chapter 3

Chapter 3

Obduran woke next morning with a sharp pain is his neck, he rolled on to his back, opened his eyes just in time to stop a sylvans foot connecting with his face. "what the hell are you doing?" said Obduran pushing the sylvan away. "bracken sent me. To accompany you." It replied picking himself off the ground. "why?" said Obduran sitting up. "protection. I am great warrior. We must go now." It said proudly. "thanks but I…" but it cut Obduran off. "we go now. Horned lions in forest. Many of them." "ok ok, can you keep up?" Obduran said standing up and looking down on the tiny sylvan. "you will carry." It said and ran up Obdurans leg with lightning speed and sat on his shoulder. Obduran could barely feel it there. 'bit of company might be nice for a change' he thought to himself. They headed out of the copse and away from the forest and the lions. The sun was barely up, Obduran would be home by the time the sun was at its highest.

Obduran had to admit, it was quite handy having the little sylvan with him. It was quite adept at catching and eating the little biting flies that Obduran had accepted as an annoying part of life. After miles of silence the little sylvan spoke. "what are you called giant?" Obduran was a little taken aback. "Obduran, and you?" "in forest. Only the lord has name. I am not lord. I have no name." said the sylvan picking a butterfly out of the air and eating it. "well, you're not in the forest now. What should I call you?" the sylvan looked thoughtful. "all sylvan dream of being lord. Some of us. Would talk for hours. About being lord. The name I would choose. Would be." It paused almost as if for dramatic effect. "Fernglo." It finished. "a good name, Fernglo it is. So Fernglo, why were you picked to accompany me?" asked Obduran. "I wasn't. I chose. Forest has nothing for me. When man came. My betrothed. My many younglings. All taken from me. When I heard. You was taking. The kings heart. I wanted to help." Obduran didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry Fernglo." "now I leave forest. Painful memories." They continued their journey in silence.

"what happened when bracken touched me?" asked Obduran. It had been playing on his mind for a while now. "the sylvan. Can see inside you. Can see if. Coward or strong. You are strong of heart. Not coward." Replied Fernglo. "can you do other magic?" "not magic. Insight. Man call it psychic. You can never lie. To a sylvan. We always know." Said Fernglo with a slight air of superiority. "good to know." Said Obduran with a hint of sarcasm. "you. Do not believe. You will see." Said Fernglo. Almost menacingly.

Obduran was taking the most direct route home, there were no paths, just open plains with a trees spread sporadically. Whenever they did pass a tree, Fernglo would leap off his shoulder, always leaving little scratches behind, and with amazing speed would scale the tree to see what lay ahead. "LION!" screamed Fernglo. Obduran drew his sword and turned slowly on the spot, although horned lions can grow to a monstrous size the were difficult to spot in the long grass of the scrubland. "THERE, THERE." Fernglo kept shouting but he was too small and too high up for Obduran to see where he was pointing. "how many?" Obduran shouted, eyes still scanning around. "ONE" Fernglo shouted back. 'just one little sign' Obduran thought to himself. Just one sign to give away its position.

Fernglo was up in the tree screaming incoherently. Obduran was trying to concentrate on spotting the lion. Suddenly it lunged, Obduran swung his sword but the lion was quicker, flicking into the air with it's horns as if he were nothing, he landed painfully, sword ten feet away and the lion bearing down on him. Obduran scrabbled to his feet and drew his dagger, the lion was stalking him, drooling with hunger. The lion reared up, Obduran thought it was about to lunge but a howl of pain came from it. It fell forward onto its paws, Obduran saw Fernglo on its back, clinging to a spear he had plunged into the nape of its neck. Obduran sprinted forward and drove his dagger into the throat of the lion again and again. Blood was spurting everywhere, completely covering him whilst Fernglo was still on its back, stabbing away with his spear screaming as though he was possessed. Finally the slumped to the ground, defeated.

"protection." Said Fernglo proudly. He pulled out his spear and hopped down to the ground. "thanks." Said Obduran resting on his haunches. "I told you. Mighty warrior." "yes you did. You did great Fernglo." Said Obduran standing up. He was drenched in lion blood. "there is stream. Over there. Saw from tree." Said Fernglo pointing in the direction of a small stream. "I wait here." "ok, thank you, you were great." Said Obduran picking up his sword and heading to the stream. He lay in the water for a few minutes staring at the sky, he was almost home. What would he say when he got back? Would they expect him to be dead? From the stories he had heard as a child he had been gone far longer than his father and his father before him.

"come. Come." Obduran heard Fernglo calling. He washed the last of the blood from face, got up and walked from the stream. In the heat of the sun it would not take long for him to dry. Obduran trapsed through the brush and found Fernglo had made a small fire and was cooking lumps of meat with a spit. Two large lumps and two tiny lumps. "not often. We eat meat. In the forest. Sylvan usually. Watch and hide. Only fight. When under attack." Said Fernglo taking a small lump and devouring it. Obduran sat next to the little sylvan and had a little giggle to himself. 'what odd fellows they must look. A seven-foot, muscular warrior, and a tiny stick figure, barely eight inches tall, sat next to a fire eating meat, the body of a horned lion just feet away'. Obduran and Fernglo sat and ate in silence for a while. "we better get moving. That's going to start attracting bigger things." Said Obduran nodding towards the lion. "soon I'll be home and you my friend, can have your fill of whatever takes your pleasure." He picked up his things and for the first time, offered Fernglo his hand to help him onto his shoulder, rather than having him scramble up his body.

Obduran was already going to present his father with his necklace of teeth, but what about his mother? His tribe didn't set much store in growing flowers, they used all their land for growing crop or feed for the cattle. He spoke with Fernglo about it and he just jumped off his shoulder and shot straight up the tallest nearby tree. He returned with the most beautiful purple blossoms. Fernglo sat on Obdurans shoulder fashioning them into a magnificent headdress. He kept putting it on Obdurans head to check for size, no matter how many times he told him that his head was much bigger than his mothers. "giant is giant." Was all that Fernglo would say. Fifteen years Obduran had travelled alone, even though Fernglo didn't say much, he was actually glad of the company.

"just over that hill and I'm home." Obduran said to Fernglo. Fernglo just shrugged and carried on with his headdress. Obduran start to feel a little apprehensive. So long he had been gone, so close he was now. He started to climb the hill, speeding up a little, excitement building inside him. "slow down." Said Fernglo almost unseated from Obdurans shoulder. He said nothing and just ploughed on. Fernglo clung on for dear life, it wasn't that comfortable for Obduran, having a sylvan pulling on your hair and digging its claws in, but he was past caring. 100 yards, 50 yards, 20 yards. He made it. He stood at the brow of the hill. Stopped dead in his tracks by what lay before him.

He thought what had happened to the forest was bad, but it was nothing compared to what lay before him. He slowly started down the hill, trying to take it all in. where his village once stood, ruins remained. Homes flattened or burnt to the ground, cattle carcasses dotted around, it looked as though they had been picked clean by scavengers. In the distance, a mound he didn't remember, Obduran headed for that. The village was destroyed and looked like it had been for a while. Obduran drew his sword and walked purposefully toward the mound, looking left and right, Fernglo now stood on his shoulder, spear drawn.

As they got closer to the mound, Obduran was horrified to see what it was made of. Hundreds of bodies, men, women, and children, piled high, some missing limbs, some missing heads. Fernglo jumped down and walked around the pile of bodies, Obduran just stood and stared, he didn't even bother to swipe the many flies from his face. "Obduran. Come." He heard Fernglo shout from the back of the mound. He readied himself for what he was about to see, but nothing could prepare him for this. In front of him was a crude set of gallows and hanging from them were his father, his mother, and the leaders of the tribal council. "I am sorry." Said Fernglo placing an affectionate hand on Obdurans calf.

Obduran stood and stared at his parents for what felt like hours until he could look no more. He looked around and found a pickaxe and a spade and begun to dig a grave. Fernglo scratched away at the dirt, he wasn't making much progress but Obduran was grateful. He cut his father down and lay him in the grave, followed by his mother. He threw the first shovelful of dirt on top of them. "Wait." Shouted Fernglo and he jumped into the hole, he very gently placed the purple flowered headdress onto Obdurans mothers head and held his hand out to Obduran. Obduran was touched by his gesture, he took off his necklace and threw it down to Fernglo who placed around the neck of his father.

After the burial, Obduran and Fernglo set about making a pyre, Fernglo scrambling about over the bodies tucking bits of dry wood here and there. By the time they had finished, it was dusk. Obduran, with Fernglo on his shoulder, retreated some distance. Obduran had wrapped some arrows in dried grass, he lit one with flint, Fernglo lit the other two and held them. Obduran took aim and fired into the base of the mound, quickly followed by the others. They sat and watched the fire take hold. Obduran did not move until the pyre had burnt out. All night he just sat and watched.