Death Will Have To Wait

Shyana and Akiem hadn't spoken for the majority of the ride, focusing on their own skills rather than what the other was thinking. She knew even though they were treading to a place where no maps had been drawn and no one had in fact returned from, that Akiem would be trying to form some kind of strategy for their pilgrimage.

While he was just as aware that she was going over what they could bear to part with to make the trip easier and which weapons would be best for the mission.

There was a distinct reason why they worked so well together. Years of memorizing each other's strengths and weaknesses, knowing what the other was thinking without expressing actual words, had saved their lives countless times. And though there was a very good chance they wouldn't survive, Shyana felt confident that her truest friend would be by her side when all else fell away.

They slowed their pace some to spare the horses' energy; though Shyana wished as always that they would hurry. It seemed as if the entire world was plotting to keep her from achieving her goal. But even as she slowed, she knew that they were not alone and hadn't been for the past few minutes.

Akiem kicked the sides of his steed and pulled forward whispering. "Have you noticed? That hawk has been trailing us for some time now."

She nodded, a faint smile pulling at the edges of her lips. "Indeed I have."

The advisor glanced back up to the circling bird. "That's not one of Xera's. It doesn't hold the royal harness and the coloring is darker. What do you suppose it is?"

Shyana slowed her horse to a leisurely walk, while straightening out her increasingly sore back. "It's Revarian. He's been tracking us since we left the village."

Akiem looked around, not finding a single trace of the forest walker. "I don't see him."

Shyana patted her horse lovingly, picking out some of the flies which had nestled their stinging bodies into his mane. "I'd be very surprised if you could. Don't bother searching with your eyes. You'll never find him that way. But Akiem, I do believe your other talents might be more useful. Why don't we end this game of cat and mouse?"

Akiem studied her words until realization flooded through him.

Taking a deep, calming breath, the wild man closed his eyes and forced in small breaths of air through his nose. A rush of fresh scents attacked his senses from all sides; Shyana's familiar spiced amber, the dust from the horse's mane and hay-filled stomach, but then a new scent, one he hadn't placed for some time reached him.

It smelled wooden, musky with a faint trace of the summer wind and definitely male. He turned his head one way, then another before releasing a bit more of the lion within him to pinpoint the hidden man's location. Raising his hand, Akiem pointed just to the left of them, hidden away within the trees.

Shyana dismounted her steed and placed a hand on Akiem's leg. He opened his eyes to look down at her and the general didn't miss the way they glowed slightly. There was a reason why Akiem preferred not to tap into his wilderness; for each time he did, it was becoming harder for him to come back. That was something Shyana would address later when the fate of their nation wasn't at stake, but for right now, she was grateful for his keen senses because they led her to the forest walker.

Keeping with her royal heritage, Shyana walked with a regal calm, her chin held high, violet eyes sharp until she reached the darkened trees. "Revarian, how long do you think you can follow me and I won't notice?"

The forest walker spoke as softly as a spring wind, the sound of his voice telling her that it was rarely used but to speak to the trees who were more companions to him than any human. "I wanted to see whether or not the great General Makea had lost her cognizance. I see that you are still uncannily aware, my Lady."

She smiled softly. "A welcomed compliment from one of the greatest trackers in Tarru. Now will you do me the honor of greeting me properly or will I continue to have to speak to a tree and hope the message reaches you?"

"Only if you will step further into the trees, while Reuk was born for the open sky, I prefer the sanctuary of branches."

Shyana obeyed as the hawk soared down from the endless sky and onto a nearby branch, shrieking at her approach. Akiem trailed closely, never allowing her to walk out of his sight. While she trusted Revarian, Akiem wasn't as convinced of the forest walker's side in all of this.

The general stepped into the darkness, her vision desperately trying to adjust. "I'm here; show yourself."

Revarian seemed to melt out of the trunk of the cien tree, it's deep green providing perfect, rich camouflage for his lithe body. With movements which were impossible for the human eye to follow. The forest walker slid down the trunk and landed not a few feet from her. Shyana placed a hand across her chest, bowing slightly to the enigmatic being before her. Revarian returned the greeting, standing at full height to speak with her.

Akiem slid off his mount to stand beside Shyana before clearing his throat. "It is good to see you again, Master Revarian. Your presence is greatly appreciated."

The forest walker bowed his head in response. "And you as well, Lord Akiem. Your presence has changed greatly since I last...laid eyes on you."

Shyana found herself smiling at the quip, for anyone who knew Revarian would also know that if he were to indeed remove his cloak and look into your eyes, all you would see is milky white staring back. All of his people shared this same feature, for none of them ever needed pupils to judge the world around them. Forest walkers were exactly as they appeared, bound to the once vibrant woodland, using the trees around them and the companions beside them to see just as Shyana and Akiem did.

The hawk stared pointedly at her, his ebony gaze never blinking. Reuk was just as much a part of Revarian as Shyana's sword was to her. He was the eyes Revarian would never have and at that moment, he was taking her in with quiet fixation. "You haven't changed at all, General Makea. Your image is not one easily forgotten."

Shyana accepted this praise before her calm smile morphed into a determined scowl. "I need your help, Revarian." She quickly explained everything that had happened since their last encounter. Battles her army had won, strategies they had formed and of course, the heart of the matter.

Revarian shot up a hand to stop her mid-sentence. "Perhaps I misunderstand you, my Lady, but do you mean to venture into the Fepican Forest? Are you mad or simply suicidal?"

Shyana felt the sting from her sister's words in her mind before clearing her throat. "The Blood Song is in that forest Revarian, and I must attain it before the Thurucalns do. I know you are not aligned to anyone but the forest itself, but I also know that you owe me a debt and that is not something I remember your kind forgetting easily."

"The favor you ask is too great. Not even I, a forest walker, would dare to enter that place. It has a foul curse upon it and any who enter there will be subject to it. What makes you think that a little girl will be able to what other men could not?"

Akiem grimaced. "Severely poor choice of words, Revarian."

"Little girl?" Shyana moved rapidly, withdrawing her sword before slamming her boot against the trunk of a tree and using its momentum to fling her nimble body up and behind the forest walker. Holding one arm across his throat, she pressed her lips to his ear, whispering dangerously, "I promise you, I am no little girl. I am the Crimson Blade, and my mind is set to achieve what I came for. With or without your help, I will go into that forest, I will find the Blood Song and I am going to bring it out again. If you are too much of a coward to assist me, then the forest walkers have indeed fallen farther than the legends foretold."

Her words struck Revarian hard, just as she hoped they would, before he elbowed her swiftly and twisted out of her grasp, pulling her around just as she had him. "I will lend my aid, brave little girl, but know this, insult my honor again and you and I shall have a confrontation. Am I clear?"

She felt the prick of his dagger across her fair throat, but instead of trembling, the general smiled for she knew she had her own blade posed at his stomach. "Crystal."

They released each other while Akiem rolled his eyes. "Negotiations…"

Ruek shrieked again as if agreeing with the advisor. They were only about another thirty minutes of riding from the Fepican Forest, so both general and advisor mounted their steeds while Revarian stuck to his favored form of travel. Shyana was always impressed by how nimbly the forest walker leapt from tree to tree, as if the plants rose to meet his descent.

As they approached, a feeling of foreboding already poisoned the air. The wind itself was trying to warn them away from this evil place. Vegetation grew wild, creating a naturally woven wall between the travelers and the forest. Shyana stared down the massive trees like they were an actual being for her to defeat while Akiem felt a stirring within him that made him uneasy. He scanned the forest line, raising a hand to his sensitive nose. "What's that smell?"

Revarian flipped agilely from the trees, landing without as much as a whisper to announce his presence. "It's the scent of the curse. This forest is angry, very angry; its spirits haven't found comfort in over one hundred summers. It's suffocating."

Shyana withdrew her blade and kicked the sides of her steed to charge forward, but the normally obedient creature reared back, almost sending her flying from her saddle. She grabbed the reins and patted his back shushing. "Easy hinmea, easy…"

Akiem looked to his own steed who, instead of panicking, simply refused to walk any further even with encouragement from his rider's boot.

Revarian shook his head at them. "The horses sense the malevolence of this place. It is pointless to bring them along anyway; the vegetation will be too thick. Take what you need and we will walk the rest of the way."

Both general and advisor looked to one another before dismounting and retrieving what was absolutely necessary. Shyana took her horse's face into her own hands, whispering lovingly. "We will return. I want you to stay here… stay."

She knew her steed better than any other in Xhaia, he had been with her on far too many marches and would do as she commanded, which made his reluctance to venture into the forest even more unsettling.

They turned to meet the forest, three seemingly small beings versus the looming darkness which consumed the air they breathed. Akiem glanced over to Shyana. "There is still time to turn back, Shy; it isn't too late to change your mind."

Shyana's gaze scanned the tree line and though she would never admit it, a wave of fear fluttered in her heart at the presence even she could feel. She closed her eyes, focused on her fear and smiled. "Remember the first battle we fought in, Akiem? The stakes were high, our numbers impossibly dwindled and the Thurucalns rapidly gained the high ground. What did I tell you back then?"

He grasped the hilt of his sword tightly, remembering that day as clearly as if he were standing back in his much too large armor. "If death finds us, then death takes us. But I have no intention of being found today."

Shyana nodded, cracking her neck before stepping a purposeful foot into the dark forest. "Death will have to wait."