A Buck Tale (TM)

[Buck]

I've been working on this story...I know how it will end already but much of the in betweens are as of yet obscure occording to my magic eight ball. As the going trend in this forum, I humbly ask everyone to hold criticism or posting in this thread. That way the story flows more consistantly. It also keeps the insults hidden

I'll try to post at least once a month. In fact, I hereby state that I will post at the begining of each month. *coughs*

Now without further adoo...I present my tale.

[Buck]

The steed reared as Guill pulled on his reins and slowed him down. There was a clearing directly east of the road to Vefares where camp could be made. Noticeable cloud cover was moving in and it was devouring the night’s luminescent starlight. Despite this, Guill decided not to make fire. The danger of being found was well not worth the warmth of one. Pacing his horse through the clearing, he rode on behind the brush to a patch of tall grass and decided it would have to do. The brown steed gave a neigh quietly as if it understood the gravity of the situation. Trading in his old mare, Kartma, proved to be wise for this one. He decided to name him Filch; a fitting name and one signifying his only hope of escape.

The first sheer moments seemed like endless hours, but as time passed his panic subsided. He was sure he had made it past them and was absolutely sure that they had not heard him. At least, he thought so. Filch neighed again for the second time this whole evening but this time it was barely audible; Guill refocused his eyes as he registered the horse and looked this way and that as if an alarm was sounded. Silently, he readied his hand axe. It was a peasant’s weapon but then again Guill knew how to use it. A twig snapped in the distance directly ahead of Filch.

This was all needed to let fly the axe in his hand. Immediately he started forward, drawing his short blade in his left hand and reaching under his cloak with the other. Risking little, Guill rushed the figure. The unknown person was too busy trying to remove the axe from the tree to free his own cloak and paid too little attention to Guill’s boot. An instant later the stranger was on the ground with a blade point of the dagger at his neck. The cloak had torn where the axe had him nailed to the tree but the stranger lost interest in it and was focused solely on Guill now.

“Are there others?” The only reply given in return was a giggle.

[Buck]

Nivah refused Guill's help and stood up on her own. Guill was in absolute shock, not only was it not one of those chasing him but it was the last peson he would expect to see on this side of Vefares.

Guill spoke softly despite his surprise. The real threat may be near. "How the? But I almost.. Are you mad sneeking up on me like that?"

Nivah did not speak right away. After fully straitening up she tapped her draped chest with the hilt of a dagger that Guill did not remember her having out. The sound of metal was just audible through the heavy cloack. With that, she resheathed her weapon and retied her hair with a slight exasperated breathe. Guill lost what little confidence he gained in taking down this stalker. The only reason he heard her was because she wanted it to be so. He wondered how long she was standing there. She was the only child of Guide Koda after all.

"I was watching you stare at the stars like a Vefaran that has never seen proper night sky before Guill. I used a bind tracker to find you. I figured by now you'll need all the help you can get, so here I am." Even in the night light Guill can make out the trace of a sheepish grin from her. He cared for her and now was worried that she would be in extreme danger if anyone found her with him.

"Nivah, listen I appreciate the offer but I got into this alone. It is my problem."

"Problem? The only problem is that you have been revealed in foreign lands. The mark has been placed on you and by day brake all the neighboring villages will be looking out for you." With that Niveah bent down and picked up a twig that was just right for what she needed to do. "Let me know how far out it goes".

Guill only nodded. Niveah placed the twig to her lips and gently spoke to the twig, beckoning it to hear her plead. She snapped the twig into two ceremoniously and kept both pieces in her open palms. Guill looked around him, and he could see the wave of the spell pass outward from her. The grass didn't flatten, nor did it quiver. There was the extrasensual glow that had no color or light, but he knew it was there. "I'd say about 40 yards or so, I have seen better from you". Niveah relaxed at the personal jab. Her da would have scolder her for over an hour if he saw how badly she envoked the spirits.

"We will know if someone approaches tonight. I suggest we get some rest. As the sunrises we should move on Niveah".

Nivah smiled, "I suppose the we means you will accept my help?"

Guill nudged her with his elbow, "Come now, you wouldn't have been able to do that without my help". She could not see the wink but she knew him well enough.

[Buck]

Morning came too quickly and Nivah groaned with exasperation. She loved the outdoors as much as her father, however what she did not like is sleeping on the ground. Guill let her sleep a bit more while he finished packing everything onto Filch. She was to proud to admit as much. Stubborness: another quality in her he loved.

"Is it morning already?" She asked finally awakening.

Guill tried to keep a smile from creeping up on his face. The sun had been up for near 3 hours and yet she was treating it like dawn. Guill also loved her mock innocense. He was well aware of her knowing exactly what time it was.

"Is your mare nearby Nivah?"

"Yes she is, give me a few moments to recall her" A moment later, Nivah touched a sapling and intimately whispered into the leaves. Her full focus was not on the baby tree, Guill knew she was beckoning the land to allow her to connect to her stead and companion, Sasha. Nivah searched the tree line reading the leaves dancing in the wind. Suddenly she turned wide eyed to Guill. "Someone is nearby and heading right for us from the South"

In a moment Guill was on his horse a picking the pace up to a trot heading North. Nivah with all the calm and poise for someone left abandoned only started a light sprint after Guill. As she neared a willow, a white horse with a bright red mane sidestepped out and caught up to her. Without slowing Nivah grabbed a hold and glided onto the saddle in one smooth motion. Moments later she was riding neck and neck with Guill who had not slowed one bit.

"Nivah, how many are there?"

"I did not dare delve too deeply. I am almost positive they have an arcane among them."

It took every fiber of his being to not stare at Nivah. She mentioned an arcane was tracking them like it was just a trivial matter.

"How many?"

"At least 20, maybe as many as 50. There may be more than one arcane"
This time there was a long pause before she answered and she was not as poised.


They rode on north.

[Buck]

Nivah lead the way among the trees a fairly quick pace. Guill, traveling alone, would normally go slower through wood this thick, fearing roots. She had improved much recently in the ways of the grove.

“Nivah, you’re leading us north?”

She looked askance at him, “If you can’t even figure which direction we are heading in….”

“No, I know we are heading north, I meant to ask why. If you we continue in this manner we will hit Vefares’ southern gate.”, he stated blatantly.

“…and?”

Guill was practically exasperated, “You know well enough what would happen if I entered the city”.

“Ohh, I have not told you have I? My da is in Vefares.”

Guill went silent with shock. His foolish hopes of keeping the events down here anonymous went out the window if Guide Koda was there. In all likelihood he would be in a world of hurt very soon.

It all started a fortnight ago a few days south of here. He had always wanted to see the arcane’s Sanctum and making shipments to Vefares were rare in itself. He could not have missed the opportunity to venture out and see the great statues. As a child he loved reading of their design through his family’s stone masonry library. Those statues were the standard by which all else were architecturally compared. Honestly, he did not care much for the masonry; it was more a fascination with the lore behind them that drew him like a moth to the fire that fateful day. It was a first in a series of mistakes that lead to his current situation.

Soon enough Nivah increased the pace a bit. She was scanning a willow in the distance with a frown. The leaves on that tree were blowing ever so slightly in the opposite direction of all the others near it. A chill went down her spine.

[Buck]

Guide Koda knew he had to act quickly. He came to Vefares to work on the ever encumbering task of diplomacy with the northerners. Their queer lifestyles did not mesh well with the southern lands and cause of it there were always offenses made on both sides. Despite the urgency, Koda could not help but sigh. Trade was very important to both Vefarans and the druid clans of the south equally. In the same token, differences between the two made for misunderstandings that ranged from trivial to acts of war.


All this was put aside the day he came into town. As he passed the city square, he made note of the display stones. In the northern lands, the main communication between the older cities was done through a series of arcane infused stones that would pass on images from one to the next. Any major news for the kingdoms of the northern lands were always in plain sight for anyone to see. That day, Koda saw a picture of a boy wanted by the Arcanum for trespassing and vandalizing their Sanctum. A very foolish thing to be done and of course is was Guill who did it.

Koda made his way south. He knew Nivah would be off looking for him despite his ordering her to stay within the city. The Vefaren magistrate was a man of customs, and customs were taken very seriously in Vefares. Koda had no choice but to endure the banquets in his honor for the first three nights in the city. On the second night, Nivah has sneaked away. Sneaked is a relative term. Being Koda's daughter, the spirit bond between the two was strong. Nivah having emerging powers in the spirits of the grove made that bond even stronger.

He knew she was in the south. His whispers have returned with the winds and told him of where they are and what else was out here. He felt Sasha's worry. Koda rode on quickly.

[Buck]

The legionare scout paced his horse around the broken camp looking for anything left behind. He had passed the site twice before he had noticed the broken blades of grass. This boy knew what he was about out in the wilderness. Any other scout would not have seen the signs of the campsite.

Aside from broken blades of grass and crushed folliage, nothing was out of the ordinary. No sign of a fire and no sign of any rubbish. One would be left wondering if indeed a person had been here, but this scout knew better. He had grown up in the southern groves and knew of their ways. Druids may lack some civility in ther borderline barbaric methods at times, but they were highly regarded in their abilities outside cities.

This boy is no druid however, from the south he may be. That was evident from what he saw before him. The scout dismounted and tied off his stead on a low lying branch and set forth analyzing the ground. Turning his palm downward the scout started a chant. The crystal embeded bracer let out a soft hum as it worked its magic. Within minutes, black shadows started to appear on the grass. Foot prints and other markings. Anything disturbing the field within the last day revealed itself. He continued to chant and let the Arcanum's device do its work for him.

Soon enough the scout could make out markings made by a second person. One set of markings was no doubt made by the boy. The scout had been tracking his travels since the event up north of Vefares at the Sanctum. Slowly and surely he had been catching up to the boy and was sure he would have had him today. This second set of markings troubled him. The scout did not like surprises. This other set had the look of a druid. This, the scout most definitely did not like.

Mounting back up, the legionare scout of the Arcanum's First Order rode for the main force.

[Buck]

Sasha neighed wearily as Nivah scratched her behind the ear. They had been riding hard most of the day and took a break by a stream. Guill's horse needed the down time. The horse was audible with its breathes and was soaked in its own sweat. Guill was walking around akwardly as well. The ride had been rough on him as well. Nivah contained a giggle.


Guill head it anyway "Laugh it up, once the horses were rested we will be on our way again. Nivah let out a sigh. Guill was too preocuppied with worry to show humour.

She turned toward the trail they followed down the stream and set to work. She paced forward and started a chant. As she approached a thorn bush the chant became more ominous yet not louder. Her arm lunged out and grabbed a hanging vine and the thorns pierced her skin. As the blood dripped down she chanted without fail. Her words were vile and cruel and cut deeply just as the thorns tore into her palm. Nivah started to tug on the bush gently at first, chanting even more pointedly. The thorn bush compelledd by her will, moved with her. Roots ripped through the soil and replanted themselves, vines grew and spiraled around a tree she was closing in on, gripping the trunk in a deadly vice. The thorn bush grew in every direction she tugged on. With each new wave of growth more blood spilled from her torn hand. Within minutes that little thornbush was now covering half the hill.The trail they had followed down was inpenetrable.

Nivah dropped off the chant suddenly and walked back to Sasha. She squeazed her palm tightly to ring the last few drops off her fist. The ground thristily drank, leaving not a trace.

"Do you honestly think a thorn bush can stop them?"

"No, but it will slow them down. They will either have to cut through it or find a way around it. Regardless, it will cost them hours."

Remounting, Guill turned south and rode in the stream. The water would mask their route.

On Sasha, Nivah followed at a slower pace. Passing under a willow tree, she gripped a drooping branch and plucked a handful of leaves. On the next wind, she released the leaves in the air. As the leaves twirled and danced in the currents, she closed her eyes and whispered into the wind. The leaves circled a few times as if listening intently, then rode off on a sudden gust northward.