Chapter 7

The spirits can speak to you?” Seleeku asked, her voice a mix of suspicion and awe.

“Sometimes,” Brynn replied. “But just because they can speak to me doesn’t mean I can understand them.” He crouched down to inspect the dagger.

A quarterstaff tapped him on the shoulder. “You better not pick that up.”

“Don’t worry,” Brynn said. “I’m not going to touch it. You shouldn’t either. It could be cursed.”

“I’d still feel better if you weren’t so near it. What about the bonewalker? What did it tell you?”

Brynn paused, standing up and stepping away from the dagger. The bonewalker implied he shouldn’t trust Seleeku. But why should he trust the bonewalker? It had been in league with Kodroth when it was alive.

“Remember how I asked about another man who may have entered the forest? That man was called Kodroth the Quiet. Kodroth was the raider who attacked the fishing village I was in, the one that exiled me. In life, this bonewalker was a man named Arasen. He worked for Kodroth.”

Seleeku poked at the bones with her staff. “And this Arasen was also exiled from your same village several years ago?”

Brynn nodded. “I think he was the same man you mentioned drowning in the swamp. Kodroth sent Arasen to Brightmyst—that’s the village—on some sort of mission, but I don’t know what it was.”

“Scouting for weak points?”

“Possibly,” said Brynn, doubtfully.

“I have more questions for you, Brynn, but we have to keep moving. There are other things in this swamp that could cause us trouble.”

Brynn took one more look at the dagger. He wanted to study it more, but it didn’t feel safe to take it with them. He also had the feeling that the soul of Arasen was still out there somewhere, still searching for its redemption. He didn’t want to encounter it again anytime soon. He reluctantly started walking.

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They traveled in silent alertness the rest of the way out of the swamp and were now at the edge of forest. Seleeku’s shoulders visibly relaxed.

“What happened to you?” she asked. “You started muttering to yourself and then you seemed to blank out for a moment.”

Brynn took a moment before answering. The sights and sounds of the forest were a welcome relief. He took a deep breath of fresh air and then replied, “The bonewalker made me relive a memory.”

“Relive a memory? What does that mean?”

Brynn kicked a pebble off into the woods. “I was living inside the memory, as if I was really there. Kind of like a dream, but more dangerous.”

“Dangerous how?” Seleeku asked. She idly jumped onto and then over a tree trunk that fallen in their path. Brynn clambered over it with significantly less grace.

“In all kinds of ways. Everything is more dangerous when dealing with spirits.”

A crow cawed from a distant treetop, as if affirming Brynn’s answer. Seleeku continued with her questions. “So did it show you a memory from its past?”

“Strangely, no. It showed me one of my own. Back when I was an apprentice at the College of Galdir.”

Seleeku stopped at the mention of the name. “You are from Galdir?”

“I didn’t grow up there, no. I was from a small village to the south. I studied in Galdir to become a druid.”

“We have no love for that city. Nor of druids.”

“The Great War was a long time ago, Scout Seleeku. Things change.”

Seleeku grunted noncommittally. “What memory did it show you, Druid?”

“I’m no longer a druid,” Brynn corrected her with a touch of wistfulness in his voice. “As to the memory—it showed me a time when I was an apprentice, practicing a ritual to trap a demon.”

Seleeku gasped. “Your kind are still toying with demons? And you said that things change?”

“Maybe you’re right,” Brynn admitted, “but at the time I had no way of knowing how dangerous they were.” That wasn’t entirely true. Even back then, he knew that demons weren’t to be trifled with. They were crafty and had an unnatural interest in mortal affairs. It was a bad combination for a spirit.

“Demons,” grumbled Seleeku, but she said nothing further. They continued to trudge through the forest as the afternoon slowly went by. Brynn could sense that they were back on one of the elven trails.

Demons. Brynn recalled how unnerved he had felt when the demon had centered its attention on him. I will show you where it all started, the bonewalker had told him. Could the demon be related to the Darkness somehow? A chilling scenario played in Brynn’s mind. Perhaps the demon had inspired High Druid Themon’s vision. Another druid was originally assigned to investigate, but she became mysteriously ill. Perhaps the demon did that too, so Brynn was the only one available to travel to Brightmyst. But why would it be interested in him? Why would it send him here? And where did Kodroth fit into all of this?

Brynn’s thoughts were interrupted by a deep rumbling sound. Seleeku paid no attention to it and and kept walking. A few minutes later, its source was revealed when the trail led to the edge of a raging river. Torrents of water clashed violently around large gray boulders, sending white spray swirling into the air. Brynn could sense the river spirit, strong and forceful, proud in its display of power.

“Where do we go now?” Brynn shouted his question over the commotion.

Seleeku didn’t answer him. Instead she stepped lightly over to the rocky edge of the river and knelt down. She began chanting a ritual in a language that Brynn didn’t recognize. It was obviously something that she was reciting from rote memory, for she sang it quickly and clearly, without pause. When she reached the end, the river’s power lessened by a small but noticeable degree. It was enough to reveal a set of wet boulders that wound their away across to the other side.

“Now we cross,” Seleeku stated.

He stared at the slick stones. “Are you crazy? I’m not going on those!”

“Brynn, you haven’t attempted to escape so far. I don’t know what you’re looking for exactly, but I believe you desire to meet my people to seek some answers. Are you going to follow me, or not?”

She hopped onto the first rock and danced across the stones with the expertise of someone who had done it many times before. She stood at the other side waiting for him.

Brynn carefully went to the edge of the river, watching the white water rush past. What would she do if he turned around and walked away? What would he do? He made his decision. He hesitated only a moment more before stepping carefully onto the first rock.

He immediately slipped and was on his hands and knees. Spray and foam soaked him completely.

He gritted his teeth and stood up. Even though Seleeku’s ritual had taken an edge off of the rapids, Brynn still felt tiny next to its fury. He needed to keep moving. He slowly made his way across, each boulder a new puzzle. Some were small, some were round and slippery, others too far away to reach easily. He crept and crawled his way among the rocks, making perilous leaps when he had to. The rapids thundered around him, grabbing at him eagerly, the ritual barely keeping them at bay.

He was almost there.

He was about to jump to the last stone when he heard a strange gurgling noise upstream. It was as if the river was signaling to Brynn that its patience had worn thin. Brynn hastily jumped onto to the rock and then onto shore. He scrambled up the river bank and plopped down next to Seleeku. He was wet, bedraggled and exhausted. Somehow, she had managed to stay completely dry.

“I guess I’m going with you,” Brynn said breathlessly.

As if to emphasize the point, the river’s ferocity returned with a loud roar. It expressed its displeasure by pushing a wall of water downstream. Brynn heard a series of loud booms as the boulders that had made up the path tumbled out of sight.

Seleeku scowled. “The Scout Leader won’t like that,” she said, more to herself than to Brynn.

“What won’t I like?” asked a voice behind them.

Brynn and Seleeku both turned around. A tall and athletically built elven man was watching them carefully. He was flanked by a male and a female elf, each holding a bow with an arrow nocked and pointed at Brynn.

“Scout Leader Nessana!” exclaimed Seleeku. Her face brightened and she smiled.

Nessana stared at Brynn. Brynn watched various emotions play across the elf’s face. Surprise, disgust, and then anger.

“Scout Seleeku, what have you done!”