Stalk

                It had been several weeks since they had left the Odum. As they traveled towards the capital city of Nivged the caravan, led by the guardsman, took routine stops to perform maintenance and to rest. When they stopped one of the guards would always bring him some food, but they never spoke to the Icileian. Reinhardt didn't know why he was being brought to Nivged but he figured it wouldn't be a pleasant stop.

                After a few days of travel the guards became complacent with their speech near their captives. It was clear they didn't think he was a threat. It had taken some time but he finally learned the name of the Emperor's guard but he managed to overhear it finally, along with their plans for him and the other captives.

                Like all men of his status, his birth name was no longer used. After reaching the rank of guardian he shed his common Duzee bonds and took up the mantle of Zephyrus the West Wind. The man wasn't much taller than the normal Duzee soldiers, but his uniform and discipline was leagues apart. He never spoke near the prisoners, he was an effective leader, and most importantly he was a shifter of rare level.

                His cart came to a stop near a small opening in the tree line; a small field was tucked carefully between two dense patches of forest. The heavy scent of cedar almost made him cringe, but it was better than the stench of carriage hounds. Moonlight broke through the clouds as the winds calmed to a breeze. Flowers that had been hidden sprang to life, drawn to the light of the moon. Dark reds and blues popped through the blanket of darkness and Reinhardt couldn't help but admit that this wouldn't be a bad place to camp for the night.

                With closer inspection of the trees he could see that one side of the field dropped sharply, plants clinging to the slope with strong roots. Nearby soldiers started a fire with left over wood as others began cutting down trees and gathering fallen sticks to replenish their supply. It was their nightly routine starting over. Reinhardt's food was brought to him in a coarse wooden bowl. He ate it casually while watching the fire spring to life, bringing even more of the local plants out of hiding.

                Bright yellow flowers crept out of a nearby bush, stretching vines reaching out, struggling to catch what light it could. A passing soldier was playing with some grass. Reinhardt didn't know why he was messing with it until he looked closer, noticing that the grass flattened to the ground before the soldiers could step on it. Every time the soldier lifted his foot the dark green vegetation would return to normal, only to flatten again when he tried to step on it once more. Reinhardt figured it was a defense against the heavy winds this high in the mountain passes.

            If it wasn’t for being a prisoner and being stuck in this cage, this trip would have been very relaxing. His cart was built entirely out of wood creating a strong, but uncomfortable, house for their prisoner. A guard neared Reinhardt, appearing from the darkness nearby, and brought him a plate of food. Before he could see the food he could smell it. Slightly seasoned meat and greens were spread over the wooden dish. Wouldn’t be the most filling meal he’d ever eaten but it would be enough. Laughter brought his attention back to the fire as some of the guards spoke to each other.

            “Have you heard about the armies gathering near Fatir? People are saying that another invasion is coming.” The first guard sounded somber. It reminded Reinhardt that their entire lives would have been spent fighting for the Duzee army, which is their custom.

            “It would be impossible for the Fatir to push through Wanve without us finding out. We control the western portion of the bridges.” This second soldier didn’t seem worried about the possibility of an attack from Fatir. Even Reinhardt knew it would be difficult for any nation to push through the mass of islands that bridge the two continents and attack Duzee. The size of the army required would leave their homeland susceptible to attack. Though the possibility should never be overlooked, but what did a farmer know of war?

            “Zell, what’s wrong? You’ve been really quite the last few day?” Turning his attention to the soldier sitting away from the rest of the group, Reinhardt watched him carefully. He looked defeated and almost broken.  Refusing to look up he just watched the fire burn freely.

            “He’s been having bad dreams lately. From what he’s told me they’re horrifying and reoccurring. Can’t go a single night without waking up screaming and covered in a cold sweat. When I finally get calm him down he can’t remember what he dreams were about, but I can hear him mumbling most nights. It’s all been broken up and jumbled but he says things about demons and shadows coming for us all. Something about the twilight’s eye, something like that.”

            Silence fell over the group until everyone started laughing, one man even fell backwards onto the ground, holding his sides and rolling back and forth. Even with all of this commotion the man sat, staring at the fire. Reinhardt wondered if it had any meaning. Having seen demonic creatures that formed from smoke he couldn’t doubt the possibility right out.

            “Why is everyone sitting around laughing when there are still duties to be completed? The camp will be pushing out at first light so we cannot wait for you all to enjoy yourselves before we resupply our water and wood.”  Zephyrus’ eyes met his and Reinhardt could feel the indignation. He doubted the man could tell he was different than any other Icileian, though he wished he knew why he had been arrested in the first place.

            In less than an hour the camp had begun to wind down. All the required chores had been completed and with dawn being less than six hours away, everybody began readying to sleep. Outside his cell the fire had begun to die down and everybody was starting to unroll large fur bags so they could sleep comfortably in the brisk mountain air. It must have been cold out because even the sentries brought their beds with them when they left the campsite. If Reinhardt knew anything it was that when guards were full, drunk, and warm it was a recipe for sleep. Tonight would be the perfect night for an escape attempt if he wanted to, but they were going in the direction he wanted to be going in so he decided he would tag along for the ride.

     Listening to the sounds of the night around him Reinhardt realized that it was much more quite then it should have been. All of the crickets were still chirping, and he could still here the regular animals that were running around, but something was different. Around him men started to emerge from the darkness of the forest. None of their steps made any sound and it wasn't until someone drew a sword that anybody would have noticed them. 

     A scream in the distance rang out in the night and the camp awoke. It didn't take more than moments for the sleepy soldiers to notice the men who had snuck dangerously close to them, but it was already their advantage. Taking up the attack, the cloaked men moved in for the kill, swords darting violently in the fire light. The momentum was clearly in the favor of the attackers but in short time it became clear that the trained soldiers were gaining their ground back and starting to hold the enemy back. 

     Reinhardt felt a strong shifting in the night air as one of the cloaked men was torn to pieces by an invisible force. The sight startled his comrades who started to fall back towards the tree line. The Duzee elementalist appeared with his sword drawn from a nearby shadow. Having dispatched the attackers who had snuck up on his men, he had made his way back to the primary fight and that would tip the scales of the battle in their favor. Even with the sneak attack it would be impossible for a group this inexperienced to take on an elementalist of his power.

     Another blast of wind was directed towards the fleeing men but it was thrown to the side by a large slab of rock that rose up from the ground behind them. It surprised the man enough to give them all time to flee. Regrouping the camp went out in teams to look for signs of their attackers.

     A lone man emerged from the trees and everybody stopped to stare at him. Even from where he was Reinhardt knew it was the bartender who had tried protecting him in the pub. As he walked into the light of the campfire Reinhardt could see a long bow staff in his right hand, tucked close to his body. His face was emotionless and his movements direct, there was no doubting his intent.

     The elementalist moved forward and, without speaking, drew as much wind as he could around himself. Air around the man twisted and turned with as much intensity as a tornado and when he couldn't pull any more from the area it turned on the bartender. 

     One hand reached up and grabbed the clasp of his cloak and ripped it off, letting it fall free of his body. The long stave was no free to move as it wanted as it twisted and spun around his body. Smaller patches of wind were turned away without effort by the spinning stave. Reinhardt could feel a few almost harden into a blade of wind capable of slicing into a person. This was how he had been able to cut the other man to pieces. An attack like this wouldn't be able to be pushed aside like the others had.

     Almost as if he could feel the strike coming for himself he slammed his stave into the ground and threw himself into the air over the blast. Almost out of shock the Duzee elementalist hesitated and lost control of his shift for a moment. It was everything the bartender needed to take advantage of the fight. 

     Still spinning from dodging the blade of wind, the stave whipped around and slammed into the ground, but this time the giant rock slab they had been standing on started to splinter and crumble. The sight broke the already weakening resolve of the Duzee soldiers and they began to flee.

     "He's from Ental!" Reinhardt heard one of them yell as he tried to escape. Now understanding what had happened in the moments before the fight, Reinhardt could only smile. He had the pleasure of watching an Earth Elementalist and a Wind elementalist fight, over him.

Author's Note

There are a lot of uncommon words being thrown around. The names of the nations in particular, is this confusing early on or has it pretty much been explained enough by now?