Outcasts Of Velrune Part 22

Eve had filled him in on Lysander and Melody's discussion as she listened in. I wonder if Alexandra could really be an Immortal.

Max laughed to himself. That was too much to believe.

At the very least, I hope she's telling the truth about knowing a person who can open this box.

Behind him, he heard Melody and Lysander step into the forest.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.

Alexandra led them along a narrow path for only a short distance before abandoning it to forge her own path between the trees. While she and Eve moved effortlessly past tree limbs and roots, Max struggled to keep from tripping.

Maybe she really does control this forest.

Luckily, following Eve's bright red tail kept him from hitting anything too big. Behind him, Melody followed with less trouble, but a string of curses flowed from Lysander as he walked into everything from roots to tree trunks. A particularly loud thud made Max cringe.

"Blasted trees! Couldn't that brat at least follow the trail back to town first?"

Alexandra's small voice came from the front. "No."

Distracted, Max failed to duck a small limb that whipped back after Eve pushed by it. I didn't think she was paying attention to us.

Lysander raised his voice. "No? No! All I get is no!"

"I need not explain myself to you, Protector. However, if it will shut you up, I will say that the town has too many curious eyes and ears. Now, stay quiet, or I will send you back to town by yourself, never to see me again. You no longer have the brooches after all."

Except for the occasional curse caused by a run-in with a limb or root, everyone remained silent until they exited the forest an hour later. Max breathed a sigh of relief when he saw open ground again.

"Thank goodness that's over with."

Lysander stumbled out last, rubbing his forehead. "I've been in brawls that hurt less."

Max broke out laughing. Lysander had twigs, leaves and other brush sticking out from all sorts of places. Standing in the moonlight, he looked like a forest monster from a child's story.

Max swore he saw a smile flash across Alexandra's face when she spoke to Lysander. "You will recover; we are still too close to town. When we stop at dawn, you can complain all you want."

From the forest they headed out across several small hills before reaching the plains where the walking became easier. When dawn arrived, they were well ready for a break. Alexandra came to a stop and faced them.

"We will rest here for a few hours. At late morning, we will move again until early afternoon. Then, we will stop until after the sun sets."

Lysander plucked a lingering twig from his hair. "That's not much rest."

"We need to keep moving. I have no doubt the Protectors are trying to follow us. I intend to keep ahead of them."

"You are very determined to avoid the Protectors. What do they want with you?"

"It is not so much me they are after, but where I am taking you and what lies there."

"I intend to make a full report anyway, so what's the difference?"

"Time. If I have time, I might be able to change your mind."

"Doubtful."

"The truth can be a powerful thing, even for the likes of you, Lysander."

"What truth?"

"You will have to wait to find out. Now," she extended her hand, "hand me my tent."

Lysander stared at Alexandra blankly. "Tent, I don't have your tent."

Alexandra had a smug look on her face. "Yes, you do. I had them put it in your backpack. You are, after all, the biggest one here."

Lysander took a step forward. "If your tent is in my backpack, then what are you carrying?"

Alexandra didn't flinch. "Things too important for a klutz, such as you, to carry. Now, give me my tent."

Lysander crossed his arms. "And if I don't?"

Alexandra gave a slight flick of her wrist sending the tall gra.s.s around Lysander wrapping around his feet and ankles. Another flick and the gra.s.s jerked him to the ground, face first, where more gra.s.s swarmed over his body, binding him in place. She bent over Lysander, opened his backpack and pulled out a piece of black canvas and four short poles.

"I do not recommend saying no to me."

Alexandra moved a little ways away from the others and extended the poles to three feet in length. She then placed each one on the ground, the gra.s.s winding around them as she did so. She then stretched the black canvas over them, the sides falling level with the ground. With her makeshift tent completed, she crawled under, leaving Max fascinated.

"Wow, Melody, is that why the garden at your Church has grown so much?"

Melody shook her head. "No, no one at the Church has that kind of control over the spirits. All we do is provide a rich, caring environment where the spirits can be happy. I have never seen anyone control plants with that much ease.

The gra.s.s binding Lysander released, allowing him to stand.

"It may be a neat trick, but someone needs to teach that little brat to respect her elders."

Melody gave a nervous laugh. "Good luck with that."

Eve smirked. "If she is an Immortal, like you guys were saying, wouldn't she be your elder, Lysander?"

Max slid off his backpack and sat on the gra.s.s. "About that, I thought all the Immortals had disappeared?"

Melody sat next to Max, kicking off her shoes and laying back on the soft gra.s.s. "All except the cursed ones, the Spirit Leeches."

Lysander shook his head. "Even those were hunted down by the Protectors. One hasn't been seen in years."

Lysander sat down across from Max and Melody. Swinging his backpack around, he began to shuffle through it.

"I wonder what else of hers they stuck in here."

Eve flopped down on the other side of Max. "But what if she is one?"

Lysander looked up. "Then Max and I will arrest her and take her to headquarters for judgment."

Max gave Lysander a blank look. "Why would we do that?"

"The Spirit Leeches are criminals. They prey on the innocent, draining them of their spirit energy, killing them."

"But, who are they?"

"They are Immortals who betrayed their own kind and were cursed for their crime."

Max waved his hands." Whoa, wait a second. She's only nine. How could she have betrayed anyone?"

Melody nodded. "I must admit, there is nothing recorded from our order concerning Spirit Leeches of such a young age, but I can't explain the power she has either."

Lysander glanced at Alexandra's tent. "And that has me worried. Your order knows more about this stuff than anyone, and you don't even know what to make of her. What I do know, for sure, is that she's dangerous. Stay alert, Max."

Eve huffed. "You guys are being too dramatic. Leave her alone. Relax and enjoy the scenery.

Max rolled his eyes. "And you're having too much fun, Eve."

Eve laughed merrily, causing the others to put the topic aside for the moment. Sitting up, she rummaged around in her backpack.

"Hmm, guess we don't get a tent. Ooo, they packed cheese for Spook."

Eve took out a small piece of cheese. Spook, hearing her name, popped out of her satchel, spied the cheese and quickly climbed over Eve to s.n.a.t.c.h it. This time, Max and Melody broke out laughing. Lysander shook his head and resumed shuffling through his pack.

"Seems I get all the heavy equipment: rope, spade...what the?" Lysander pulled out a dark purple colored parasol.

Max pointed at the parasol. "Hey, that's the parasol Alexandra carried when I saw her in town."

Lysander grunted. "Well at least one of us will look fashionable. What am I, her servant?"

Eve stood and walked over to Lysander. "Give it here, I'll keep it."

Looking at Alexandra's tent, Max shook his head. "I don't think it has anything to do with fashion. Didn't you notice how pale she is? She must burn easy in the sunlight."

Lysander handed over the parasol. "That is a condition commonly found in Spirit Leeches. Careful how friendly you become with her."

Eve sat back down in her spot. "Spirit Leech or not, she's a peach compared to you."

Lysander's face grew red. "We better get some rest while we can. We move again in a few hours."

While they knew Lysander was simply trying to stop the conversation, they still took the advice. It had been a long night. They each found the softest patch of ground they could and laid down for a nap.

Four hours later, Eve awoke to find Alexandra standing over her, parasol in hand. "It is time to go. I can only move while the sun is overhead, once it starts to sink we will have to stop until nightfall."

Eve popped up from the ground. "How did you sneak up on me?"

The slightest of smiles touched the corners of Alexandra's lips. "I grew up around the lacarna so I know their abilities. Do not worry though, you will learn how to detect my presence." She turned to walk away. "Oh, thank you for getting my parasol."

Eve shrugged her shoulders. "Welcome. Max recognized it when Lysander pulled it out of his pack. He thought you might need it in the sun."

Alexandra paused. "Hmm."

Max stood from where he had been sleeping, Eve and Alexandra's conversation having awoken him. "Hey, Alex, I..."

Alexandra spun around, her eyes burning with fire. "My name is Alexandra!" She spun away, "Now move," and started walking.

Max, startled by Alexandra's reaction, forgot his question. Lysander stepped beside him.

"Told you to be careful."

Max grabbed his chest. "When did you get up?"

Lysander pointed to Max's other side. "Same time as Melody."

Melody waved at Max. "Hi."

Max shook his head. "Eve's right, I really need to pay more attention. In any event, Alexandra's not waiting for us."

Alexandra had already put close to 150 feet between them with Eve trailing a short distance behind her. Max, Melody and Lysander grabbed their backpacks and rushed after them.

Two hours later, when Alexandra's parcel could no longer adequately block the sun's light, they stopped to rest once again. When the sun set, they moved again, this time going until the next day's sunrise. Max stuck close to Lysander the first night, trying to get more information about the Spirit Leeches.

"Hey, Lysander, Mr. Penna never mentioned the Spirit Leeches in his lectures."

"That doesn't surprise me. Not too many people know about them anymore, and the rest of us would like to forget about them."

"Why? Does it have something to do with what you said about them betraying their own kind? What happened?"

Lysander took a deep breath. "What I've been told, Max, is this. During the lacarnian war against the humans, some of the Immortals sided with the lacarna rather than trying to find a fair way to end the conflict. After the war, the other Immortals held them accountable for their actions. They punished them by inflicting them with a disease that would slowly eat away at their spirit energy, eventually killing them."

Max shook his head. "But the disease didn't kill them all, did it?"

"No, some found they could draw out the life spirit of others to temporarily counter the disease's effect."

"Draw out their spirit energy? You said that earlier too. I don't understand what you mean."

Lysander looked back to Melody who walked a few steps behind them. "I think you can explain this part better than me."

Melody nodded. "Max, do you remember what I told you about the spirits? How they are in all living things? Well, that goes for us too. It's kind of like this: If we get a cut, we bleed; the more we bleed, the weaker we get; if we bleed too much, we die. It works the same with our spirit energy. As we lose our spirit energy we grow weak, we lose too much, we die. The Spirit Leeches act like a cut, creating a place for the spirit energy to flow out. The good news is, like our blood, our spirit energy replenishes overtime, or at least for normal humans it does. The disease the Spirit Leeches have eats away the energy faster than it can replenish."

Max thought about this for a moment before speaking. "So, the Spirit Leeches can draw out the energy of others to replace their own?"