Ifonsa fired.

The spell blinded her, its effects so much worse than the previous two times.  Despite the heavy cloud cover, the sun streamed into her eyes as though she was staring straight into its heart. Insects flew in and out at the edge of her vision, attracting her eye, as their annoying buzzing filled her ears. She could feel ants, spiders and other crawling things race up her arms and legs. 

“Stop!” she cried, as she grabbed another arrow. “Falduin!”

The distractions faded, and Ifonsa saw that the bird was racing towards them.  There was no sign of the arrow she had loosed at the beast.  Either it had sunk deep into the mass of feathers or had missed entirely.

She notched the arrow and arched her back as she drew back the string of her warbow.  The bird was almost upon them. 

However, before she could release, she saw something silvery tumble through the air and strike Adus.  The bird staggered, then stopped to peer at the thing that had hit it.  

It was a large salmon, Ifonsa realised. The fish flopped about on the ground, attracting the bird’s complete attention.

Ifonsa eased the bow string, and replaced the arrow in the quiver.  She found Falduin was on the ground, whimpering and slapping at his arms and legs.

“Move,” she hissed at him, but he didn’t react.  She grabbed his arm and pulled him up. “Quick.  While it’s distracted,” she said.

He moved, but he kept striking out, as though he was swatting insects, “They’re everywhere,” he murmured. 

As they snuck away, the bird uttered a shriek behind them.  Ifonsa glanced back to find that the Adus had noticed their presence.

“Hey!” cried a voice.  “Hey!  Dopey!”  It was Orwic.  Somehow he had stolen down to the stream. He held a salmon in his hands and he tossed it in a great arc.  It soared high, landing behind the bird.

Adus turned sharply and chased after the fish, allowing Ifonsa and Falduin to escape.

Heric met them as they had hurried away from the distracted bird.

“What’s wrong with him?” Heric asked her, taking Falduin’s other arm and helping her carry him toward the trees.

“I don’t know.  Perhaps the bird is immune to magic. Where did Orwic find the fish?”  

“He snuck down to the stream and just started grabbing them from the water and tossing them onto the bank,” Heric said, “It was as though they were just appearing in his hands”

Just before they had entered the trees, Ifonsa looked back.  Orwic was on the far bank leading Adus away.  He’d toss a fish in front of the bird, which would race over to it.  Then Orwic would sneak back to grab another fish, and so on.

Lera must have suspected something had gone wrong because she met them at the half-way point.  She made them lay Falduin upon the ground, so she could care for him.

While Heric had hurried away to ready the horses, Ifonsa remained.  She watched as Lera chanted over the fidgeting wizard, who squirmed on the ground scratching and slapping all over his body.

“We need to hurry,” Ifonsa said.

“I’m trying as fast as I can, “Lera snapped. 

“We need to be over the ford and away before Orwic runs out of fish.”

“I can’t stop it,” Lera said, desperate. 

Ifonsa wasn’t certain if she was talking to her or Falduin.

“I can ride,” Falduin suddenly told Lera. “Get horses across. Fix later.”  It took every effort for Falduin to speak.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Reverberation,” he whimpered.

“I’ll get the horses,” Ifonsa said, and sped away.

 

There was no sign of Adus as they approached the ford.  There was also no sign of Orwic.

Ifonsa rode out front, while Heric and Lera followed either side of Falduin, ready to steady him if he swayed.  Ganthe remained at the rear, leading Orwic’s mount and the pack horse.

As Ifonsa’s mount waded through the shallow stream, a salmon leapt across in front of her.  The water was filled with them, heading upstream to spawn. While she had witnessed migrations before, in all her years in the wilderness she had never seen anything like it. It was like the riverbed was silver.  Now she understood why Adus had remained by the ford for so long.

Safely across, they made for the trees as quickly as they could manage.  There was still no sign of either Adus or Orwic.

“We’re going to have to give him a weapon now,” Ifonsa commented.

“I was hoping to avoid that,’ Heric said.

“You never told us why,” Lera said.

“He never signed on for this,” Heric said. ”He’s just a messenger, a sailor, that became caught up in the awful mess. Giving him a weapon means he’ll feel obligated to fight.”

“Did you think he might feel we don’t trust him instead?”

“That was always a risk.”

“I don’t trust him,” Ganthe said.

“Why?” Lera asked.

“Something,” Ganthe shrugged.  Then added, “He was sleeping with your friend.”

“Burha?” Heric said.  “No harm in that.”

Ganthe shrugged again, “It felt... dirty.”

Ifonsa laughed. “My sister would tell you, the dirtier the better.”

They led the horses deep into the forest, until they could no longer hear the stream. Then they stopped, and lowered Falduin from his mount.  They made him as comfortable as possible on the forest floor, lying him on a patch of brilliant green moss below a sharp ridge.   

Ganthe and Heric returned to forest’s edge hoping to find Orwic.  Meanwhile Ifonsa paced, as Lera continued ministering to Falduin.

“I need you to tell me how to fix this, Falduin,” Lera said, her voice becoming shrill.

Falduin hadn’t spoken a word since they reached the trees, only offering cries of panic amid his mad scratching and twitching.  His squalling competed with the squawks and cries from the forest birds, mammals and insects.  

“The magic is too strong for me to break,” Lera told Ifonsa. “It’s like he’s in a cocoon of his own making.  He’s fighting every effort I attempt to break-through.”

“What can I do?” Ifonsa asked, feeling helpless.  She didn’t particularly like Falduin, but his torment bothered her, like it would if he were any other kind of wounded beast.

“Can you pin his arms?”

“I can try.”

Ifonsa knelt at Falduin’s head, and grabbed his wrists.  He struggled, he was stronger than he appeared, but Ifonsa managed to guide his arms down, so his hands were either side of his head.  That made pinning them much easier. He continued to claw at the air, and twist in an attempt to break free.

“I’m going to try something,” Lera said.  “It might end badly.”

“How badly?”

“I might explode?”

“That’s bad.”

“Ifonsa, I don’t know what else to do.”

“We could tie him to a tree, and hope that it’s just temporary.  We could finish that jug of wine while we wait.  There’s still some left, I hope.”

“I need to do this.”

“Very well.  Explode now.  Wine later.”

 

Lera sat back and closed her eyes.  For a long time she appeared to do nothing except breathe deeply.  Ifonsa feared that she might have fallen asleep, which was much better than exploding, yet still not helpful.

Then Ifonsa heard footsteps, far off in the forest.  She listened, trying to tell if they were Heric or Ganthe drawing near, perhaps to inform them they had found Orwic. Or it might even be Orwic himself.  But the strides sounded too uneven and slow.  Someone was creeping about, trying not to be heard. The uneven terrain made it difficult for Ifonsa to tell whether they were moving towards them or away, the footfalls indistinct from the bird calls and other animal noises.

She closed her eyes, aiming to narrow in upon it.  Falduin suddenly lurched, uttering a soft moan.  Ifonsa had to scramble to prevent him from breaking free from her grasp. 

The footfalls fell silent.  Whoever it was had heard the sound.  That meant they were close.  Far too close.

Ifonsa eyed Lera, hoping that she had returned to wakefulness.  However the Priestess was still in some form of meditative state, her lips moving, ever so slightly, as though she were whispering to herself. 

If she concentrated, Ifonsa could just hear the words. It sounded like a chant.  The same words, repeated over and over, gradually becoming louder. She had heard it before, she just couldn’t remember where.

Ifonsa glanced about, fearing an imminent assault.  The lurker was still out there.  Probably near enough to be watching them, or creeping closer.

Falduin bucked, became more and more agitated.  He strained against her hold, twisting and pulling trying to break free.

“No,” he whispered, at first, then steadily louder. “No. No! NO!”   His voice tortured and desperate.

Footsteps.  Heavy amongst the leaf litter.  Running away.

“Nooooo!” Falduin screamed.  Then he suddenly relaxed, and his eyes flickered open.  “Where am I?”  His voice hoarse.

“Safe,” Lera told him, with a smile.

“Are we fine here?” Ifonsa asked.

Lera nodded. “I believe so.”

“Good,” and in a flash Ifonsa was up and racing through the trees.

The pursuit didn’t last long.  Once Ifonsa narrowed down the direction it was only a matter of time.  These were not the trees that she had grown up around, but they were close enough.  In their own way, they spoke to her, revealing the runner.  

Instead of following behind,  she made to intercept him, much like a dragonfly after its prey.  It was definitely a him.  His gait and weight exposed themselves upon the forest floor. His path disclosed by the flurry of cries from the forest creatures, as they sought escape.

The forest was wild, it hadn’t been cultured into copses or tamed like the woodlands to the west of the Tæsca.  She raced up the lichen covered incline.  She twisted between the young trees and low brush, that grew beneath the canopy.  Then leapt over the rotting remains of a fallen tree, its top covered with pink toadstools. Over the top and down into the furrow on the other side.

There he was.  Immediately in front of her.  He was looking behind.  He hadn’t heard her approach.  Then he turned and skidded to a stop.  She saw the fear in his eyes.

“Orwic?” she said.

He let out a howl of relief.  He dropped to his knees, breathing hard. 

“I thought you were a goblin,” he said as he found his breath. “I got lost.  I kept hearing these sounds, moaning.”

Ifonsa grinned, “And you thought they were goblins?”

“They live in these hills, right?”

Ifonsa helped him to his feet. “I certainly hope so,”

And the two of them made their way back to the others.