Wanderer Read online

  Wanderer:

  Origin of the

  Nature Walker

  Nancy E. Dunne

  Copyright © 2017 Nancy E. Dunne

  Cover Design and Format by

  Nancy E. Dunne and Brian Collins

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 1484150937

  ISBN-13: 978-1484150931

  DEDICATION

  To Mama Gin’s Boys.

  You know who you are.

  Check your bind points.

  DEDICATION

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Prologue

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Several years later…

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-One

  Twenty-Two

  Several weeks Later…

  Twenty-Four

  Twenty-Five – Many seasons later

  Twenty-Six

  Twenty-Seven

  Twenty-Eight

  Twenty-Nine

  Thirty

  Thirty-One

  Thirty-Two

  Thirty-Three

  Thirty-Four

  Thirty-Five

  Thirty-Six

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  So many thanks are due to my gaming “family” who breathed life into the inspiration for this tale, and especially to my family and my husband for having my back and being my biggest fans.

  Special thanks to Mike for trusting me with Sathlir; and to Sean and Brian for keeping me honest in my writing, grammar, and storytelling. Much love to you all.

  Prologue

  It has been nearly 200 years since the Forest War divided the races of Orana. For the humans, that meant multiple generations had come and gone, half as many for the Qatu, and only a handful for the longer-lived races - the elves, dwarves, and the gnomes. It was a long while before the races began to intermingle, as had been their way before the War, and the conflict had taken its toll on that interaction as well. Relationships outside of one’s own kind did not happen, save those friendships between the wood elves and the high elves. Intimate relations that led to offspring such as the dragonkind were not tolerated, and any that survived their childhood ended up living in the south with the humans who did not seem to mind one way or the other. The world had grown smaller during the War, and grew smaller still after the Peace Accord.

  In Aynamaede, the tree city, the wood elves whispered that the current Nature Walker, druid master and leader of the wood elf council, was not trustworthy, for he and his wife were always away on missions for a strange and secret organization. In Alynatalos, the High King of the elves spent his time alone, mourning the loss of his parents in the War and never mingling with his subjects the way his father had. Life in the forest was unsettled, and only made worse by the rumor that a rogue Qatu, known as the Bane of the Forest, was attacking elves under the cover of darkness. Only the return of a true Nature Walker could bring balance back to the Great Forest and its inhabitants.

  One

  The mist hung heavy over the hilly landscape, as it did every evening, making the journey from the citadel back to Aynamaede tricky at best. Allynna quickened her pace a bit, her keen vision scanning each tree she passed. In addition to the undead and the orcs that made their nightly rounds of the forest, there were rumors spreading that a monster was loose and no one of her kind was safe. She dug into the ground with her staff as she went, her bow slung over one shoulder and secured with a leather strap to her quiver. Instead of the school’s backpack, she carried her essentials in two packs tied onto her belt. Allynna’s blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail that bobbed as she walked ever faster yet resisted the urge to break into a telltale run for her treetop home. The voice of her guild master rang in her ears, repeating over and over the lesson about when to stay and fight and when to run. “Remember, if you run, it’s a sure sign of weakness and your enemy will pursue as you open up your vulnerable backside to attacks.” She had to return, drop off her things, and then she could be off to meet her new protégé at the stone circle.

  Allynna took a deep breath as she focused on steadying her steps. Suddenly she felt her tunic snag on something, most likely a low branch, and she turned, swearing under her breath, to free herself.

  “Evening, ma’am,” came a deep, resonant voice that seemed to surround her. She looked around wildly for the source of the voice but saw no one. “Down here,” said the voice, and she felt another tug at her tunic. She looked down and gasped as she spotted the teal feline eyes gazing back up at her.

  The scream rising in her throat never made it to open air. A large clawed hand wrapped around her neck like a vice, and she felt herself lifted off the ground.

  “Mm yummy,” said the voice, pulling her into the shadows. Before her was a Qatu, an Oranian race of cats that walked upright like humans. Allynna kicked and squirmed, but the giant cat just laughed. He tightened his grip with one hand as he ran the tips of his massive claws on the other down the sides of her face and chin. She grimaced as his fingers slowly circled her cheek. Suddenly, his teal eyes locked onto hers. Allynna could not speak. She merely stared back into those beautiful and terrible eyes as they glowed in the moonlight like precious stones, and she trembled from head to toe.

  “Sad,” the Qatu said, smirking at her. “I would have liked to have heard your voice before you died.” Her eyes widened as he tightened his grip, and then the light within them seemed to snuff out, like a torch extinguished. Her head lolled over as her broken neck could no longer support its weight. The Qatu pressed her body against his face and inhaled deeply before he dropped her to the ground. A quick search earned him several gold and silver coins, two belt packs of food, a bow of turned dark wood, and a quiver full of brand new arrows.

  “Ranger, eh?” he said as he made a final sweep of her pockets for money. Finding none, he turned her lifeless body over on her back. The moonlight caught something shiny around her neck and he leaned in to investigate. It was a silver necklace with a single ornament: a round piece of silver with something engraved in the language of the Elves. After giving her a few more shoves to make sure she was dead, the Qatu stole off into the night to investigate his treasures.

  Ginolwenye, a young wood elf, sat studying at the kitchen table, spell book open, as she anxiously awaited her mentor’s return from the citadel. Allynna, who was several seasons her senior and her schoolteacher, had agreed to take her on as an apprentice, teaching her the skills needed to hunt with a bow and fight. She could hardly wait.

  The sound of shouts outside caught her attention. She closed the spell book, which belonged to her mother, checked in to make sure that her younger sister Lairceach was soundly asleep, and then crossed the room to the small round window that looked out into the forest. The warriors were swarming down out of the treetop city and forming ranks by the lift on the hill north of her section of town. Gin, as she was known by most, scurried out of her tiny home that she shared with her parents and siblings, and ran to the edge of the platform to get a better look. A hand catching her arm and yanking her back from the edge startled her.

  “You’d better go back inside, Gin,” said Garrik, her childhood friend and class mate, now a handsome young man who would soon be training to be a bard. His nimble fingers lingered on her arm a moment, and then released her. She smiled at him, hoping that he would not take this opportunity to tease her as he usually d
id.

  “What’s going on? Why have the warriors been called in?” she asked.

  “Another killing.” Garrik’s face fell. “Someone we knew this time, Gin. Oi’deh Allynna was found not long ago in the Forest, her neck broken. I suppose that our time in school is done, no?” Oi’deh was the Elvish word for teacher, and at the news, Gin felt as though she had been punched in the gut.

  “No...” she whispered. “NO!” Her eyes blazed, remarkably void of tears. “Who? Who did this?”

  “They’re not sure,” the young bard said in hushed tones, “but the gossip is that it was the Qatu again.” He took Gin’s hand and stroked the back of it. “I’m sorry, Gin, I know she was important to you. She was an incredible teacher, to be sure. You’ve come so far in your schooling and you will excel in training to be a druid.”

  “I suppose I have no choice now,” she said, hanging her head. She sighed loudly, then her eyes widened. “What if it was the Qatu, Garrik?” she said, her voice trembling a bit. “I didn’t think he was real, but there have been so many deaths...”

  “Aye, it is intriguing,” Garrik said, his eyes twinkling. “Perhaps one day I will compose an epic poem about the mighty druid Gin taming the Qatu Bane of the Forest?” Gin smiled and Garrik grinned in response. “Ah, there we are, much better.” She hugged him, and then took a step toward her house.

  “Inside with the doors locked for me then?” she said. “Cursik is out and my parents are away, so it’s just me and Lairky in tonight.”

  “Aye Gin, for your own safety. I’ll be round to let you know when I find something out,” Garrik said. He suddenly grabbed her arm, pulled her to him, and kissed her on the cheek. “It will be all right, Gin,” he whispered, and then seemed to disappear off the side of the platform.

  “Show off,” she said, grinning as she shut and locked her door behind her.

  The necklace twinkled in the candlelight as it hung over the Cat’s giant claw. “Very pretty, this will sell well,” he said, a purr behind his words. He thought briefly of the neck that used to wear the bauble, but quickly pushed that thought from his mind. He instead focused his attention on carefully placing the necklace into one of the belt pouches he’d looted from the dead ranger, and then settled back into the soft grass of the forest with some food he’d found in the pouches. He soon dozed off, his stomach full and his work for the night done.

  After a few hours, Gin’s tears gave way to exhaustion and she fell asleep while still sitting at the table, waking from troubled dreams with a start to her brother shaking her. “Ginny!” he hissed as he shook her arm. “Wake up!”

  “What? Dear spirits, Cursik, what is it?” She sat up on her elbow and rubbed her eyes. His emerald gaze was wild and full of worry.

  “It’s the Qatu again, Ginny!”

  “Oh, yes, I know,” she said sadly. Gin pushed herself up to a sitting position, pushing her brother back a bit. He sat down across the table from her and took her hands in his. “Are you all right? Did the warriors call you and your guild out to help search for him?”

  “Aye, and I couldn’t get back home to make sure you and Lairky were all right,” he replied, his eyes still wide with concern.

  “She’s fine,” Gin replied. “She’s been asleep for hours. Our Lairceach is an inquisitive one, but she wears herself out exploring.” She squeezed her brother’s hands and then got up from the bed, pulling her cloak around her. “Garrik came by to check on us.”

  “He’s a good boy,” Cursik said. Gin scowled at him, making him grin. “Sorry, young man. I’m sorry; you will always be children to me, just like our Lairky will always be a baby.” Gin beamed a smile at him as they both wandered into the larger room. Cursik stoked the fire as Gin settled in on a cushion. “I have something for you, little sister,” he said as he pulled a small bag from his backpack.

  “What is it?” she asked, holding out her hand. Cursik carefully placed the bag in her hands. Gin immediately recognized it as Allynna’s and her eyes filled with tears. “Oh, thank you, does this mean that…did you see…what happened to her?”

  Cursik clenched his jaw. “I did. Are you sure that you want to know?” Gin nodded. “Her neck was broken. The…Ginny? You’ve gone pale…” Gin waved her hand for him to continue. He took her other hand in his, kneeling in front of her. “There was a handprint of bruises around her neck, meaning that this creature is enormous if he can lift her with one hand. Most of her belongings had been taken, but this pouch was tucked into the inner pocket of her tunic so the Qatu didn’t find it.”

  “They’re calling him the Bane of the Forest, Cursik,” Gin whispered. Her brother nodded. “How are we to make sure we are safe? If he truly is Qatu he can climb trees, can’t he?”

  “Filthy beast,” Cursik said, spitting at the fire. “You don’t have to worry, Ginny. I will not let anything happen to you, and once Mama and Papa are back with the rest of the druids, we can join with them to make sure that he never hurts any of our kind again. I promise.”

  He took Gin in his arms and hugged her and she stayed for a few long moments, happy to have someone there to take care of her and protect her. Nevertheless, Allynna’s face filled her mind suddenly. No one had been there to take care of her. “I want to help, Cursik,” she said, pushing away from his embrace.

  “Don’t be silly, Ginny,” he replied. “Perhaps Mama and Papa will have something for you to do when they return, but for now your place is here with our sister. Lairky needs you.” Gin frowned but she knew her brother well enough to know not to argue.

  Two

  Many seasons later…

  Gin gathered her strength and focused on the wolf on the hill in front of her. She had properly recited all of the spells that she had to memorize, so Aiudin had sent her out into the forest once more to work on some new spells. A wolf looked over its mighty shoulder at her as she began the recitation, and then suddenly turned and came charging down the slope toward her. Gin closed her eyes and continued the spell work, though admittedly at a more frenzied pace. She braced herself for the impact of the wolf’s body against hers as she heard it draw closer to her, its razor-like claws tearing into the soft moss of the forest floor. Closer and closer, it came, until she could almost feel its breath on her face…and then there was nothing. Gin slowly opened one eye and peered about. The wolf was sitting in front of her; just as docile and calm as the domesticated dogs she had seen following the high elves of the citadel. Carefully and slowly, she extended a hand to touch the wolf’s head, and as she did so, the wolf licked her palm. She nearly fainted with relief until the words of her guild master, Aiudin, came racing back into her mind: The charm works a short time, and it will be even shorter for you as you have only just begun practicing. Sure enough, as she gazed into the eyes of the wild beast she could see the clouds caused by her spell falling away and clarity returning. Gin took a step back from the wolf just as it sprang for her neck. She darted away, quickly reciting the words for a spell that grants camouflage as she did. As she felt herself fading from vision, the sharp crack of something heavy against the wolf’s skull caught her attention. Had the poor creature hit a tree?

  Gin looked out from behind her veil of camouflage to see the largest man she had ever seen kneeling next to the body of the wolf. She ran at him in a moment of rage and grief for the wolf. “What have you done?” she cried out, her well used and cracked wooden staff raised to the level of her eyes…which was the level of his elbow as he stood to face his accuser. His eyes searched the darkness straight out in front of him, unable to locate the source of the voice.

  “I’ve stopped the wolf that was about to maul an elf, is what I did…” His voice sounded puzzled. “But where she went I cannot say, and where are you that address me in such a manner?” He removed his helm and gazed in vain into the darkness of the trees. “Show yourself!”

  Gin sighed loudly and undid her camouflage spell. “Look down, you oaf,” she said, gasping slightly when his eyes met hers. His eyes seemed
to burn into her, and they appeared as red as her blood. Dark magic, clearly. He was twice her height, with chain mail and plate armor covering almost every inch of his body. The horned brass helm that had obscured his features earlier had made her think that he might be a troll or an ogre.

  “Look at you!” he said, amusement rampant in his raspy, deep voice. She took an involuntary step backward, thinking suddenly of childhood tales in which evil humans took elves for pets…or worse. “Dorlagar of the Dawnshadows, at your service, my lady elf.” He cocked his head to one side, grinning. “Why, I could put you in my pocket, little one!” he mused as he knelt before Gin.

  “I wouldn’t try it,” she said, silently reciting ancient words that would draw the strength of the ground beneath her into her body just in case he tried anything. “What brings a human to the forest anyway?” she demanded, her hands on her hips.

  “What causes an elf to ask so many questions?” the human sneered back at her. Gin felt an uneasiness creep up through her bones as he stared down at her. “What business is it of yours, little one?”

  Carefully and clandestinely, Gin fingered the staff that she had strapped to her side moments before. “As a servant of Sephine, the All-Mother, and protector of these lands, I make it my business,” she said, almost surprised by her words. “Now, I’ll ask again what you’re doing in the forest.”

  Dorlagar looked down his nose at the tiny wood elf. He was impressed by her bravado, but did not have time for this nonsense. He had been told all of his life to avoid the forest …why in all of Orana had he ever gone to this awful place in the first place, so far from his home in the south. Why had he let his childish pride and arrogance lead him here, to this verdant land of drakes and giant wasps and wolves…and of impudent elves like the one in front of him now? “None of your business, wood elf,” he huffed and pushed past her, headed for the tree city. Gin staggered but did not lose her footing. She watched him go, knowing that humans are like scourge in the forest, and that this one would likely find no rest there tonight. She smiled and then continued her work.