A Generous Offer?
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 8868
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Astra and Aethir looked around them at the Wood which, apart from the
great tree that
Astra had recently been ensnared in, now appeared dead and somehow
unwholesome. Why
does it look quite so dead? Astra wondered. It's only early autumn
in the world outside -
or at least it was when we entered the Wood. She supposed that once,
long ago before
the Fey came, it had just been a normal wood, but now it had a decaying
and somehow
nightmarish quality. But she did not pursue that line of thought any
further,
for Aethir cried: "Look!" and pointed at the great tree. Now that Aethir
had torn apart
the illusion with the dagger, she could see Simon imprisoned in its
tendrils. He must have been only
ten feet or so from her all the time that she herself had been imprisoned.
"If you could find me," Astra asked, "why is it that neither of us could see Simon until now? And for that matter, how is it that we were able to find you when you were trapped in the Tree?" Aethir shook his head. "I cannot tell you for sure, lass. I said that my predecessor had taught me much, but the mysteries of the Fey are many, and even he did not know them all. But, as you no doubt know, Simon has a degree of holy power, which may be how he was able to find me. As to how I found you, that was largely luck, and as it was it took me quite a time, but I knew that someone must have freed me and that I must try to rescue them. Had I gathered my wits more quickly after awakening, I would have searched for the dagger first. But now we must hasten to free Simon, for he seems to be the only remaining dreamer, and they will do everthing in their power to avoid giving him up." "The only dreamer? So where are Frederigo and Andrea?" Before Aethir could reply to Astra's question, a figure interspersed itself between the two of them and the tree. It was the Huntsman, attired as Astra had seen him in her dream. "Aethir MacFionn," he said, "let us have the woman, and you can have your friend and the two of you can leave safely. What is the woman to you compared to Simon D'Chrétien? After all, you have only just met her. And she is young and strong, and can spend many decades in the Tree without harm, whilst your friend is old and may not last long, for though the dreamer ages but slowly the dreaming will drain him. So even on moral grounds, you surely must accept our proposal." Astra looked at Aethir. Was he about to betray her? The Huntsman had sounded awfully convincing. She almost felt that she should volunteer to return to the Tree to save Simon. After all, he was not just Aethir's friend but hers too, and though the Wood could live on her dreams, she knew now that there was little likelihood that the Fey could ever break her.
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JH
4/23/2000 6:51:58 AM
Extending Enabled
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