029 – A Chance to Learn – Part 3 –

The prowler bared its fangs at Uriel and a strange sound came from it throat, each repetition of the sound sent shivers down Uriel's spine.

It was the sound of a predator one that sat at the top of the food chain, that knew it could have its way with any creature it laid its gaze upon.

A prowler had once come down into Old Meadow and terrorized the farmers, over a period of two months it killed a dozen sheep and goats, and it even killed one of Sean Jolter's horses.

It was one of the few times that the villagers had to put in a request for adventurers to come in and handle the problem.

The prowler stepped around Uriel extending its long graceful legs of sleek blackness onto the forest floor.

It was strange the way it walked, it was the size of a mule, but its steps were soft and light hardly making a sound as it touched the grass, behind it no tracks were left from its claws.

Sweat trickled down Uriel's face and he had to constantly remind himself, 'They probably don't eat humans, they probably don't eat humans…' he thought trying to stave off his shaking.

It didn't help that he could hear the amused laughter of the surrounding druids, like a noisy clatter, he would have loved to trade places with any one of them and see how they would react.

Then he noticed Urlo standing next to him with a calm expression even as the prowler swept past his legs, even Zeresha seemed calm for all the danger they were in.

The prowler suddenly jumped up and landed with its two front paws on Uriel's shoulders and its head hung not a hairs breath away from his face.

Uriel's eyes went wide before they rolled back into his head, his entire world went dark as he collapsed in fright.

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It was warm, a feeling that Uriel had forgotten, but he shook his head and buried it deeper into the softness beneath him.

No, it must have been a dream, that was it... just a bad dream.

That's right, of course, it had to be, why would the soldiers attack and kill everyone? And how could he have survived on his own for so long?

It was all just a ludicrous dream that's what made more sense.

When he pushed back the warm sheets he would be back in his room, when he opened the door he would find his mom setting the fire to warm some water, Cass would be in her room and his dad would be out chopping wood.

So he snuggled deeper into the warmth it didn't matter if he took a little longer to get up and start with his chores, the first order of business would be to ready Zeresha or Lopper, get the reigns attached to them go out with the wagon and empty barrels that the farmhands would leave for him to fill at the stream.

But there was just one problem, one thing that didn't make any sense, he was always the first one up, by the time he finished readying the horse his dad would be out chopping wood and he would smell the smoke coming out of the chimney.

It wasn't until he returned that he would get to see Cass either sewing some bags for the crops or doing some cleaning around the house.

When the reality set in only one question remained.

But to answer that question he would have to pull off the sheet from over his head and admit to himself all over again that this was his reality.

But it seemed that his choice in the matter was taken away when the blankets were forcibly torn away from him.

"You're not crying again?" came the questioning voice of Urlo.

Uriel sat up straight and hurriedly wiped his eyes with his sleeves trying to hide the traces of water on his face.

Urlo was lying down on his side leisurely extending his hand onto a low table that was stacked with all kinds of fruit.

"You should eat cry baby boy," Urlo invited him to help himself from the large assortment of fruit.

"My… my name is Uriel," he looked up at Urlo with embarrassment, finding it frustrating how quick he was to tears when he had promised himself that he wouldn't cry again, not until he was able to bury his family.

Seeing the assortment of food and its abundance he reached for a mango with eagerness and started pulling back the skin before sinking his teeth into the sweet and juicy flesh.

He saw some of the purple fruit that he had collected after entering the forest and there were still more fruit than he had ever seen before.

When he finished eating he took a moment to inspect the room.

The roof seemed to be made of some kind of tarp that angled down with many layers of string beads forming partitions at the entrance to the room, two lamps were hooked in the corners giving light to the room.

The only other things that occupied the room were the table, the bed, the sleeping mat, and a few quarter staffs that leaned against a wooden wall, but the wall seemed to be the trunk of a tree.

When he finished he looked down and found Urlo looking at him intently, "Is there something strange about my home?" he asked.

"Uh… no," Uriel hurriedly shook his head, "It's just… different," he muttered.

Urlo nodded in thought, "I've flown over a few of your flatlander's homes before, so I'm sure it must be different," he said brushing his chin in thought.

"Why do you keep calling me a flatlander what is that?" Uriel asked tilting his head.

Urlo blinked at him seeming utterly baffled by his question, "Don't you know that your people live on flat lands?" he asked.

Uriel couldn't help but shake his head feeling affronted, "Or lands aren't flat, I'll have you know that there are many hills and also there's this massive anthill the size of a house not two acres from my home," he said extending his hands in an exaggerated motion.

"Ay," Urlo smacked his head as if he was talking to someone stupid, "See when we turn into a bird and we fly, if everything we see is flat then the land is flat," he said using his hand to make gestures for a bird flying over a flat plain of land.

"But if we have to adjust our height and move up and down in the air then it's mountainous land and then we call the people there mountain landers," he explained with a shrug.

Uriel let out a puff of air feeling affronted, for some reason, he didn't like being called a flat lander, and he stood by his testament, had Urlo seen the anthill then he would have surely agreed.

The two continued to chat speaking about their own homes and even some of the differences in their ways, Uriel found himself fascinated with the lifestyle of the druids.

It was entirely different from a farmer and villager, for farmers each new day was about working the soil and growing more food, but for the druids, it was entirely different, the forest provided them with all that they needed so they spent little time focusing on food and more time on their traditions and duties.

He didn't know how long they spoke, before they heard the beads at the entrance of the room rattling.

Uriel's face palled when he saw the Chieftess of the druids stepping through the partition, still remembering how she turned into that massive prowler.

The Chieftess gave him a kindly smile, though Uriel wondered if it was out of kindness or because she was looking at her next meal.

Noticing Uriel's discomfort Urlo quickly explained, "This is my mother Chieftess Briaga, and a member of the Druidic Argeum Order," he introduced.

Uriel slowly nodded his head as the Chieftess came in and folded her legs as she placed herself across from himself and Urlo.

"How is your leg young one?" the Chieftess asked with a kind but firm voice.

"My leg," Uriel muttered stupidly and looked down at his leg remembering that he had been bitten by a snake but strangely the entire time he was with Urlo it didn't hurt even once.

He looked down and found that his leg was wrapped in some large leaves with a strange paste when he pressed down where the snake had bitten him there was almost no pain at all.

The wound also reminded him about something else, "Zeresha…" he started to say but he was quickly cut off by the Chieftess.

"The girl is asleep right now, and she'll be fine, but she needs time to rest and recover, her wound was quite bad," she calmly stated putting Uriel's concerns at ease.

"Thank you," he said with a grateful breath of relief.

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