A Friend Indeed

Leaving behind Junayd, Aurora and Brinn began to weave their way through the crowd. Since most of the prisoners were tied together in uneven columns, it was a bit of a maze to maneuver.

The prisoners they passed, who had once been formidable beasts, were now docile and demoralized as they trudged along. A few still had a fire in their eyes, but it seemed that most had either realized their hopeless state or were too exhausted to care.

They had been walking for days, slogging through the snow with only short respites. They were haggard, helpless….and hungry.

The last one made Aurora feel a pang of guilt. How much worse would things get before reaching a town? Even if these people had fought against her, she still felt some responsibility for them.

Unable to solve the conundrum and because Brinn was tight-lipped on what was happening in the forest, Aurora found a third topic to occupy their hurried walk.

"I see you aren't hiding your golden skin." The Empress had been curious about this phenomenon but hadn't been sure exactly what to ask.

"Why should I? I know I'm an elf. They know I'm an elf. Does it put them more at ease not to see my shining beacon of loveliness? Maybe, but I don't really care…" Brinn turned up her nose.

As long as she had her friends and her husband, what other people thought did not matter to her. She sighed.

"There's more to it, though," Alaron prodded ad he followed behind the other two. There was something about the way Brinn spoke which rang untrue.

Brinn cleared her throat. "Not really. I am a little worn out and don't feel like expending the magical energy to conceal myself. Alvar and Gandr are of the same mind."

"You aren't getting sick, are you?" Aurora wasn't even sure if elves could fall ill. They were always such pillars of strength.

"No, no. Just trying to conserve energy since…" Brinn trailed off, but both the Empress and Guardian could fill in the blank.

'…since we are running out of food.'

"Aurora!" Devrim's voice carried over the din of the crowd. He, Nurlan and Zan were working to make their way towards the other trio. It explained why the column of travelers had slowed their pace.

"What are you doing, Lover-boy? Get back and drive us forward!" Brinn chastised the Emperor without a thought for his station.

Fortunately Devrim was not offended by her words. "I saw you come and get Aurora. Is everything alright?"

"Brinn won't tell me what is going on," Aurora sighed.

"It is probably nothing," Brinn admitted, "and it is certainly not enough of a concern that all three of you should come and stop our progress!"

"Brinn…" Aurora was a little surprised at how snippy her friend was being.

The elf looked away, embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I'm just…"

"Hungry. We get it," Alaron nodded.

Nurlan bowed, "With Your Majesties' permission, I will go back to heading up the group. My assistance does not seem to be needed here."

Thankful for the concession, the Empress nodded to dismiss him. Then the two royals, two Guardians and the elven princess continued their lateral path.

Many minutes later, the group came within range of the wagon which was their goal.

"Mother!" Mairwen called enthusiastically.

"Mama!" Colvyr echoed her cry.

Beside them on the raised bench, Nanny directed the horses to keep pace with those around them. For her part, Eira walked alongside the cart, ready to take down anyone who might bring the precious cargo any harm.

Unlike Junayd's wagon, which was deeply ensconced in the multitude of humans, this one was on the periphery of the column and surrounded by imperial troops. The Empress did not want even the slightest chance that her baby would be injured if a prisoner broke free, and so she had put him on the outskirts with a hedge of protection to ensure his safety.

It was this position that had led to the spotting of the strange sight.

Reaching the wagon, Aurora accepted the child into her outstretched arms. "I have missed you too," she cooed. "Are you alright?"

The little prince laughed and pointed toward the forest. The Empress looked toward her daughter anxiously.

"We are fine, but Colvyr keeps doing that. At first I thought it was a new game. It does get very boring up here, but then..." Mairwen paused as the strange occurrence happened again.

Out between the trees, a flash of light brown passed between two trunks. It was very tall, as tall as an Abomination if not taller, but that was about all that people could see. As Aurora was rather petit compared to the soldiers, she climbed up onto the crowded wagon bench to get a better view.

Nanny clicked her tongue and glanced sidelong at the forest. "It's been doing that for a quarter hour, maybe more."

"You don't think it is a monster who didn't turn back, do you? Or an army trying to lure us into a trap..." Aurora looked to the old woman.

The Councilwoman shook her head slowly as she held the reins. "Doesn't seem to be trouble, but it is following us so I figured you should be notified."

"I'll go and check it out." Devrim offered. "I will take Zan."

"We are going too," Aurora felt a pull inside her. She needed to see this thing for herself. Something about it was familiar.

"I don't think...." The Emperor stopped as he received a determined glance from his wife.

"What is happening?" A groggy voice came from the back of the cart. Renat, who was resting among the wounded so he could take his turn driving in Nanny's place, poked his head up to look at the crowd.

"I'm sorry we woke you, my love." Mairwen furrowed her brow. "It is nothing to worry about. Mother is just about to do something foolish again." She gave her mother a lopsided grin.

Aurora rolled her eyes though she could not disagree. "We will take a break and let everyone rest. I'll take a few archers with us. If we don't return in a quarter hour, send twenty men out to find us. If they don't return, carry on to the nearest city as quickly as you can."

"But..." Mairwen wanted to argue.

"Understood," Renat saluted his mother-in-law. After passing off the young prince to his sister and giving orders for a rest, the Empress, Emperor, both Guardians, Brinn and six archers went wandering into the woods in the direction of the strange brown blur.

The cold forest was nearly silent. In addition to snow, many of the trees had icicles hanging from their branches. Had the fairies put them there? Or had it rained and frozen? Either way, the effect was a light tinkling in the air that they could not hear in the crowd of people.

"There," Brinn whispered. She raised her bow.

Leaving her weapon at her side, Aurora held up her hand across her forehead, blocking out as much of the glare as she could. "Oh!"

Suddenly a loud rumble caused the icicles in the trees to quiver. The rest of the archers raised their weapons.

"Lower your bows!" Aurora ordered. With Brinn on her heels, she went running between the trees.

"Aurora!" Dervim called, frustrated. "Follow her!" he told the dumbfounded soldiers.

Soon the men caught up with the two ladies. Aurora stood with a large stag, the king of all beasts, towering over her head. Afraid for his ruler's life, one archer raised his bow again only to have Devrim forcibly stop him. "The wood nymph is a friend," he explained.

With Brinn as a translator, the Empress and nymph were deep in discussion. It seemed the mighty ruler had been approached by Wai--who doesn't travel as easily in snow as she does in water--to help the humans reach home. But the threat of being impaled by an arrow had kept the mighty king from completing his mission.

"Does he know where we can find some food?" Aurora asked Brinn.

After a short exchange, a small smile came to the elf's face. "He says he knows where some ever-berries are. As long as we leave half for him and his herd, we can take what we like."

"What are ever-berries?" Aurora was not familiar with the term.

"They mostly only grow in the lang of magic, but it seems the nymphs have been cultivating a field here. One berry can make you full for a couple of days. It isn't a lot of energy, but it will keep your stomach from gnawing at you in pain." Brinn waited as the words sunk.

"You mean....we won't have to let people starve?" The Empress clutched her chest and then hugged the stag around its bulky neck. The nymph seemed pleased with the response.

"Thank you," Devrim bowed humbly before the king. "We will not tell anyone where we got the berries or risk your tribe's safety.

The nypmh seemed to understand and bowed with his horns nearly reaching the ground. The humans all had to back away or risk being impaled.

"Maker be praised," Alaron said, training his eyes upwards. "May he guide us on the rest of our way."

He did.