A Desperate Encounter

The forest had begun to thin, and occasionally they passed through clearings where even the humidity in the air had diminished.

They had left in despair but with hopes alive. Now, almost three days later, they returned even more desperate and with their hopes shattered.

Exhausted, Delmyra could barely hold on to the horse's saddle and her legs felt paralysed. As Caedmon rode alongside, he held the sleeping Luna tied to him, wrapped in a large shawl.

They had failed in their mission to find out what to do with their little girl, who slept unusually long and could drop off her feet falling asleep even when running.

All the physicians could establish was that she was asleep and seemed to be in no danger.

Once asleep, she couldn't be woken up. They searched everywhere and tried everything. But nothing helped.

Her grandmother was the only one who could have been able to help, so they went looking for her, only to find that she was nowhere to be found.

Sometimes it helped that she slept so much that nothing could wake her, she simply woke up by herself after having rested for a while.

About six miles lay ahead of them before they would see the protective walls of Ether again.

Once they had passed through the hardest and most dangerous parts, they would be called home. Already in the scent she could feel it. Sweetness enriched the air. The rich clusters of acacia flowers formed vibrant, enchanting arches. White, yellow and sometimes purple clusters decorated the forest as if for a festivity.

"Can we dismount for a bit, please?"

"I'll help you."

Despite holding Luna with one arm, he dismounted and reached her before Delmyra could protest. He held out his hand. She had pins and needles all over her and could barely stand up for a while.

"May I hold her?" She reached out to stroke the little girl's hair, as relaxed as if she had been sleeping on a cloud rather than riding with them for dozens of miles in the most uncomfortable conditions.

Caedmon put her gently into her arms. "I'll unpack the snacks... Are you thirsty?"

She nodded and looked around for a place to sit. He handed her the flask, then rummaged through the rest of the food.

A large boulder, seemingly detached from a distant mountain and fallen from somewhere above, lying there for who knew how long, appeared in their path. They needed to detour around it in order to reach the main road soon.

A few clumps of bushes, here and there through the tall, thick grass; when she spotted a tree trunk she wanted to go to, she found Caedmon lunging in front of her, one hand behind his back as if defending her, sword drawn against something she couldn't hear.

A boy, probably about ten years old, emerged from behind the massive rock.

Caedmon visibly relaxed for a moment. But the boy was running as if he didn't even see where he was going; he was dirty from head to toe, in tattered clothes and barefoot. He was moving at full speed, staring past them as if they weren't there.

This made them both exchange a look of despair; nothing else could have brought a lone child so far from the City and made him look like that.

"The iele!"

Why were they in this area? They didn't come down here!

Caedmon whispered, "We don't have a drop of elixir; we must hide in silence!"

"Mummy!"

Ohh! No! Not now!

Luna had woken up and grabbed Delmyra's neck with her hands.

"Shh! Shh!" She tried to keep her calm.

The boy who had just passed them stopped, turned and stared at Luna with an inexplicable look - Delmyra instinctively held her child closer - suddenly he hurried toward them whispering urgently, "Stay behind that rock! I can chase them away, don't come out until they're gone."

They both looked at him in pure bewilderment. When he saw them petrified, he pushed them forward with an indescribable force.

"What can you do, boy?" Caedmon inquired.

"I can!" The boy with the hoarse voice and streaks on his beautiful face--streaks of tears that had wiped the dirt from his face like streams digging their way into the rough crust of the earth--told them with an unprecedented fervor, "Go! You want to save her, don't you?" the last words sounded like a dare.

Caedmon caught him by his arm, "Stay with us, no one can go there!"

"I CAN!" He said again, his eyes burning, and in an eerie way, they believed him.

Those grey eyes exchanged a manly look with Caedmon's, who nodded as if in a trance. An unspoken agreement had been forged between them, and he let him go.

All three turned their eyes to Luna, as in a mutual accord to save her.

The boy walked away, but after a few steps, he turned around, cupped his hands around Luna's, handed something to her and looked at Caedmon again.

"They're far enough, you won't hear their bloody song. I'll drive them away so you can pass," and he disappeared back to where he had come from, "Let the horses free," was the last they heard of him.

Delmyra huddled at the foot of the rock with Luna in her arms, and Caedmon stood nearby. Without elixir they had nothing to fight these creatures with, but he stayed on guard anyway.

What madness! They had let that child go!

With her heart in her throat, she looked at Luna, who could have made at any moment a sound, yet she was carefully turning something in her small hands, her forehead frowned with concentration.

It was a brown woven necklace, made from leather. From it hung a round ivory pendant with a silvery embedded tiger on one side and the sun on the other.

After a restless stretch of time, Caedmon walked to the opposite side of the rock where tall shrubs grew and peered among them. Wishing to pull him back, she just stare at him, they couldn't stay there with Luna indefinitely.

There was no other way, and back they could not go. Strangely enough, they managed to keep her occupied. She seemed to feel the tension, too, because she was unusually quiet.

"It's clear!" he said in a heavy voice.

And she understood that the boy was gone.

The horses, having had plenty of grass, did not even move from where they had been left.

Carefully, they mounted them, while Luna quietly ate the kernels of walnuts Caedmon had given her. As fast as they could they hurried past the opening where they had danced; the ground was burned in wide circles, a deadly sign that there had been many…

Delmyra bit her lip hard to keep from screaming and covered Luna's eyes with her free hand.

Beside a mound of earth with grass twisted by a terrible twitching, was the bleached body of a woman with grey eyes almost popping out of their sockets and traces of madness crazed on her open-mouthed face as if in a soundless scream.

Grey eyes and unmistakable features, even though contorted. She was unmistakably the mother of the boy who had somehow saved them. But, there was no sign of him.

For the first time in many years Delmyra wept.