only a bow, but a quiver, were leaning against one of the arches.

He went over to look at them. The quiver looked rather plain, but when he looked inside, it appeared to contain far more arrows than a quiver of its size should be able to. The bow, on the other hand, was a work of art. Its limbs were intricately carved with images of animals and forests. The one image that was repeated the most frequently was a unicorn rampant, just like the one that hung from his neck—one of the many symbols for Naishia.

Almonihah murmured a quiet thanks to Her as he picked up the bow and nocked an arrow. He slowly pulled back, testing the bow. It had just the right amount of resistance, not so much it was hard to aim, but not so little that he couldn't apply his full strength to it.

He carefully aimed at one of the fell-wolves. He paused for a moment, unsure of whether or not the arrow would go through or if he'd find the inside of the arches as solid as they seemed to the beasts outside, but then shrugged mentally and decided to loose his arrow anyway.

It flew from the bow with even greater speed than his strength and the pull of the bow could account for. When it struck the fell-wolf, there was a searing flash of light, and the creature collapsed, the fur around the arrow's fletching singed from whatever magic the bow had imparted to the arrow.

The fell-wolves jumped back from where their fellow had fallen, looking around warily for the source of the threat. Almonihah grunted in satisfaction as he watched them. They still couldn't see him. He drew another arrow.

****

It's the origin of Almonihah's bow! Huzzah!

Sorry I missed a couple weeks. I'll do better now!

Chapter 15-2

He slowly accelerated his pace, and he could hear and smell and... sense, somehow, the fell-wolves shift to follow him. They were slowly closing their trap, moving to flank and eventually surround him.

There! Some thicker underbrush, the kind that he might be able to shake them in. He suddenly broke into a sprint and dove into the brush. Almonihah didn't slow, using what he had learned over the past year to weave his way through the dense vegetation. He could tell that the fell-wolves were having trouble keeping up with him, but he couldn't count on that lasting.

For example, he could run out of the brush into a clearing. He didn't have to glance back to tell that the beasts weren't far behind him, so the half-dragon pushed himself to the utmost to cross the clearing before they reached it.

Almonihah just barely made it. Unfortunately, the underbrush wasn't as thick on the other side, so he doubted he would be able to keep ahead of them for long.

He was quite surprised when he put his hand on a tree to push off of and instead fell into it.

*******************

Another shorter post, but at least I wrote something!

Chapter 15-1

Chapter 15: Line

Almonihah entered the valley of the Lost Sea late in the spring. He saw now, as he had not fully seen before, just how wondrous of a place it was, an untouched wilderness with a bewildering variety of life. He had to remind himself that some of those forms of life might want to eat him as he descended from the mountains into the valley. Just because he appreciated them didn't mean they couldn't be deadly.

It was the scent that first warned him of danger. Similar to his wolf friends he had spent last spring with, but somehow subtly wrong. Instantly, Almonihah was on alert, all his senses straining to find the source of danger and a place of safety.

There! A flash of movement, a soft footfall. He was being followed. He drew Zithrandrak and kept walking forward, looking for some kind of shelter in the forest. He was not equipped to fight a pack of fell-wolves. It was odd for such a pack to be here... but the half-dragon didn't have time to think about why, just how he was going to live.

*******

Sorry for the lateness and shortness of this post. I've been spending the last week or so getting... reacquainted with school. And my friends out here.

I'm not really happy with the title of this chapter, but I couldn't come up with a better one. Oh, well. That's why this is a rough draft.

Chapter 14-5

Almonihah had almost reached the peaks of the Dragon's Teeth, and beyond them the Lost Sea, when the first snows started to fall. While they weren't bad now, the half-dragon knew he should seek shelter before the storm got worse. Luckily—though he wondered if there was really any luck involved—he could see a cave in a nearby mountainside. He headed up the slope toward it.

It wasn't a particularly large cave, but it did have a bend in it which hid the back part from the entrance. In spite of that, Almonihah was sure he should have seen some sign of the bear before he came face to face with it. Later, he would chalk that up to just another of the weird things that had been going on during his quest.

For now, however, he was much more worried about not being mauled by an angry bear. At first he simply avoided it, but he knew that he couldn't keep that up forever. He could just leave, but somehow that didn't just feel right. Which left just one thing to do.

The next time it charged at him, he sidestepped it again and then jumped on its back.

He wrapped his arms around its neck and used all his strength to cut off the flow of air or blood or whatever he could to its head so it would fall unconscious. It took quite a bit of grim endurance to hold on, especially when the bear started ramming him against the sides of the cave.

Fortunately, it gave out before he did. First it slowed down, and then it slowly toppled to the ground. Quickly, the half-dragon looked it over. It wouldn't be knocked out for long, but it felt like he wasn't done here.

Something caught his eye about one of its paws. Lifting it, he saw there was a large thorn embedded in it... which was odd, given that there weren't any plants with large thorns around. Pushing aside that thought, he quickly pulled it out. He realized he didn't have anything to bandage it, so instead, he lifted the symbol of Naishia around his neck—the very one Llinos had been carving for him so many years ago, now finished by his hands—and murmured the one spell-prayer of healing he'd learned from the old Druid.

He felt the familiar wash of fatigue flow through him along with the healing power of the spell-prayer. He'd never practiced channeling Naishia's power like this, so even simple things like this tended to tire him out. This time seemed worse than usual, though—so much so that he had to steady himself against the bear with one hand when he was done. Which was a somewhat awkward position to be in when he noticed the bear's eyes were open again.

This time, however, it didn't seem at all angry. In fact, once it was back on its feet (and Almonihah had back away to a respectful distance), it ambled back towards the back of its cave, looking once over its shoulder as if to see if the half-dragon was following. With a bit of a disbelieving shake of his head, he did.

Once it reached the dark, sheltered back of the cave, the bear promptly settled down and went to sleep. Almonihah, feeling both the aches and bruises from their little wrestling match and the fatigue from healing its paw, decided to follow suit. Without really thinking about why, he settled down against the furry side of the bear and closed his eyes.

Normally, Almonihah woke almost instantly from sleep to alertness. It was a necessary survival skill in the wilderness. This time, however, he felt like he was languidly swimming up through layers of half-seen, half-remembered dreams. As he woke more fully he realized he had dreamed quite a lot that night, and not of the things he usually did, either.

He opened his eyes and stretched slowly. He felt good. Better than he had even before getting banged around by a bear, in fact, which was odd, as it seemed like he should still be bruised all over from his experience. Carefully he stood, noting again that he didn't feel the least bit sore anywhere, and walked outside.

It was spring.

Well, he was fairly certain it was spring. At least, there wasn't any snow on the ground, and the flowers were blooming, which was usually a sign that it was no longer winter. The half-dragon blinked in momentary incomprehension. Had he slept through the entire winter? And for that matter, where was the bear? He realized now it hadn't been there anymore when he'd awoken.

Slowly Almonihah sat down to think. He thought of the last year, of what he'd seen and heard and done. And he thought of what he'd dreamed. Gradually, a certainty began to form in his mind.

The Ranger stood and turned south and east. His Vision Quest was now over. It was time to go to the Line, and defend the life he'd been a part of for all of his life.

******

Sorry I didn't post this earlier... I had it written on Thursday but I just forgot to post it until today.

This is the end of chapter 14. If the last bit has a been a bit too slow and contemplative for your liking, well, things should pick up a bit in the next few chapters. And you'll soon meet Zakhin'Dakh!

Do note that Almonihah deliberately withheld the contents of his dreams.

Chapter 14-4

Almonihah headed towards the mountains across the plains. As he traveled, he had a lot of time to reflect, both on his time with the wolves and on other matters. He was rather surprised to find that he had truly learned much from the pack. He... looked a bit differently at the world, now. Being with the wolves had made him realize... something. Or maybe some things. It was hard to put into words exactly what it was. Just... how many different ways there were to think of life, perhaps.

Part of his new way of looking at the world was watching just how the different animals lived their lives. Of course, during his time with Zrathanzon, he had learned a lot about the behaviors and such of different animals, but it had been from the perspective of an outsider, not as one trying to see through their eyes.

Almonihah could tell that summer was starting to turn to autumn as he reached the mountains. The heat of summer was not yet gone, but there was a hint of coolness in the wind.

His path led him up one of the mountains. The half-dragon had always enjoyed the exertion and challenge of climbing mountains, and that certainly had not changed. He did, however, note just how many other things lived on the rocky slopes he traversed.

It took him a couple of days to reach the top of the mountain. This one was not so high that it had snow at this time of year, but the half-dragon could feel the chill in the air, and guess at how thin it was from his breathing. He looked back for a moment at the great plains, and all they contained, then turned to the way he would go. There was a sheltered valley on the other side of the peak he stood on, still green despite the hot, dry times of the late summer. Some mountain streams from the taller, still snow-capped peaks must feed into it.

As he descended into the valley, Almonihah noticed a number of eagles flying over it. After watching for a few minutes, he realized that they must nest somewhere down the mountainside from where he now was.

It took the half-dragon a few hours to reach their nests. Following the same impulse that had lead him here, he carefully made his way right up to one until he stood only a few feet away from it. The eagle who was presently roosting there glanced up at him, caught his eye for a moment, then went back to preening its feathers. Almonihah snorted softly. Looked like he was supposed to be here.

The half-dragon could not fly with the eagles, though a part of him longed to do so. Regardless, he stayed up near the nests for almost a week, though he had to spend a fair amount of time hunting and foraging for food and water. The rest of the time, he watched and he thought, trying to see the world through the eyes of the eagles.

Soon enough, he knew it was time to move on. He descended into the valley, then headed south. His path took him back out of the valley and down into another, again and again as he made his way south.

******

This section was a bit hard to put into words. Also, Almonihah doesn't quite want to talk about everything he did, so if it seems vague, that's why.

Chapter 14-3

Wolves do not count days like men. The months and days do not matter to them, only the slow turning of seasons, and they have their own signs independent of the count of days. So it was that Almonihah could only guess at how long he had been with the pack from the fact that the summer days were still long and hot. Now, however, it was night, and the wind was cool on his scales and in the fur of his friends.

He looked at the pack, thinking on the days and weeks he had spent with them. That first day he'd gone hunting with them. Or rather, tried to go hunting with them. After chasing the big female and then following the pack, he'd been too exhausted to really do anything useful. Slowly, however, he'd learned to keep up with the wolves without tiring himself so badly, as well as simply built his endurance up.

Hunting with the pack was wholly different from the way he hunted on his own. Instead of using weapons or traps or tricks, he worked with the pack to bring down prey, using his own claws and teeth just as the wolves did. While he didn't think he'd do it when he was on his own, Almonihah felt that it was... right, for this time.

Of course, there had been a couple times when he had drawn Zithrandrak. Several times he had stayed with the pack's cubs and the adults left to care for them, and twice they had been attacked by some of the more dangerous creatures of the North Forest. Both times he had driven them back with his blade.

Those had been the only times he had done something the wolves couldn't do, though. The rest of his stay had been spent doing everything they did do. He did, however, still retain his separate status, traveling with the pack, but not truly one of them. The one thing he had not joined in with was exactly what they were doing this night—howling together, yelling their companionship to the moon overhead.

With a bit of a grin, he decided he'd quit being such a stranger. Stepping out in the middle of the pack, he threw his head back and roared.

The next morning, the pack was gone.

He looked around briefly for some sign of their passing, but the clearing was as untouched as if no animal had ever entered it. Shaking his head a bit, and wondering what exactly Naishia was up to with him, Almonihah turned south and west. He could feel it was time to move on.

********

I debated a bit on how to write this part, and I eventually decided that I liked the feel of writing it from the perspective of Almonihah's last night with the pack. I didn't think it would have worked to give a continuous narrative of his time with the wolves.

Another consideration is that, quite frankly, Almonihah didn't want to tell everything. I don't think he left anything major out here, but... well, keep an eye out for things. You may be able to figure out when some things happened that he didn't want to speak of.

Chapter 14-2

Almonihah walked north, deep in thought. When he'd discussed going on a Vision Quest with Owl Talon, he'd asked where he would go on it. The old shaman had answered only that he would know. The odd thing was, somehow, he did. He didn't know where exactly he was going or what he would find, but the half-dragon was certain that for now, he was supposed to head north.

Just living was harder as he traveled. Zithrandrak wasn't exactly a good hunting weapon, and there weren't a lot of plants on the plains that had edible parts. However, Zrathanzon had taught him some techniques for situations in which he'd lost his equipment, and if though they were difficult and slow compared to bow-hunting, they still worked well enough.

Almonihah was just looking for a spot to lay down for the night several days after leaving the Griffon Tribe when he saw a big, gray wolf looking at him. He paused for a moment, trying to decide if she was a threat, and decided she was not. He was about to turn away when he realized that she was still looking at him. There seemed to be an almost expectant air about the wolf, as if she was waiting for something.

He met her eyes. They held each other's gaze for a few moments, then the big wolf turned towards the north. Then she looked back over her shoulder at Almonihah, as if to see if he was following. He stood for a moment, then started after her. Once she was satisfied that the half-dragon was, indeed, following, she started walking north, towards the nearby forest. After a minute or two, her walk turned into a trot, and then a run, and Almonihah found himself pushing himself as hard as he could to keep up.

She didn't slow when she reached the forest.

He lost sight of the wolf not long after entering the forest. Almonihah kept going the way she'd been heading, hoping he could catch up again, but there was no way he could plunge between trees and under fallen logs the way she had. His pace was just starting to flag when he felt something bump his back. He turned just in time to see the wolf shoot past him, flicking him with her tail as she passed. Almonihah grumbled under his breath as he chased after.

The half-dragon wasn't sure how long he followed the wolf, sometimes losing sight of her, sometimes catching sight of her looking back at him with an expression that he was sure meant she was laughing at him. Finally, she darted through some thick undergrowth. Almonihah growled mentally, since he was too out of breath to do so out loud, and broke through it.

He came out into a large clearing to find himself ringed by wolves. The one he'd been chasing was standing next to an even larger male, looking at the half-dragon with that same amused expression. The wolves surrounding him seemed... expectant, somehow, as if they'd known somehow he was coming and were now waiting to see what would happen.

The big male, however, wasn't waiting for anything. He stepped forward, growling low in his throat, as he sized up this creature that had entered his territory. Defiantly, Almonihah growled back, crouching down a bit, poised to move in any direction. Slowly, the wolf circled him, and he started circling as well. As he did, the half-dragon's mind worked furiously, trying to figure out what he was supposed to be doing here. It was clear the female had led him here, and that was not an ordinary thing for a wolf to do.

He thought back on the tales of Vision Quests Owl Talon had told him. Most involved animals behaving in unusual ways... often, the quester would speak with the animals, and the animals would speak back. Somehow Almonihah knew instinctively that this was not the case here. What was he...

The wolf leaped forward, jaws snapping. Almonihah sidestepped, but didn't strike back. While the tales sometimes involved fighting beasts, they were always animals or monsters that were tainted or evil somehow, and while this wolf had just tried to bite him, that didn't make him evil. Instead, it seemed he had more just been testing Almonihah, as he returned now to his slow circling.

So what was he supposed to do? He'd obviously been led here, first by just a feeling, and then by that female... hmmm... what was the purpose of what was going on now? It was kind of like... the big male wanted to establish... dominance over him? Almonihah knew something of wolves, and he had a vague idea that the lead wolf did that to other wolves in his pack. So was this whole thing to establish Almonihah's place in the pack?

“Hey,” Almonihah growled at the wolf still circling him, “I'll travel with you, hunt with you... but I'm not one of you. You will not command me. Got it?”

The big wolf seemed unimpressed, instead lunging again at the half-dragon. Again, Almonihah dodged the attack, but did not strike back. This time the wolf tried again, and then once more, to bite him, but the half-dragon was too quick, and his teeth snapped on empty air.

And then, suddenly, the wolf relaxed and quit growling. This time, he approached Almonihah slowly, his eyes watchful, but with no intent to harm. Slowly Almonihah relaxed as well, allowing the lead male to near him. He neared the half-dragon, and then sniffed him, taking in the creature's odd scent, the dry smell of a lizard, with a faint trace of ozone, and a hint of man. Suddenly it seemed that the whole pack joined in, and Almonihah found himself surrounded and jostled by a number of eager wolves and their noses. He supposed this meant he'd been accepted, and the pack was getting to know the smell of its newest not-quite-member.

Well, all except one. As he was twisting and turning, trying to keep his feet as some of the more enthusiastic wolves pushed their way around him, Almonihah noted the big female still standing apart from the bustle, watching him.

She still looked like she was laughing at him.

******

So, perfectly ordinary wolf pack, right? Okay, not really. Exactly what was going on with these wolves, I'm not sure. I have my suspicions, but... *Shrugs*

In other news... I'm going to try to update regularly from now on. Once a week on Saturday, to be exact. But, I'm more likely to hold myself to that if someone else lets me know they're holding me to it. So if I miss a week, bug me about it!

One other thing. I think I've forgotten to mention that Almonihah does still have that symbol of Naishia with him.

Chapter 14-1

Chapter 14: Vision

Having a goal in mind made the time pass swiftly. Indeed, it seemed the winter snows came and went in the blink of an eye, until Almonihah found himself standing at the edge of the village, saying farewell to the Griffon Tribe. Because he did not expect to return, the Ranger made gifts to the villagers of his equipment. His longsword he entrusted to Griffon Heart, who accepted it solemnly and voiced his thanks. His other things he distributed to the rest of the tribe as he would.

At last, he came to Owl Talon. All Almonihah had left was a small bag. He handed it to the old Plainsman and said, gruffly, “Here. Figure you can do something with 't.”

Glancing in it, the shaman could see that it contained a variety of dried herbs. With a gentle nod and a smile, he said, “I believe I can, young dragon.” Closing the bag and straightening, he continued, speaking this time to be heard by all, “And now I have a gift for you, young Almonihah Zrathanzon. As you will likely not return to us at the end of your quest, I would give you your name now.”

“The name I give to you, and the name you shall be known by among all the Tribe of the Griffon, is Thunder Heart.”

The unusual declaration, as well as the unusual name, caused a bit of whispered conversation among the assembled tribespeople. Almonihah, however, simply murmured, “Thunder Heart,” to himself, thinking it over.

“And there is one last thing I would say to you,” Owl Talon said, more quietly. He took the half-dragon aside, far enough that no one else could hear, then said, “There are many reasons for your name, but I would have you think on this.”

“Two wolves dwell in you. One hunts eternally for the thrill of the kill. The other hunts only to eat, and fights only to protect.” The old shaman paused for a moment, leaning forward slightly and reaching up to place his hand on Almonihah's shoulder. “Have a care which one you feed, young dragon.”

After another moment of silence, Owl Talon returned to the watching Plainsmen. Almonihah looked back at them, nodded in farewell, and then turned North, walking off with only Zithrandrak to accompany him.

*******

Yeah, I stole the whole "two wolves" thing from a Church News. So what. At least I gave it credit. In seriousness, though, it was just one of those times when I read something and said, "That fits Almonihah perfectly". So it ended up in his history.

Other than that, now we get to Almonihah's Vision Quest. Expect the next couple sections to involve... unusual events. Of course, this is Draezoln, so it's only unusual to us.

Chapter 13-3

Almonihah didn't leave the village, but neither did he particularly feel like staying. He tried to figure out why he wasn't going anywhere as he aimlessly wandered through the days and weeks. It wasn't as if he really wanted to live in a place like this... while he'd grown to respect the Griffon Tribe's ways during his time with them, the idea of staying in one area and doing the same routine year after year just grated on him.

At the same time, he finally admitted to himself late in the autumn, he didn't really have anywhere he wanted to go. He'd been thinking about going south to the Line, but in all honesty, that had just been for lack of a better idea. No, he didn't want to go somewhere he'd be stuck for a while doing the same thing every day, whether here with the tribe or south at the Line. So... basically, he wanted to go anywhere, but there wasn't anywhere he wanted to go.

He snorted at his own thoughts.

The first snows were falling when he finally realized what he'd wanted to do for the last several months. The tribe was gathered to hear a tale from Owl Talon, as was apparently their tradition when the first snow fell. As many of their tales did, it related the story of a young man on his Vision Quest, and the many experiences he had during it.

After the tale was done, Almonihah was able to catch up with Owl Talon out of sight and hearing of the other Plainsmen. The old shaman turned and looked up at the half-dragon with one of his mysterious smiles.

“Is there something you wish, young dragon?” he asked.

Almonihah was quiet for a while, trying to decide how to approach the subject. Finally, he asked, “How d' you go on a Vision Quest?”

Owl Talon nodded, as if this was the most natural question in the world... or one he'd been expecting for a long time. “First, I would have you understand that most Vision Quests are not nearly so dramatic as those in our tales.” He waited for Almonihah's nod before continuing. “To begin a Vision Quest, the young man in question must leave behind all of his possessions except a single weapon.”

Almonihah nodded. That much he'd been able to pick up from the stories.

“After that, he must leave the village until he knows it is time to return. Although,” Owl Talon paused, “You most likely will not be returning to us for quite some time. Regardless, he must then travel out into the wilds, and there... follow the direction of the Earth Mother.”

The half-dragon nodded slowly. “'nd you leave in th' Spring.”

Owl Talon nodded.

“Guess I'm here until then.”

*****'

The end of Chapter 13! Yeah, in future revisions, I'm pretty sure chapters 12 and 13 will be condensed into one short chapter.

So, thing should pick back up after this. Hopefully I'll write more now, since the next part is much more interesting.

Chapter 13-2

Almonihah did, indeed, leave with the hunting party the next morning. It was a group of about twenty Plainsmen, along with a few Plainswomen. They were quite glad to have the half-dragon along, though it was clear to him that they still maintained some of the superstitious awe that nearly the whole tribe had showed towards him when he first arrived. By now, Almonihah had more or less learned to ignore it, but it still bothered him just a bit.

The made camp not far from the North Forest, and then set out to hunt. Some days they hunted the plains, searching for the great herds that traveled the area. Almonihah found that, while he was competent enough, there was still much he could learn from the Plainsmen about the Plains and the beasts that wandered it. Some days, the hunted the Forest, and then it was the Ranger who was the teacher, and the Plainsmen the learners.

The time passed swiftly. Soon, several weeks had passed, and the days were no longer so long. The herds were moving south, and the Plainsmen returned to their village. Almonihah went with them, still not quite certain where else he wished to go.

Owl Talon met the half-dragon when the hunting party returned to the village. “I see you have returned to us,” the old Plainsman said, a bit of a mysterious smile in his tone and on his face.

Almonihah's response was a nod and a grunt.

The Shaman nodded as well, as if he had been expecting that precise response. “Perhaps you will remain with us through the winter? Already it is fall, and the first snows will come not long from now.”

“Maybe,” was the half-dragon's terse reply.

******

A short section, but at least I'm posting something! I debated back and forth and decided I'd just keep this short. No real need to get into specifics with this section. That, and I want to get done with this chapter to get to the next one, since half of this chapter's reason for existence is next chapter.

Chapter 13-1

Chapter 13: Wisdom

Almonihah wasn't really thinking about his little encounter with Owl Talon during the night when he awakened. The Plainsmen rose with the sun, just as Almonihah usually did. The half-dragon started looking for the Chief once it seemed like the village was awake. He was intercepted by a young Plainsman whose job was apparently to make sure the honored guest had breakfast. He assured the honored guest that he would help Almonihah find the Chief after he had discharged that duty. He wasn't in any particular hurry to talk with Griffon Heart, so Almonihah agreed.

After a breakfast of bison meat and some simple cakes of wheat flour, his Plainsman guide took him to the Chief, who apparently customarily had people come to him at this hour. He had to wait for a bit while he talked with a woman about something—about her son hunting or something—and then the Chief turned his attention to Almonihah.

“I trust that you found nothing amiss with our hospitality?” He asked.

Almonihah shook his head. “Just wanted t' talk t' you about what 'm going t' be doing while 'm here.”

Griffon Heart nodded. “You had something in mind?”

“Yeah. I was thinking about going with th' next group 'f hunters you send t'wards th' North Forest. See 'f I can teach them about some 'f the dangers of th' Forest they don't know about.”

The Chief nodded again. “Our people do not often venture into the Forest, largely because of the dangers you speak of. However, I am certain that some of our hunters would be glad to learn from you. It will, however, be at least a moon before another hunting group journeys to the north. What will you do until then?”

Almonihah thought for a bit. He hadn't really considered the fact that he might have to wait for a bit.

Eventually, he just shrugged. “Not sure.”

Griffon Heart laughed. “Well, I doubt that doing nothing would sit well with you...”

The Ranger shook his head. Sitting around doing nothing was not something he'd ever been fond of. Especially after being in Galindakherithan's lair.

“Perhaps you could observe our way of life for a time and see if there is something you wish to do,” The Chief suggested.

“Might's well,” was Almonihah's response.

Almonihah spent the next weeks among the people of the tribe, wandering from place to place. While at first most of the Plainsmen still treated him with superstitious awe, they slowly—with Almonihah's stubborn insistence—stopped referring to him as the “Great Thunder Spirit”. The half-dragon could swear that some of them were still watching him when he wasn't looking, waiting for him to sprout wings, fly up into the air, and summon a thunderstorm, or whatever it was a Thunder Spirit was supposed to do, but at least they weren't doing it while he was looking any more.

One thing the Ranger noted as he wandered the village was that there were many more Plainswomen than Plainsmen in the village. Eventually, he discovered that most of the men were out in one of the tribe's hunting camps, following the various herds of the Great Plains. Not long after he asked about this, one of the hunting groups returned, bringing hides and preserved meats. There was a flurry of activity in the village for the next few days, and then another group left to hunt, and the village settled back down into its normal routine.

What struck Almonihah the most about the Plainsmen's way of life was how... different it was from that of the men in the villages along the Gold Road. While he couldn't quite put his finger on what the difference was, he knew it was there. It was something in the feel of the village...

The last thing that Almonihah noticed was how many times Owl Talon 'just happened' to run into him. After what seemed like the hundredth time that this happened, Almonihah just had to say something.

“Don't you have anything better t' do than follow me around?” The half-dragon growled at Owl Talon.

The Plainsman laughed his soft, gentle laugh at Almonihah's question. “Follow you?” he asked. “Whatever gave you that impression?”

“Can't go anywhere without tripping over you,” was Almonihah's gruff response.

“It is, as you have seen, a small village,” the old Plainsman replied, spreading his arms out with a bit of a grin. “It would be more of a surprise if I did not encounter you.”

The half-dragon grumbled something under his breath, but decided it wasn't worth the effort to argue.

Almonihah did find himself visiting Owl Talon more often as time went on. While the old Plainsman's habit of being 'mysterious' did annoy Almonihah, he found that, once he got past that, the old man did actually know a lot. What they talked about most, however, were the stories of the Griffon Tribe.

Almonihah wasn't quite certain how they first got on that subject, but once it came up, it seemed completely natural that every conversation they had would involve one of the Griffon Tribe's traditional tales. The first time it happened, he listened through the story without too much thought, just treating it as something kind of interesting, but of no import. It was only later that he realized that there was meaning to the story. Not meaning like some children's tale that had a moral at the end, but meaning in how the characters viewed and interacted with the world around them. It was a way of thinking about stories that he'd never tried before, and he wondered if it applied to other stories, as well.

There was a particular element that cropped up several times in the stories. After the third time it was mentioned, Almonihah had to ask about it.

“What's a vision quest?”

Owl Talon smiled in his mysterious way. “Ah, vision quests. I suppose you would not know about those.”

The half-dragon grunted impatiently. It was rather obvious that he didn't know about them, since he was asking about them...

Owl Talon's smile seemed to grow just a bit wider, as if the old man was amused by the younger Ranger's impatience. “You have no doubt noticed by now that the names are children have are different from those the adults of the tribe have.”

Almonihah nodded. He had noticed that. The adults had... descriptive names, he guessed was the best thing to call them, while the children had names more like the ones he was used to.

“When a young man of the Griffon Tribe comes of age, he must go on a vision quest. When he does this, he must leave all the trappings of his young life behind—he gives away his childhood things, and takes only a single weapon with him. And then he must leave the village alone, guided only by the Earth Mother. When he returns, he tells the village wise man—me, for the moment—what he saw and did, and I tell him his adult name.”

Almonihah thought over what Owl Talon had said silently. The old Plainsman, accustomed by now to the half-dragon's ways, stood up.

“Well, I believe you're leaving at sunrise, young dragon.”

Almonihah nodded, ignoring the 'young dragon' thing. He'd given up on breaking Owl Talon of that by now.

“You'd best go prepare, then. It is sunset now, and the nights are short this time of year.”

******

Amazing! I posted again! I haven't forgotten about this! I've just had a kind of crazy semester. That, and quite frankly, this is a hard chapter to write. Almonihah's kind of reluctant to talk about it, and it's hard to write what he is willing to talk about. Ah, well.