Wild-Rune stared miserably at the orange streaks tinting the clouds to the west of Banatray. A reddening sky, as the day drew to a close, might delight the shepherds on the slopes of the valley, heralding as it did, a fine summer"s day tomorrow, but it only brought despair to Wild-Rune.
Before the next dawn, the night would have to come, and for Wild-Rune the night no longer gave the refreshing sleep it once did. When the sun disappeared behind the tree tops at the edge of the forest across the valley, the darkness would bring its usual assortment of terrors and nightmares.
The village elders were seeing it happen all too often. And they had heard of it happening all over the kingdom. Now they saw the same pattern developing with Wild-Rune. During the first few nights of her illness – fo
