The Bewitching Hour

Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

My breath caught in my throat as I met the intense evil in those plain brown eyes. The creature hefted a large club over one bare shoulder as it sneered at me. I spun around and stumbled back over the hill, but those crashing footsteps followed me. The troll creature crossed the distance between us in seconds and easily stepped over the low mound by the time I had reached the bottom.

The troll brought the club down behind me, and the tip just barely missed my heel as I tumbled down the gentle slope and into the trees. I rolled across the leaf-covered ground and slammed my side into the trunk of a tree. The bellow of the horrible monster rang in my ears as I scrambled to my feet and stumbled through the woods. Its heavy footsteps followed, shaking the ground and pounding almost as hard as my heart.

I leapt over a fallen log and discovered that the half I stared at had rotted out. A quick look back showed the monster’s high view was blocked by the canopy. I scrambled into the little cranny and held my breath. The troll stomped over me and continued on his way.

His footsteps stopped just out of sight, and I could hear his nostrils sniff the air. I slipped out of my hiding hole and crept across the ground as quickly as I could manage. A loud snort and roar warned me that the troll had caught my scent and sprinted through the woods.

The low hill I had found earlier seemed to snake for miles through the trees, and I found myself climbing over it again. I slipped onto the downhill side, and I tumbled to the bottom of a deep depression. My mind screamed at me to get up, but I was too dazed to do anything more than lay there panting.

“Adi. Adi.”

My name. Someone’s saying my name.

My eyes flickered open, but they couldn’t focus. A blurry face of a woman floated over me. I couldn’t quite see it, but I could feel that she was smiling down at me.

“Eat this, Adi.”

She slipped something small and round through my parted lips. The taste was sweet, like a berry, and I had no problem swallowing it. A cold chill chased the berry down my throat and into my stomach, and the strange sensation flowed across my whole body until even my fingertips felt numb. The coldest spot, however, focused around my left eye, so much so that I felt a throbbing pain.

The noise of the troll came from the woods and the figure disappeared. The starry sky twinkled above me as focus returned to my eyes. I blinked a few times just as the troll came over the top of the hill some fifty feet above me.

My heart skipped a beat before I scrambled to my feet and sprinted across a flat plain some half mile wide. Trees lined the entire area and dried field grass crunched beneath my feet. The troll had the advantage over bare ground and quickly caught up to me. I felt the strong whoosh of his club as he aimed the hefty wood at my side. I threw myself to the ground to avoid the devastating blow and I skidded to the filthy ground. The small tree whooshed over my head, and I rolled over in time to watch the troll grasp the handle in both hands and raise it above his head for a killer swing.

A dark shadow flew over me and a shine of metal glimmered in the starlight. The next moment the troll stumbled backward with a loud roar and his club crashed to the ground. One of his arms went with it.

My rescuer dropped to the ground between me and the creature. The figure wore a black cloak and hood, but the height and build told me it was a man. What most caught my attention, however, was the large scythe he held in one hand. The stinging blade of his weapon shimmered in the dim light.

I lifted myself up on my arms and gaped at the sliced-off limb that lay on the ground some ten feet from me. The next moment the arm exploded into a black mist, leaving only the club.

The one-armed troll swung his remaining limb at my rescuer, and the cloaked man leapt out of the way. The troll’s fist slammed into the ground, leaving a half-foot depression in the earth. The stranger darted around the troll and leapt impossibly high into the air. He grasped the scythe in both hands as he came down, and he swung the weapon in movements too swift for me to follow.

The stranger dropped to the ground behind the troll. The creature’s wide eyes rolled back in his head and his mouth hung agape as his body collapsed into a heap of dismembered limbs. Like the arm, the rest of it exploded into black mist before disappearing altogether.

The cloaked figure strode toward me and removed his hood. I had never seen such a handsome man as the one that now stood before me. His hair was as black as night and his eyes were a brilliant green. His chiseled features matched the strength behind the scythe he held.

He stopped a few feet from me and studied me with a curious look. “You’re far into these woods.” I swallowed the lump in my throat, but still, I could only nod. He swept his eyes over the area. “Are there any others?” I shook my head. He leaned down and offered me his hand. There was a small smile on his lips, but the expression didn’t reach his bright eyes. “Then allow me to point you in the right direction.”

My eyes flickered between his face and his hand, and I finally managed to find my voice. “This… this isn’t a nightmare?”

He shook his head. “Only if you remain here too long, now come with me.”

I contemplated his offer a moment longer before I accepted his hand. He helped me to my feet as if he was lifting a cardboard cutout, and then the stranger hurried me across the field toward the embankment. The man helped me up the slope and to the top of the hill where he pointed ahead of us.

“The road you seek is some three miles in that direction,” he instructed me as he caught my eye. “You mustn’t turn a foot from that direction, otherwise you’ll find yourself back here. Do you understand?” I dumbly nodded, and he set his hand on my lower back. “Then I will bid you farewell-”

The man guided me forward with his hand, but I took one step off the top of the mound and found my face squished against an invisible wall. Even my nose became flattened, and his insistent hand only made things flatter.

“Stop!” I cried out as I pressed my hands against that ethereal barrier. “Something’s stopping me from going any further!”

The man drew his hand back, and his eyebrows crashed down as a look of ire and confusion crossed over his face. He set his hand atop one of mine that leaned against the wall and tried a gentler push. My hand remained where it was, pressed between a palm and a hard place.

I yanked away my hand before he imprinted on me. He hardly seemed to notice as he scowled at the air. The next moment he whipped his head to me. “Have you eaten anything in here?”

I blinked at him. “Do you think I had time to eat?” My words froze in my mouth as I recalled the hazy hallucination I’d had after hitting my head. “I… I may have swallowed a berry.”

A strange expression traveled across his eyes. Was it pity? Anger? Or a combination of the two? Before I could analyze it further it vanished, leaving only the stoic look. He turned to face the meadow and swept his arm in that direction. “I see. Then you’ll have to come with me.”

I took a step back and shook my head. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on. Where am I? Who are you? What was that… that thing?”

He stared at me a moment before he returned his attention to the clearing. “My name is Duncan.” He didn’t wait for an answer but proceeded down the hill.

“That doesn’t answer all of my questions!” I shouted at him as I planted my feet firmly on top of the hill.

Duncan paused at the bottom of the slope and half-turned to me. “You’re in the Land of Shadows, and that thing you saw was a troll.”

That soothed some of my ire, but not all of the questions bouncing around in my head. “And what’s this,” I slammed my palm against the invisible wall, “and why can’t I go any farther?”

“That is the Veil of Death, and you passed beyond it.”

He turned and proceeded across the meadow. The color drained from my face as my hand planted on the veil shook a little. I balled it into a fist against my chest as my frantic mind tried to make sense of this. It… it just couldn’t be true.

And if it wasn’t, all my answers were quickly walking away from me.

“Hey!” I shouted as I stumbled down the slope. “Wait a minute!”