Only two days later, Lora had already neared he south end of the Deep Forest. She noticed that the rations she had brought with her would only last for a few more days.
During her entire journey so far, she had not yet encountered a living soul, whether friend or foe. It was a dull time for her, as she loved to hunt and gain from her hunts.
It had started to rain, though Lora could not see neither the rain nor the sun through the thickness of the trees and the shelter they offered. Lora mused as she though about where the forest had got its name.
She walked on, and soon, to her surprise and excitement, she soon heard a man whistling. She ran in the direction from which the whistling was coming, and came upon a well-built man with clothes that were slowly becoming rags. He had a light backpack resting on his back, and carried a small axe over his shoulder.
"Good day sir!" she greeted the man.
"Ah, good day to thee milady!" he answered, interrupting his whistling.
"'Tis nice to see a living soul!"
"Aye, indeed 'tis!" He paused to sit down, back to a tree, and continued, "I am going to Empath Abbey. Thou seest, I am a follower of Love."
"And I'd like to encounter my love too!" he added with a wink.
"Empath Abbey? Why, that is west of here! Thou art heading towards Yew, from whence I come!"
"Thou art from Yew? Tell me about it; I might be going there as well!"
Lora went to sit down in front of him. "Well, what can I say? Yew is nice!"
"Of course me is!" he replied with a big grin.
Lora laughed. "Oh, no! I did not mean that! I meant the city of Yew is nice!"
"Oh well, I'm sure it is."
"What is thy name?"
"I am Yonol, and what is thine?"
"I am Lora, pleased to meet thee. Well, thou shouldst not be whistling so loudly in these dangerous woods. Thou mayest be ambushed."
Yonol laughed. "No my friend, for as long as I have been travelling to the Abbey, I have not encountered a single creature that dared attack me."
They ate together, and shared their food as friends. After a brief time, Lora said with a smile, "Excuse me, but I must heed the call of nature."
"Oh, thou art a protector of the woods?" Yonol asked her.
"No," she answered with a wink, "I need to pee." She left her backpack with Yonol and walked away for a short distance. She was back in a minute.
They talked all day, and became good friends. As night started to fall, they went to sleep, and went on their separate ways the next morning.
As Lora continued her journey south, she quickly heard a familiar sound. Skeletons! The sound came from the direction in which Yonol was heading! She grabbed her bow and ran there. Her strong friend had already killed two skeletons, but four others were still left, and Yonol was injured. She fired an arrow in a skeleton's head, which flew off its neck upon impact. Just as Yonol drove his axe down another's head and all the way down to where the stomach should be, another skeleton buried its sword in his own stomach.
"No!" Lora yelled, as Yonol fell. Her eyes burned with revenge. She pulled out another arrow and shot it at another skeleton, breaking its neck. Another arrow broke another skeleton's spine, as the last skeleton drew near enough to strike at Lora. And so it did, but she ducked, and wrestled its sword out of its hand. Soon the skeleton was in her power, and she broke its neck with her own hands.
The skeletons were defeated, but the cost was great - she had lost a friend. She knelt beside him and moved his body over to face her. He was still alive, but breathing his last. "Give me your hand." he said in a whisper. Lora stretched her hand, as Yonol removed a ring from his finger and put it in Lora's hand, then closed her hand. "This is my Ring of Protection. I give it to thee as thanks. May it serve thee well." After a few minutes, he died.
© by Daniel D'Agostino 2002-2025