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Part 3: Gabryl's Feelings Gabryl watched as Brithan jumped off his horse to study the Raider tracks. They had been following the tracks for six miles. The Raiders had continued going northeast. "Why did we stop?" Gabryl asked Brithan. Brithan looked up from the tracks. "We are almost to the Forest of Deslera. The Raiders just have to get through those to get to their homeland. I'm just making sure we are following the right tracks." Gabryl just nodded. He was amazed at how much Brithan knew. Just over 17 winters and he knew more about the world than half of the older villagers. Gabryl himself was two winters older and didn't know half of what Brithan did. "We are catching up to them." Brithan stated rising from his crouch. "I'd say the bulk of them were here about a glass ago." Again Gabryl just nodded. Even through the blood and dirt, he could see how attractive Brithan was. Gabryl had always known he had liked boys better than girls, but he had always been afraid of letting his father down. He knew his father had expected him to get married, have a family, and take over the herd. He was the oldest son after all. But all Gabryl wanted was to compose music. While he was watching over the herd, Gabryl would mentally compose short songs. Brithan was a big part of his fantasy. Gabryl would love nothing more than to watch Brithan pick up his pipes and play one of his songs. Just listening to Brithan play could send his heart fluttering. "Gabryl? You ok?" Brithan's voice startled Gabryl out of his stupor. "I'm fine... just thinking about everything." Gabryl had never let on to anyone that he had a crush on Brithan, and he wasn't about to change that. Their mission was more important than his feelings. He couldn't assume that Brithan would react well. "Alright, let head out. Hopefully all turns outs well." With that Brithan jumped back onto his horse. With a small sigh, Gabryl got back onto his horse and followed Brithan. He was hoping all right... a lot of things could go wrong. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Part 4: Into the Camp Half a glass later, the two men dismounted. Leading the horses by the reins the men limped towards the Raider's camp. "Halt!" The two men froze at the command from the unseen sentry. "What business do you have here?" "We are your friends!" Brithan gasped, staying in character as a wounded Raider. "We were ambushed by a terrible fiend on our way back to camp." "A fiend?" The unseen sentry jumped down from one of the tree's to the left of the duo. Still wary, he kept the crossbow he held loaded, but held the weapon down at his side. "Yes, a terrible thing it was." Gabryl added. "It was giant, with sharp fangs and even sharper claws." The sentry looked around fearfully. Nothing scared the Raider sentry more than supernatural beings. "How far away was this thing before it attacked you?" Sensing the man's fear, Brithan starting coming up with a plan. "Not to far from here. Our camp was only about 3 glasses away from here. Take us to the Chief so we can report this to him." "Ye...yes, of course." The sentry started to turn away, but as he turned he saw a black shadow dashing between the trees, heading toward the trio. "Fi.. Fi.. FIEND!" The sentry's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed to the road. The two companions turned to look at the road behind them. "I don't see any thing, do you?" Gabryl turned to look at Brithan and was surprised by the expression his companion was wearing. One of complete and utter terror. "Brithan? What's wrong? I don't see any fiend." Brithan looked over at Gabryl. "This is no fiend. We have a Ni Mair stalking us." Gabryl shuddered. "A Ni Mair? Are you certain?" Ni Mairs were constantly mistaken as demon due to the blackness surrounding them. In truth, Ni Mairs were a type of earth elementals. Ni Mairs, while normally harmless had the capability to enter a person's mind and drive the person into a frenzy, often hurting themselves and the people around them. One did not recover after a Ni Mair mind invasion. Dark mages often summoned a Ni Mair to follow potential threats, and if needed to remove them. "We need to get into the camp quickly" Brithan turned and picked up the unconscious sentry. "Lets hurry." The friends moved quickly inside of the camp, Gabryl shouting for a healer and Brithan, still carrying the sentry, constantly looking at the woods behind them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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