Warriors of the Twilight (Updated Version)

Chapter Two

 "We'll stop here!" Caran reined up his horse, calling to the men behind him.

Before Caran and his band of mercenaries lay the mouth of a large cave, draped in the remains of the summer's moss and ivy. Dormant bushes and shrubbery covered the small hillside on which the cave was situated, providing plenty of cover, even in the winter. An assortment of deciduous and evergreen trees spread their boughs overhead, coupled with the night mist rising from the damp ground, gave the place a ghostly quality. The moon had risen high, and it occasionally pierced through the tree branches, making silvery patches in the mist.

Seventeen-year-old Khelek, Caran's slave, and heir, dismounted from his black stallion, patting the creature's shoulder after dropping to the ground.

"Good boy, Beleger." The large creature bobbed his head and snorted, swishing his flaxen tail.

"Khelek!" Caran called from the other side of Beleger, his voice sharp.

"Yes, master?" Khelek hurried around his mount's head, to stand before the older man.

Caran held out the reins of his own horse, a large grullo stallion. Khelek took them, and turned to lead the horse away, when Caran's large hand clamped down on his shoulder.

Khelek stopped, his body instinctively tensing. He said nothing, waiting for the larger man to speak.

Caran slapped the younger man on the back, a slight grin appearing on his face.

"You're a good boy."

"Thank you, master."

Khelek nodded slightly to Caran, waiting for the moment when he could get away. Inwardly he despised the man, but years worth of punishments had taught him to keep that opinion to himself. And it had served him well, for now Caran was far less cruel than he had been in past years. Though, the man could never seem to make up his mind whether he loved Khelek like his own son, or whether Khelek was the worst waste of space that ever existed.

Caran squinted slightly, nodding his head, he repeated the phrase. "You're a good boy. Don't forget it."

Don't worry, Caran. I won't forget. Khelek lightly touched his right cheek, where Caran had branded him eleven years before, after having claimed him from a raid on a small camp of Dunedain rangers.

Caran cuffed Khelek's cheek playfully, chuckling slightly. He slid into different moods far quicker than was comfortable for the younger man.

"Go water the horses, boy. You're wasting time."

I won't be a 'boy' much longer...Khelek suppressed a slight smile. I really don't mind you not noticing that, though. The longer Caran treated him like a 'good boy,' the easier it would be for him to blend in. And to blend in is what he needed to continue to do, if he was going to survive as a slave of a mercenary.

Carefully, Khelek lead the horses through the woods, searching for a water source.

This place must be beautiful in the spring...His mind wandered, as he wondered what the ivies and mosses and bushes would look like when life returned to them after winter's chill dissipated with the advent of spring.

Ehtele'mele. The time of rebirth and life. Always, the Vernal Equinox was when Khelek's hopes and dreams were at their highest. When I buy my freedom, it will be in the spring. I'll have a whole year ahead of me to begin my life anew...

He breathed in, imagining the smells and sounds and sights of the Woods of Ithilien, garbed in the blossom laden robe of spring.

And then, the image came to his eyes and ears, invading all his senses, pushing aside the darkness and gloom he walked in.