One rough hand idled upon the handle of his long bladed dagger as Hafred tramped through the dark forest. His boots tore through piles of leaves long left undisturbed as he sought to keep up with the figure before him. The shadow nymph's lithe and alluring form danced in and out of the edge of his senses as she forged ahead, senses that were already hampered by the Prince's insistence they use only the natural moonlight, such as it was. While nearly unable to see their nymphly guide most of the time, Hafred had to follow with haste, lest the whole party become lost in the woods.
He still didn't fully trust the two supernatural creatures, but after their group decided to head back to the Sage's house, the sisters had offered to lead them there through the wilds. Saving hours of travel and arriving before dawn had sounded like a good idea at the time, but after almost half an hour of literally chasing shadows, Hafred wasn't so sure anymore.
Lord "Black Dog" Rufus's dalliance with one of those very nymphs had kept them at the old ruined house longer than Hafred would have liked, though the Prince seemed unphased. Of course, the more the smith's apprentice had to watch that retreating rear end as it faded in and out of the darkness, the less Hafred could bring himself to blame the man. As set as he was on earning Jenrea's affections, even he found the two fae women tempting.
Indeed, echoes of the soft sounds which Elthyne's sister Sthelyne had made still haunted Hafred's memory. Though the crumbling walls of the ruined house had blocked any unintentional glimpse of the dark skinned nymph as she had taken her pleasures with the older knight, the ruined partitions and lack of roofing could do little to contain her cries and moans, or the sounds of her soft, silky flesh in motion.
The imaginings which those carnal noises had conjured in his mind had made him see the two women in a different light.
No, he had to remind himself, they were not mere women. They were unnatural beings of superhuman attraction, the seductive beauty of night made flesh and granted life.
At least Elthyne, seemingly the more serious and mature of the two sisters, had taken Hafred's rejection civilly, and refrained from seeking her own comfort with Rufus.
While Elthyne darted before them, leading the way, her sister cozied up behind Lord Rufus, doubled up with him on his horse. Thankfully, it seemed that even with such a lush form curled in against his back, the warrior could still focus on the task of trailing Hafred through the darkness.
A few paces further behind, Prince Cantrol brought up the rear. He never bothered to urge his own horse past a canter, always seeming so serene and aloof there. It was almost unnerving.
It seemed that of them all, only Hafred was doomed to run himself ragged on foot, for the nymph ahead of him never seemed to slow, never flagged. At least one mercy was granted by the route itself, for as they cut across the landscape direct toward Sage Illuminous's home, they managed to avoid any sight of the Broken Stone.
A shudder ran down Hafred's spine at the very thought of the abominable monument. Never again would he be able to gaze upon its distant silhouette with the same blissful ignorance he once did. Even the mere memories of the unnatural events that took place there made his flesh crawl.
Wrapped up in his thoughts, the youth didn't notice that the nymph he was following had slowed, at least not until he was upon her. Halting himself at her side, he glanced over at her troubled expression. He was about to ask just what was amiss, when she held up a hand to shush him.
Moments later, he heard what had caught her attention. The faint rustle of leaves under booted feet was a chilling indicator that someone was ahead, lurking between the small party and their destination. It seemed the Prince's foresight regarding their lighting had paid off, for while they might have stumbled about in the dark from time to time, with torches and lanterns cutting through the night, the party would have been quite visible to any ambushers, perhaps for miles out.
Hafred hesitantly drew back from Elthyne's side, and retreated toward the mounted figure of Lord Rufus and his distracting companion. As the youth neared, Rufus slowed his mount's pace, and offered a quizzical look. Before any words could be exchanged, the sharp report of a twig snapping resounded through the trees. A string of muffled curses followed, shattering any pretense that the forest was empty.
Immediately, Rufus's blade was in hand. The ringing steel was answered by the twang of bowstrings, and though the swish of the arrows cutting through the air and light foliage was readily audible, the arrows themselves were lost in darkness. It was impossible to tell by just how far they'd missed their marks.
The bodyguard's passenger, Sthelyne, shrieked in surprise, which could only serve to alert those who were hunting them.
Hafred ducked low, and drew his own long dagger. He squinted against the darkness, and spotted a broad shouldered figure rushing through the trees. It was far too large and bulky to be Elthyne, and everyone else was still mounted. Judging the form an enemy, Hafred charged forward, one arm held up, his knife held low. His hand caught one of the figure's, only to find the wooden haft of some sort of weapon gripped tightly there. He clasped his own hand about the wood shaft, and thrust his dagger upward into what he guessed was his attacker's chest.
He could hardly see anything, yet the solid feel of flesh giving under his blade, the gasp and gurgle of surprised death all served to confirm the thrust had been successful. The looming figure slumped to the ground, and Hafred found himself in possession of an axe, judging by the weight and heft. And a sharp one, if the way the dim moonlight glinted off of the crescent edge was any indication.
A pale, flickering glow suddenly illuminated many more darkly clad bodies, as the Prince drew his enchanted blade. The slender sword cast a ghostly light, and the world was thrown into a chaos of dancing shadows. Every swing of Cantrol's blade sent the long, eerie shadows twisting and jumping, and the glow the blade shone with was tinted crimson as he sliced through a man's neck.
An arrow suddenly deflected off of an umbral filament close to Hafred's head. It was so close, in fact, that he felt the breeze from the arrow's passing as it started an end over end tumble away from him. He focused upon the wispy thread of darkness for a moment, before the lush figure of Elthyne, standing some paces removed, came to his attention. Her gaze lingered upon his as she dodged a swordsman's swing, then her eyes shifted to a clump of bushes some thirty feet away.
When Hafred followed her line of sight, the shadows peeled themselves away from the bank of foliage, revealing a rather startled looking woman in black. She sparked a certain recognition in him, for she was the very one who had given him that arrow wound earlier in the evening. It still ached, and the strain of combat wasn't making things better.
