The Messenger: A Hailgalad Story

Frits and the others stood, staring at the woodsmen in confusion.

"What do you mean, here?" Frits asked looking around. "There is no one here but your people."

"They came through not long after you left," the woman said in a concerned tone. "A whole regiment of them hiked through, armed for battle. They did not attack us, but they moved through the backwoods. We sent two of our own to track them and found them blocking the Northwoods a ways down south."

"How did we not spot them?" Eva said, shaking her head. "How did no one see these troops moving through our lands?"

"There are deep paths through the forests, ancient paths. For those that have a knowledge of the woods, they could file a large number of people through unseen," one of the woodsmen said. "And the only people that might know them better than us are the northfolk."

"How many are out there?" Frits asked. "Do they have scouts around the road?"

He thought of the ambush and how it happened so suddenly. His mind then wandered to the woods around this village.

They could be anywhere, waiting, watching. Frits thought anxiously.

"Based on our count, they have about two hundred troops," the man responded. "From what we could tell, they were only meant to block the road. There may be scouts in the surrounding areas, but we do not know."

"What do we do now? Is there a garrison or outpost we can go to for help?" Jon asked.

The man shook his head. "There is Frostwatch and a number of outposts closer to the border, but nothing this far south from the watch. The only option is to go back, or to go on and risk some other road."

"We cannot go back. Frostwatch is under siege and we are the only hope to bring aide," Frits said.

He wanted desperately to stay here in this mill until everything had passed. However, in his heart he knew they had to press on. They had to make it to the capital for all their sakes.

"That is if the enemy army is still there. It looked like they were all moving south, back at the hill," Eva said, remembering the countless lights in the forest.

"What?" A woodsman exclaimed. "They are coming this way?"

"We do not know that," Frits said to calm them down. "There did look to be a formidable force headed away from the town, but we cannot be sure of their motive. This day has brought too much unknown to be sure of anything."

"You need to rest," the man said. "All things may be sorted out tomorrow, but we know the journey you have ahead of you. This may be the safest place you will see from here to Hailgrad."

The three looked at each other. Eva broke the silence, "He is right. We were looking for a place to rest up and this could be it. We can stay for at least a few hours."

Before they could respond, the group heard the boom of drums outside. All had been silent until the deep rumble started up in the settlement. The cadence radiated with powerful vibration and shook the hearts of those in the mill. They instinctively dropped down to their knees to hide themselves and their lights from the windows. After the drums had played for a while, they ceased and all was again silent in the night.

Frits, Eva, Jon, and the woodsmen snuffed out the lanterns peered out the many windows of the mill. There were a few hundred northfolk lined up in the space between the mill and homes. They had many torches which danced in the dark night. The large moon shone down on the small settlement when two weerwolven came running in front of the gathered troops. They snapped at each other and bared their teeth.

Frits could not hold back the audible gasp that came from his lips. His eyes grew wide as he studied the beasts from a distance. The creatures were a good deal larger than any wolf and bore blue gems on their chests.

They stopped abruptly and in unison. After a moment, they were enveloped in a heavy, black smoke. When the shroud quickly dissipated, there were two formidable captains that stood where the beasts had been.

One was a large man with a long beard and was dressed in heavy black-haired cloak that was broached with a blue gem. His thick brown hair was braided in one long bundle and his eyes seemed to glow with a faint blue tint. The other who stood to the large man's left was a slender figure. He was dressed in the same manner as the other weerwolven and had a blue glow in his eyes and slicked black hair. Once they had fully transformed, two northfolk brought them weapons. A great axe for the larger man and crude short swords for the slender one.

"Come out Hailgaladrians," the man with the axe shouted in a clunky, Vaeloran dialect. He thrust the butt of his axe into the ground and peered around the settlement.

No one moved and no one made a sound. The tension of the moment hung thickly in the air as Frits' heart quickened with fear. Evidently, he was breathing rather loudly because Eva put her hand on his shoulder.

The young man looked at his companion who gave him a reassuring look and inaudible, Shh.

When it was clear that no response would come, the other shouted.

"We know you are here. We do not come to harm you. We come to free you from your tyrannical crown. Come out, give us what we want and we will leave your community in peace."

The man stood up, but Frits grabbed him.

"No," the royal messenger whispered. "They cannot be trusted. We must stay here."

"And what? Hope they simply move on and leave us alone?" the man protested. "If we do not show ourselves, they will search this place and most likely burn it down. This is our home and these are our people. I will stand before any that come to it."

"Let us go as messengers of the crown," Jon stood and nodded his head defiantly.

The thought of facing the two shapeshifters filled him with fear, but he knew it would be the right thing to do.

"You three must head south to our king and queen," the woodsman said with a shake of his head.

With this, the man pulled away from Frits and started towards the door.

"You will not go alone," the man's wife said as she ran to his side. "We are a team, until whatever end."

"May that end be many years from this day," the man replied with a smile.

She smiled at him in return. They embraced and kissed. The woman turned to the others.

"Get them out the back door as we talk to these creatures. With any luck, the northfolk did not set a perimeter and they can sneak away."

"Thank you," Eva said with a nod.

"It is not just for you. It is clear they are searching for something or someone. If I had a guess, it would be you three," the man said. "There is certainly something larger happening here. The news of their invasion to the capital is more important than any of us could possibly imagine. You must make it to Hailgrad. Anyway, if they are looking for you and find you here our community, we would certainly be doomed."

They started to walk to the main entrance of the mill when Frits called once more, "Wait." They turned to him. "You two have done so much for us in the past day. I do not even know your names and you did not know ours. I am Frits, this is Eva and Jon."

The woman smiled. "We are all people of this world and people of Hailgalad, no name is necessary to show a bit of kindness. I am Ingres."

"And I am Gale," the man said. "It is good to properly meet you."

“Alright, if they will not come out, we will drag them out," the man with the axe shouted and troops started to move towards the buildings.

"No need, no need," Gale shouted with his hands raised as he and Ingres emerged from the mill.

The northfolk were startled by the sudden movement in the night and some notched bows.

The woodsmen couple stopped in their tracks and Gale chuckled nervously, "I assure you, we mean no harm and pose no threat."

"Why did you not come out when we called?" the large man sneered and gripped his axe with two hands.

His frame was enough to shake the courage of most any person. Frits could hear Jon’s breath quiver slightly as they looked at their friends.

"Why did you not come knocking?" Ingres said back as the others looked on from the mill. "It would be proper to come to our door if you wished to speak."

"Where are the others?" the man with the axe countered quickly.

There was a frustration in his voice that made it evident that the group was in a rush.

"They are frightened," Ingres explained. "It is not normal for group of unknown people with weapons to greet us in the middle of the night."

"Should we move yet?" Jon asked impatiently.

"No," Eva replied. "We should wait to see if we can learn anything for the capital to know. That, and we need them to talk more and distract them. The northfolk may suspect something suspicious to happen right as those two came out to speak."

"Who do you think those two are?" Frits asked, peering at the northfolk leaders.

"They appear to be captains of some kind. I wonder if the weerwolven are all leaders in their army, or just these two," Eva said. They continued to stare out the windows. Eva had a confused look on her face. "Look at the northfolk infantry. They seem to be enthralled."

Frits looked at the lines of soldiers. They looked to be empty inside. No emotion, seemingly no thoughts in their minds.

This was odd, or was it? Frits had never met a northfolk person before and his assumption was they were rather slow and undeveloped.

"Is this what they are usually like? I have never seen the northfolk before," Frits inquired as he started at them, standing like statues in the torchlight.

"It is not normal," one of the woodsmen said. "We meet their people from time to time to trade. They are a complex society, with many different tribes and cultures. It is subtle, but do you see their different clothing and armor?"

Frits examine them and saw they were distinctly different. Some were more heavily armored. Others were wearing only padded winter clothing. Each style had a different color as well.

"Yes, what does that mean? I thought they were simply organizing different types of troops," Frits said.

"Their clothing marks a few different tribes in the group," the woodsmen explained. "Why they have banded together for this attack, I cannot know, but it is unusual. Their blind obedience is also strange. Northfolk are an independent people and with that comes a lack of uniformity among different tribes.”

Outside, the conversation continued.

"We are tracking a few riders that came this way. Have you seen them around here on this night?" the man with the axe inquired.

Gale stood, examining the faces of the two northfolk.

"We are simple woodsmen, we do not meddle with other's business. If you need to track someone, I would start with Frostwatch. Everand is a good soul and I bet she would be willing I help you find your lost people."

The northfolk men looked at one another with knowing glances.

"We know they came this way," the slender one spoke. "Tell us where they are and you can go back to your lives."

"Do I have this right? Northfolk roaming the lands of Hailgalad, looking for what I can assume to be Hailgaladrian riders in the middle of the night. On top of this, these northfolk are reluctant to go to Frostwatch, who has the authority around here," Gale explained with his arms crossed. "Seems to me that you both are looking for trouble."

The man with the axe advanced towards the woodsmen couple. His heavy boots made loud thuds as he stepped forward.

"Are you two looking for trouble?"

Ingres raised her hands to calm them down as she said, "This is all just very strange to us. Let us start with this, why are you looking for these riders?"

"They have news that can cannot allow them to have. That is all you need to know," the slender man said.

The way he spoke was a bit more elegant than his companion. It was clear that he was the one who tried to persuade others to comply through his words while his counterpart did it through brute force.

"Like we said, we have not seen them. I would urge you to go to Frostwatch and speak about your business with the leadership there," Ingres said defiantly.

"I do not have time for this," the man with the axe growled. He turned to the other weerwolven and continued, "Our master will not be pleased if you fail."

He shouldered the other leader as he handed his axe back to a northfolk soldier.

"Find them," were his last words as black smoke enveloped him and he transformed into the wolf creature again.

The weerwolven walked up to the woodsmen couple and put his head inches from theirs. He snapped his jaw and growled, but the couple stood their ground. A long moment passed as they stood across from one another. Then, he let out a howl and was off in a flash. A few of the soldiers followed him back to the Northwood.

"Now," the remaining northfolk captain said after an uneasy silence. "While we are here, I am curious about your lives. Why don't you show me your community? We can start with that large building." They started walking towards it. "What is it?"

"It is our mill," Ingress said cautiously. "We are woodsmen. We tend to the forest and make things from the trees for our kingdom."

"Why were you inside of you mill in the middle of the night with all the torches out?" the man inquired. "Rather odd, wouldn't you say?"

"Can we go now?" Jon asked, backing away from the windows.

Frits was still focused on the scene outside as Eva said, "Yes, we should go now."

She grabbed Frits' shoulder and shook him back to reality. "Frits, come on."

They carefully followed a woodsman to the back of the mill where their horses sat patient and quiet. There were a number of tools and machines that they had to creep around to keep silent. When they reached the back, they untied the horses and led them out a sliding, barn door.

"There is a path straight ahead of you that goes south. You should be able to pass the soldiers on the Northwood by this way," the woodsman said. "Areandel be with you."

"And with you all," Frits have a slight bow with his right fist over his heart. "Your kindness will not be forgotten."

The riders did not mount their horses as they walked through the field to the woods. Anxiety gripped Frits as he scanned the area. At any moment, he felt that they would be ambushed by the other weerwolven or northfolk soldiers that waited in the shadows. When they almost made it to the tree line, they heard a commotion and a scream from behind them at the mill, but no other sound.

The three shuddered as they thought of what that sound could have meant, and if all the woodsmen were doomed. Each of them tried to shake off the thought that they sealed the woodsmen's fate by being at their settlement.

Once they reached the tree line, it was clear there were no scouts and they were able to venture south under the cover of darkness.

Eva mounted her horse and called to the others, "Onward to Hailgalad."

The three riders then disappeared into the black forest as small fires sprang up in the settlement behind them.