075

Days passed and the Skulled Ones travelled still deeper into the mist-born forest. The days passed by in a haze for Gregor. Even through the haze Gregor could see the change that had occurred in the Skulled Ones. They no longer hid their tracks nor travelled in fear. They talked more as they travelled and lit large fires during the night. They no longer travelled in fear.

Eonus had returned later in that day and told of another meeting with the Skulled Ones in a tent. Different men were there with Eonus, and different men continued to "interview" him as the days passed. Eonus and Gregor talked less and less.

Gregor saw little of Eonus as they travelled on different horses during the day. It was only when they camped for the evening that they got to speak to each other. During that time it was usually Eonus that did the talking. Telling him about what had happened to him during the day or about events from this past. Gregor grew to learn much about Eonus' child hood and enjoyed listening to the stories. It wasn't so much the content that he enjoyed it was the rhythm of the speech. Gregor enjoyed curling up on the grass and just letting Eonus' stories wash over them. Beating patterns of sound that woven simple life stories. Minutes later Gregor sometimes would have been able to tell you what the content of the stories were but they still gave him pleasure. If Eonus noticed Gregor's lack of interest or participation he made no note of it.

The topography they travelled through became less and less densely wooded as the days wore on. It was still densely wooded but there was more sunlight from above and they came upon more and more open meadows. Gregor became more and more used to these changes and had stopped taking note of them as they happened. Then one day he saw the trees fade behind him as he lazily rode, tied to a man, on a horse. The horse stopped suddenly and cessation of motion caught Gregor unaware and he bumped into the man in front of him earning an annoyed grunt.

Calls came up from the group of Skulled Ones. They were shouting and whooping and laughing with one another. Shaking himself awake Gregor looked to see what had brought about this sudden outburst of joy, and then he saw it.

The Skulled Ones had ridden out of the forest onto a ridge, and down below them a wide valley opened up. The valley wore trees that gently thinned to reveal a blue river and green grasslands. The river cut lazily through the grasslands before taking a strange turn and dropped beneath a bridge. Gregor gasped, as he saw the river split in two to form a moat around a crumbling ancient castle, the likes of which Gregor had never before seen.