Avilion

You have opened the story of Quickspeak, as it was told at the Drum circle not long ago by Osiris. It is a long story, but worth reading I hope. And after this story was told completely…things happened, in Avilion. But this is not the place to tell about those things. Here begins the story of Quickspeak :

Chapter 1
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The wind sweeps through the trees, rustles the leaves, touches a lone squirrel that sits upon a branch. It changes the pattern of the sunlight on the leave-strewn forest floor. A bright blue butterfly flutters its wings, and descends from high above the trees down to the ground, past the squirrel. The wind blows the butterfly a bit to the side, but with some effort it returns to its path, as if it is flying towards a beacon. The butterfly nears the ground and settles on solid material….
after which it freezes, for what seemed solid is suddenly soft and moving. Would someone with knowledge of such things have witnessed, she would have seen eyes opening, an arm moving, a stray hair being blown away by the wind. The young woman on whom the butterfly settled, lies silent once more, though now with open eyes. She is not afraid, for she knows nothing. with eyes that never saw before, see notices the butterfly on her arm. With amazement she sees it close and open its wings once, twice, and then a third time. She feels the movement without realizing it. Then, the butterfly has had enough and takes off. The woman follows its flight, ever higher amidst the trees, Until it disappears between the leaves.
Slowly, the woman turns her head, first to the left, and then to the right. She sees shapes and colors, yet does not recognize them. She feels the leaves beneath her, the tickling of small insects on her skin, but she knows not what she feels or sees. Overwhelmed, she closes her eyes again, and waits. She feels at ease, and peaceful, though she has never felt otherwise. She feels herself drifting away, in unrecognized sleep.

From the foliage, a golden horn protrudes, and big dark eyes focus on the woman sleeping on the ground. The creature stands still, and is barely visible. It looks like a big black horse, but had one been there to see, it would have been difficult to make out what it was except for the golden horn.
While the woman sleeps, the creature stands silent, as if on guard.
Then, suddenly, the creature cocks its head, as if listening. After a few seconds, it retreats silently and disappears from view.

“Mother! Mother! I found a woman…come quick!” The woman who was sleeping starts from her sleep, eyes wide open, looking up into something blocking the sunlight. She moves all limbs at the same time, awkwardly thrashing them around her to do something, to ward off the new sights and smells and sounds that flood her eyes, nose and ears. Thoughts form in her head as she desperately tries to get up, instinctively knowing her present position is not safe. The sound, she sees now, comes from something moving away from her. A…a thing is..is looking at her, and making more sounds now. She stops her movements and looks at the thing, sees its shapes, the connections between the different shapes, she can see how it moves, and she somehow knows where to look to see muscles move the shapes. Intrigued, she looks at her own shape, and immediately sees a close resemblance. When she looks up again, a second, larger shape has arrived next to the first. She notices now that, although the two shapes look similar to herself, she is also different, for the shapes somehow have a different outside that covers most of the shape.
She looks on with large eyes as the largest shape moves closer, one part of the shape extended towards her, making soft sounds. At first she tries to scramble backwards, but the shape comes closer and closer, till she is with her back against something hard. The shape stops moving when it is close to her, and she looks at the extended part. Slowly she raises her hand and moves it outward, towards the extended part of the shape close to her. She blinks her eyes as her fingers touch other fingers, feeling the warmth of another living being, the texture of skin used to hard work. She moves her hand till it is against the other hand, and looks up.

There now, girl…don’t be afraid, what’s a lass like you doing all alone in the forest, and naked at that?” The farmer’s wive looks at the young woman in front of her, and tries to decide what to do. She cannot let the woman be alone in the forest, but to take her with her back towards the farm, would that not be dangerous as well? She knows nothing about the woman, she never saw the woman before, and strange things happen deep inside old Haywern Forest. When the young woman touches her fingers and hand and looks at their hands touching with a look as if she sees a miracle in front of her eyes, the farmer’s wive makes a decision. “Timmy, get me cloak from me back….we have to cover the lass up…quickly boy!”
Her son takes the rough cloak from her back where it was tied to her pouch and hands it over to her free hand.
“Come then lass…we need to get you covered up and out of the forest before it gets dark” she speaks in soothing tones to the woman who still looks at their hands in amazement. “Who is she mother? What is she doing here? And why is she without clothes? Is the forest not dangerous?” pipes up her 6-year-old son, in that special way only young children can ask lots of questions in one second.
“I don’t know Timmy, but she’s coming with us for now, we can’t leave her here. We will have to find out later” she breaks off the string of questions that assault her. Then she moves her attention back to the young woman and slowly takes the hand that is touching her to get the woman up. At first, the dark eyes of the young woman open wide with fear, but then she relaxes, and lets herself be pulled up. Quickly the farmer’s wive throws the cloak over the shoulders of the young woman, and shows her how the clasp the front of the cloak to keep it shut. “Lead the way Timmy, back to the farm”, she instructs her son, who sets of at a canter, already thinking of the story he can tell to his friends tomorrow. The farmer’s wive makes soothing sounds as she follows at a slower pace, gently tugging the strange woman from the forest with her.

It was several days later, when the woman from the forest sat on a bench in front of a little village house. She was now dressed in simple clothes, and her hair was combed. The woman looked with interest at Timmy and some other children playing in front of the house. The village they were in was small, having ten farmhouses, a smithy and a small inn at a crossroads. The houses where simple, made of wood from the big Haywern forest sprawling on the hills behind the village. The past days, the woman from the forest had adapted to the life in the village, though she still was the talk of the day. All villagers talked about how she came walking into the village, barefooted with only a cloak and a look of uttermost astonishment on her face. Common belief after these few days was that the woman was most probably simple, and abandoned by gypsies as they drove past the village. “Look at her hair, so long and dark…and those eyes…tis a gypsy girl, mark my words!” could be heard in the inn when the men of the village gathered during the evenings. “It’s naught good that comes from this, crazy Myrha should have left her in the woods, that’s what she should have done!”
But Myrha, the farmer’s wive who had found the woman in the forest, insisted the girl was not a gypsy lass. “There’s something with her….I can’t put it into words, and the way she was lying there…no..and look at how she is amazed at everything, she never saw other human beings before, or a village, that’s what I think!” What the woman on the bench thought was hard to say, for she had not said a word since she came into the village. She observed everything, silent and quiet. But she learned quickly, about clothes and how to dress, and about how to behave inside a house. Myrha noticed this, but kept silent about it, for she feared for the silent woman.

Timmy kicked the ball towards one of his friends, who deftly caught it and tossed it into the corner where Timmy’s team could score points. The entire team burst out “Yes! Hurray! Twelve to ten! We’re winning…” after which they all fell silent, for the woman that had been sitting there silently before, now stood and was cheering with them..”Hurray..” she said once more before she stopped, and stared at the children arranged in front of her. “You can speak!” shouted Timmy. “That’s neat! Why didn’t you do so before?”
“I…I speak” said the woman, as if she formed the words for the first time. “Yes, I speak”. “What’s your name?” inquired Timmy excited. “Name…I…I have no name” stumbled the woman, “is a name..good?” “Of course it is!” exclaimed Timmy, his game completely forgotten in the excitement. “But if you don’t know your name…we will have to find you one….oh wait till mum hears of this, she will be glad!” The woman looked around her with amazement…and tried to form new words a few times before she managed them..”but…speak is good, not? You all speak. So..sh..should I do then, yes?” “Yes yes!” exclaimed Timmy, as he took the woman’s hand and started to drag her into the house. “Let’s go tell mum.” The other children watched in silence for a second as the boy led the woman inside, and then scattered to tell the news in their own homes. The mysterious woman could speak! Now they would learn her story, they just knew it. Little hearts beating loud they all ran in different directions, and ere long the street was empty, the ball lying in a corner…forgotten, and a small dog that always hung around on the street and was thought to belong to somebody else by everybody, sitting in a the cloud of dust. It looked at the doorway the boy and woman just passed, as if waiting for something.

Chapter 2
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The news spread through the village like wildfire. The strange woman from Haywern Forest could speak. That evening, in the tavern, this was the only thing people talked about. One could see them in small groups around a table, talking about this strange woman, and how they would soon learn where she came from. The village people, being quite small of stature with fair skin and reddish or blond hair, realized all too well this strange woman, taller then they, with a skin tanned as if she always lived under the sun, and with dark, almost black hair was a true stranger. And as history taught them all too well, strangers where not to be trusted. Oh yes…the friends and relatives of the villages nearby, and maybe a few people from the little town called Silverlake (but not many, as everybody knew townsmen were a strange lot) could be trusted too. But everybody else was a stranger and by definition not to be trusted.
The door opened, and all heads turned to look at the 3 people now entering the common room. There was the woman, behind Timmy’s parents. She stood still in the doorway, looking around as if unsure on how to continue. Then, after a few seconds, her expression changed from unsure to resolved, and she stepped inside and walked on after Timmy’s parents.

Silence descended as the trio walked to the center of the room, up to where Rannol Twostrokes, the unofficial leader of the village, sat in a chair. “We come as requested, Rannol,” said Timmy’s father, “and bring to you the lass from the forest, so that she may relate to you all her history, though I doubt if you will learn much.” Rannol was a tall man compared to the other villagers, with thick muscles from working on his land. It was said that he could hammer a fence pole into the ground in two strokes (hence his name), and people whispered behind his back about the fact that he had friends in Silverlake. His hair came in curls that lay close to his head, and he had a perpetual frown around his little eyes, which he now fixed upon the woman from the forest. Timmy’s parents scurried off, glad to be able to find a place at a table not far from the table Rannol sat at. The woman from the forest stood before Rannol, and answered his stare stoically. “Tell me lass…how you came to be in the forest like you were, we’re all curious about that” he drawled.

The woman eyed him a second longer, then opened her mouth and spoke in a clear voice “I am sorry sir, but I don’t know. I awoke there, that’s all I can tell you.” Rannol was silent for a second or two, as if at a loss for words. “So you tell me you’ve lost your memory then? Is this why you could not speak before?” “No sir,” the woman said, “I told you before, I awoke there. I did not loose my memory, all I need to remember I do remember. Before I awoke, nothing needs to be remembered. As for speaking…I can speak now. I could not before. ” Several people in the room started whispering, and one young man laughed. “Silence!” roared Rannol and turned back to the woman. “You would not know anything about the Undural raiders then? The fierce nomads that come riding down from the steppes to raid our villages? We’ve had reports their raids are getting more bold every day. You look like one of them, lass. You sure you are not one of those savages? Coming down to spy on us? You sure about that?” The woman blinked, then answered “No sir, I don’t know these Undural you talk about, I’ve never met them and I don’t know why I am here.” Rannol started to speak as Timmy’s mother cut in. “Oh stop that Rannol! If she was a spy, it would be a clumsy attempt indeed. It would be too obvious she is not one of us. Rannol shot an angry glance at Timmy’s mother and she ceased talking. He turned back to the woman from the forest once more. “Then why didn’t you speak before? And tell us your name and where you come from? We thought you could not speak. You should not have left us wondering…it makes for bad thoughts..” He absently fingered the large dagger he always kept tucked away in his belt and waited for the woman to answer. Then he noticed the small dog that sat next to the woman, eying him from under a tangled warren of hair on its head. “And who let that dog in? What’s that monster doing here?”

The little dog started to bark as it stood up, hairs rising on the back, and ears perked up. The woman from the forest looked down to the small animal, smiled and put her finger against her lips, then whispered “Shhh he won’t do us any harm.” The dog stopped barking and sat down again, keeping its eyes focussed on Rannol.
“I am sorry sir, but this dog seems to like being with me. He promises he will do no harm, but please don’t yell again, that unsettles him.” began the woman from the forest. People started talking softly, and one time a whispered “witch!” could be heard in the back of the room. Undisturbed, the woman continued to talk. “I could not speak sir, I learned to speak while staying here, with Timmy and his friends. So I am sorry I could not speak with you before. As for a name, I don’t know my name. I don’t think I have one yet. But I can assure you I mean no harm, I have yet to find out what it is that I am expected to do.” Rannol looked at the strange woman with unbelieving eyes. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I ever heard, ” he growled. “You say you learned to speak in the few days you are here? Pah! Well, we will call you quickspeak then ha! I’ve heard enough from you. Take your dog with you and go learn to speak better, and try to find out where you lost your memory.” With that, he swung around and turned back to his friends at the table. Slowly, talk in the common room started once more. The strange woman stood in the center of the room, with the small dog sitting patient next to her feet, and felt the stares of several village people cling to her.

Several weeks went by after this encounter in the tavern, and during that time, the woman from the forest, now called Quickspeak by many, helped Timmy’s mother in the garden. She was to be found there everyday..working the earth, tending to the vegetables and the herbs. And always, the little dog sits at her side. Following her every move with his half-hidden eyes. Quickspeak seems to be happy working in the garden like this, but as time passes…people start talking about the vegetables and the herbs in the the garden tended to by Quickspeak and Timmy’s mother. Day after day, it becomes more apparent that the vegetables are more colorful, the herbs bigger and the garden fuller with flowers, compared to the other gardens. Whispers about sorcery can be heard…and people start to evade Quickspeak as she walks through the village. Timmy’s mother has several arguments as she believes none of this talk about sorcery is true. She insists Quickspeak never did anything that looked remotely like sorcery, and that when in the garden, all she uses are her hands and the simple tools everybody else uses too. The woman from the forest herself seems not to notice all the talk behind her back. She quietly goes her way every day, and returns at night to the farm where Timmy lives.

One day in midsummer, Timmy and his friends again are playing their game. Quickspeak is sitting on the bench again, this time working with twigs to make a basket. The little dog lies at her feet, sleeping contently. Further down the road, a cart loaded with hay and drawn by two horses stands in front of a shed, ready to be unloaded. One of the boys on the street makes a difficult move and evades the groping hands of one of his friends as he nears the corner where his team can score points, as suddenly a roar and the sound of galloping horses can be heard. The boys on the street freeze, as they look around to see what happened. Quickspeak looks up too, and frowns as she sees the cart bolting down the street, the horses gone wild in front of it. As the boys scamper away from the path of the cart, one litle boy falls. Quickspeak is allready on her feet and without thinking jumps right in front of the boy. As Timmy and his friends watch open-mouthed…she stand quietly in the path of the rapidly advancing horses and cart, and Timmy sees her lips move, as if she speaks soft words. The horses loose speed as they near her…and come to a standstill just in front of her. Slowly she raises both her arms and lays her hands on noses of the horses, who stand shaking and quivering on their legs…ears still twitching in anxiety. She signals Timmy..”Quick, help your friend, I will go look what happened.” She softly whispers to the horses once more, and leaves them standing on the road, while she walks to the barn where the horses came from.

The doors stand open, and sunlight streams in to the big open space that is inside the barn. Slowly the woman walks to the doors, and peers inside. She sees nothing but hay, crates and barrels and wonders where the farmer who drove the cart to the barn went to. Slowly she walks inside, past the barrels that stand next to the entrance. As she takes a few more steps, she sees the reason the horses bolted so suddenly. A big black bear emerges from one of the otherwise empty stables that are to her right. It freezes when it sees her…and lowers its head, slowly swaying it low to the ground. The woman stands still and smiles, not showing any fear. Slowly, the bear paws forward, its muscles rippling under the black matted fur. The woman stretches out her hand, palm upward, and smiles.
Confused, the bear stops again. It’s not used to people standing at ease and still like that. And when the woman softly speaks it perks its ears. “Hush now…you don’t belong here. You should be in the forest,” she whispers. The bear reaches her hand and sniffs it. Then it looks her in the eyes, which is not hard, as the bear is so large its head is, when raised, at eye level of the woman. “Go now,” she whispers, “Quickly, and you will be safe.” Then she steps aside. The bear lumbers past…swinging its head one last time to look at the woman, and then starts off at a canter, across the street, into the fields and out of sight.

Seconds later, the farmer appears on the hay attic. He jumps down from it and points at the woman, “Be gone from me, witch! You take your evil sorceries and leave me!” The frightened man turns and runs out the back of the stable, and soon after she hears him scream : “Sorcery! I knew it! She is a witch! To arms, to arms!” Uncomprehending, the woman turns and walks to the street. When she emerges, she sees the boys standing next to the horses, looking at her for a second with big eyes. Then one boy turns and runs, and the others follow right after him. Only Timmy remains. “You are…why?” He turns and runs into the farmhouse screaming “Mother! Mother!” leaving the woman on the street, together with the now quiet horses and the little dog, sitting at her feet. Near the tavern further in the village, shouts can be heard, and the sound of people heading towards the place where the woman stands. A lone dog howls. The woman looks around, she does not understand what happens around her.
The little dog looks up at her and wags its tail, stirring up a small cloud of dust from the street.

Chapter 3
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Timmy’s mother comes running out of the house just as a small mob of villagers rounds the corner and stops upon seeing the lone woman, flanked by the little dog, quietly standing on the street. “Come here, stand behind me!” hisses Tommy’s mother, clearly with the intention to help Quickspeak. The woman on the street looks at Tommy’s mother and smiles. “It’s ok, I don’t think these good people will harm me,” she speaks reassuringly, and looks to the group of villagers again.
Rannol steps forward and points an accusing finger to Quickspeak. “You are a witch! Why didn’t you say so? Did you try to sneak into our lives just to lay curses on us and kill our children? Speak up, before we loose our patience and kill you right here and now!” The woman looks up at him and shrugs…”I am no witch, I just stopped these horses from running over the children, and then I saw this bear in the barn…and I told it to go, which it did.” Timmy’s mother opens her mouth and starts..”Now Rannol, you cannot continue to…,” but she is interrupted by Rannol. “Shut up woman! It’s you who took her from the forest. It’s you who let her stay! Be quiet now or we will think you’re with that creature,” and he points to Quickspeak. Timmy’s mother closes her mouth in mid-sentence and looks helpless at Quickspeak, who looks back and shrugs with a little smile. Quickspeak opens her mouth to answer Rannol but before she can say anything, he points at her and shouts “I’ve had enough of you witch! You’re not going to bewitch us with your sorcery!” and to the men gathered behind him : “Get her! We will teach her to speak the truth!”
The group starts forward, with raised clubs and knives. The little dog next to Quickspeak stands now…it’s hairs standing up, and barking. Timmy’s mother clasps her hands together in front of her mouth, and the frightened eyes of Timmy himself can be seen peering around her skirts. As the villagers close in on Quickspeak, something seems to happen to the strange woman. She looked patient and friendly before, but her expression changes suddenly to one of anger, and her dark eyes flare as she shouts :

“I am NOT a witch!”

and stamps her right foot on the ground to emphasize her words, but as she does so..
a dull thundering sound can be heard, and the earth itself heaves, and rippling waves of movement of the very ground itself expand from the place where her foot touched the ground. Some of the villagers fall on their knees, some manage to keep standing, but all stop moving and as the noises of the moving earth dwindle away, the little dog sits down again. Had one been looking at the dog closely, one could have seen its expression is one of contentment. It looks up at Quickspeak and twitches an ear, as if it is expecting more fun to come.
Quickspeak herself did not feel any movement, for she was in the center of the tiny earthquake, but her expression is one of shock, and she feels her knees buckle, as Rannol, who still stands, snarls and draws his sword. Without saying a word, he advances upon the woman, only to be met by the little dog, who jumped up to bite him in his ankle.
Growling furiously, Rannol slashes down with his sword, and the little dog falls to the ground, lying still in a crumpled heap, a small trickle of blood flowing down the street. Quickspeak sobs and turns to run blindly away from these people, who behave like she is some kind of monster. The only thing she wanted to do was help, it races through her mind. The only thing she did was to prevent people and animals from getting hurt. And now…look what happened.
She hears no sound of pursuit, but runs on without thinking, out of the village, through the fields, and into the forest. On and on she runs, till her clothes are torn by sharp branches, and numerous small wounds make her legs bleed in many places. Evening falls, and still she stumbles on, having lost all sense of time and direction, only wanting to get away from these horrid people who want to kill her and who think she wants to kill or mistreat them for some reason. She does not understand…she is frightened and lost. Finally, she stumbles one time too many and she falls headlong into the bushes she was trying to cross. She cries into the soft earth until fatigue overcomes her and a restless sleep descends upon her.

It is night, and small bits of moonlight filter through the foliage to play over the woman lying on the ground. From the foliage, a golden horn protrudes, and big dark eyes focus on the woman sleeping on the ground. The creature stands still, and is barely visible. It looks like a big black horse, but had one been there to see, it would have been difficult to make out what it was except for the golden horn. While the woman sleeps, the creature stands silent, as if on guard.
Then, suddenly, the creature cocks its head, as if listening. After a few seconds, it retreats silently and disappears from view.

Quickspeak starts and raises her head from the earth she has been lying on. At first she is disoriented, but then images of what happened yesterday flood back into her memory. She sighs and gets up on her knees. She does not feel rested at all, but she knows she cannot stay here like this. Slowly, she stands up and looks around. She is deep into the forest, and there is not a path or any other recognizable thing in sight. She is alone, and completely, utterly lost. Slowly she starts walking in a random direction, not knowing where to go and what to do. During the day, as she stumbles on, she picks berries and other fruits she passes by, to fill her stomach. Once, as she crosses a small brook, she drinks from it, lying on her knees and enjoying the clear, cold water that she drinks. But then the shadows lengthen, and as the day passes, darkness descends again. And still she is in the forest. Quickspeak walks slower now, looking around for a good place to sleep. Then she stops walking altogether and listens. From behind…a lone howl can be heard through the night. It sends shivers down her spine, and instinctively she knows this howl is not caused by a normal creature. This howl sounds different…unnatural to her. How she knows, she is not sure, but from this howl one should run.

*-*-*-*-
Far back, dark shapes advance upon the place where Quickspeak fell down. Birds fly up from the path of the shapes, and an unnatural silence descends around the shapes. Almost without sound, six large black wolf-like shapes come to a halt at the very place where her form can still be seen in the soft earth. Noses swing down to the ground and sniff. The largest, standing easily a head taller than the others, looks around. It’s eyes are a glowing red color, as if a fire burns within its skull. It utters a long bone-chilling howl and snarls, then sets of on the trail Quickspeak left behind, charging into the forest with lightning speed. The other shapes follow in its wake, leaving the spot empty once more.
*-*-*-*-

Quickspeak turns and looks around. Around her, trees and bushes, without any discernible change. But she can feel something is wrong. The feeling something terrible is advancing will not leave her, and she once again starts moving, but running now, faster and faster. Even when the last rays of sunlight dwindle she runs on, brushing aside branches and leaves, hoping against hope to find help, or shelter. For what seems like hours, she runs on into the night, never stopping, never questioning herself why she runs. But as the ground starts to rise slightly, and low hills now stand where before the earth was flat, she cannot go on. She stumbles up one hill that is slightly larger then the others, as she hears something behind her. Crying tears of fear and helplessness, she stumbles on, and reaches a small clearing at the top of the hill, where moonlight illuminates several large stones, that once stood in a circle, but now lie fallen and forgotten. She reaches one that half-stands against another, and turns, keeping her back to the stone. Several meters down below, she sees six dark shapes emerge. Red eyes, glowing like molten lava in the darkness, look at her. Quickspeak flattens herself against the stone, grasping it with her hands as if to search for something, anything, that might help her, as the largest shape pads forward without sound and advances towards her, its red eyes interlocking with her own, what seems like a smile around its maw…

Chapter 4
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The creature stands still when it is about two meters from Quickspeak…and she can smell the putrid smell of its breath. It’s eyes seem to tear into her…to reach into her very soul, and to take hold of it. She stands frozen, as time seems to stand still. Then..with a snarl, the creature jumps forward.
Quickspeak acts without thinking…and lets herself fall down. The monster misses her barely..sailing through the air to land against the stone…and as it touches the stone, a blinding flash of white light can be seen far away. The wolf-like creature thumps down to the ground..its hide burned, small bits of fire still smoldering within. Quickspeak is buried beneath the creature, as it fell down on top of her. She shakes her head, not understanding what did happen, and choking from the stench around her. As she tries to crawl from under the creature, it stirs and growling tries to stand up. The other shapes, which did not move so far, now run as one up the hill, and as Quickspeak almost manages to crawl free, the creature behind her, even if terribly wounded, lands its two front paws on her back..the nails ripping through what remained of her dress, drawing blood where they pierce skin. Quickspeak cries out…and she finally surrenders to the inevitable, and feels darkness descend around her, welcoming her, as one of the other creatures turns round in alarm.
Thundering hooves can be heard, advancing rapidly, and a black horselike shape comes galloping up the hill, a golden horn flickering in the moonlight, as it bows its head to aim the horn at the creature that turned.
The creature tries to move out of the path of the horn, but it is too slow, and with a shriek it is impaled, lifted up into the air, and with a mighty swing of the head of the attacking creature is thrown away many feet, to land with a heavy thump. It skids a few feet, then lays unmoving, as the creature with the horn turns to face the other wolf-like creatures. The remaining four battle with the horned horse, circling it, snarling and jumping, trying to sink their fangs into its legs. But time and again the horse rears, and kicks and swings its horn. And even as it is wounded many times in its flanks, and red blood trickles down on the ground, it kicks the skull of one creature with its hind legs. And it lands on the skull of another with one front leg, and then it manages to catch yet another with its horn, wounding it terribly, causing it to crawl away. With a snarl…the leading creature backs off, away from Quickspeak, and around the stones. The last creature joins its leader with a mighty jump, and when they are out of reach, they turn and run into the dark forest, barely making a sound.
The black horselike creature stands above Quickspeak, breathing heavily. Then…as the moon rays strike its horn, it rears its head and whinnies. Slowly, it bows down its nose, to softly brush Quickspeaks hair with it..nudging her a little. But the woman lies silent, her back a bloodied mass. The horse stands silent…unmoving…and had someone been there to see, one could have seen tears fall from its eyes…to land upon Quickspeaks back. And where they touch her, the blood disappears, and her flesh mends, leaving no trace of the wounds visible earlier. While the night slowly turns into early dawn, the horselike creature stands guard above Quickspeak, never moving except for its ears.

Quickspeak feels herself fall down, into a black void. There is nothing, only darkness. She is not surprised anymore, and she is beyond fear. Calmly, she accepts what is happening with her. Until, suddenly, she is not falling anymore. And the darkness makes place for a soothing green. She…dreams..of a forest and must smile. For this is a beautiful forest, with flowers, and lights. And there is laughter within, and music. A voice speaks to her, and she is not afraid, as it is a voice she recognizes, somehow. She listens intently. The voice tells her about Daedalus, her protector, who right now stands guard over her while she sleeps a healing sleep. It tells her not to run from who she is, but to embrace being who she is. And it tells her not to worry about having lost her memory, for she remembers everything she needs. And lastly…as it fades, it talks to her about the forest in her dreams, and it tells her to go and find that forest, for a task awaits her there, an important task….

Slowly, Quickspeak opens her eyes…looking up into a bright morning, where sunlight reaches the ground at the top of the small hill. She hears a sound next to her, and turns her head, and smiles. “Daedalus…” she whispers, as soft lips gently brush her forehead, and a golden horn catches the sunlight. Slowly, she gets up, looking around her to see several dead black creatures laying around her. She looks again at Daedalus, and gets up. “You’ve been wounded…” she whispers, as she touches the flanks of the horse…but Daedalus whinnies softly and Quickspeak nods…as she understands that Daedalus will heal. She strokes Daedalus and smiles, no longer feeling afraid or alone, and accepting she has friends, loyal ones who will help her through these times, to reach her goal, for she now has one. The forest that was in her dreams. She knows she must go there. And she will, with time.

She turns and studies the stones huddled together on top of the little hill. Slowly, she extends her hand and touches the stone that caused the blinding flash of white light, and the burning of the leader of the pack when it jumped at her. The stone feels cool and smooth under her hand, but as she takes a step towards the stone, she suddenly opens her eyes wide. She becomes…aware…there’s no other word for it, aware of the forest around her. Could she before understand what animals expressed, she now senses the forest as a living thing. Every tree, every animal…speaks…to her, and for a moment, the influx of emotions and thoughts is too much for her, forcing her on her knees. But she keeps touching the stone, and calms herself, as she focuses on controlling her new awareness. After a few moments, she releases the stone, and sits on her knees a while longer, the new awareness of her surroundings now a thing in the background, strangely comforting, as if it has been there always, and not just a few minutes. Daedalus whinnies again, and she nods. They should be starting their journey.

Horned horse and woman walk side by side, through the forest, for the remainder of the day. No longer is the forest a frightening place, no longer is she lost. She smiles as she walks on, through her new-found home. There’s no hurry, she knows, she can enjoy this journey with her new friend, the wonderful Daedalus. As they walk, she senses her surroundings, and more then once they pause as Quickspeak stands silent for awhile, listening to an old tree that has a long history, or a small butterfly that settles on her outstretched hand, with memories going back only a few days. All creatures and plants, she learns, have something to share, and for all of them, their own thoughts, however tiny they may seem, are important. She becomes one with the forest, and as she does, she feels more at ease, as if she finally found her goal in life.
At night, she sleeps on a bed of leaves, sometimes against Daedalus if the night is chilly. Sometimes the horned horse wanders away when she sleeps, but she knows he’s always near, and she can sense his presence in her mind, and knows he senses her in the same way. She lives on nuts and fruits and vegetables they find in the forest and she’s never hungry. Often, they find hidden ponds or small brooks in which she bathes. In many ways, these days are the happiest of her short live as she remembers it, and she sometimes has secret hopes that her journey will never end.

But inevitable, one day, the forest grows less wild, and more open, and they stumble upon a path, and that in turn leads to a road. Upon reaching the road, Daedalus halts and nuzzles her hand. And she knows that they must part for awhile. She strokes the horse for a long time, telling him she will not forget him, and knowing that the bond they share will not be broken by distance. Then Daedalus nuzzles her one last time, and turns, and canters away, back into the forest. Quickspeak looks after her new friend till she cannot see nor hear him anymore, then sighs and turns. Slowly, she starts to walk the road they found, rearranging what’s left of her clothes and gaining speed and confidence as resolve settles in. She must join her kin once more, to learn more about them, and about the way they live. Also, people may know about the forest she is looking for. She walks the road till dusk settles, the forest around her gradually becoming more open and eventually just patches of trees and bushes, surrounding grasslands and plots full with corn. As the darkness grows, she rounds a corner and looks down upon a vale, with down at the bottom a small river, and, where the road crosses the river on a stone bridge, a small village.

Quickspeak pauses as she takes in the sight, and studies the scene before her for some minutes. Then, shrugging, she walks on. This village is as good as any other, and she needs a place to sleep for the night. As she nears the first houses, dogs start to bark and people take notice of the young woman in tattered clothes striding down the old forest road. Her skin bronzed by the sun, her long hair hanging loose over her shoulders, and striding confidently along the road, not reacting to the stares, she could well have been an apparition, a phantom that appeared from the forest. But as it happens, the woman walks on till she is near the inn in the center of the village, and stops there, looking at the villagers that now stand arrayed around her. “Greetings good people, I have come from a long journey…and I am looking for a place to rest. I have nothing to pay you with, but I will work to pay my debts.”
There is shuffling of feet around her, and some grunts. Clearly, people are not much willing to offer her a roof to sleep under. One scrawny old man eyes her…”And what would such a lass be doing, out there in the forest? Alone? And what happened to you while you were there?” Quickspeak eyes him and as she starts to speak, an old woman with gray hair and a friendly expression appears from between two houses, with bundles of herbs in a basket she carries on one arm. Upon seeing the people, she nears the gathering and as she sees Quickspeak, she halts suddenly, dropping her basket as she puts her hands to her mouth. Some villagers turn and look at her quizzically, and she quickly gathers her basket and herbs in silence. When she stands up again, she ushers people aside till she reaches Quickspeak, looking up at her with questioning eyes. She murmurs, so soft that only Quickspeak and the people very nearby can hear..”Is it true? Are you..? You look just like her!” Then, louder : “What is happening here? Why are you all standing around this woman, who is clearly a guest?” Without waiting for an answer, she asks Quickspeak : “Do you have a place to stay, dear? No? You will come with me. Don’t worry. We will get you a nice warm meal, and a place to sleep. Come.” And with some threatening glares at the villagers, daring them to speak against her, she ushers Quickspeak away, to a small house across the river, at the edge of the village.

Chapter 5
~~~~~~~
The house they enter stands tucked under some pine trees, and behind it the forest starts again. It is a small house, but there’s a beautiful garden around it, filled with flowers and herbs and sweet scents. As they walk through the garden towards the little house, the old woman introduces herself. “I am Maggie, I am the midwife and healer of this village, that is called Adaman, come, come…let’s get inside and make ourselves some hot tea.” Quickspeak nods and together they enter the house, where Maggie starts to light candles and make some tea with a kettle above the hearth. Maggie ushers Quickspeak to a chair that, together with two other chairs stands around a simple table. While Magie is busy, Quickspeak looks around. The interior of the house is simple but clean and well-organized. There’s a place to cook, with a lot of jars filled with all kinds of herbs and mushrooms and dried fruits on shelves. There is the table with chairs she is sitting at, and there’s two more comfortable chairs near the fire. Several cupboards and an alcove with probably a bed complete the furniture. There’s one other door leading to the back of the house, but it is closed.
Soon, Maggie returns with some hot tea for them both, and Quickspeak gratefully accepts the cup with steaming liquid and sips from it. Maggie sits across from her at the table and looks at her intensely. “Now, strange lady from the forest…would you tell me your story? I am longing to hear it….do you have a name already?” Quickspeak thinks a bit and nods. “I will tell you my story, and in it you will hear my name.” And she relates her story from the moment she awoke in the forest. It takes her several hours to do so, and during that time Maggie silently listens, sometimes reacting to the story, and once, upon hearing of the strange black beasts, sucking in her breath. But when she hears about Daedalus, a broad smile covers her face and she nods. After Quickspeak finishes her story, she stands up and gathers some food from the shelves, and together they eat bread and butter, and cheese, and fruits. Maggie tells Quickspeak about the village, and about herself. She’s lived in the village her whole life, and learned her trade when she was young and expressed an interest in herbs and healing. “I learned from a sweet sweet lady, someone who visited our village, and stayed for almost a year before she left again. She once told me she had a task to fulfill in this village, but I never understood what it was…till now I think.” Maggie is silent for a moment, and Quickspeak, although not entirely understanding, nods. “You’re certain you remember nothing of the time before you awoke in the forest?” Maggie asks suddenly. Quickspeak frowns and shakes her head. “No, I’ve tried so much to remember, but there is nothing.”
Maggie nods and takes Quickspeaks hand to give it a small squeeze. “It’s ok. You are welcome here in my house. It’s simple, but it’s clean and it will keep you warm and dry. You can stay with me for awhile, if you like…” and when Quickspeak starts to shake her head to object and say something, Maggie adds “I won’t take no for an answer…you will stay here for awhile, as you have nowhere else to go, and I can teach you things so you can help me. I am growing old and there’s so much work to do. Would you like that?” Maggie looks at Quickspeak, who nods after hesitating for only a few seconds. Maggie’s face brightens up. “Great! But now, we must make you a place to sleep. And tomorrow, we will get you some clothes, and I will show you around a bit.” Maggie gets up and opens the door leading to the back of the house. It opens up into a small room with more shelves lining the walls, filled with all kinds of dried herbs. But there’s a small bed too, with sheets and blankets folded neatly upon it. Maggie shows Quickspeak where she can wash herself behind the house at the well, and then leaves Quickspeak to tend to herself. Quickspeak works quietly and slow, and washes herself before returning to the bed, to lay down there and fall asleep soon, entering a deep and restful sleep.
The next few days, Maggie shows Quickspeak around the village, to the places where she gathers her herbs and mushrooms and berries, and she buys Quickspeak new clothes to wear. Although the villagers are still a bit cautious, Quickspeak seems to be accepted after Maggie took care of her. She grows fond of the old woman quickly, as Maggie knows an enormous amount of facts about healing, plants, trees, herbs and animals. And as Maggie teaches Quickspeak during the weeks that follow, it seems as if she is unlocking something that was already there, but not yet known. Quickspeak’s mind is flooded with knowledge that she senses was already there…just waiting to be found.
Quickspeak sleeps in the little room behind the house, and is as content as she ever was before, the only thing she misses during these weeks is the company of Daedalus, who apparently disappeared into the forest again.
After several weeks Maggie and Quickspeak are called to a little girl who fell and broke her leg badly. As they near the house the girl lives in, they already hear her scream and they hurry inside. They find the girl lying on the floor, where her parents, who found the girl, layed her down. The girl’s right leg is twisted into an unnatural position and there’s blood on the floor around it..the girl screams in pain, but as Maggie kneels down besides her, she sighs and slowly shakes her head. “I cannot do anything to heal this…I don’t have the knowledge…I can only make the pain go away, for awhile…” and a single tear rolls down her cheek. The girls mother, on her knees next to the girl, sobs : “there’s something you must be able to do! There always is…please!”
Maggie sighs again and silently opens her pouch, to search for a potion that will ease the pain. Quickspeak stands behind her silently, lost for words. But as Maggie finds her potion and whispers to the mother to hug her daughter while she tries to make her drink the potion…something inside Quickspeak snaps and she quickly drops down to her knees besides the little girl. “No,”she speaks, “let me try…there’s..there’s something that must be possible.” As she says these words, she does not notice Maggie looking at her, holding her breath while Quickspeak slowly reaches out to the injured leg. At first, as she touches the leg, the girl stiffens, but then she relaxes and as Quickspeak slowly lays her hand upon it, and whispers soft words of consolation, the girl’s screams grow silent and she seems to slip into a trance. Quickspeak frowns in concentration and closes her eyes, picturing the leg in her mind. She has no clue what she is doing, only that if she pictures herself straightening it, in her mind, and if she wishes really really hard…something…might happen. She does not know how she knows this, but she feels it to be true. As Maggie and the astonished mother look on, they see Quickspeak sitting next to the girl, her knees in the blood on the floor, her hand on the twisted leg, frowning and with beads of perspiration forming on her forehead. And ever so slow…as drops of transpiration start to fall from Quickspeak’s head, the leg starts to bend…impossibly slow…straighter and straighter. Until, after some minutes, it is straight again, and although still bloody from the blood on the floor, no wounds are visible. The girl lays silent now, sleeping with a little smile on her face. Quickspeak slowly lets out a single breath, and topples over unconscious, to the floor.
It takes only a few seconds for Maggie to react. As the astonished mother utters a confused “What..?” Maggie quickly rises and orders the mother to work with her. “Quick, wash your daughter and bring her to her bed. She should sleep to rest. I will clean the floor and help Quickspeak. And I want your promise to not tell anybody about this, do you understand? Do you?” As Maggie looks at her intently, the mother nods. “I promise Maggie, I understand. She…she did…I am so thankful…I will never betray her.” Maggie nods with a smile and begins to clean up and help Quickspeak.
It takes awhile for them both to get things organized, and by the time both women finish, Quickspeak is stirring to consciousness again. Maggie helps her get up and silences the questions Quickspeak wants to ask. “Later my dear, now we must get you back to your bed so you can rest. You must be exhausted.” The girl’s mother hugs Quickspeak long, before she and Maggie leave the house, and whispers to her “Thank you…you’re wonderful, and I am in debt..thank you so much..” Quickspeak nods and searches for words, but finds none. She feels tired and weak, and is not sure what just happened…so she just smiles and then is ushered outside by Maggie.

The next morning, when Quickspeak rises, she feels herself rested, but full of questions. During breakfast Maggie is silent until Quickspeak starts to speak, then she silences Quickspeak and starts to tell her a story. “This story, my dear, is from the past, but it is also about now…listen. About hundred years ago, I met this lady I spoke of before, who taught me many things.” On Quickspeak’s astonished look, Maggie adds “Yes, I am old…one of the things I learned was how to live longer through the use of herbs and a healthy lifestyle. This lady taught me much indeed….” Maggies voice trails off and she seems lost in the past for a moment, but then she snaps back to the present and looks at Quickspeak intensely. “You see, my dear…that Lady…she looked..no..I think she was you. In a way, or maybe completely..” And in answer to Quickspeak’s startled look : “Nono..don’t say a thing, let me tell what I need to tell you. You look exactly like this lady, and I think that if you’re not her, you’re her reborn. The way you move, the way you look, I remember so clearly. And I understand now what her task was. She was teaching me, preparing me, for the moment you would arrive. And now I am teaching you…it’s truly a cycle which is forming here.”
As Maggie falls silent for a moment Quickspeak just smiles, as she only half believes what the old woman is telling her. But then she asks. “And what about what happened yesterday, Maggie? What did I do? I don’t understand.”
Maggie smiles a bit and answers : “What you did is a special thing, dear, you channeled the healing powers of Mother Nature, and you used them to heal the little girl. It’s not something I can do, even if I wished to. And it is something that many people would frown upon, calling it witchcraft or worse…so it’s best kept silent. And don’t fear, the mother of the girl won’t tell, she promised and I believe her.”
Quickspeak nods..not entirely understanding yet. “Then…Maggie…who am I? It’s all so strange…” Maggie is silent for a moment. “That lady never told me anything other than that she traveled, and learned, and taught to those who wanted to learn themselves. I think I understand a bit more now, but I am not sure. And I think you need to find out for yourself. But always remember this…Regardless what people tell you, just stay the simple girl you was when you came here, and you’ll do fine.”

Later that day, as they both work in the herbal garden, Quickspeak looks up from her work when a shadow falls upon her hands, to see the girl she healed the day before standing there…smiling shyly. “I..I would like to thank you, Lady Quickspeak, and..and..well if you don’t mind, may I stay in the garden a bit?” Quickspeak smiles, and nods. “Of course you can. I am glad you feel better again.” And as the afternoon passes, she works on and the girl chatters with her, and becomes gradually less shy. And before they know it, it’s time to stop working. But the days after this day, the girl often arrives at the garden, sometimes already being there when Quickspeak arrives. And they enjoy eachothers presence, as the girl starts to help Quickspeak, and asks questions about the herbs they tend to. And Quickspeak finds she likes to share her knowledge, and help other people to learn. But she also learns from the girl. She learns about being a child, about looking at thinks with a fresh view, about never stopping to ask yourself questions about things, to make oneself think. And after a week, Maggie observes with a smile..”I think my student acquired her own student”

And so the days pass, and turn into months, and the months into a year…and after almost one year since Quickspeaks arrival passed, something happened…something that was about to disturb the quiet life in the village abruptly. One night, as Quickspeak and the girl walk back from the garden to the village, they can hear the sound of horses galloping on the road, many horses, and riding fast. As they near the border of the forest, they see a large group of horsemen thundering down the road, yelling at the top of their lungs and swaying torches and swords and pikes. Quickspeak holds back the girl as they both look wide-eyed to the horde overrunning the village, riding over a child that was running to a home, throwing burning torches on dry roofs that catch fire immediately, slashing down swords at men trying to defend women and children….snarling guttural sounds of hate and anger that ring through the evening air.
Speechless, Quickspeak looks on for a moment, then urges the girl to stay hidden, and runs off to the little house on the other side of the river, fearing for her friend who was there working around the house…

Chapter 6
~~~~~~~
Quickspeak runs through the bushes, pushing sideways the branches and keeping in the shadows so the the intruders do not see her. She feels fear, a heavy lump of anguish in her throat, as she nears the river. She doesn’t even think as she rushes over the water, her feet almost touching it, but not quite. The only thing that counts is to get as quick as possible to her friend, Maggie, and get her to safety. Panting, Quickspeak nears the garden that surrounds the little cottage and she has hopes she’s been swift enough, that the intruders did not yet find this cottage…..
But as she rounds the last corner and has a clear view of the cottage, she sees her fears come truth….for there are horses milling in front of the cottage, ruining the grass and flowers that just an hour ago grew there so green and colorful. The horses are riderless, and from within the little cottage sounds can be heard. Glass breaking, a woman - Maggie - screaming and harsh voices cursing. Quickspeak rushes the last few meters and whispers fierce words to the horses, who as one turn and bolt away. She reaches the door and slams it open, calling out loud : “STOP!”
Everybody inside freezes and in a second, Quickspeak sees the 5 intruders, one just about to shove the small bottles on the top shelf to the ground, to join the broken ones from the lower shelves already laying there. The second in her own little room, with bedsheets and the straw mattress in his hands, just about to rip the mattress open. The third inspecting the chimney…and the fourth and fifth sitting on top of a bloodied Maggie, fists raised to beat her again.
Then, a grin spreads the face of one of the two men holding Maggie. “Look what we got here…” he drawls, “we can ask that beautiful lass, and use nicer techniques to let her speak and tell us about the treasure.” And he stands up, releasing Maggie, slowly walking to wards Quickspeak, his eyes already tearing the clothes from her body….As the second one who held Maggie rises also, and the man who was holding her mattress smiles, showing a row of brown, rotting teeth…something snaps inside Quickspeak. She walks into the room, defiantly, and as Maggie groans..”Noo..run Quickspeak, run!”.. she stands still, allowing the men to advance upon her. Just before the bandits reach her, she quietly, as if she has all the time of the world, stamps her right foot on the ground once, and as she does, the earth itself responds. The small earthquake ripples out from her right foot, and the men who are in the room tumble and fall as they loose their footing, the solid ground beneath their feet suddenly becoming flexible, moving, shaking. Her eyes flashing and dark brown pools of anger in her face, Quickspeak otherwise stands silent and calm in the center of the earthquake she caused. Then, as the ripples subside and low, grunting sounds from the earth cease, she stamps her right foot again, harder now. And again the men fall down, and now they look with fearfull eyes at the girl standing in their midst…and they start to crawl to the door. Quickspeak stands silent as the crawl past her, but as they reach the door and the earthquake subsides again, she walks after them and as the bandits run through the ruined garden cursing, for they miss their horses, she points her finger at them one by one, and making a quick movement down from the sky to the running men, and each time she does, lightning strikes one of them.
When she’s done, three men lay smoking in the garden, the fourth is limping along far away and the fifth just crosses the bridge, only to be missed barely by yet another flash of lightning.

Quickspeak strides back into the cottage, kneeling quickly next to Maggie, crying now for her friend, whose face is barely recognizable. The frail old woman is covered in wounds and bruises, and as Quickspeak reaches out to touch her, Maggie opens her eyes and grasps her wrist. “Don’t…I am old and it is my time to go. My task is fulfilled. I am content. And listen…”, Magiie coughs and pulls Quickspeak closer, whispering in her ears. Had someone been present besides the two women, they could have seen tears flowing from Quickspeaks eyes, trailing down along her cheeks, falling on the ground next to Maggie. They could have seen her eyes open wide as Maggie whispers with her last breath…and they could have seen Quickspeak nod, as she finally learns her try name. She sits quietly next to her friend, holding the frail, battered hands in her own strong ones. And as she strokes the white hair of the old lady, Maggie smiles with her ruined mouth one more time and whispers…”Go South…to Avilion….it’s Avilion you seek…remember that name. I’ve…I’ve always dreamed about seeing that land myself, but I had my task…I had to wait for you…” And with these last words, she finally closes her eyes…and ceases breathing as Quickspeak flings herself over the old woman, crying.

For long minutes, the only sound that can be heard is Quickspeak’s crying, and the noise of the raiding of the village, and suddenly Quickspeak becomes aware of those sounds, and she realizes more people are dying as she lays there crying, and suddenly she gets mad…mad at the world, at the bandits, at the fate that always seems to destroy her happiness, her peace. Slowly she rises, and takes a blanket that survived the raiding of the little cottage, and covers Maggie with it. She strokes the damp blood-encrusted hairs from the old, now serene face, and gently arranges the blanket over the small frail body. Then she rises again, and strides out of the cottage. With sure, even steps she walks through the garden, over the bridge, and into the mayhem. The first raider that sees her and turns towards her with a grin on his face topples over, the grin turned into a frown of surprise as he suddenly finds himself rooted to the ground, his legs turned into stone. The second one she sees is incinerated with a flash of lightning, and as she sees others, she just points at them…showering one with fire, another with lightning, a third with stinging bees, and a fourth with hail stones the size of fists…swinging her arms in a wide arc she calls down rain to quench the fires. As she finally reaches the other side of the village…she realizes the only sound still to be heard besides the fires and the rain, is her own shrill scream. Past the last smoking house she turns, stops screaming and falls to her knees, all of a sudden exhausted to the point she cannot stand anymore.

Silence descends on the ruined village, as one by one the survivors crawl from their hiding places. Slowly, they gather, to come stand before Quickspeak in a half-circle. Mute, they look up at her, and the woman on her knees and the ragged survivors face each other for long minutes in complete silence. Then, an old man croaks..”Witch…” and Quickspeak flinches, but the man continues..”thank you for what you just did…but…please leave. We won’t harm you, but you cannot stay with us. It would be too dangerous…”. “for us..” Quickspeak finishes his sentence in her head. She nods wearily, and with difficulty gets up again.
“Please take care of Maggie…I….” Quickspeak swallows. “I tried to save her…but I was too late. She’s in her cottage.” At that moment, Quickspeak remembers Eline, the girl who became her friend and student…and calls out..”Eline…please come…it’s all safe again!” After a minute, the girl comes running from the forest, stopping next to Quickspeak..and searching the crowd for the faces of her family. She brightens up when she sees her mother and a breath of relief escapes her.
“People of Adaman…listen to me,” Quickspeak speaks loudly. “Your healer and midwife, Maggie, she..she passed away, and you don’t want me to stay. But during the past year, Eline here proved that she knows as much about herbs and healing as Maggie did, and I think you should accept her as your new healer.” Eline turns red upon hearing this, but as people nod and answer they will, she nods too. Quickspeak turns from the people and takes Eline’s hand. “Come, we will go to the cottage, and I will gather my belongings,” she speaks softly to the girl.

When the young woman and the girl pass, the crowd parts, and they walk through the ruined village and up to the cottage undisturbed. Inside, Quickspeak kneels besides Maggie again and tenderly kisses her on her forehead. “She so much wanted to see something she always dreamed about, I am sure she will now…now that she fulfilled her task here. Remember her, Eline, for she was, is a special woman.” Eline nods mutely, her eyes filled with tears. Quickspeak gets up and takes the girls hands in her own hands. “I know…it all happened so quickly..but this village needs you Eline, and being a healer is a very important and thankful job. And I know you will be a fine healer. Don’t worry…” and as her words trail off, she smiles and embraces the girl. They stand there for some minutes, and when they part their embrace, Eline nods. “I will do my best Quickspeak, and I will not disappoint you. Will you come back, sometime?” Quickspeak hesitates and then nods. “If I can, I will,” she speaks softly.

Then, she gathers her belongings, which fit in one satchel, and she looks one last time around the room, the satchel over her shoulder, a walking stick in her hands. As she prepares to leave, Eline suddenly reaches up to her neck and removes the necklace she wears everyday. “I want you to have this, Quickspeak, and to remember this time we spent together. It’s but a simple necklace, but it means a lot to me.” As she hands the necklace over to Quickspeak, she smiles through her tears. Quickspeak looks at the necklace, the silver trinity knot glittering softly on the simple black cord, and nods. “I will treasure this, Eline, for it is a wonderful gift indeed. Thank you, my friend.” She fastens the cord around her neck and smiles. “Now, I’d better go…as the people in the village are afraid of me, and you never know what people filled with fear will do.”
“Tell me,” Eline says softly, “what did happen in the village, was that you who drove the attackers away?” Quickspeak hesitates, then answers “yes, it was me. I got angry…and when that happens, I can do things I did not know I could before…It frightens me too, I have to learn to control it, to be in balance again. But I will, with time.” “Yes you will,” says Eline, “for you are special.” Quickspeak smiles ruefully, “I am just a simple girl, Eline, really. And now….Safe paths to you my friend, and fair winds until next we meet” And Quickspeak hugs Eline one last time, and with a last look full love at Maggie, she leaves the cottage through the back door in her little room She slips into the forest that starts behind the cottage, just as she hears people nearing the cottage from the front, through the garden. She waits a few minutes, till she can hear Eline’s mother talk to Eline, then quickly sets off into the dark forest, for there is no moon this night.

Chapter 7
~~~~~~~~~
The forest is dark, in the moonless night. Leaves and branches are black against the starlight-lit sky, rustling softly in the wind. The forest is alive though, as creatures of the night scurry about and make noises everywhere, and the call of an owl can be heard form above. In a small clearing, a silent battle is raging, as a big black horselike creature fights against the rope trap that sprung while it passed the clearing. The creature has a golden horn, but that does not help it, as the ropes are everywhere, and the horn is not suited for cutting them. It’s sides are covered in sweat, and its nostrils open wide as small clouds of hot breath are loosened in the chill night air. But all is to no avail, and finally the creature gives in - for now, and lays still…its sides heaving and it’s legs all tangled up. Big dark eyes look sorrowful to the West, as if it longs to go that way….

Far to the West, Quickspeak walks through the same forest, deep in thoughts about what happened today. Again she had to leave her home, one in which she dwelt for almost a year. She had been happy there, she reflects, but without Maggie, it would not have been the same. As she thinks of Maggie, tears come to her eyes again, and she has to wipe them away to be able to see clear. She looks around and wonders again if Daedalus will sense her, now that she is traveling once again. Will he come to her again, to travel with her? She has not seen him once since she started to live in the village, and this troubles her, but she can sense he’s still alive, and she assures herself not to be anxious. As the night nears its end, she finds a secluded space between the roots of a huge tree and decides to rest there. But as she settles down and tries to sleep, memories of what happened keep flooding back…and she flinches every time she sees herself striding down that road, calling down death and destruction upon the raiders.
She tosses and turns, but can find rest nor peace. How to justify killing other people? How to justify using the forces of nature to destroy? Sweat forms on her brow as she struggles with those questions. And when she finally does find sleep, it’s restless and filled with dreams of fire and hail…until..after awhile, it’s like these are shoved aside. Surprised, she finds herself in a green void, without sound or sight other then..then…greenness around her. And she hears a voice in her head, a voice she recognizes, for it has spoken to her before, a year ago, when it first told her of the forest she should find, the forest she now knows is called Avilion. “Rest, my daughter, ” the voice speaks, “and travel westwards. Avilion is waiting for you, and you have a task to fulfill there. You have fulfilled your purpose in Adaman, and you did well. Don’t be afraid of your powers, as sometimes it is needed to kill and to destroy, to maintain balance. Nature itself kills and destroys, everyday. Remember, you should only do that if needed. For your own acts should be in balance too. Do you understand, my daughter?” Quickspeak nods and is silent for a moment. Then she asks, softly, “Who am I, and who are you? Can you tell me please? I need to know.” The voice chuckles softly, and then answers “You are my daughter, as you have always been. I am your Mother, have always been, and you can see me all around you. I will always be with you, never forget that. The very earth you walk on, that’s me. You did awake anew though, so you don’t remember, and you needed to be brought back to remembrance in bits and pieces..do you understand?” And as Quickspeak nods, the voice continues. “Maggie knew, the moment she saw you, for she met you in her past. Meeting you again did make her so happy, and teaching you back what you taught her so long ago, it made her life whole. She understood, my daughter, and in doing so was content. She died peacefully, in the end, with you next to her. Don’t grief for her too much, she would not want that. And now, my daughter, you should rest, and sleep, and gain strength for the journey ahead.” And with this, the voice recedes, and Quickspeak finds herself falling down, into a deep, restful sleep.
The next morning, and the days after, she travels on, ever westward, ever through the forest. She does hear sounds of civilization sometimes, but she evades them, as she now knows she must travel on, towards her destiny. During her travels, she again experiences the forest, the earth, and nature, around her. She now understands why, and she can feel a presence in the Earth under her feet, and she knows who this is, and it makes her smile. Days string together into weeks, and weeks into a month, then two, until finally…the landscape she journeys through changes gradually.

Far to the east, a weakened horselike creature still struggles every now and then, to escape the ropes that tie it down. But it has no hope of escaping, and during all those weeks it lay here, snared, entangled in ropes, nobody came to claim the prize. The creature lays down its head, the once golden horn now dull, and is about to give up, to close its eyes for the final time, knowing it failed, and doing so causing a single tear to run from its left eye. But then, a small bird settles down on its back, and another, and yet another one, till a whole flock of them covers the creature. And the birds start to pick at the ropes, in many places. They pick and they pick, for a long time, and the creature, lays silent, for it knows not all is lost, that it has been given another chance. And after long minutes, the ropes burst, first in one place, then in another, and another, and soon the ropes lay shattered around the creature, as it gets to its feet again slowly. The birds fly up and hover around the animal for a few moments, and it tosses it’s head into the air, as if thanking the birds. Had someone been present to witness the scene, that someone could have seen some of the former strength already seeping back into the eyes of the horselike creature, as hope alone gave energy. The birds, as one, wheel up and away, and the creature slowly makes its way out of the clearing, never looking back. It turns Westward, and it starts to walk, first slow, but as the hours pass and the movement and berries and leaves it finds on its journey give strength once more to its muscles, faster and faster, till finally it is galloping to the West. The horn once more reflecting the sunlight, with a brilliant golden shine.

Quickspeak travels through a swamp. Her surroundings are shrouded in mists…and she has no sense of direction, for she cannot see the sun, or, at night, the moon. Yet she travels on as best as she can. Never doubting the words of her new-found mother. West she must go, to find Avilion. After two days in the swamp, however, she must admit she is totally and utterly lost. Her clothes are torn and dirty, and the mud and rotting leaves pull at her feet relentlessly. She rests upon a small piece of land that juts through the surface of the swamp, and looks around. Then, she suddenly stiffens. Through the misty air, already growing dark as evening falls, she hears one howl, then another. And she knows these howls, for she heard them before. And she shivers, and looks around frightened. But there’s nowhere she can go, and where she is now is as good a place as any. There are no magic stones here, however, to help her, she is alone. Yet she decides she must not give up, and so waits on the small piece of solid land, her walking staff in her hands, standing silent, focusing on the sounds around her.

The attack comes suddenly, from behind, but Quickspeak was prepared, and she is in time to swing her stick with one hand and point at the black shadow attacking her with the other. A streak of lightning strikes down, and illuminates the attacking creature. It is the leader of the pack of wolf-like creatures that attacked her a year ago. She can still see the scars in its fur, caused by the magical stone when the creature collided with it. But she also sees the hatred in its red eyes, and the smile around its fangs as the lightning glides of its side, doing no damage at all. The staff hits the creature though, and prevents it from toppling her.
Quickspeak staggers back, mortified that the lightning did not have any effect. She dares not try calling an earthquake, not here in the swamp, and she doubts other things will harm the creatures. She crouches low and holds her stick level in front of herself, wondering what will happen next. In her mind, she calls out for Daedalus, and not for the first time she wonders where he is. Quickspeak circles slowly, holding her walking stick in front of her. Desperately, she prays to her mother for help, and suddenly she gets an idea. She calls out for all vines, tendrils, branches and grasses to reach out and ensnare the wolf-like creatures, to entangle them and keep them down. She is surprised by the effects of her call, as dozens of long, black rotting tendrils shoot out from the swamp and grab one of the wolf-like creatures, holding it, pulling it closely yet inevitably into the swamp. It struggles, and crawls, and hisses, and growls, but to no avail. Its rear legs disappear first, then the torso, and when only the head and front paws are above the swamp, Quickspeak realizes she did not see the second monster, the leader….but it is too late, she has been focussed on the other one too long, and she cannot fend of the attack of the leader, who attacks her from behind and causes her to fall. As she cries out, the creature poised for another strike above her, the fangs only centimeters away from her face, the saliva dripping on her skin and causing it to burn and ache, it suddenly raises its head. Quickspeak looks up in time to see her friend Daedalus descend form the evening sky, the golden horn sparkling even here as it is aimed for the wolf-like creatures back. The creature, however, is quick enough to dart aside and as Daedalus lands it jumps immediately at the big unicorn. Quickspeak manages to crawl aside as the two mighty creatures clash and fight and she looks around for the other monster, but does not see it anymore, only the marks its claws made in the muddy ground where it was dragged away, into the swamp. She tries to find a way to help Daedalus, but the fight is too fierce, too wild for her to be of any help, so instead she moves to the side, and stands ready to do anything that might be necessary. Unicorn and wolf fight ferociously, and both are wounded horribly, and both will not relent, as hooves and paws find their opponent and do damage time and again. But finally, the golden horn finds its mark, and Daedalus can fling the monster away into the darkness, where it lands in the water, and sounds of retreat can be heard, accompanied by growls. The Unicorn stands still for a moment, its flanks heaving. Quickspeak nears it, and as the large dark eyes looks at her, she flings her arms around the neck and cries, not knowing if the tears are born from gladness, or grief or relief, or all of them combined. After a minute, she nods, as if she answers to something that was being said and she scampers up the back of the unicorn, who opens his wings and sets off into the air, through the dark, mist-shrouded night.

Unicorn and woman fly on for many hours, ever through the thickening mist, and it seems there’s no end to both the mist and the night. Quickspeak feels herself doze off several times, and has to focus to stay awake and up on the unicorns back. Daedalus, meanwhile, flies slower and slower, as the fight, the wounds and the long journey have weakened the mighty unicorn again. Yet it pushes on, through the mist and to the West. Till finally, the burden of flying becomes too much, and the unicorn gives in, and slides spiraling down to the earth again, through thick mist, not knowing where they will land. Quickspeak shuts her eyes in fear, and tightly grasps the manes of her friend to prevent herself from falling down. The speed of the fall is too much for both unicorn and woman, as they seem to descend into oblivion, the mists swallowing them…ever down….into oblivion…..

Chapter 8
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Three hunderd years ago, the sun shines down upon a small hill. The rays play over the branches of an old tree, to filter through the leaves upon a man-made stone item. It looks like a…a sort of tomb, a place where someone has been buried. Had someone been there to see, one could have seen the rays play over the single red rose that lays on one side of the tomb. Even lower, the rays go, and they would have touched the ground, if not for someone laying next to the tomb, or rather, a woman and a horse with a golden horn. They lay next to each other, and they look like they have traveled through a battle. But they are alive, for they both breathe, and they seem to be sleeping.
A squirrel hops down on one of the lower branches, and looks at the woman. It looks closely, and its little ears twitch as it suddenly, excited, hops up again, making high noises and rushing off through the leaves.

Quickspeak dreams again. She is in a beautiful forest with ancient high trees. She wanders there, and feels at peace. She hears her mother everywhere, and senses this is a place where people recognize much of how nature really is, where people still think highly of ancient knowledge. She comes upon a shaded vale, where the rays of the moon, high in the sky, just reach the ground, and where the trees are even more ancient, more sacred, as the trees she just passed. In the center of the vale, she hears her mother’s voice again, in her mind. “This place is special, my daughter. Find it, and prepare it for a people that is as lost as you were, and who are misunderstood where they now live, and who need to find a safe place to live. I care for them, because their outlook upon life is much the same as mine. And in this special land, they will find their home. It is your task to find people in these lands, who are aligned to me, and ask them to help you. It is your task, to guide them in preparing this vale, and after that help them in tending for these lands. My daughter, this will be your home, as was meant to be.” Quickspeak listens carefully and smiles, glad she finally understands what she must do. And as the dream fades, she can almost see a figure dancing in the moonlight, in the center of the vale, with long flowing white hair and a dark skin…or is that imagination?

Daedalus gently brushes Quickspeak’s forehead with his soft lips, and she awakes with a smile. looking around, she smiles more, and quickly gets up to stand next to her friend. She looks around and murmurs softly…”I am home”. Daedalus whinnies and nudges her arm, and she understands he wants to explore this new land by himself, and she nods. She will walk and see her new home by herself. As Daedalus sets off with mighty beats of his wings, she turns and studies the land around her. Sloping down towards a forest with ancient trees on one side, and sloping up towards higher ground on the other side, it looks serene and peaceful. She decides to walk to the south..as she sees tall trees rise there, taller then she ever saw before.
The forest she walks is an ancient one, with tall oaken trees that rise high above her. And while she walks between the impossibly tall trees, she hears light sounds of music and laughter come from above, as in her dreams. Eventually, she arrives at a sight that takes her breath away, for the large vale that stretches in front of her is beautiful beyond imagination. And just in front of her, tumbling down in a half-circle, are falls of a beauty that makes her smile and cry at the same time. Carefully she climbs down, to the foot of the falls, to find a shrine there, and she feels this is a place where her mother is all around her. She stays at the falls for awhile, but then sets out on the path leading away from them, through the forest. And she meets people who dwell in these lands, people who welcome her, and who help her. Dragons, Fae, Elves, Humans, and many other different kinds of creatures. And eventually, she meets the Lady and the Lord of the land, not a Queen and King who stand high above the common people, but a caring Lady and Lord who live amongst the people, and dance and laugh with them. And as she is brought before them she curtsies and speaks with a clear voice, to be heard by all : “Greetings M’Lady, M’Lord, thank thee for allowing me to stay in thine lands. I am a Druid, and I’ve found that thine forests and waters and caves call out to me. If thee allow me, I would ask thee humbly if I can tend to them, and find others who can aid me in that.” And as the Lord of the land informs about her name, and where she comes from, she says : “I am called Daughter Nature, and my name is Osiris. and I come from far away, from lands where the ancient knowledge is no longer recognized.” And the Lady and Lord accept her offer gladly and she finally has come home.

During the time that follows, she tends to the lands, and learns others about nature, and about balance, and in turn she learns from others. More and more people follow the path of the Druid, and together, the Druids tend to the forests and aid wounded and sick people. And the lands of Avilion grow and survive many ordeals, but those are other stories. And Osiris finds a vale shrouded in more in darkness then the other forests, but lit brilliantly with moonlight at nights, and she knows this is the place she should prepare for the people who will eventually arrive, and who will need a welcome, and a home. She tells the other Druids about this place, and the Druids start to tend to this place too, not forcing it to change too much, but making sure it stays as it is, and grows even more beautiful and welcoming. They ask the help of others, to make homes, and a special building for festivals and ceremonies. The tall oaken trees grow even taller and mightier under their care, but they make sure that the moonlight can filter throught the canopy in many places. And sometimes, Osiris thinks she sees that dark maiden again, dancing in the moonlit vale, as she walks back after a day of work…and she wonders….

Epilogue
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This is the story of Osiris, and how she came to Avilion three hunderd years ago. But it is also the story of the preparation for yet another arrival…something we all know happened shortly after these events took place…..and when this tale was first told, something happened. Something terrible….

For around the Drum circle then were many people, and Lady Kouse decided to tell about that other arrival…the coming of the Drow to Avilion. And that tale described how the terrible Ballrog’s invaded the home the Drow created for themselves under the ground in Avilion, and how the Ballrogs drove the Drow back onto the surface…and threatened to attack all who lived there.

People started wondering how that had been…people wanted not only to hear, but to see also. For there is this curiosity we all share. We want to learn, we want to feel…we want to *know*. So as people mused about this..Lady Magenta, one of Avilion’s powerful Magi’s, decided to show people by giving them a view into the past. But her spell went terribly wrong…maybe due to a mistake, or a temporal distortion that caused past and present to connect…and all who were present were sucked into the spell, and found themselves back in the past, at the very moment the Ballrogs drove the Drow to the surface!

A terrible battle followed, for while the Drow did not know who all these people were, we could not let the Drow fight this terror alone. We just could not. And so the peoples of Avilion, from past and present, and of all different races, stood shoulder to shoulder and fought together. Horrible was the battle, and terrible the cost. The air was afire with magic, and cut apart by the arrows of the rangers. The brave knights suffered worst, for it was they who stood face to face with the Ballrogs. The druids drew forth so much healing magic that it threatened to disturb the balance…and in between, the Ballrogs kept coming….and coming….ablaze with abyssal fires, and with claws the size of a man, they fought to destroy, to kill everything that embodied live, and joy, and beauty.

But in the end…the power of compassion, and love, and friendship, the combined might of people who cared…who were willing to sacrifice, prevailed. For we drove the Ballrogs from the cliffs, and they fell….and finally they died.

We survived. Together. And the Druids showed the Drow a wondrous new place where they could live. The forested vale that they found and prepared…the place where the dark maiden danced in the moonlit night. And we celebrated there, not only the destruction of the Ballrogs, but also the coming of the Drow.

In the end though, the people from the future started to get restless. For this was not their time. They felt more and more that even though this was the place were they belonged, it was not the time. And they felt they should return, but how? They were extremely lucky then, that Lord Malakh…the most mighty mage of all, lives in Avilion…and though it is safe to say he was not amused to find a large number of people from the future in the wrong time, he could bring us all back to our own time with his mighty magic.

We now know that the Drow live in L’Renden forest, of course, and that a big battle took place before they did so. But still…..some of us remember coming somewhere else to meet Drow…somewhere below ground. And there’s this strange stones on Isle, as if something caved in. Could it be….could it be that there once was a different time…parallel to our own time, where things did not go as we remember them? Could it be that there’s something down there still? Someplace connected to a portal that brought not only the Drow to Avilion, but also the Ballrogs, long ago?
And is this portal now sealed? Or….