The Village

"The animals brought you out of the woods!" The taunt came from behind. It was familiar and Mari ignored it.
The way down from the hills passed every home. There were dozens of windows from which peevish boys and jealous girls could shout as she passed by. The boys because it was something to tease about, the girls because she lived in the manor. It was like every other manor in Venictur a stone house of some size. They said that the seven houses were built first, and for the first winter all lived in them. Now only a few people lived in the manor and some rooms were shut up for not being in use for so long. Mari thought to herself that they would not tease so much if they knew her room was the servants quarters, and that it was behind the cellars.
There were no more taunts and Mari slipped in the back door and shut herself in the chamber that was her sanctuary. She looked around evaluating with the disembodied disinterest she had taught herself to use. Straw mat. Low flat writing table with pens and inkwell. Chair carved by the master carver of the village. She regarded the chair carefully. It was the only possession she had of any real value. The satchel in the corner held a few things of usefulness, but her chair had value--if only that it was luxury. It was well made and fit well to her slender body. It was a carving of two wolves their heads for armrests their tails made the back and seat. She sat in it now stroking the left wolf feeling for the dent she had made last summer. It was there. Why had he made it for her? Months he must have worked on it. Why wolves? There had been none there when the animals had brought her. She sighed. The master carver was dead. There would be no answers.

Darkness came slowly but completely that night. Starlight was not strong enough to penetrate the forest leaves and there was no moon. Atal lit no fire that night only holding the child close in his arms and recalling in his mind what had taken place long ago and far away. Morning came reluctantly.

There were three of them. Dark metal encrusted creatures dragging their captive behind them with great strength for their small bony bodies. Atal sat waiting for them in a small clearing. He had heard their approach for hours. The birds had told him first, then the fleeing squirrels, and finally even the ants spoke of their approach.
They stopped when they saw him. He thought briefly of how stupid they seemed and remembered sluggishly to not underestimate them no matter how much more the world spoke to him. They spoke the tongue was gutteral and arrogant. One pointed at where Atal sat and the other paired moved towards him. The Fox growled. Atal said nothing. They hesitated but at a word from their commander hurried forward. The bear stopped them. Where he had come from even Atal had not heard. He was not given to being social, but Atal was such that he came out for him. There was silence in the for a long minute as the black creatures noticed the many animals gathered about the clearing.
Atal pointed at the captive. "Let him go." He knew the words would not be understood, but they comprehended well enough.
The leader shook his head, "Heg sercund," he pointed at the man, "barogunar."
Atal pointed at the bear, "barogunar," he pointed all around the forest, "barogunar," he pointed at an anthill, "barogunar." Crouching to the crowd he spoke softly and blew on the anthill, their black bodies crawling surely across the ground for what seemed like forever they did not understand. The itching, then the biting. It only reached the two subordinates. The leader watched with horror.
Atal rose from the ground holding out a giant spider. "I will send them to hunt you in the night." The threat was not as real as it seemed but the spider's venom was and with a quick word all three fled leaving the man behind. Atal gently set the spider down with a word of thanks.

The forest drew Atal in. Something foul lay on the plain and shunning it he slipped beneath the trees and left the sight of all things. The fox made no comment on their change of path. Ever since they had crossed the mountains she had grown more reserved. But now, since they had entered the forest she seemed to grow alert. The trees grew at first sparsely, and then more closely, drawing them from the bright sunlight into dark musty patches.
There was little life and only quiet for many hours.

Experiement

This blog is really an experiement. You see, my husband had been writing his fiction in small tiny pieces each morning before going to work, on the unreliable laptop. He has lost his work. My idea was for him to post here making it harder to loose it, or to loose it all. I also thought it might be interesting for you to see it. Who knows, maybe you will fall in love with it and want more? Maybe not, either way it is really for him, and for me who then has to organize what he writes into something wonderful. Well, if you like what you find here, you can visit our website for more (www.falonofthetower.com). We hope you enjoy what you find here.