Master's Mind (The Dagger of Dragon Rose Book 1)
The Black Forest

“What is that?” - Taren elloy

“Taren, it’s time to get up.” The words barely penetrated the thick fog that had risen in Taren’s mind. “We need to hurry. We want to get as far into the forest as we can before nightfall.”

The words seemed familiar to him, but he could not quite make out what they meant. All he knew was that he was very tired and didn’t want to get out of bed.

“Ularen, can you please help me?” The words sounded frantic.“It’s not funny; you don’t understand the dangers of the forest. We must get through it as fast as possible.”

Forest, danger, all of this seemed very familiar to him, but Taren’s mind just couldn’t fathom anything outside of the safety envelope that protected his sleep. He knew he should get up, but he was so tired. All he wanted right now was sleep.

The sound of heavy footsteps sounded from somewhere outside of Taren’s subconscious. He was curious as to who might be approaching.

Taren’s mind was suddenly ripped from his slumber as a deluge of icy cold water enfolded him in its chilly arms. His bedroll and clothing were quickly drenched through. The suddenness of the downpour caused him to sit upright much faster than he should have, causing his head to swim.

“What’s the big idea?” His speech was still slurred as he posed the question to his as yet unseen attacker.

Looking around the campsite, Taren could see that his gear was the only thing left unpacked, with the exception of the bucket that Hope was holding as he stood nearby.

“We have been trying to get you to wake up for over an hour now.” Shaunna explained, looking highly amused at the help that Hope had offered her. “We need to get going.”

Taren quickly rose, changed his clothes, and packed all of his gear. In ten minutes they were all ready to go. They followed Shaunna out of the camp site, continuing east towards the black maw of the forest. It only took about fifteen minutes or so to reach the edge of the black trees. They stood for a moment looking at the imposing forest that was waiting for them to enter, with jaws gaping wide.

The trees were taller than any that any of them (except Shaunna) had ever seen. The bark of the trees was a very coarse black color. The leaves were a deep charcoal grey. The trunks grew so close together that there was barely any room to walk between them. They could only see a little way into the unwelcoming forest before the tree trunks obscured their vision to anything that might lie beyond.

Shaunna gestured to them to stay as she stepped toward the forest, hand held high. “I invoke the protection offered by the black unicorn.” She spoke loudly and clearly towards the forest. “I am Shaunna Nightshade of the Dark Village.”

There was a moment of tense silence as she waited for the reply that she did not really expect to come, especially after the encounter with the faeries.

An eerie feminine voice echoed over the land in response to her words. “You are welcome here, Daughter of the Darkness, and all those with you. I will give you what protection I am able. Enter and be swift.”

A look of elation beamed from Shaunna’s countenance as she turned to face the men. The black unicorn had accepted her plea for protection. Taking the few steps back toward her companions she grabbed her bag and tied it to her belt.

“We must hurry. The unicorn’s protection can only shield us from the small things in the forest. There are creatures in there that even she doesn’t dare contend with.” The elation was beginning to wear off as the reality of what she was about to do set in. “It will take us two days to reach the village if we do not stop, and we will not want to stop in the forest. It will be a hard march, but it must be done. Stay close behind me, and don’t wander off for any reason. You don’t want to be lost in the forest.” Without further word she turned and headed towards the trees. The others, being caught off guard by the suddenness of the movement, had to run to catch up with her.

The view from inside the forest wasn’t any better than the view from without had been. If anything, the view from inside was worse. The trees quickly swallowed them so completely that they could no longer see the light of day. The opening they had just left was no longer in view. No sunlight was able to penetrate the leafy canopy, casting the interior of the forest into a state of perpetual blackness.

“I can’t see anything.” Hope complained

“Taren, get your sword out. It will give us light, and hopefully scare off any of the nastier creatures that might get it into their minds to attack us.”

He was very careful as he reached into the pocket where he kept the small cylinder. With only his forefinger and his thumb he pulled the crystal from the enclosed fabric, so as not to activate it. He wasn’t sure if it would do him harm or not, having just realized how the weapon worked the day before, but he wasn’t willing to take that chance. As soon as the cylinder was free from his pocket, he wrapped his fingers around it, willing it into life. Purple fire shot out of both ends of it, wrapping around Taren’s hand and forming a sword shaped like an eight pointed star.

They had to shield their eyes as the harsh light from the sword pierced the blackness. The light looked unnatural, even ominous in the blackness of the forest. The trees turned an ugly color like that of dried blood where the purple light touched them.

“Well now, that’s better,” Shaunna muttered, trying very hard not to look at the trees. “From here on in we need to maintain silence until we reach the village. We don’t want to draw any more attention to ourselves than absolutely necessary.”

They all nodded in agreement and followed Shaunna’s lead as she led them through the black expanse of the forest.

It was impossible to tell whether they were walking in a straight line or traveling in circles. All of the tree trunks looked identical, and there were no distinguishable landmarks anywhere. Shaunna walked forward at a hurried pace, never once pausing to wonder which way to go.

Time seemed to be meaningless in this horrible place. There was no way to track the movement of the sun or the moons, so determining how long they had been walking was nearly impossible. The timelessness of their situation seemed to weigh as much on their bodies as it did on their spirits.

The three men were ill prepared for Shaunna to suddenly stop, silently gesturing to them to do the same. They had no idea how long they had been walking, and were grateful for the unexpected respite from the march. With detached fascination they watched Shaunna move forward, just outside of the sword’s light, to investigate something that she had seen. She was only gone for a moment. When she re-entered the light circle she was panicked.

“We must hurry.” Even through the low whisper in which she spoke, the panic in her voice was apparent. “Try not to look at what’s there, and whatever you do, don’t touch it.” They set off again in the direction that they had been headed, and it soon became apparent what the warning had been all about. Lying in the path a short way ahead of where they had stopped was the enormous corpse of some creature. It looked like a cross between a wild boar and a bear, but bigger than either of them could ever be. Short, coarse, black fur covered the body, except at the point where a section of the side seemed to have been removed. Blood poured from the fresh wound, coagulating in a large pool where the creature lay. The snout, or muzzle (it was hard to tell) was pointed toward them, indicating that the creature had been heading in the direction that they had just come from.

As they walked past the dead creature, Grathius, who usually walked on all four legs like a wolf, stood up on his hind legs to get a better view of the creature. He didn’t see a small root sticking out of the ground until his hind paw was stuck in it. With a loud yelp of pain and surprise, he fell into the dead body of the creature.

In the time it took for Grathius to pick himself up off the floor, the sound of heavy foot steps could be heard growing nearer. Whatever it was that was coming towards them had to be gigantic. As it drew nearer, the trees and ground shook more with each step.

“What is that?” Taren was looking around frantically trying to locate the direction the echoing sound was emanating from.

“That’s the last thing I wanted to have to deal with.” Shaunna answered as she drew her small crossbow and her dagger. “That’s the Marook. The biggest, most dangerous, creature that inhabits the forest.”

“Wonderful.” Taren was not looking forward to another battle so soon after the last one. “Shouldn’t we be running?”

Shaunna laughed nervously. “It wouldn’t help. He would catch us in the end anyway.”

Shaunna didn’t answer. She just pointed to a place beyond the light’s border.

The trees seemed to bend, trying to get out of the way of the approaching creature.

When the marook entered the light circle, the only one who was prepared for the enormity of it was Shaunna. It was so big that the light didn’t illuminate its head. All that could be seen was the naked torso of some seemingly humanoid creature, a loincloth covering it’s private parts, and two legs that were as easily as thick as the tree trunks around them, if not thicker. The skin had a sickly grey-black color in the purplish light that came from the sword. Hands the size of large elephants gripped a club that seemed to have been made by pulling one of the great black trees from the ground by its roots.

Grathius let out a soft whimpering sound as he saw the enormous creature. He readied himself for the battle that he had brought down on top of all of them.

“What is that thing?” Taren asked again, hoping the answer would change. “It’s enormous.”

Shaunna frowned as she repeated the answer. “That is the Marook. That club is not the worst thing you have to worry about. The Marook is a very accomplished magic user.”

As she finished speaking, Taren felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. Sudden intuition caused him to dive to the side as the lightning bolt struck where he had been standing. He rolled to a crouching position, pointed the sword at the Marook, and concentrated every fiber of his being on the large creature in front of him.

Purple fire lanced out of the sword, striking the creature in the side of the abdomen. The wound that the fire created was not small, even compared to the massive size of the enemy. Great drops of sticky blood fell to the ground as the creature emitted an ear splitting roar that was a mixture of pain and fury.

The great club that the Marook held in his hands was brought into play. Great swings of the massive pole split trees in half, showering the small party with splinters and chunks of wood.

Taren was not as fortunate this time. He dodged as much of the falling timber as he could, but there was just too much of it. A large chunk of wood struck him in the side of the head, knocking him senseless for a moment. In the back of his mind he felt the small cylinder fall from his hand for the second time in two days, as a large hand lift him into the air.

When Taren came to he found himself surrounded by the coarse flesh of a hand that was wider than he was tall. The air in the confines of the hand was stifling, and the stench choked him. He heard the sound of a canine yelping as if it were severely injured.

As the thought of his companions fighting in the dark against this creature passed through his mind, Taren quickened his resolve not to just sit around and let this creature have him without a fight. He didn’t know how high he was off the ground, but he figured that he would have a better chance surviving a fall than he had between the teeth of this creature.

Silver light flooded the confines of the giant hand as three claws materialized between the knuckles on each of Taren’s hands. Willing the weapons to do as much damage as possible, he drove his fist into the giant palm. The creature cried out in pain as blood began to fill the area where Taren was being held, but the Marook did not open its hand. Instead it tightened its grip, ensuring that Taren would either be crushed or drown in a pool of blood. It was only a matter of which would come first.

A bright light illuminated the area outside of the hand so brightly that Taren could see it through the fingers that held him captive. Once more the creature cried out in pain, but this time the massive hand opened, letting Taren drop.

As he began to fall, Taren noticed that the ground was very far below him. He could not make out the figures of his friends or the source of the light. He tried to push his cloak aside, so that he could slow his descent and fly to his friends. Something kept the cloak firmly in place as he continued to plummet, gaining speed as he fell. He was no longer certain he would survive the fall.

At this point several things all happened at once: A bright light surrounded Taren slowing his descent. Grathius let out another yelp as a great hand closed around him and disappeared into the forest. Shaunna was shouting furiously at the small cross bow in her hand. As his feet touched solid earth again, Taren took a moment to look over the scene.

Wood littered the area around the battle field, the remains of the great trees that were casualties of the Marook’s club. Hope was hobbling towards Taren, his left arm hanging limp at his side, the large crystal bladed sword gripped in his hand. Shaunna was still yelling at the small crossbow in her hand, having an argument of some kind. Taren wasn’t sure what was going on because he could only hear Shaunna’s side of the argument. Grathius was nowhere to be seen.

The source of the light was the most spectacular thing that the young elf had ever seen. It was too thin to be a horse and too stocky to be a deer. Shiny black hair covered every inch of the lithe body and the horse-like head. A single crystal spire rose from the center of the creature’s forehead.

“No!” The creature spoke in the same eerie voice that Taren had heard just before he entered the forest. “I saw you die.”

Taren was confused at the statement.

“Come here and touch my horn, so I can tell if you are real or not.”

It was a simple request, but Taren hesitated to approach the creature. He wasn’t sure if he should touch it or not. This has to be some kind of holy creature, he thought to himself.

“Please.” The creature walked to stand directly in front of Taren. “Just lay your hand on my horn.”

Taren slowly raised his hand, and laid it on the transparent horn of the strange creature. The horn was smooth to the touch and emanated a warmth that seemed to flow up his arm and fill his whole body with hope.

“You are not he.” The creature was talking slowly, as if concentrating very hard.

“You are the boy. You survived. This is wonderful.”

“I’m sorry, but should I know you?” Taren was sorry to interrupt.

“I am Marai, the last black unicorn.”

Shaunna had stopped yelling at Erik (the crossbow) and was now watching the exchange between Taren and Marai. She hadn’t expected to see the Unicorn. Why should she; she had never seen it before. As a child, she had heard stories of the beast in the forest that would protect those from the dangers that infested the cursed woods. None of the stories had ever mentioned the amount of power that she had just witnessed. The Marook was the most feared creature in the forest, and yet this Unicorn had just sent it running for its life.

“Madame Unicorn?” Shaunna tentatively addressed the creature.

The Unicorn didn’t even look at her. “What is it, Daughter of the Darkness?”

“How did you do that? We always thought you were too scared of the Marook.”

“Not scared, child, just cautious. I don’t like to flaunt my power openly, for if it were not for this boy’s father I would not have it at all. You see, when I was young, I was captured by poachers. They only wanted me for my horn. The horn of a black unicorn is very magical, more magical than those ugly white ones and their prissy herds and shape changing abilities.” There was utmost disgust in her voice as she spoke about the white unicorns. “Without my horn I should have died, but Paron Elloy found me still clinging to life. He created a new horn for me out of crystal, and placed it on my head where the old horn had been. I don’t know if it was some magic in me, or in the crystal, but the horn grafted itself to my head, turning the stump of the old horn into crystal to match the new one. Since then I have had powers beyond those which I possessed with the old horn. The light is one of them.”

Taren’s mind was reeling as the unicorn spoke. Had she just confused him with his father? She said his father had saved her life and given her new powers. The Crystal Blades, a crystal horn for a unicorn; was there anything that his father couldn’t do? Yes, he couldn’t raise his children.

Taren quickly thrust the unwelcome thought aside. He had never thought anything like that before, so he was surprised at the bitterness that it conjured up inside of him.

The unicorn quickly moved off toward the darkness of the forest. “I must go. They are coming. They have become extremely distrustful as of late, even of me.”

“Who?” Taren asked, but she was gone.

The three remaining members of the party found themselves again cast into darkness.

Taren stretched out his hand, concentrating on retrieving his sword. He was pleased when he felt the cool surface of the crystal tube come to rest in his hand. Closing his hand around the smooth crystal, he willed the sword to come to life.

At the edge of the light, hundreds of Dark Elves could be seen. One of them stepped forward to address Shaunna.

“What do you want here?” The dark elf’s voice was rough as he spoke.

“Hello Kairu, I need to see my grandmother,” Shaunna answered cheerfully.

“You are not welcome here any more. You know that.” Kairu brandished his weapon at her. “You need to leave this place.”

“I can’t leave. I have with me the son of Paron Elloy. He needs to speak to my grandmother.”

A murmur spread through the crowd at these words.

“I will take the oath now. I no longer have a need to kill.”

Kairu was still distrustful, but he had no choice but to allow them to follow him to the village. Paron Elloy had been a friend to the Dark Elves. He and his family had been given residence in the dark elf village, with an invitation to visit anytime they wished.

“You are under oath now, Shaunna. Never kill again.” Kairu looked at her with his piercing blue eyes.

“I will only kill in defense, I can’t offer more than that.”

Kairu closed his eyes for a moment, as if to consider. “That is all we can ask. Your oath is accepted. All of you follow me.”

“Umm...” Taren stepped forward. “One of our companions was taken by the Marook. We need to replace him.”

The dark elf looked scared at the mention of the Marook.

“Let the black unicorn replace him, if he is still alive.” Kairu answered. “Follow me.”