Eternal Forest: Savage Rising (3 page)

             
The girl put her hands on her legs as she rose to a crouching position, resting on her shins. Her pink hair was stuck to her face. Though her breathing had returned to normal, Zehlyr could still see her trembling slightly. “Did…did you save me?”

             
Zehlyr blushed. “You could call it that, I guess,” he replied, not wanting to recount the tale of his cowardly clumsiness in the presence of such a strikingly beautiful woman. He was having a hard enough time keeping his eyes off her delicate skin. Even caked in mud, she was an absolute picture of beauty.

             
She giggled a little. “I should thank you then.”

             
“You could tell me how you came to be here.”

             
There was a pause, only for a moment, but it was as still as the meadow on a windless day. She turned her head up towards the sky, but faced away from him. “I…I don’t know,” she replied.

             
“Can you at least tell me your name?”

             
“I don’t…I don’t know that either,” she said, sounding just as perplexed as he was. “I can’t remember anything before you touched me.”

             
Zehlyr brushed the girl’s hair off her face. “Well, we just need to get you back to Meadowgold. Surely, someone there will recognize you.”

             
The girl turned her head towards him. “Thank you for helping…”

             
Zehlyr didn’t hear the rest of her statement, because laying eyes upon her face caused him to jump back and gasp. Her face was just as beautiful as her body, but with one feature more remarkable than anything he’d ever seen. Her large eyes were as green as the leaves in the middle of summer, and they sparkled most unnaturally. Each glittered with hundreds of tiny sparkles as though the stars in the night sky were alive behind them. Even with no sun to reflect off them, they glittered all the same.

             
“Is something wrong?” she asked.

             
“No…nothing,” Zehlyr replied, trying to regain his composure. “It’s just…it’s just that…”

             
“Who’s down there?!” boomed a loud voice from the rim of the pit.

Chapter 3

              Zehlyr shielded his eyes from the sun as he gazed up towards the voice. The bright light obstructed his vision of the figures standing on the level ground, but he could make out their silhouettes well enough to tell there were nine of them and they were all human.

             
Crouched beside Zehlyr, the nameless girl quickly turned away. She did her best to hide her nakedness from these new strangers. She didn’t know these people. She didn’t know anyone at all, and she was feeling very vulnerable. The boy beside her seemed eager to help, and in that, she found comfort, but she could discern neither the faces nor the intentions of their newcomers.

             
“I demand to know who is down there!” the same voice from the top boomed again. It was a male voice, deep and commanding. “State your names!” Six of the humans rushed down into the pit. Their heavy boots squished and splashed in the mud with each step. By the time Zehlyr made it to his feet, he and his strange female companion were surrounded.

             
Now at eye level, Zehlyr recognized several of the men standing around them, spears—
real
spears—were held tightly in their grasp and pointed at the two of them. He scanned their faces, trying to put names with them. These were men he had seen, but not men he knew personally. What he could tell, however, was that they were well-off men, wearing garments were much finer than anything he’d ever owned. Each had a sword of dwarven craftsmanship on his hip. Golden chains hung around their necks and fine rings adorned their fingers. If these were the men he thought they were, then there was no doubt who was at the top making the demands.

             
“Please, don’t hurt us,” he said with a soft, shaking voice. He slowly raised his hands over his head, trying to seem as cooperative and non-threatening as possible.

             
The last three humans descended into the pit. The one to Zehlyr’s right was female, with her black hair pulled back and a steely look in her eyes. She had a strong build to her, with thick muscles and well-defined features. The one to the far left was very tall with short, spiky brown hair and a thin goatee. Zehlyr recognized the man in the middle, and seeing him confirmed his suspicions. He was a middle-aged man with a broad build and weathered features. His skin was tanned and leathery. A thick mane of brown hair flowed down past his shoulders and his long beard trailed down in a series of short braids.

             
Though he’d never spoken with the man, he certainly knew his face. This was Sansehr himself, the Lord of Meadowgold. He was head of the council that made the laws and decided on all matters of justice in the human tribe. To be in the presence of Sansehr, you were either one of his guards, trusted advisors, or had done something great or terrible enough to merit his attention.

             
“You, boy, I asked your name,” Sansehr said impatiently. The man and woman to his left and right stared at him coldly, each drumming their fingers on the hilts of the blades on their hips.

             
Zehlyr opened his mouth, but only panicked mumbling escaped his lips.

             
“Your name!” the woman on the right demanded.

             
“My name is Zehlyr,” he finally managed to say.

             
Sansehr raised an eyebrow as his lips pushed up close to his nose. With each exhale he made, Zehlyr could smell ale on his breath. “Zehlyr, eh?” His focus turned down to the woman still kneeling on the ground and looking up at him from over her shoulder. “You know, the Savage Lands are not a safe place for defiling young maidens.”

             
Zehlyr’s eyes opened wide as he realized how his Lord was interpreting the situation. “Oh no! You have it all wrong. I found this woman out here like this!”

             
“It’s true, sir,” the girl said. “He saved my life.” Even though she was not the one in trouble, she certainly didn’t want to see any harm or punishment come to her rescuer.

             
“Yes, I saved her,” Zehlyr said, purposefully neglecting to tell the entire story. He’d rather tell a half-truth than let Sansehr continue to consider the alternative.

             
Sansehr looked over his shoulder to the man standing beside him. “Feneris, give this girl your cloak. No need for her to remain in such a shameful state.”

             
Feneris removed his long, black cloak and lowered it down to the girl. She stood as she grabbed it, quickly wrapping herself up. Once clothed, she stood beside Zehlyr and faced the Lord of Meadowgold.

             
“My thanks,” she said.

             
“What is your name, miss?” Sansehr asked in a gentler tone than he’d offered Zehlyr.

             
“I’m afraid I do not know, sir.”

             
Zehlyr could see the look of curiosity and frustration returning to his Lord’s face, so he quickly intervened. “It seems she is suffering from some memory loss,” he said.

             
Sansehr’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he finally took notice of the young girl’s peculiar eyes and hair. “I would certainly remember a face as lovely as yours in the village.” Sansehr was a man used to getting whatever he wanted, and his want of beautiful women was quite high. Had he seen such a maiden in the village before, he would have certainly taken her as his own, by force if necessary.

His mind was already making plans to do just so once they were out of the woods.
 

             
“We need to know what happened here,” the woman standing at Sansehr’s side proclaimed.

             
Sansehr shook his head slightly and blinked his eyes, as if breaking some spell the girl’s beauty had put on him. “Yes, Viyana. Of course.” he bellowed.

             
Viyana rolled her eyes as her lips pulled tight. She was Lord Sansehr’s third in command, a title she fought long and hard for. Sansehr was a womanizer and a drunkard, but was built large and strong like a sturdy barn and had great skill in battle. She had fought many male soldiers to prove herself capable of being the Lord’s hand, and even after all of it, the title was still held by Feneris, simply because of his gender.

             
With his mind guided back on track by Viyana, Sansehr continued his questioning. “What was that explosion we heard? What has happened to all of the trees here?”

             
Zehlyr shook his head. “I have no idea, sir.”

Sansehr glared angrily at him. “I’m hearing a lot of ‘I don’t know’ from the only two people I’ve seen out here. I’ve half a mind to arrest you both until I can get some answers.”

              “It’s the truth, my lord,” Zehlyr responded. He was trying very hard not to shout, but the thought of being jailed wasn’t helping him to calm down. “I was following one of my sheep into the trees when I heard the explosion. The force threw me a good thirty feet! After that, I came to investigate.”

             
Sansehr gave the boy another leer of uncertainty. “Guards!” he shouted.

             
Zehlyr’s heart raced. He could feel a bead of sweat running down his spine.

             
“Search the area!” Sansehr ordered. “See what you can find and report it to me!” At his command, the guards dispersed to inspect the pit.

             
Zehlyr failed to disguise the sigh of relief he let out.

             
Sansehr’s eyes shot back toward Zehlyr. “Don’t think you’re in the clear, boy. You’re both staying by my side until this is all sorted out.”

             
“We’ve got bodies, my lord!” one of the guards shouted from high on the slope.

             
“Human?!” Sansehr asked, turning his head in the direction of the call.

             
The guard shook his head. He was leaning over one of the cloaked corpses. “No sir, balisekts.”

             
“Balisekts?!” Sansehr roared in anger and confusion.

             
“Got some over here, too!” another guard called out.

             
“Two on this slope!” shouted another.

             
Sansehr lowered his eyes and shook his head. “What’s going on here?” One of the guards ran back down the slope towards his lord. In his hands, he clutched a dirty, red cloak.

             
“They’re all wearing these, lord,” the guard said.

             
Sansehr took the cloak and studied it, his brow furrowed as he turned the garment over in his hands. None of this made any sense, and he felt unnatural in a situation where he didn’t have all the answers. “So many questions,” he said quietly to no one. He passed the soiled cloak to Feneris. “We take this with us.” His eyes snapped back to Zehlyr and his female companion. “Them, too.”

             
Two guards moved in and took their places around Zehlyr and the girl. Zehlyr swallowed nervously. He wasn’t being taken prisoner, but he wasn’t exactly free to go either. He looked over to the girl. Her muddy, pink hair had fallen in front of her face again, but he could see just enough of the shape of her mouth to discern that she was near tears.

             
Sansehr marched back out of the pit with Feneris and Viyana following closely at his sides. “I want this site kept under watch at all times. Send patrols out to look for more signs of balisekt activity.”

             
“Yes, my lord,” Viyana and Feneris said in unison.

             
“The boy and girl do not leave my sight until we have some answers.”

             
“Yes, my lord,” they said again.

             
Zehlyr felt the gentle push of a spear butt against his back. Taking the hint, he began marching back out of the pit. The girl followed at his side. As they all climbed out onto level ground, the guards fell back behind them. Sansehr’s entourage had found a path between the fallen trees that could be trekked without climbing atop the trunks, but it was only wide enough to walk in twos. The guards must have figured that the trees themselves provided enough assurance that the captives wouldn’t escape, but Zehlyr took it as an opportunity to talk to his fellow prisoner with a bit of privacy.

             
“Are you okay?” he asked. The girl gave no reply. Her bare feet squished in the mud with each step. Zehlyr hurried his steps a bit, getting ahead of her and looking back over his shoulder. She had put the hood of the borrowed cloak over her head, and all he could see was her matted hair poking out from underneath it.

             
“Hey,” he said, trying to get her attention but also keep his voice down. “It’s okay. You can talk to me.”

             
She sighed. “I want to know who I am.” Her head rose, letting Zehlyr see her face and the twin tears racing down her cheeks from her sparkling eyes. “I feel like my life just started when you woke me up, but I know that’s impossible. I just need answers. I need something to give me clarity.”

             
Against his better judgment, Zehlyr reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. He expected her to jerk away, but instead she leaned her head towards him, nuzzling her cheek against his wrist. He couldn’t discern if she felt genuinely comforted, or if she was simply gravitating towards the only person in her life not treating her like a prisoner. Either way, he was glad she was accepting his help.

             
“Don’t worry,” he said warmly, still keeping his voice down so the guards would stay back. “We’ll get you back to the village and someone will recognize you. Then we can get you back with your family and your memory will return.”

             
She gave a small smile. It was barely noticeable, but it was enough to let Zehlyr know he was getting through to her. Truth be told, he was just as perplexed as she seemed to be. He’d gone into the Savage Lands, into the heart of the phenomenon, having no idea what to expect, and his mind had concocted many different things, but certainly not a strange, naked girl lying amongst a bunch of dead balisekts.

             
There were so many questions. Why were the balisekts this close to the Lands of Order? Why were they dressed in those strange cloaks? Had they kidnapped this girl from the village and, if so, why had no one noticed? This was confusing enough for him to contemplate, but he couldn’t imagine how difficult it must be for her. At least he knew his past. At least he knew his place in the world.

             
At least he had a name.

             
“You know, until we find out what you’re real name is, I need something to call you.” She turned away again and Zehlyr could hear another sigh escape her lips. He couldn’t imagine how hard it would be not to know his own name. His right foot found a small rock, causing him to stumble. He turned to face forward again, minding his steps through the muddy earth. The sunlight was bright and hot upon his face, unhindered thanks to the lack of foliage above him and making the air smell hot.