CHAPTER 9

True Love

Rom purposely continued walking through the forest, whilst all the time he was constantly checking his sacred pendant. He held it firmly in his right hand in order to determine which direction to take in his quest in finding his true love Aela.

Ayab followed Rom at the rear, but soon found he was out of breath, so he yelled, ‘Rom, can’t we have a rest? This pace is killing me.’ He paused for a second, to catch his breath whilst his chest was heaving with pain.

Undeterred, Rom just yelled over his shoulder, ‘No. I must rescue Aela now or she will die. If you can’t keep up with me, so be it. You can look after yourself.’

Ayab then started whining, ‘That’s not fair. I am not as fit as you. Can’t you take pity on me?’

Rom continued to ignore him and disappeared further into the forest, leaving Ayab amidst the dark, primal trees.

Ayab was now in absolute panic mode, so he leapt forward calling in a stricken voice, ‘Rom, don’t leave me to die.’

Still there was no reply from Rom, so Ayab gave out an almighty shout of anguish.

Then, at that split moment he saw a movement in some bushes ahead and realised it was Rom cutting his way through the thick undergrowth with his sword. Wanting to live another day, Ayab somehow gained superhuman strength and ran towards Rom, who in turn continued to hack his way through the ferns.

Ayab finally caught up with Rom, and he decided from now on he was not going to complain. So he set his eyes determinedly on Rom’s back and made sure that he was not going to be left behind on his own again. The two continued to move through the forest, with Rom having to stop every now and then to cut a path through the bushes. By this time both men were bathed in sweat, their hearts were pounding and even Rom was finding the exertion making him breathless.

Then, suddenly Rom dropped on the ground, flung his sword onto the earth and lay flat on his back panting for breath. Grateful for the short respite, Ayab lay prone on his stomach exhausted trying to catch pockets of air for his lungs, so that he didn’t asphyxiate himself. The thing that always concerned Ayab the most, was looking after his precious self and this was his prime aim, above any other considerations.

After a short time, Ayab raised his head and lifted his eyes towards Rom’s prone figure lying flat on the ground. Ayab could hear heavy breathing coming from Rom, so he was aware that his new master was still alive.

Neither men knew how long they lay there on the ground, but very soon, they both felt more relaxed with an energy surge coming back into their bodies. They slowly sat up and fixed each other with their eyes, with a white cold stare of hate.

‘I’m not going to have you hold me up Ayab, as my mission is so intensely urgent,’ stated Rom coolly.

‘Well, you are also exhausted, Mighty one, I am not holding you up, you too, must have a rest,’ exclaimed Ayab.

There was a short pause, enough time for Rom to digest the retort, then he inexplicably began to laugh loudly. On hearing this, Ayab too started to laugh in his high pitch shrill manner.

Once this outburst had abated, Rom ventured, ‘I think we need to call a truce between each other, because the reality is, that neither of us will survive without the other.’

Ayab was totally relieved now that they were both going to work as a team, and his precious person would be saved. He agreed with Rom.

‘Come now, Ayab, we will continue on our way. This time I will not go so fast so that you can keep up with me. It is stupid, for me to be rushing hell bent without any concern for my own safety or respect for what my body can do for me.’

So both the men got up wearily, continuing their trek through the trees, with Rom stopping every now and then to cut a pathway through some thick ferns, or make a detour around a small stream or rock, that was in their way.

Aela was quite put out that she could no longer send her message to Rom and no images of his face appeared within her mind. What was he doing, where was he located, and was he coming back to her, whilst she was in her trance? So, she decided to give up for the moment, and rested her weary body, by leaning her back against the tree.

As she did so she took in the sounds of the forest, animals and birds, and could almost feel the deep seated breathing from the cavernous depths of earth, as well as from the trunk of the tree, she was leaning against. In a strange way, by becoming one with her surroundings, she stopped panicking and began to feel at peace with the whole environment immediately around her.

Aela muttered to herself, ‘Well, if Rom can’t reach me, I must make sure that I save myself without his help.’ With these thoughts, Aela placed her ear on the ground, to see if she could hear the sound of animals moving around and by the merest chance she may be able to detect footsteps of a fellow human.

Much to her surprise, she could pick up a measured step of someone, as well as another person walking behind the first one. Her heart began to quicken with joy, at least if I am careful, I would be able to locate these two people and hopefully they would be friendly towards me, Aela placed her ear on the ground again and to her relief she realised that these two people were walking in her direction.

Suddenly she saw two figures standing in the darkness of the trees, but Aela was unable to recognise who they were. So Aela impulsively jumped, up holding her dagger in her one hand. ‘Who are you? Are you a friend or a enemy? Don’t come too close to me otherwise I will cut you to pieces,’ commanded Aela.

A deep male voice replied, ‘Is it you, Aela? My sacred pendant has been true, if it is you.’

Aela shouted with sheer joy, ‘Rom, I know your voice! You have saved me.’

Both rushed towards each other and Aela leapt onto Rom’s chest wrapping her legs around his body, they both fell down on the ground, laughing and crying at the same time.

Ayab who was standing a little behind Rom was watching the whole scene. His first thoughts were, ‘We have another mouth to feed.’

Aela and Rom locked their arms together around each other’s necks and their fiery lips met passionately. Ayab detecting that he was being completely ignored said, ‘Just a moment, you two, I must remind you, that I am also important and we still haven’t got out of this blasted impenetrable forest. So either control your passion for each other and give us time to think, how we can get out of this mess. We still do not have any food or shelter and we do not know how to get back to civilization at this stage.’

These words had an immediate effect on the two lovers and they looked up at Ayab, who was now standing quite close to them.

Aela was the first to speak, ‘Who is this man? Why is he with you, Rom?’

‘His name is Ayab and I found him in the forest alone. We decided to team up, as we thought there was a better chance of getting out of this place, if the two of us put our heads together. But I am warning you Aela, don’t trust this scoundrel. He is completely ego-centred and only thinks of himself and changes loyalties constantly, depending on which side he thinks is the winner.’

‘I think you are being too harsh about me’, exclaimed Ayab insincerely.

Aela, quickly assessing the situation realized that he was a snake in the grass that Rom was alluding to. She looked at Ayab. ‘I always respect Rom’s assessment of people and from the looks of you, I wouldn’t trust you as far as I could throw you.’

At this Ayab was completely mortified and disgusted and turned his back on them.

Before he knew it he heard a whistling sound of a missile going past his right ear and a short dagger was impaled in the trunk of the tree in front of him.

‘Don’t you ever dare to turn your back on me at any time,’ yelled Aela.

With this command Ayab quickly turned around and dropped on his knees. ‘Oh, I’m so sorry my gracious lady. Please don’t kill me because I can be useful to you. I pledge my absolute loyalty to you and that I will always protect you.’

At this statement Aela just burst into hysterical laughter, got up from Rom’s embrace and walked over to the tree to wrench the dagger out of the tree trunk.

‘Well, for the time being your life is spared, but if at any time you cross me, you will be killed instantly,’ hissed Aela in Ayab’s ear. ‘Get up you rogue!’, she then placed the dagger back into the pouch which was strapped to one of her legs.

Rom had observed the scene and was highly amused and he looked at Ayab, ‘Well, you’ve heard what the lady thinks of you and what she will do to you if you ever cross her. My advice is I wouldn’t cause her to be angry towards you, because you would be killed in an instant. Let us all sit down, so we can work out a plan to get out of the forest.’

Without any complaints from Ayab or Aela they all sat on the ground facing each other.

Aela asked Rom ‘How did you find me here?’

‘Easy,’ Rom replied ‘I called upon Athunor our goddess to activate my pendant, so it would lead me to you.’

Aela gave a sigh and held her hands in prayer in front of her. ‘Thank you, Athunor, for safely delivering Rom to me.’ Then she unfolded her hands and placed them on her knees looking steadily at Rom.

After a short pause, Rom began to chant harmoniously, ‘Athunor Athunor, great Goddess show us the pathway of truth, so we can recover the Sacred Sword. Take it back to our homeland, use its magical powers to free our people from the oppressive rule of Brude. So we all can live harmoniously as a community and prosper with our crops and cattle.’

‘You certainly don’t mind asking for everything at once,’ Ayab stated acidly.

Rom completely ignored Ayab’s comments and continued with his prayer, ‘We need your help now, Athunor, grant us this favour Oh, powerful one.’

Ayab was rapidly losing patience, especially as the hunger pangs were gnawing away in his empty belly. ‘I have had enough of this mumbo jumbo, I am going to find my own way out of this wretched place.’

So he stormed off running blindly through the forest swearing to himself as he stumbled on. Totally ignoring Ayab’s flight from them, they continued to chant their prayers to the Moon Goddess. Alas no thoughts appeared in their minds and there were no images or messages from their sacred goddess Athunor. Exhausted, they both fell into a deep sleep, lying in each other’s arms, oblivious to the sounds and smells of the forest around them.

No one knew how long the two lovers lay there, but soon Rom slowly opened his eyes to take in his surroundings. He gazed tenderly at Aela’s upturned face lying on his chest and a surge of protective love overwhelmed him. Somehow they must find a way to a village, warmth, food and sanctuary. Aela began to stir, she opened her eyes and smiled, when she saw Rom’s face looking down at her.

Slowly and gently Rom lowered his face towards Aela’s, and when their two lips touched each other a fiery ribbon of passion surged between the two. Both tore off each other’s clothes throwing them into the air in absolute abandon until they were both were naked, lying on the soft moss on the ground.

Waves of unbridled passion surged through their bodies as their arms and legs were moulded together as one. Rom’s hands begin to caress sensuously Aela’s body, she could feel Rom’s body warmth on top of her. She tasted the salty sweat from the taut skin around Rom’s smooth, muscular chest as she moved her soft open mouth up and down his body. At the same time, she could hear the rapid beating of her heart against his as she responded to his hands delving into the innermost parts of her thighs.

She then started groaning in ecstasy, simultaneously opening her legs to receive his erect penis inside her. As Rom thrust himself time and time again into her, until both bodies were as one responding to each other’s love and desire for the other. At this moment the two lovers sank further into each other as they continued to unabatedly enjoy their fusion of passion.

Then Rom let out an exultant cry of sheer triumph as he once more released his life giving sperm into Aela’s body. She in turn uttered a primal joyful sound of fulfilment as she received Rom’s gift of life and true love.

Then suddenly they were both satiated and spent of all emotion as they lay in each other’s arms panting loudly, drinking in the sweet smell of each other’s bodies. Then more gently, as their two hearts began to beat slowly and rhythmically in unison, soon they were in a deep sleep of utter contentment, their bodies still locked together. At irregular intervals, both awoke, again and again they rose to higher heights of passion of pure love for each other, until all energy was drained from their bodies. This time their sleep was one of sublime exhaustion, contentment, coupled with complete fulfilment.

It was not until the first illuminated liquid golden rays of sunlight began to flicker through the dense leaves and branches of the trees they were lying under that the two lovers began to stir in each other’s arms. Aela was the first to be alert to life and laughingly tickled Rom’s nose with a fallen leaf, that she had carelessly picked up from the ground.

Rom opened his eyes taking in the scene instantly and he hugged Aela close to his chest. They then both rolled over each other a couple of times, before becoming breathless again.

‘You are wonderful my darling,’ exclaimed Aela, as she sat up beside Rom.

‘You are my fairy princess,’ exulted Rom as he played with her long blonde tangled shiny hair.

‘Oh, Rom I am so hungry; I could eat you alive’ but you are too divine for tha,’ sighed Aela.

‘We must hunt for some fresh meat and gather wild berries before we die of starvation,’ added Rom.

So the two lovers hurriedly dressed, adjusted their weapons and began to look around their surroundings in earnest. Without saying a word Rom consulted his sacred pendant and he motioned for Aela to follow him in the direction he was compelled by his pendant to go. Very soon they came upon a gentle stream of water flowing into a clear blue lake, surrounded by a thick, dark mass of trees.

Without saying a word, both stripped off their clothes and dived into the velvety, liquid water, savouring the refreshing and relaxing sensation, encompassing their tired satiated bodies. They made love again and again as they lay half in and half out of the water at the edge of the lake, completely wrapped in their own simmering passion for each other.

As the sun rose higher in the clear blue sky, Aela and Rom then lay naked on a nearby flat rock, that was jutting over the water of the lake. They both felt the warmth of the sun seeping through their bodies, as the droplets of crystal liquid was dried from their muscular bodies, giving them renewed life-giving energy.

But the severe gnawing pangs of hunger blotted out any further feelings of pleasure they have felt towards each other, quickly and silently they dressed once more.

‘I will go looking for game,’ stated Rom, ‘You can seek some edible roots and berries, Aela. We can meet back on this rock once we have found something to eat.’

Ayab made steady progress through the forest and was feeling very pleased with himself when suddenly his world was turned upside down. He was thrust on his stomach, with his arms pinned tightly behind his back and he felt a very heavy weight lying on his legs. Piercing pain was stabbing in his legs as Ayab lay face down on the ground. He let out a heavy groan of agony as he tried to frantically free himself from this iron grip, but to no avail.

‘Who have we here?’ stated a male voice. ‘Well if it isn’t our old friend Ayab, the biggest cur in the world, who would kill his own mother, if he thought it was to his own advantage. What are you doing in the woods, my friend? Tell me the truth instantly or I will wring your neck now,’ threatened the voice.

By that time Ayab was in panic mode as he tried to squirm his way out of the iron grip but was soon exhausted. ‘Don’t kill me, don’t kill me, I haven’t done anything wrong’ bleated Ayab.

‘Yes you have, you scum,’ hissed the voice. ‘With you escaping, as well as Rom and Aela, myself and my men have had to flee into the forest, running away from Brude who has sworn to kill us because we have failed in our duty,’ angrily yelled the voice, as he tightened the grip still further around Ayab’s arms.

Ayab let out another yell of pain, ‘I know where Rom and Aela are hiding in the forest.’

‘I don’t believe you,’ retorted the voice.

‘I was with them yesterday, but I decided to leave them, to make my own way to a village, food and shelter,’ desperately replied Ayab.

The stranglehold on Ayab’s arms loosened a fraction.

‘Can you take us to them now?’ demanded the voice.

‘Yes, yes.’ Ayab quickly replied.

‘Men, come, tie up this idiot. He is going to take us to our ticket of freedom. By handing over Rom and Aela to Brude, we will be pardoned and back in favour again.’

There was intense activity as Ayab’s hands were tied behind his back and he was dragged to his feet.

‘Okay show us the direction in the forest where Rom and Aela are hiding!’ demanded the leader of the group of fugitives.

Ayab momentarily lifted his eyes to the skies, randomly pointed his head in a certain direction and the party moved off together, walking deeper into the woods.

Rom was fortunate to catch and kill a large hare and Aela was equally active in her quest in finding an ample supply of wild berries and fruits in a secluded grove near the placid lake. They met each other, back at the jutting rock of the lake of love.

Very soon Rom had collected enough wood to light a fire, using a couple of flint stones he kept handy in a pouch attached to his belt. The sweet smell of cooking meat permeated the air and as soon as the hare was properly roasted, the pair lost no time in devouring the meal they had prepared. Now that their stomachs were full, they could both lay comfortably in each other’s arms again feeling sublimely content.

Suddenly, through the distance, they both heard the breaking of twigs, and the sound of voices that appeared to be moving closer and closer to them. Rom immediately leapt up using his feet to trample the flames of the fire, in order blot out the tell tail spiral of wispy smoke, hanging in the air that would let their enemies know of their whereabouts.

He placed his forefinger on his lips to warn Aela to be silent and the couple lay flat on the ground holding their prone bodies very still.

Soon they heard the odd words that the human group were saying to each other, as they steadily approached closer to Aela and Rom’s hiding place.

‘Are you sure we are heading in the right direction, you miserable piece of meat?’

‘Yes, yes, I am sure that Rom and Aela are close by,’ replied Ayab, but not very convincingly.

‘Well for your sake you had better be spot on, otherwise I will wring your neck now,’ replied one of the men in the group.

The others muttered in agreement, as they continued to make their way through the thick bracken. The party came within a hair’s breath of where Aela and Rom were hiding, who in turn were hardly daring to breathe.

Then, the party moved steadily on and was soon out of earshot of the couple.

‘That was a close one,’ whispered Rom into Aela’s ear. ‘We must be so careful from now on and one of us has to be awake on duty, when the other is sleeping,’ muttered Rom.

Aela nodded in agreement and buried her head still deeper into Rom’s chest, as if wanting to blot out any black thoughts of danger for ever.

‘Let us sneak off now whilst we can Aela, before they backtrack and discover us,’ commanded Rom.

Not wanting to lose a moment of their freedom, the two lovers moved swiftly and silently heading into the opposite direction of the fugitive group. Every now and again Rom stopped to consult his pendant, closed his eyes momentarily and then continued in a certain direction, with Aela following close on his heels.

Brude back at his camp was ever growing more and more impatient that there was no news from his scouts that he had sent out to locate either Rom or Aela or both. What to do next, he thought frantically. He had better summons those two women Eena and Tua to see if either could come up with a better plan.

Soon the women were standing before Brude as he was seated resplendent on his golden throne. He thought this ploy would impress the women with his mighty power over them. Neither Eena nor Tua were taken in with this so called display of glory. All they could see was a frustrated, cranky middle aged man dressed up in glittering clothes, who was oozing vanity and over-confidence, like a proud peacock and no female mate in sight.

Both women were very careful not to show their contempt for Brude and waited silently for him to speak. There was a heavy pause, ‘I am becoming more and more uneasy. There is no news that my scouts have captured the runaways and brought them back to kneel at my feet and beg for mercy.’ Brude spat out the words disdainfully.

‘It was your idea Tua to send out the scouts in the first place,’ glowered Brude.

‘Well, have you a better plan of action,’ retorted Tua defiantly. Drawing herself up to her full height, hitting her ample bosom with her hand as she spoke, staring fully into Brude’s face, with an unblinking angry stare of anger in her eyes.

Brude was momentarily taken aback as this was not the reaction he was expecting from her. He thought she would be worried about his bullying threats and fall onto her knees pleading for mercy from him. Confound the woman, he thought, women always know how to complicate men’s lives with their twisted arguments and irrational emotions.

‘I didn’t mean to be critical of your advice, Tua, which I have valued and implemented.’ Brude hastily replied. ‘But I was wondering whether you had any further fresh ideas to add to any strategy that might help the situation.’ hurriedly Brude added.

There was a long pause between the trio as they all stared fixedly at each other, letting Brude’s words hang awkwardly in the air between them.

‘Well you can always continue to march towards the Temple with your army and prepare yourself for the final battle to storm the sacred precincts. In the meantime Rom and Aela may be captured by your scouts and brought in chains before you, so you can deal with them,’ Eena loftily declared, at the same time shooting a venomous look towards Tua, who in turn ignored this stinging dart.

Brude was instantly enraptured with this advice, immediately summoning his officers to prepare his men to be once more on the road, marching towards the Temple of the Sun. Just to be on the safe side he doubled the number of guards around the two women as he didn’t quite trust them, as he sensed they could double cross him at any moment. This strategy made the two women angrier, as they neither one were getting any further with their own plans of advancement.

Tua rounded onto Eena, ‘You with your clever ideas, advising Brude with the next move. You should bargain with our freedom before rushing in and giving free advice so liberally,’ spluttered Tua.

‘Well, have you a better strategy? At least we are still both alive,’ retorted Eena. ‘This diversion allows us to bide our time, to grab the next chance that comes our way for us to gain our freedom and turn the advantage to our benefit. I think we should stop fighting each other and form an alliance to outwit Brude in his messianic grab for power. He thinks he is invincible and nobody can stand in his way.’

These words stopped Tua in her tracks and she looked at Eena with new interest, ‘Yes, you are absolutely right. Two heads are better than one. Let’s pool our resources and our superior minds to beat Brude completely in his plans to storm the Temple of the Sun.’

Both women smiled at each other and embraced warmly. Just at that moment guards suddenly appeared in front of Eena and Tua.

The head guard spoke, ‘You are both ordered to come with us. Brude wants you each to ride on a horse near him.’

Without saying a word, Eena and Tua accompanied the guards and were soon astride their respective steeds, looking very demure and silent.

Brude was beside himself with joy, as not only was his old enemy, Juno a prisoner, but two beautiful women of high status, were also submissive to his domination as well. His already over inflated opinion of his own cleverness soared even higher in his mind, as he rode along the road at the head of his army.

Rom and Aela continued on their way through the forest, as they felt they were making good progress, when they came upon a natural clearing. The sun illuminated the area with a strong golden light, a stark contrast to the deep gloom of the surrounding trees. They both hesitated at the edge of the circle and looked at each other for guidance, to determine whether to cross the clearing or not.

This strategy was most fortunate, as a number of human figures suddenly appeared directly opposite them. Rom and Aela immediately dropped to the ground and waited a short period before lifting their heads up a little, so they could observe what was happening. The distant figures had also paused for a brief period, then began to stride across the clearing straight in the direction where Rom and Aela were lying.

Very soon they heard voices drifting across the air.

‘Are you sure we are going in the right direction Ayab? I hope you haven’t taken us on a wild bear chase. If you have led us astray your life will not be worth anything and you will soon be joining Athunor, your Moon Goddess in the sky,’ exclaimed the voice.

‘I have not been lying to you,’ whinged Ayab,’ it is not always easy to be exactly accurate, as some of the forest trees look like others. As long as I am taking you in the general direction, we should come across Rom and Aela very soon.’

By this time the small party had crossed the clearing and were about to re-enter the dark forest again. Rom gave Aela the signal to stay still, not daring to move or even breathe.

Just at that moment Ayab tried to make a run for it, into the gloom of the trunks of the trees and the very thick undergrowth. One of the men made a grab for Ayab’s bound arms tied behind his back, missed and fell over onto the ground, cursing at the top of his voice. The two guards following close behind tumbled on top of each other and onto Ayab already lying on the ground.

Confusion ensured briefly, with arms and legs waggling in all directions Ayab was able to wriggle himself free, get up quickly and run straight towards the trees and he very soon disappeared from sight.

‘Get off me you idiots, give a man a break. You both weigh a ton and you are hurting my legs. I can hardly breathe,’ yelled one of the soldiers.

With a lot of grumbling and swearing the men disentangled themselves and slowly got up, shaking twigs and leaves off their grubby clothes.

‘Well, our prisoner has escaped, but I don’t think he will get very far, with his hands tied behind his back. Let’s start following his tracks now and we will soon recapture him. Once we do, we then can have the utmost pleasure of killing him slowly, the lying traitor,’ stated one of the men.

The group of men then moved back into the darkness of the trees and soon disappeared once again.

Aela turned to Rom, ‘We had better make a quick escape whilst we can, Rom. They could easily back track and this time find us. I don’t like the filthy mood they are in and they could easily kill us on the spot without thinking twice of the consequences of their actions,’ hissed Aela in Rom’s ear.

‘I know. I know. You don’t have to drive it so hard in my ear,’ testily replied Rom. ‘We are not getting any closer to our goal of retrieving the Sacred Sword from its hiding place near the Cave of the High Priest. We are completely lost in this black forest and I am near breaking point. I am tired of running away from our enemies. I want to challenge them and fight to the death,’ shouted Rom in anguish.

Aela was taken completely by surprise with Rom’s total frustration, as she had only seen him always in control of all situations he was facing, courageously and coolly thinking out the next strategy that he was going to apply to outwit his opponent.

She quickly placed her arms around Rom’s neck and drew his head gently onto her bosom, whispering softly in his ear, ‘You are my hero and champion always, my darling. I know you will think of a plan to get us out of this mess. We can put our heads together and work out a strategy, so that we will survive and be triumphant,’ exclaimed Aela.

At that moment a male voice was heard close by. ‘Wise words coming from such a beautiful and fair lady. You are a lucky man to have someone who has such faith in you,’ the tall stranger bowed low as he uttered the words.

Rom immediately sprang to his feet, unsheathing his sword at the same time, whilst making sure he was standing in front of Aela, shielding her from any danger. ‘Who are you?’ demanded Rom.

‘My name is Tuhn, Keeper of the Forest. I would like to know who you both are and what are you doing in my forest?’ demanded Tuhn.

‘Well you have a nerve,’ replied Rom angrily. ‘If you really want to know, my name is Rom and this is beautiful lady is Aela. We are trying to find our way out of this forest, so we can walk along the old road, the sacred way to the Temple of the Moon, back to our people.’

‘Come with me and I will lead you both to the old pathway and show you which direction to take, so you can go home.’

Aela and Rom were very happy with this news and readily agreed to follow Tuhn through the forest. Very soon they reached the old sacred pathway, with the aid of Tuhn’s expert guidance. Rom then realised that he and Aela had been going around in circles aimlessly getting nowhere.

‘How do you know in which direction to go, Tuhn?’ asked Rom.

‘That is my secret,’ Tuhn coolly replied. ‘I must go now as I have much to do. Good luck in your quest to find the Sacred Sword and take it back to your people.’

Tuhn then bowed deeply to both of them, quickly turned on his heels and melted back into the gloomy forest. Leaving Rom and Aela standing and staring incredulously at the place where Tuhn had disappeared into the trees.

‘Is he human or is he a spirit of the forest? Perhaps he only exists in our minds,’ exclaimed Aela.

Rom shook his head, ‘Whatever or whoever he is, he certainly came at the right time to get us out of our predicament. I need to see where the sun is positioned in the sky, in order to work out what direction we should go. Retrace our steps, retrieve the Sacred Sword where we hid it and then go home.’

He looked upwards through the branches of the gnarled ancient trees standing near them and could just discern the shining orb of the sun. He shaded his eyes from the searing bright rays and began to sing softly an age old prayer, ‘Oh, supreme god of light, fashion your eternal life giving warmth, give me the knowledge, so that I can unlock the puzzle of truth, find my way back to the magical Sword and everlasting redemption.’

Rom closed his eyes, humming softly to his inner self for a few moments and then he stood perfectly still hardly breathing.

Aela was transfixed, listening to Rom’s incantation and she hardly dared to breathe herself, in case she broke the spell.

Rom suddenly gave out a deep sigh, gently lowered his head to his chest, and raised his hands clasped together with the palms facing inwards. He then lifted his head again, opened his eyes wide, looked straight ahead and fixed his gaze on the trunk of the tree.

‘Aela, we must walk in that direction along the pathway as that is where home is waiting for us,’ he loudly exclaimed.

Without hesitation, he started striding purposefully along the road, with Aela following in his footsteps immediately behind him.