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.