The sun slowly ascended in the east, appearing to rise from the distant
end of the canyon, giving light to the rocky gap, through to its other
far end.
Boyce opened his eyes to see some birds flying overhead. He quickly
sat up but after he saw they had made it across the bridge he felt more
relaxed. He stared back, at the immensity of the Dark Forest and its
perpetually clouded tree tops.
Now he wondered, more than when they were inside the forest, if the
mythical lore about the gremlin city, in the cloudy tree tops, was true.
Lloyd now sat up, as well, and with hazy eyes looked towards the
forest, too.
He glanced to Boyce who wasn't looking at him at the time, very much
intent in his study of the canyon.
"That place will get a man -- one way or another!" Lloyd said waiting
for a response from Boyce. "Boyce ... I can't begin to say how sorry
-- "
" -- Let it be, Lloyd!" Boyce cut into his apology, but not in a
manner suggesting disrespect. "You weren't yourself and nor was I. I
suppose the forest reached the both of us."
Lloyd nodded and sighed as he stared towards yesterday's events.
"It was an awesome teacher, my friend." Boyce began. "It taught us
what we feared the most. It taught you the pain of loneliness and duty
and it taught me that fighting, and killing, is unavoidable."
Lloyd placed his hand firmly on Boyce's shoulder, offering a silent
thanks for his understanding and forgiveness.
"I know the need that you had for the company of someone like
Grenadine. I suppose the forest knew that and used it against you.
Yet, it didn't have the power to turn us against one another!"
Lloyd felt ashamed of his behaviour of the last few days but he did
believe that Boyce was genuinely sympathetic about it all. He also
knew that Boyce was right about the Forest using fear against its
trespassers.
Boyce finally looked away from the Forest and riveted his eyes on Lloyd.
"Your father told me about Charnan." he admitted to Lloyd. "I can't
tell you how very sorry I felt about that. That's the only reason that
I am able to understand."
Lloyd's eyes glided down to his hands. "I began to fall in love with
her." he confessed, remembering how soft and smooth Grenadine's skin
was to his caresses.
" She was very beautiful ... too bad she was a gremlin."
"She was a lycanthrope." Lloyd corrected. "In ancient times they
called her kind, werewolves!"
"Whatever she was, Lloyd, I will never dismiss myths or legends after
this trip."
Far across the canyon the winds carried the howling cries of the dogs
that never made it to the bridge, in pursuit of the two men.
Through the telescope Boyce peered at the other side of the canyon at a
scant few dogs that paraded back and forth, and then throwing
themselves off of the cliff to join their dead comrades below. He
passed the glass to Lloyd.
"The parts couldn't survive without the rest of the body."
Boyce listened and nodded at Lloyd's insight. It was personal to his
friend, but Boyce understood the consequences of the dogs'suicide.
"Instead of living with the loss, knowing they would bare great
loneliness, they decided to die rather than carry on by themselves."
Several hours after the sun rose high in the sky, the two continued
south on their journey back to Pomperaque.
The next five days were relaxing and uneventful, in comparison to their
trek through the forest. Many animals were seen along this path but
none seemed hostile -- to the men's relief.
They only had the one weapon left between them. Physically, they were
becoming weaker with each meter that they travelled, but regardless of
their discomfort, they relentlessly carried-on.
On their eleventh day of travel they came across a God-sent farming
community where they replenished their food and water supplies.
There they spent the evening listening to tales of a once great nation
before the great scourge of man. They already knew all the truth, but
they didn't anticipate the stories events, and they both kept their
knowledge to themselves.
They knew that Manguino's spies and his influence were already reaching
into the hearts of little towns, such as this one.
A small skirmish broke-out in the town that night. It was all about
the tales of the old ways, but Lloyd and Boyce laughed at the fisticuff
like it was part of the story being told, and later graciously accepted
an offer by an older man to spent the evening on his farm.
"The loft in my stable is dry and very warm." promised the old man.
Refreshed, with a new supply of food and water, they continued south
until two days later they saw the Sedarin capital on the horizon of the
Sedarin Plateau.
They spent the evening on a small mesa several kilometres from Sedara
and the next morning they made their way into the heart of the city.