• Prologue
    The moon shone its eerie white glow over the city, casting shadows from the walls and houses. Nothing stirred on this still night, except for one. Outside the city, where the gate was shut and the walls to high for an average person to climb, a shadow moved. It crept out from the forest, dashing quickly to the wall. The guards above knew nothing of it’s presence as it vaulted from the ground, kicking off the wall and landing softly on the other side without a sound. It moved through the shadow of the houses, where it could not be seen. It stopped at a large house, a mansion, where it threw back its hood to reveal a man. The man looked gruff and dirty, his brown hair falling in a mop around his head. He moved silently, like a cat on the prowl, towards the back of the mansion. The man took a grappling hook and rope from his backpack and threw it up to the top of the building. He pulled the rope, so the hook grabbed onto something at the top, and started to climb. He was very agile for someone who looked so old, and he made it to the top extremely quickly, all the while being silent. The top of the mansion was like any other building, solid, not very pretty, but it had a skylight in the middle which the man now moved to. He took out a peculiar looking tool and knelt beside the glass skylight. The tool was crude but effective; it had a small, sharp blade on one end and a sticky substance on the other, it moved in a circle about the size of a man and cut out the glass with only the smallest trace out sound. The man smiled to himself over his handiwork, and put the glass to one side, he was about to jump in when a noise from behind him made him whirl around. It was a boy, no older than seventeen, leaning against the tall, rimmed edge of the roof. He was wearing a black cloak with tight black leather armor; his hood was back revealing wavy blond hair and stark blue eyes that seemed to be peering into the man’s soul. The boy was tossing a kunai knife in his hand almost nonchalantly, and kept tossing the knife as he spoke.

    “I don’t believe that breaking into a wealthy man’s house when he’s expecting it is a good idea.” He said calmly, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

    “Well then, is this all the ambassador can afford with all that wealth, a boy who doesn’t look like he can lift a sword, no less fight with one?” The man laughed and drew his sword which had been hidden behind his cloak. The boy only kept tossing the knife as the man drew nearer to him with a wicked smile.

    “You think me not capable of combat do you?” The boy smirked, catching the kunai, tilting his head down and shaking it. He spun the kunai in his hand so that he held it by the hilt.

    “Then why don’t you come find out?” He smirked as he looked up. The man was almost upon the boy, his dark eyes drawn across the length of his sword as it thrust forward. The man had a malevolent smile on his face; the boy was still smirking as the sword thrust through his heart. The man held his sword there to prolong the boy’s agony, what a fool of the ambassador to send a child to fight for him, this boy’s blood was on his hands. The man looked into the face of the boy, something was wrong; the boy was still smiling that annoying arrogant smile. The man drew his sword away, and the boy’s body faded away like a wisp of smoke.

    “That’s an impressive sword thrust you got there.” The boy said mockingly. The man whirled around and saw that the boy was sitting on the opposite side of the roof, staring at him with his intense blue eyes. The man went white; only one warrior could disappear like that, a Rogue.

    This boy belonged to an elite group of warrior-thieves, renowned for their stealth, agility and combat expertise. The Rogues were usually hired as mercenaries or assassins and where also fabled to have strange powers allowing them to appear and reappear at will, but those where just legends, this was real. The man realized he had made a grave error in judgment; if this boy was indeed a Rogue, then he could kill him without trying if he was good enough. The man noticed he had dropped his sword in his realizations and quickly retrieved it from where it lay beside him. The boy hadn’t moved since he spoke, he just stared at him with his blue eyes. The man took a tentative step forward as if scared to disturb the protective silence. The boy’s eyes followed him as he moved along the rim of the roof and as he moved to the skylight. He knew he couldn’t turn back now; he’d be killed for failure, so he hefted his sword and pointed it towards the boy.

    “I think it’s time I found out how good a Rogue really is!” He said mockingly, but he could not hide his fear from the boy. The man rushed forward, but stopped abruptly when the boy disappeared. This was what he was afraid of, legends becoming real. He looked around like a man trying to find a ghost. He was about to move when the boy came out of nowhere to his right flank, the man blocked a knife thrust with his sword and leapt back, the boy crouched low like some kind of predatory cat ready to pounce, and lunged towards him. The man blocked, but the boy rolled instead of attacking. The man was to slow, the boy thrust upwards with the butt of the knife, knocking the man upwards with such force that he flew into the air. Before the man knew what had happened, a heel to the chest sent him plummeting towards the gray stone of the roof. He landed on his back with a nauseating thud, which sent his head reeling, he could barely breath. He tried to stand but the attempt made his head and his lungs cry out in an unrelenting agony. The boy however landed nimbly on the ground as if he were weightless. He sauntered over to the grounded man and looked over him with a smirk.

    “So what was that you were saying about wanting to see what I was made of?” He asked sarcastically as he smiling at the man. At that moment the man wanted to grab the boy by the throat and wring his scrawny little neck, but his body bluntly protested the action.

    “Don’t try and get up, your backs broken.” The boy stated matter-of-factly. “I could kill you, but what fun would that be, killing an innocent thief like you. It wouldn’t be right.” The boy smiled “No I think I’ll let you live so I can kill you another day, but for now rest well, and hope you can escape the city militia with that broken back of yours!” The boy sheathed his kunai knife in a pouch on his thigh, and turned away, disappearing in a wisp of smoke, as the sound of leather boots came from the stairway leading to the roof…..


    Chapter 1
    A Chance at Freedom

    Hawk Rayan stood on the outer edge of the circle while his opponent, a large gruff looking man with a scruffy beard, stood opposite him. Hawk pulled on his gloves, forcing his fingers to the end; he smirked at his opponent with a mocking smile. The man opened and closed his hands in anticipation for the battle to come. The two of them where standing in an outdoor arena, on a clear spring day, in a circle thirty feet in diameter, with an armored official in the center. This was the graduation test for all fourth year warriors at the Academy of Warfare, a school dedicated to the art of war and the skills needed to survive in one. Hawk was a fourth year rogue, one of the two who survived this far, he was also a fourth year ranger, but he had taken his graduation test for that class a month ago. This was his final test, this fight meant freedom or captivity for him. Hawk had spent four miserable years training to live in a world of conflict, and now his suffering would end if he could beat Master Bregan. Master Bregan was the head of the melee combat division of the academy. He had spent his entire life studying the art of combat, from battle axes to lances. He had been picked to fight Hawk, though normally he would have fought an A level Rogue, the highest Rogue level, but there were none in existence, besides those who had been exiled after the Dark Betrayal. His opponent would be a far more fearsome one than he had originally thought, but if it meant freedom he would have fought a thousand Bregans.

    The test official raised his hand for silence. The crowd that had gathered to watch the match fell deathly silent, as all eyes turned to Hawk who stood calmly by the outside of the circle.

    “Now the rules are simple.” The official proclaimed more to the crowd than the participants. “You cannot leave the circle and the first to land a killing blow wins.” The crowd cheered at the word killing. Of course that didn’t mean actual death, their weapons had been dulled by magic and couldn’t hurt them, but they did leave horrible bruises. The official backed out of the circle and lifted his hand again, he waited a few moments then dropped it and the match began.

    Nothing moved, the crowd didn’t even cheer; Hawk and Master Bregan just stared at each other, analyzing the one another, trying to find a weakness.

    In one fluid movement, barely visible to any normal human, Hawk drew his sword, a rapier, and dashed towards Bregan. The master barely had time to block as Hawk seemed to appear in front of him out of thin air. He blocked, but Hawk jumped over his counter attack landing behind him and thrusting his sword backwards. Bregan leapt out of the way just as the sword would have pierced the folds in his banded armor. Hawk back flipped as Bregan slashed at him from behind with his long sword. Hawk had the advantage, the rules of the test required that both of them wear the armor they had used the most all year. Bregan used banded armor, almost like plate, while Hawk used light weight leather armor, giving him more speed and dexterity than his opponent. Hawk spun around after his back flip and almost caught Bregan with a low sword thrust, but the master was no idiot, he hadn’t put his full effort into his swing so he was able to bring the sword back in time to block. Hawk jumped backwards to avoid another sweeping slash, he wasn’t tired yet, but he was distracted, his timing was off, and his swordsman ship was definitely less than perfect.

    “Focus you moron, or you’re going to end up here for another year!” he yelled in his mind. He brought his sword up and closed his eyes; he could feel the ground beneath his feet, the sword in his hand, the quickly approaching presence of his opponent, and the beat of his heart. Hawks eyes snapped open as Bregan lunged at him, Hawk parried, and side stepped more quickly than Bregan had anticipated, for Hawk ended up behind him and drove his sword home.

    Bregan blocked the attack, Hawk was astounded, never in his life had he see someone move that quickly when they had the wrong momentum.

    “He should have eaten dust!” Hawk thought to himself, still in shock. Bregan smiled evilly at him.

    “Is that all you have boy, some quick feet, and good vert. It will take much more than that!”

    “How did you move so quickly in the opposite direction? You practically flew forward!” Hawk was frustrated now, this man had obviously used magic, but Hawk had never heard of a spell to make you turn around quickly. Then he felt it, he felt an aura emanating from Master Bregan. He looked around the crowd of people gathered around the circle, and sure enough he sensed the wizard in the crowd, he had just cast something for he had a faint aura around him. Hawk whirled around in time once again to block Bregans attack, this time though he kept on coming, attack after attack. Hawk finally ended the onslaught by counterattacking after he side stepped a short thrust. That wizard was making this battle much more difficult; was it part of the test? No this was a test of combat not magic, they would never ask someone skilled in only minor magic to have a wizards duel, there had to be something else happening here. Then it donned on him, a lesson from his history classes. How the Rogues where banished after the Dark Betrayal because they where too skilled in treacherous deeds like assassinations and theft. The only Rogues who where left where the E and D rank. Hawk was going to graduate an A rank, they weren’t going to let him, they where trying to stop him from graduating!

    “Well I guess the time for playing it safe is over.” Hawk thought to himself as he brought up his sword once again. He had retreated to the edge of the circle to escape any attacks from Bregan. The master was tired, he had put everything into his last attack, and Hawk could see the tell tale signs of fatigue. This was his chance, Hawk crouched low for a few moments than sprung forward, like a cat pouncing on its prey. Bregan, though tired, still brought his sword up to block, but Hawk dashed by him slashing at his sword arm as he passed by. Bregan howled in pain as he clutched his now useless hand. Hawk slammed his foot forward and pivoted stopping and dashing back the way he’d come, in order to finish the job, but just as he was about to attack an invisible wall came between him and his freedom. Hawk's sword ricocheted off the barrier, while he just slammed into it. He felt like he’d just hit a brick wall. Bregan smirked and looked at the wizard Hawk had seen earlier.

    As Hawk regained his composure after his run in with the barrier, he noticed that Bregan was holding his sword with his injured hand. “Damit, that wizard must have healed him! This is definitely not good!” Hawk cursed to himself. Suddenly Bregan rushed through the area where the barrier had been, and with a quick slash, cut right through the leather armor around Hawks shoulder. He gasped in pain; he hadn’t been expecting that at all. With the pain came a horrible realization, one that had been haunting the back of his mind.

    “They’re trying to kill me!” Hawk thought in horror. His shoulder screamed at him as tried to lift his sword, but it was no use, his arm was no good, he’d have to fight left handed. He flicked his sword into his left hand and readied himself. This battle was for real now.

    As soon as the crowd saw Hawk’s bloodied shoulder, cries of foul play and treason broke out amongst the shouts of acclamation and kill the Rogue. The other masters in the crowd and the Official seemed unperturbed by the blood or the shouts; they just watched Hawk with emotionless eyes.

    Bregan came at him again with bloodlust in his eyes. Hawk evaded, taking care not to move his wounded arm too much. Hawk was just as good left handed as right, but it wasn’t the skill that worried Hawk, it was the time. As the minutes wore on, he could feel the sword’s weight more and more, it sucked the life from his arm like a leech, in a few hours his arm would be a wet noodle. Bregan was becoming frustrated, he kept swinging like a madman when ever Hawk came close, and he rushed him every time Hawk backed off. His swings where inaccurate, but they were enough to keep an injured Hawk at bay.

    After an hour of seemingly endless fighting Hawk’s arm was in fact, a wet noodle. His sword hung by his side like it was in a sheath and only moved to block an incoming blow. Bregan noticed this and made to end his bloody deed in that moment. Bregan’s sword came down hard, and Hawk’s sword was smashed into nothing more than shards, scattered around him like blood. Bregan smiled mockingly at the now grounded Hawk.

    “This is the end of you’re kind!” He whispered as he brought his sword up for the killing blow. Hawk just knelt there, motionless, unable to move anymore. He knew what Bregan said was true; he was the last true blooded Rogue that would ever take a breath in this building. They would kill all who were born with the gift, and destroy the remnant that was left.

    All was silent, Hawk could see Bregan’s sword falling, slowly, as if time were slowed down. He could see the glare of the sun off the blade, the blood hungry eyes of his killer and something else, a faint shimmer in front of him, heat maybe?

    Bregan’s sword fell hard and fast as Hawk stared at it. But as the sword was about to take its life it ricocheted off something in front of its target. A barrier had appeared between Hawk and death. Gasps of amazement rippled through the crowd, the masters turned they’re heads in every direction, searching for the barriers origin. Hawk felt a warm tingle cascade over his shoulder, and travel over his entire body till he felt as strong as before. His shoulder was back to normal, and not even a tear was left in his armor. Hawk too looked around for his savior and as he passed over the balcony, over looking the spot where he would have died, he saw him. Hawk’s smile broadened as he recognized his friend’s exotic face. The man who saved him was Hennet Dregar, a sorcerer he had roomed with for the last year. Hennet inclined his head towards him just as the other spell casters in the room found his magic aura. Hennet nodded to him once more and disappeared out of Hawk’s sight. Hawk laughed, Hennet was always there to save his butt.

    Hawk finished his mussing quickly knowing that the barrier would only last so long. His sword had been destroyed, what was he going to use for a weapon? Hawk could see the barrier starting to fade, he had to think of something and fast. He searched the room for some kind of destructive implement, but came up empty. He could fight Bregan hand-to-hand, but Bregan definitely had the weight advantage and the fist size advantage too. Hawk felt a tingling behind him, he whirled around, kunai drawn up to block a sword, but it was Hennet, he was smiling at him.

    “Sorry, I forgot to give you this before I made my exit.” Hennet said apologetically as he produced a sword from the folds of his cloak. Hawk hadn’t really got a look at Hennet from the ring, but now he noticed he was wearing a Master’s cloak and uniform.

    “So that’s how you helped me without being detected right away. They thought you were one of their own!” Hawk said admiringly, Hennet may not be the strongest warrior here, but he was definitely one of the most cunning.

    Hennet smiled widely “Yeah I figured, with Rogue history and all, that they wouldn’t let you live very long.” He handed the sword to Hawk before he could respond.

    “I made this for you a while ago, because of its magical properties you couldn’t use it in the test, but I guess we’ve kind of screwed the rules, so here you go!” The sword was a rapier, just the right weight and length that Hawk preferred; it seemed his friend knew him well. The first thing He noticed about the sword was that the blade switched between black and silver when he moved it.

    “So what did you do to this thing?” He laughed waving the blade in front of his face. Hennet laughed, grasping the waving blade.

    “I’ll explain that all later, it looks like you’re about to have company.” He nodded towards the barrier, it was starting to dissolve, and parts of it were already wisps of mist. “All you have to know is that when you feint your opponent, the blade will look like it is where it isn’t.” With that final word Hennet disappeared into a swirling black hole that had appeared behind him.

    Hawk looked at the sword again; it had a sweep hilt that had a blue leather grip with a gold pommel. The cross guard was also gold and looked like fire spreading outwards from the hilt. He admired the beauty and elegance of his new weapon for a few seconds, and then turned to face his enemy.

    Bregan had gotten up just as he turned around, the impact must have knocked him out for awhile, the wizards must have brought him out of it. Hawk’s fist clenched as he thought of the betrayal that had happened to him in this short time. The masters had been so encouraging towards his abilities, and had trained him themselves, why now did they turn on him? He pushed the possibilities that sprang into his mind away and focused on his target.
    Bregan seemed a little shaken, but so would anyone after running head long into a barrier spell. Any cuts that had been on him where healed and he looked more alive than he had at the beginning of all this madness.

    “Magic is going to be the death of me!” Hawk thought to himself as he belted on the sheath that Hennet had passed to him along with the sword.

    “Now since I have some time before I find out if I die today, what should I call you?” He asked the inanimate blade in front of him. The blade turned black as he turned it in his hand. Then the perfect name came to him.

    “I’ll call you Shadow Edge!” Hawk said triumphantly as he looked over towards the now faded barrier. Bregan was looking at the remaining masters seated in the stands, with a nod from one of them Bregan smiled and turned towards Hawk, his eyes where a mocking glare as he started towards him.

    Hawk lowered Shadow Edge to his side as they started circling each other, analyzing each other again; it was a whole new battle now. Bregan moved first, with a great roar he charged towards Hawk. Hawk knew that Bregan’s physical abilities had been enhanced by magic; this had to be a feint in order to get him to move into a bad defensive position.

    “I guess the best defense is a good offence!” He laughed to himself as he rushed forward. Bregan hadn’t been expecting that and tried to swing but it was too late Hawk was already past his defenses. Hawk ripped Shadow edge through Bregan’s metal shoulder pad as he dashed past him. He quickly turned around waiting for some new kind of devilry, but nothing happened. Bregan lay crumpled in a heap holding his ruined shoulder and wailing in pain. He looked at his sword, not a scratch was on the blade. Hawk laughed out loud, Hennet hadn’t mentioned the sword could cut through metal armor that easily, he had barely put any force into the blow that had crippled Bregan’s sword arm. What worried Hawk though, as he admired his sword, was that the Masters weren’t doing anything to help Bregan; they hadn’t even stopped him from wounding him. He turned around to look at the crowd, the first thing he noticed were the mages. The mages where standing in a circle chanting something, even with Hawk’s Rogue enhanced hearing he couldn’t make out what they were saying. He was no mage, but he had fought enough of them to know that when mages chant, something big is coming.
    “What could they be doing?” Hawk thought, and even as he did, he felt the ripple of magic through the arena, a tingling on the back of his neck.

    “What now?” Hawk groaned as an earsplitting crack filled the room. He looked up; dark clouds had formed a circle around the arena and lightning ominously flashed within them.

    “That can’t be good!” Hawk said sarcastically, he really didn’t care what happened anymore, his world had been turned upside down in a couple of hours, anything more than that just added onto the surreal feeling he had.

    Another ear crippling crack roared through the arena, Hawk had to cover his ears to keep from going deaf. He looked over to the mages again; they had stopped their chant and had turned to him. One of them raised his hand up like he was starting a race. Hawk barely had enough time to move as the mage brought his hand down and a bolt of purple lightening struck the place Hawk had been.

    “That was too close!” Hawk said to himself as he dodged another bolt from the dark skies; he wasn’t going to last much longer if he stayed out in the open, he had to find cover, but there wasn’t anything in the arena to protect him from lightening. “I guess I’m going to have to do this the hard way.” He grumbled. He had to take out the mage who was casting the spell, if he could the lightening would no longer be under his control. Hawk made a dash for the under side of the balcony, one of the only places the lightening couldn’t get him, at least from above. A bolt cracked and sizzled behind him as he dove under the balcony’s protection. He got to his feet quickly expecting to dodge a bolt from across the arena, which came and Hawk dropped to the ground as is sizzled over him. He had barely dodged that one and the blond hair on his head was black at the tips.

    “Definitely felt that one!” Hawk said to himself. This time he decided to go with a safer approach, he was close enough to his prey that he could use his well developed powers. So as Hawk ran he disappeared like a wisp of black smoke, and appeared on the balcony above them. The Rogues often used this power, called Shadow Jumping, to infiltrate secure enemy instillations, and forts. It could also be used to disappear in the shadows around the user and appear out of any other visible shadow. This power could only be used at short distances without any energy drain, but at greater distances it would sap the user’s strength depending on the distance, and Hawk needed all his strength to get out of this mess. He looked down at the mages, who looked around the room for their target, and found the one who had been casting the spell. The man had to keep his arm up or lightening would probably splay out everywhere, so Hawk picked him out easily. He had never study any of the higher magics with his time at the academy, so he didn’t even know the man. Hawk leapt from the balcony like a falcon diving for its prey. He killed silently, it was what he was good at and Shadow Edge finished the man without a sound. The clouds above immediately started to dissipate, which alerted the other mages to his presence but when they all turned to their fallen Comrade, Hawk had already vanished…

    Chapter 2
    Time to Fly

    Hawk ran like he never ran before. The halls of the academy all led to a central walk way, which led to the exit. The halls where crowded with people, some students and some Masters. He was moving faster than most of the students eyes could follow, but some, which seemed to be all the ones that wanted him dead, had made a blockade in the middle of the walk way. The walk way was more like the grand hall of a castle, it had pillars at intervals all along the sides and the floor was a magically crafted single piece of pure marble. Hawk stopped opposite the blockade, he could have easily shadow jumped past them, but it would do no good if they would just follow him and if he was going to leave, he would make a lasting mark on the place where his life was incinerated before his eyes.

    He drew shadow edge from its sheath, and pointed it towards his new enemy. The men on the other side smiled wolfishly as they advanced towards with. They had obviously left the match early and had not witness Hawks prowess in combat, for they advanced quickly and recklessly. Hawk sighed, he didn’t want to kill these men, they had lives ahead of them, more training to do, fights to win for the academy and their kingdom, but now they stood in his way! Without a second thought Hawk dashed forward, a blur before the eyes of everyone, and struck down the first man in front of him. The other men had no chance against him and they fell like leaves in a wind storm.

    The fight lasted less than a few minutes and Hawk made a laughing humph as he strode past his fallen adversaries like an ominous cloud, cold and unwavering. But under his hard and almost arrogant mask, he wept. He wept for the lives he had to destroy without any other purpose than to live.

    Walking out of the academy, he was greeted by the warmth of a spring day; the light breeze stirred the grass in the courtyard so that they danced to nature’s melody. The warmth and beauty of the day seemed to lift Hawks feelings of despair and regret just enough for him to smile. He strode off into the courtyard, still remembering that he had enemies behind him somewhere. He had gotten to the main gate, when he felt a magical presence somewhere close by. Hawk whirled around, ready to dodge some kind of ballistic magic projectile, but once again it was Hennet.

    “You really have to stop doing that you know!” Hawk said in mock anger.

    Hennet laughed and handed him the reigns of a horse he had brought with him. “Sorry, I keep forgetting you’re a little edgy today. I got this horse from the stable; I’ve packed you all the things you’ll need to get to the nearest town.” Hawk looked his friend in the eyes, this man had done so much for him already, and still, he was helping him once again.

    “Thank you Hennet, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

    “I guess we’ll find out.” he replied grabbing his friends shoulder. “Fly straight and true my friend!” Hawk nodded, a determined expression etched on his face. He mounted his horse quickly, not wanting to feel the loneliness that crept up inside of him at this parting.

    “You’ll have to come and find me when you’re out, if I’m not dead by then!” Hawk laughed, but the hint of regret still hung around him as he rode away from everything he’d ever known.

    “I will Hawk, I will.” Hennet said as he walked back into the black portal behind him.

    Hawk saw Hennet disappear as he rode down the path leading away from the main gate, his sense of loneliness increasing with every stride of his horse. For the first time Hawk felt the world closing in around him, he had had such high hopes and dreams for his future, and now all that was left was a smoldering pile of ash.

    Coupled with this horrible feeling was fatigue. Hawk started to feel the weariness in his muscles again. Hennet had healed him, which gave him back some strength, but now his body was fed up with all the abuse and was telling him just how fed up it was. Hawk massaged his aching back with one hand while he guided his horse down an especially rough part of the path.

    After what in fact were several hours of riding, Hawk and his transportation came to the section of the path, that had changed into a road three or four hours ago, which led into Du Ramrire, or the Dark Forest. Hawk had learnt about this forest in his studies at the academy. The Dark Forest was where the Rogues of old learnt to use their powers, before the academy existed. It was also where the Rogues made their final stand against the other classes at the end of the Dark Betrayal.

    Now Hawk sat motionless on the threshold of this ancient place in reverence or fear, he didn’t know. With his heart pounding like a blacksmiths hammer Hawk urged his mount forward slowly, even the horse seemed tentative as it stepped forward. Suddenly a surge of cold air came from the forest. It sent shivers through Hawk’s body, even though he was warm. At the same time the horse whinnied loudly and shook its head as if sensing danger.

    “I’ve got a bad feeling about this too.” Hawk said to his horse as he patted its neck to calm it down. He urged the horse forward again, this time plunging into the dark forest.

    As soon as they entered, it became twilight. The trees had grown so large and close together that they blocked out most of the sun and it gave the forest a sinister visage. Shadows crept everywhere as leaves tossed in the light breeze. It felt as if the very warmth of Hawk’s blood had been taken by the cold, dark scenery around him. To the horse this place must have been terrifying, but to Hawk it wasn’t as bad as he had thought. He had been expecting rabid animals and demonic creatures to be coming out of every nook and cranny of this place to greet him. His Rogue senses where more honed than a horses, or a human for that matter. Hawk could have heard a pin drop in the middle of a battle if he was listening for it and probably would have seen it too, and now he heard nothing, not a sound, silence. Never had he been in such a deserted place.

    Not eager to dwell in this place for more time than was needed, Hawk spurred his horse into a quick trot. A crow cawed over head in a near by tree, the first sound he had heard since entering the forest. The sharp break in silence made him jump slightly. He looked to where he heard the crow and found it starring at him. With Hawk’s enhanced vision, he could see the crow’s purple eyes as they starred at him, unblinking. Something was behind those eyes, something malicious, and definitely not crow. The crow cawed loudly as Hawk and his horse passed under the place where it stood watch.

    Hawk shook his head in confusion, “That crow was not normal!” He thought to himself as he turned in his saddle to see the crow, still watching him. A cold shiver ran through his body, something was wrong.

    For the rest of that day Hawk was on edge, his hand never left his sword hilt. The crow had been following them. It seemed to stop every time Hawk did, or every time he turned around to find it, then obviously continued to follow because it was still there.

    “Maybe it’s a different bird.” Hawk said aloud trying to distract himself from the bird’s presence. He knew this wasn’t true, he had heard its wings flapping as it followed them.

    Hawk made camp at dusk, or what he judged was dusk by the every fading holes in the blanket of dark green that covered the sky. He fed and watered the horse, then went about making himself a much needed meal. He grabbed the bow Hennet had packed him, Hawk had never even looked at it since he left, but now he saw that it was an impressively made composite bow. Hawk laughed to himself as he thought about what his friend may have done to this weapon as he slung the quiver and the bow over his shoulder and tied the horse. He was going to try his luck at hunting tonight. If the creatures wouldn’t come to him, he’d have to go to them.

    Even now the silence was deafening, nothing even rustled. Hawk walked for at least half an hour into the forest, thinking that the animal would stay away from the road, if there were any. The forest floor was damp, probably from a recent rain, for the overwhelming smell of earth and leaves wafted from it.

    His hair stood on end as he heard flapping from behind him. He stopped. The flapping stopped. Hawk whirled around swiftly intending to scare the crow off, but when he turned around he saw a woman in front of him. Hawk stood still, stunned by surprise more than fear. The woman was incredibly beautiful, the essence of everything a man wanted. Long ago he had given up on love, finding that it only caused pain, and he had never had any desire for it afterwards, but now, with this woman in front of him, those feelings of need filled him to his breaking point. He couldn’t help but examine her. Her straight black hair fell slightly past her shoulders, and her rich, dark purple dress was extremely revealing. Her hands where elegant, and her legs slender, but what caught Hawk most off guard were her eyes. They were the same purple eyes that had starred at him before, but now instead of maliciousness, it was lust behind those eyes.

    “Hello boy.” The woman said. Hawk woke from his strange trance as he realized she had spoken to him. “What are you doing here?”

    “I...I’m traveling south.” Hawk replied stumbling over his words. The woman smiled, and a cold shiver ran down Hawk’s spine, but this time it felt good, not wrong.

    “And you picked this forest of all the places to pass through?” She asked laughing. Hawk blushed at her laughter. “You are a silly boy, what’s your name?”

    “My name?” Hawk asked confused, “Oh, my name...my name is Hawk!” He said shaking himself, what was wrong with him; he never stumbled over himself like this.

    She advanced towards him quietly and gracefully. “You shouldn’t stay out here in the open, it isn’t safe!” She said concerned. She was in reaching distance now, close enough for Hawk to smell the strange fragrance that wafted towards him. It was intoxicating, and it made his head spin.

    “Come stay with me, I don’t live far from here; it will be warm and dry and you could sleep well tonight.” She offered in a wanting voice. Hawk tried to focus, but he felt so light headed he thought he would fall over if he tried any harder. He felt a hand on his arm. He shook off the fuzziness and saw that the woman was practically in his arm. Hawk jumped back in shock, what was wrong with him, he had never had this kind of problem before. The woman smiled at him with soft pink lips and started to walk towards him again.

    “Something’s not right here!” Hawk screamed to himself; something about this woman was wrong, but his mind couldn’t seem to think straight, it kept running off on extremely inappropriate paths. The woman was closing the gap between them and something was pulling Hawk towards her, he tried to stop his feet from moving but they kept going. With frantic thoughts He tried to force his body into submission, but the opposing mind, or whatever it was, was far stronger than he was. Now at last the woman had him, and this time Hawk didn’t think she was going to let go that easily. A soft hand traced a path along his arm, then around his shoulders, till she was nose to nose with her prey. The part of Hawk’s mind that wasn’t fuzzy screamed at him to get away, but he couldn’t move.

    “So, how about it boy, will you stay with me?” She asked innocently, as if she wasn’t aware of what she was doing to this total stranger.

    “I don’t think…” Hawk tried to reply, but the woman cut him off by planting a long kiss on his lips. Hawk’s mind melted, as well as his body. He couldn’t think, or even move; all he could do was stand there and feel the heat of her lips, and the warmth of her body against his.

    When she finally let him go, Hawk slumped to the forest floor. He felt so weak, his arms and legs felt like they had lead weights strapped to them. The woman bent down and looked at him with her lustful purple eyes. Hawk was too weak to get up, but he looked at her, and his vision seemed to clear. Maybe because he was extremely exhausted or he had come out of the trance that he had been in, but either way Hawk saw the aura of magic around her, thick like morning fog. The fact that she was able to hide it so well amazed him. Rogues were very sensitive to magic, and he should have picked it out sooner, but something had happened to him, someting that he was still trying to figure out. The woman moved closer to him and knelt down at his side. She was about to start the whole process over again when a loud howl came from deep within the forest. Another joined and then several, what Hawk thought had to be wolves, where calling out to each other. Hawk knew that it was a call to the other members of the pack from his ranger training, but what surprised him was the fact that the woman seemed to be listening intently, like she could understand it. Her gaze returned to him, and she smiled

    “As much as I would love to stay with you, I have business to attend to.” She caressed the side of his face, and then let out her breath in his face. As he breathedm a strange lightheaded feeling came over him again, then subsided.

    “Don’t miss me too much.” She said, as she kissed him again then sauntered into the thickening forest. After she entered Hawk heard the flapping of wings fading away into the forest. He felt his strength returning quickly, and in a matter of seconds, was able to stand.

    “Now what the heck was that?” Hawk said to himself as he retrieved his bow from where he had dropped it. Now that his mind was actually clear again he tried to put the puzzle together. Hawk scoured his memory for information that would help him, he had seen a lot of strange things in his short lifetime but nothing had compared to what he had just encountered.

    There was something definitely wrong with this place and he wasn’t going to stick around to find out what it was, so he started to make his way back to his camp. With his wits about him, he started with the basic question of what that woman had been. It was obvious that she was some sort of shape shifter because he had heard the flapping wings when she had arrived and when she left, and it was also apparent that she used magic to some extent because her body had been surrounded by it. That last part he couldn’t make sense of, natural shape shifters didn’t use magic to change their form, it was a natural power, like a defense mechanism, and the way she had so easily subdued him was extremely troubling.
    ***********

    And that thought still troubled him as he packed up his camp. If that had been a fight he would have been dead before he had even drawn his sword. Hawk was no magician, so there was no way for him to even try to counter magic, he could only avoid it, and the magic that she had used was extremely difficult resist, much less avoid. His fists clenched and his teeth ground with anger at how powerless he had been.

    After a few minutes of packing, Hawk saddled his horse and started down the old road again. The wolves still howled in the deeper parts of the forest, and it kept him on edge for most of the night, till finally he fell asleep in the saddle.
    Hawk’s dreams were a confusing jumble of event’s past, and present, which they usually were, but this time something was different. The woman from the forest was there calling to him, not all the time but in flashes. She taunted him most of the night.

    Chapter 3

    The sun had already begun rising when Hawk woke up. He yawned and stretched in the saddle, it was almost noon. The horse had gone straight down the road thanks to a little rope. Hawk had tied himself to the saddle after falling off during the night, and had tied the reigns so that the horse wouldn’t stray off course. The old road was as straight as an arrow, a product of the era it had been constructed in. A person back then liked things easy and practical and straight is definitely both. Hawk began to untie himself and eat as he did. Hennet had packed some bread and cheese in one of the saddle bags, and Hawk’s ravenous hunger after not eating the day before, and his enhanced sense of smell had got to it easily enough. He actually didn’t even know where he was going. He had figured if he followed the road it would eventually lead to civilization, but that could take days or even weeks and he definitely didn’t have the supplies for weeks on the road. His ranger training would help, but he could only last so long.

    Now that his hunger was sated and his limbs where free, Hawk decided to give the horse a break, it had been riding all night and it was probably starving and sleep depraved. He brought his horse to a halt and dismounted, grabbing the bag of feed as he did.

    “Hey, buddy you must be hungry!” Hawk took a hand full of feed from the bag and let the horse eat it. He patted its strong neck as it continued to eat from his hand. “There you go, that should be good for awhile.” Hawk said as the horse pull away from his open hand, and started to graze on the lush grass that seemed to carpet the world around them. He put the bag back in a saddlebag. As the horse roamed around, Hawk spotted a plateau not very far away that seemed to overlook the rest of the massive expanse before them. He left the horse to its food and ran towards the rocky crag. From here the rest of the world was cut off by the sky because of the hill they where on, but as soon as Hawk stepped to the top of the plateau the world opened. A massive valley stretched for miles towards the horizon, surrounded by trees on either side. It was beautifully pristine, and Hawk had to open and close his eyes to make sure it was real. With his enhanced vision, he was able to make out the small settlement in the distance, a tiny black smudge amongst the green landscape. A river also seemed to crisscross the valley. It probably started somewhere beyond the valley then filtered down through it to a lake. A river though meant fish, and fish meant food. Hawk whistled to his horse, and a few moments later it came trotting up to him. He mounted quickly and spurred his steed down into the valley.

    They raced down the incline, cool air rushing past Hawk’s face as they sped towards the green expanse, he had never been so happy to see water before in his life. The horse seemed just, or more eager to reach the crystal waters as he was.

    When they finally got to the stretch of the river, Hawk vaulted off his horse and landed in the cold water. It seemed to wash away the fatigue and pain from the previous days. He guessed the horse needed it too because it followed him in splashing around like a child.

    “Ok ok, that’s enough; I don’t want to ride a wet horse you know!” Hawk laughed. After taking a good long drink, and lying on the warm grass to dry off, they started following the river down towards the settlement Hawk had seen earlier.

    When night finally fell, both horse and rider were ready to eat. Hawk fed the horse and it watered itself, then he sat by the river and attempted to catch his supper. Fish swam lazily in the clear blue water, unaware of there impending death. Hawk’s hand flashed into the water and came out holding a large green scaled fish.

    The valley was quiet, as Hawk finished his meal and prepared to sleep. He lay down and closed his eyes, but and imaged flashed in his mind of the strange woman. His eyes shot open and he sat up. The dreams from the night before came flooding back. Why was she in his head? He tried to push the images away but they persisted. Hawk went to the river and splashed his face with the now ice cold water, he stared at his reflection. His blond hair was tangled horribly, and his eyes where bloodshot. He looked like someone who hadn’t slept in days, and now he felt like it too. His strength had seemed to fade away all day, but he had dismissed it as fatigue from his previous injuries, but now it seemed that something was sapping it, but what?

    Hawk closed his eyes and reached out with his senses in every direction, trying to find something that was attacking him. He felt the animals around him, and the plants that surrounded everything, but nothing out of the ordinary. His magical sense felt a small amount but he dismissed it as his own energy, he focused ever farther away from himself, but found nothing.
    He opened his eyes and stared down into the water again. An image of the woman flashed in front of him, and he shook his head trying get rid of the attack, and it seemed to leave, at least for awhile. Hawk fell backwards, he felt so weakened, what was wrong with him, and what had that woman done to him?
    *****

    The next day proved to be the same as the last. They traveled farther down the river, and Hawk became increasingly weary as the day progressed. This happened for several days until Hawk finally wasn’t able to stand. He slumped down off his horse and lay on the ground, trying to regain even a bit of strength. He felt like he was burning up with fever, and he was cold all over. His eyes hurt, along with his muscles and bones, and every day the dreams became more and more reluctant to leave. He tried to push himself up onto his knees, but he couldn’t even do that.

    Just when he was about to give into the darkness that seemed to envelope him, he heard the sound of horses, and people approaching from in front of him. He looked up, in the distance he could see a cart drawn by two horses, with what appeared to be two people sitting on the driving seat. Hawk tried to call out to them, but all that came out was a whisper. He was too weak.

    The sound of salvation came ever closer to Hawk as he prayed to every god he had every heard of that they would find him. Finally the sound of the cart seemed to speed up and people called to him, they sounded far away. His horse whinnied loudly trying to accelerate there approach. Hawk saw a person get off the cart and run to where he was lying. A woman knelt at his side and lifted him into a sitting position. Hawk’s head slumped forward, not having the strength to lift it anymore. He heard the woman call to her father, and a man’s voice came from close by.

    “He doesn’t look well papa!”

    “No he certainly doesn’t, lay him down again; I’ll have a look at him.”

    “I kind of figured that one out on my own, thank you!” Hawk whispered inaudibly.

    The man rolled up the leather armor protecting Hawk’s arms, his arms where red with spots of grey all over them. The man gasped slightly, before rolling down the armor again.

    “This kid’s got spore sickness; we need to get him back to the village immediately!” The man said as he lifted Hawk up and placed him in the back of the cart. “Sit back there and tend to him.” He said to his daughter, the girl soaked a cloth in the river before covering him with a blanket and placing the cold cloth on his forehead.

    “He’s burning badly papa!” She said dabbing the sweat away from his eyes. Hawk’s body shook and hurt all over, but he was too weak to even cry out in pain. An image of the woman from the forest flashed before his eyes as the darkness finally enveloped him….