"How far behind is it?"
Giles stirred from his nightmares. Opening his eyes and, with great effort, looked about. Only darkness could be seen, though he thought he might have glimpsed depths of shadows about, signifying objects all about. A chill wind blew across his face, causing his teeth to chatter, and he reached about himself to pull his cloak tight only to find it gone.
With the grasping of his hands, Giles felt his body ache and his breath struggle to come and go. The fever had only intensified over time, and now left him without any sense. A panic grew over him as his mind raced to understand where in the world he now stood.
"You won't last long at that rate. If you leave him behind, you might stand a chance."
The voice that awoke him spoke again. Only rising above a whisper as it mixed into the wind. Giles looked ahead. Through the darkness ahead, he focused as best he could. Eventually the outline of the back of a horse's head took shape. His crusted eyes went wide, as his brittle mind concluded the only answer it was able to muster.
"Did- did you just say something?" He waited, but a snort was all that came back. "Hello?"
"He is not going to make it. Cut your losses." Giles let out a small cry and fell forward onto the horse's neck.
"Who are you talking to? What is happening? Where am I?"
As the final question left his cracked lips, two things happened at once. First, the clouds covering the moon far above the leaf canopy departed and its holy light shone down through their leaves to glisten the forest floor in its pale light. The second thing, a figure stepped forth from around the horse's head. Giles started, nearly falling off the steed and only catching himself at the last moment. He looked at the face peering back at him, and his heart felt as though it might explode.
A youth of perhaps sixteen or seventeen. Long oily hair that curled along his shoulders and hung in strands before his face. He wore no shirt, and his pants only went down to just a couple inches below the knee. Slung across his back was a massive bow and black feathered arrows. His skin shone a deep blue, and in the light of the moon, it was hard to be sure if it remained a simple trick of the light, or if he had been painted that way.
All of these things went unnoticed by Giles, however. Indeed, his panic took hold at what rested atop the youth's head. Working as a makeshift hood and shawl, a black wolf hide had been draped over his head and shoulders. Its long spine ran down the boy's back until reaching his hips.
Things such as this would have been tolerable, had the skin not been topped with the wolf's head stretching out beyond the figure's head as some sort of hat might. Its face looked through the darkness with red lifeless eyes. The snout still in a wrathful snarl, white fangs leering forth. When he had seen all this, Giles indeed felt he might die of fright, and his fever began to draw him into a deep sleep once more.
"Hey, wake up you." The boy had gripped Giles about his left shoulder and squeezed. The sudden pain shocked him from his delirium with a cry. The unexpected strength of the boy was instead accredited to the wolf hide as Giles spoke to it rather than the human wearing it.
"Please, please don't. I can't go any further. Too tired. Please." His words came in ragged breaths as his body swayed back and forth in the saddle.
"Listen to me, old man. Your mount tells me that you two are being followed by something. If it is correct in how it describes the beast, you won't make it far by just wandering about the forest like this." He looked up at the horse's face and let out a sigh of frustration. "It would seem that the mount won't leave you behind. And it asked me to help you." He noticed Giles slumping again, and squeezed once more to bring him back to life. "Listen to me, you old fool. I wouldn't do this for free, had you asked me. But your mount is of lineage that impresses me, and has asked for the help. So, I will give it."
He reached into a small pouch at his right hip and pulled from it what appeared to be a mushroom. Its stalk stretched as long as the boy's own hand, and ended with a green and yellow cap. The boy snapped it in two and stuck both pieces within Giles' pants, breaking all social barriers with the sick man. He then walked back over to the horse's face.
"This is the best I can do. The plant's scent should stop the beast from tracking you from here. But your rider is sick, and he won't last more than a few more hours if you don't get help." He gestured his hand into the forest. "Keep the moon on your left just a bit. When you see torches, you are at the East Castle. You are still far from it, and the way is hard at night. So, ride fast." He stepped back and looked up at Giles, who slumped fully onto the horse's neck once more as his vision began to fade. As it all went away, the last thing he noticed was the boy's face.
"Who are you?"
"No one you will ever see again, old man."
"Stop calling me that, boy."
Then all went to darkness.
-
Within his mind, Giles' dreams would grant him no respite from his dying body. In them, he walked along a stone road. On either side, black vines of great thorns wriggled about, snatching at those who wandered among them. Screams of their victims rang out to him, bringing a shiver up his spine. Even as some attempted to cut them back, they grew ever in number and size until all were overtaken by their spikes. They raised the bodies high into the red sky, letting the blood drain from the fresh corpses.
"Did I say to stop? Keep going you fool."
Giles looked behind and saw a ghostly shade sprinting towards him. It swept through his body and beyond down the road, vanishing several yards away. In spite of the apparition's disappearance, Giles ran forward, shouting after it.
Suddenly, two new figures rose from the ground. As shadows at first, then taking full shape, they appeared to be two men. Both clad in dull armor, both holding spears. One walked forward and placed an open palm against Giles' chest, stopping him from moving any further down the road.
"What's this? He looks like he's dead." The other walked up, holding a torch in his other hand. He held it so close to Giles' face that he felt his skin begin to burn.
"No, he's alive. See, he's still breathing. Just a bit though. You'll be right in just a couple more hours."
They both circled him, looking him up and down and pawing at his outfit. Giles, looking down for the first time, noticed his own clothing as well. A black uniform, rimmed with a shimmering gold design along the hem, shoulders, and cuffs. He had a blue cloak and belt. Along his side was a large knife, with a fine jeweled hilt.
He looked back up at the two men, confusion marking his face. They both looked at him coldly. A knowing glance between the two.
"Can you help me? Where am I supposed to go from here?" Giles' voice rang out, and the vines drew towards him, wrapping themselves around his boots. The two soldiers looked at him, and began laughing. A simple chuckle at first, then growing into a full manic episode as they doubled over onto the ground unable to speak.
He tried to walk towards them, but the vines' grip had already moved up his legs. They stabbed deeply with their thorns, punching into his skin like a nail into a plum. Inch by inch they made their way up to his throat, each moment providing a new second of agony beyond his worldly experience.
"Please!" He screamed. "I need to know what to do next. I need to know where to hide."
One guard got to his knees and managed to look through tears at Giles.
"Hide? Where is there to hide now? Look." He pointed a finger to the sky. As Giles lifted his gaze, the thorns came slapping down upon his face to finish their cocooning of his body. Through a final glimpse between their vines, he saw the sky open up and from it the darkness beyond. High above, a single drip of the night fell and landed upon his eye. All went black.
-
The two guards dragged the dying man off of the horse, who panted heavily. It had managed to make it to the castle's entrance in only two hours.
Upon a stone bridge crossing a moat, the two soldiers had heard the galloping from a great distance off, coming through the small settlements surrounding the fortress, they eventually noticed the steed zipping down the road, passing in and out of the lantern's lights. It skidded to a halt before them, and let out a desperate cry.
The soldiers shared a quick glance between themselves, as they stepped forth. One grabbed the reins and did his best to soothe the ragged animal, while the other grabbed a torch from the gate's outer wall and held it close to the rider's face. The man appeared pale and sweating. Putting a hand to the rider's forehead, he looked to his companion.
"Damn it he's burning up." He pulled the rider from the horse and laid him upon the ground. "There son, there. Can you hear me? What's your name?" He saw the man's lips moving and brought his ear right against them. "What's that? Giles?" He pulled back and began looking over the man's body. "Giles, listen to me, I need you to do your best to stay awake."
"Thade, this horse." The other had been looking at the saddle upon the steed's back, observing the patterns woven into it.
"Go fetch me some water. Hurry."
"Thade, the horse."
"What about it?" He snapped at his companion.
"It's from Windgrad." They looked at each other for a moment.
"What? What do you mean?" He held the torch up to get a better look at the horse. His partner gestured worriedly at the saddle.
"I mean just what I said. This horse belongs to the house of Windgrad. I'd recognize these patterns anywhere." Thade turned back to the glistening rider, who lay eyes half opened, mumbling to himself. He looked back and forth between mount and rider a few more times before tossing the torch onto the stone angrily.
"Damn it all. This is just what we needed to deal with now. Damn, damn." He repeated the word several more times before running a hand over his face. He looked sideways at his partner, and clenched his jaw. "Go get the captain. He will know what to do." The soldier nodded and began leading the horse beyond the gate. "And wake the magi too. He'll want to know about this."
"Yes sir." The soldier and horse vanished into the fortress's yard. Thade looked down at Giles, and let out a long sigh.
"You simply came here at the wrong time, friend." He looked to the torch, still blazing. "Whole of Northguard is about to be on fire with war.