The faint grey light of dawn finally broke through the ancient forest.  The two weary men, perched high in a tree, scanned the forest floor below.  It appeared the beasts had grown bored and left - for now.  Eurig and Hunan had spent the night sitting on large limbs, listening to the animals below, and napping as much as they could without falling out. What small length of rope they had, found days before, they used to strap themselves to the trunk.  They had pulled their woolen cloaks around themselves in an attempt to stay warm, but the shivers had set in quickly as a steady cold rain fell.  It had been another very long night in the deep, dark forests of the northern land of Angau.

“Do you think we can get out now, Hunan?  I don’t hear them wolves no more,” said Eurig.  “I’m cold and tired of sleeping in trees!”

“It has been at least an hour since we last heard them howl, and then it sounded like they were heading south over the next mountain.  I’m ready to climb out,” answered Hunan as he untied the old brown rope from around his torso. 

The two gaunt and dirt-covered men carefully climbed down the tree and thankfully stepped onto solid ground below.  It had been a few days since they had last eaten.  Deep hunger made their movements slow. 

“I sure wish we had brought more food.  I’m starving to death!” exclaimed Eurig.  “Why did we let that fool, Rhuw, carry most of the food?”

“Because you made him!  It was your choice to carry the jewels and let him carry the food, so stop complaining,” replied Hunan who was in no mood for Eurig’s mouth.

“Well, at least the jewels are safe, aren’t they?” responded Eurig.

“They are, but we should have spread the load around,” answered Hunan.  “When your traveling partner gets ripped apart by a pack of wolves the food he’s carrying gets eaten with him!”

“I told him to get in the tree.  He was too slow,” said Eurig.

“There is nothing we can do about it now.  Rhuw and our cheese gave those wolves a very fine meal,” replied Hunan shaking his head.

“I hope they choke on his bones!” exclaimed Eurig. 

“If my calculations are correct we should be getting near the border with the North.  And if the stories are true, we’ll have food soon,” said Hunan with confidence.  “I hear their feasts are even more wonderful than Festival!”

“If they even exist,” said Eurig, almost under his breath.  “We should have given up on this journey days ago and gone home.”

“Eurig, like most others, you are always the skeptic.  We have the jewels. Trust me,” replied Hunan with a smile.  “We need to move before the wolves decide to come back this way.  You don’t want to turn around and go back in their direction do you?”

“No……. What about the Eryr and the flying patrols?” asked Eurig who now looked up.

“The forest cover is too thick here.  They can’t see us, even if they are flying this far north,” answered Hunan.  “Nonetheless, we need to move swiftly and quietly.  We don’t want to draw in more beasts and have to climb another tree.”

The two exhausted men traveled as fast and quiet as their bodies would allow for the next eight hours, stopping periodically to drink water and rest briefly.  Except for the sound of flowing water and raindrops falling from leaves, these woods were unusually quiet.  For the past several days, they had been chased by large predators and had lost their traveling companion, Rhuw, to a pack of wolves.  But today, it seemed that something else more sinister was watching them; they could feel the eyes.  Nonetheless, due to their fatigue, they sped up only twice when they heard the distant howls of wolves echo through the mountains.

During the first half of the day, they dropped into a long narrow valley with a small river and large boulders that ran towards the north.  When the valley and the river suddenly turned northwest, they had to climb an hour, steeply upwards, through a dense thicket of shrubs before they topped out on a mountain ridge running east and west.  They were lucky to find a patch of bilberry bushes in an opening where they stopped to gorge themselves and fill their sacks.  This gave them newfound energy and improved their mood although they could not stay in that spot for long.  There were many animal trails and bear droppings all around as well as large tree trunks with deep claw marks.  The woods were more open on this ridge making them feel more exposed.  At any moment, an Eryr soldier could fly over and spot them. 

“Can you hear that?” whispered Hunan rather loudly.

“What?” asked Eurig with a full mouth and berry juice running down his straggly, red beard. 

“That deep rumbling sound,” answered Hunan. “Listen!”

Eurig stopped picking berries and the two stood still for a moment, ever keeping an eye out above them.  A deep rumbling could be heard far away that seemed to cause the mountains under them to tremble. 

“What is that?” asked Eurig.

“I’m not sure but I believe that is a sign that we are near the border with the North.  We need to move!” exclaimed Hunan.

The two robed men, with their small packs, fled the bilberry patch and dropped down the steep mountainside, heading in the general direction of the distant rumble.  Twice, they had to detour around sheer rock walls that dropped off into the next valley.  Upon finding a steep animal trail down, they slid loudly the rest of the way on their rears.  Upon reaching the bottom, they stood and listened again while looking for the nearest climbable tree; still no predators to be seen or heard.  In this deep, rugged valley, they found another stream that made its way north.  With new energy from the berries and a sense of excitement, they made good time.  As they moved farther and farther north, the ground and the air around them seemed to vibrate louder and louder.  Later in the day when the creek turned east, they made one final push up and to the top of another steep mountain ridge after stopping for water and some berries from their sacks. 

At the top of this second mountain ridge, they could clearly hear the roar.  It was almost deafening.  They could also tell that the dense forest finally opened not far below.  The north side of this mountain ridge was not as steep so they quickly made it halfway down when suddenly the trees halted at the top of a large bolder field that ran to the roar below.  They froze as their eyes took in the sight before them, mouths wide in awe!

“How are we supposed to get across that?!” Eurig exclaimed, eyes as big as saucers.

“What?” Hunan finally responded as he continued to gaze.

“How are we supposed to get across that?!” asked Eurig again, almost having to shout for Hunan to hear him.

“Don’t worry.  We’ll use the jewels,” responded Hunan loudly.  “Let us try to find a small beach a little further to the west.” 

Hunan led the way, angling to the left down the boulder field.  He and Eurig slowly picked their way through the steep field of jagged, and often slick, rocks of various sizes.  They both fell more than once.  A trickle of blood ran down Eurig’s left arm from a gash he received in one of the falls.  After an hour of slow travel westward along the steep shoreline, they finally found the first substantial patch of sand.  This little beach measured roughly twenty yards across.  Above it, large, jagged rocks sloped up about fifty yards to the dark forest that stood looming over them from above. 

“Here’s where we will set up!” exclaimed Hunan.

“I don’t like this!” responded Eurig looking up the hill at the dark woods above.  “We are in the open and I feel we are being watched!”

“Trust me, Eurig.  I will soon call in the spirits and we’ll be carried away,” said Hunan confidently.  “Remove your pouch from your pack.”

Hunan removed his own leather sack from his back and set it down on the beach.  Dropping to his knees, he carefully removed a leather pouch.  Eurig did the same while keeping an eye on the woods above.  Loosening the drawstrings on the pouches, they reached in with their hands, carefully removing the contents and placing them gently on the sand.  When finished, roughly forty beautiful gemstones of various colors, shapes and sizes sat on the sand.  Hunan looked at the jewels and then gazed to the north with a smile.

“What do we do now?” asked Eurig.

“Be patient.  Our collection is beautiful.  All I need to do is to perform the ceremony,” answered Hunan.

Hunan carefully picked each gemstone up and arranged them by color into the shape of a bird facing the north.  He then had Eurig kneel down beside of him over the jewels, facing the north with their backs to the trees much to Eurig’s dismay.  Hunan then began to chant and meditate over the stones with his hands in the air and his eyes closed.  Eurig watched him and repeated the incantations.  This continued for an hour.  Nothing. 

“How long do we have to do this?  This isn’t working,” Eurig finally said. 

“Give it time.  They will come,” answered Hunan, looking up at the grey clouds above and to the view before them in the north.  Hunan then changed his incantation and chanted diligently for another hour.

“Let’s build a fire.  Go find us some dry fire wood and tinder,” commanded Hunan, now becoming impatient. 

“Me? I don’t want to go up there!” responded Eurig.

“Don’t worry.  We are safe here with our jewels,” said Hunan.  “Now go!  Find some wood before it gets too dark!”

Eurig carefully made his way up the rocks to the forest above.  It seemed like night under the dense canopy.  First, he found a cedar and peeled off small strips of bark to use as tinder.  He then rushed to find smaller limbs of dead wood still attached to their trunks that might be dry inside.  More than once he thought he could hear limbs crack followed by footsteps.  He knew he was being watched and expected an attack at any moment by a wild animal…… or something worse.  Finally, with a cloak pocket full of tinder and a large stack of wood under his right arm, he made his way out of the darkness and stumbled back down the boulder field to the beach where Hunan stopped his incantations long enough to help build a fire.  By this time, the day was getting late and the light began to dim on the small beach as the sun, masked by thick grey clouds, dropped behind the mountains in the western sky.  The small fire now burned bright.

“It is starting to get late, Eurig.  We must chant loud and without ceasing!” commanded Hunan.

The two men kneeled down once again before their gemstones and began anew their chants and meditations.  So diligent was Hunan’s prayers that he began to sweat.  This continued for another half hour before even Hunan began to become frustrated.  The grey light of dusk was falling quickly and still nothing was happening. 

“I think I saw something move in the trees up there!” exclaimed Eurig, pointing up the hill behind them. 

“I don’t see anything!” replied Hunan who turned and peered through the quickly failing light to the black tree line above. 

“LOOK!  THERE IT IS!” shouted Eurig.

They both could see movement in the trees but could not tell what the creatures were.  Hunan quickly turned around and grabbed two of his brightest gemstones from the figure of the jewel bird on the sand.  He held the gemstones tightly in his fists and raised them high above his head towards the northern sky.

“OH SPIRITS!  COME NOW AND TAKE US!” shouted Hunan.  He continued this for several minutes and began cursing and screaming the names of various spirits in futility.  Suddenly, they heard growls behind them.

“Hunan……are those the spirits?” whimpered Eurig pointing again to the trees behind them.

Standing at the edge of the dark forest above were about a dozen, large, black-cloaked and hooded figures peering down upon them.  Wolves stood at their feet, teeth bare, along with at least two large bears.  As if on command, the wolves began to howl and the bears belched out terrifying roars.  Eurig pulled out his knife as both he and Hunan shook in terror.  As the wild beasts bared their fangs, growled, and licked their mouths for a meal of flesh, the dark creatures rose several feet in the air.  They then began to float just over the jagged rocks down to the two men, their faces hidden under their black hoods.  They paused just over the edge of the sand just twenty yards away, still hovering in the air, as Eurig and Hunan backed up towards the water.  They had the men cornered in a semi-circle.

“Are you the spirits we have been calling for?  Are you from the North?” asked Hunan, his voice shaking.  There was no reply.  Hunan then gently and slowly kneeled down and grabbed several of the most beautiful jewels on the sand.  He then held them out to Eurig.

“Here, Eurig.  Offer these to them!” commanded Hunan.

“Why me?!  Why don’t you give them the jewels?” Eurig protested.

“Okay….. we’ll both offer them the jewels,” replied Hunan reluctantly. 

Hunan then handed Eurig several of the gemstones.  They then moved slowly across the small beach towards the creatures.  Hunan held out both hands, cupped and facing up so the jewels could be plainly seen.  They stopped about ten feet away from the floating creatures who were peering down upon them.

“Will you accept our offer, oh great spirits?” Hunan asked as he raised his hands to present the gifts.

With that, the dark creature hovering closest over Eurig suddenly pulled a very large, jagged sword from under his cloak.  He swooped down and plunged the sword through Eurig’s chest to the hilt.  Eurig grunted once as his eyes went wide in pain and horror, his jewels falling to the sand at his feet.  The creature then picked Eurig up with the sword and flung his body a large distance in the air, through the grey dusk, where it splashed in the sea just out of sight in the edge of darkness.  The wolves howled and the bears roared.

Hunan screamed and cowered on the ground, crying.  “PLEASE!  PLEASE!  DON’T KILL ME!  TAKE THE JEWELS…… ALL OF THEM!”

The dark creature hovering closest to Hunan dropped onto the ground.  He was now holding a very large and heavy war hammer at his right side.  Hunan reluctantly looked up at him and wept.  The creature then raised out his left arm and pointed from under his black cloak with a bony finger towards the jewels then the water.  Hunan was confused.  The creature jutted his finger twice towards the jewels, then the water. 

“You want me to throw the jewels in the water?!” whimpered Hunan.  The creature responded by shaking its head no.  It then repeated the command by pointing towards the jewels, then Hunan, then the water.

“You want me to take the jewels and swim?!” cried Hunan. The creature responded by nodding its head yes. 

“No!  I can’t,” cried Hunan.  The creature responded by raising the massive war hammer over Hunan’s head.  “OKAY!  I WILL SWIM!”

Hunan stood up and backed up to where the jewels lay.  He picked up several more that glittered in the waning light of the campfire.  He then slowly walked to the edge of the water.  All of the dark creatures now hovered over him.  He turned towards the water and looked north before looking back over his shoulder.  The creatures urged him forward, pointing north in the dark sky. 

Hunan, as best as he could, hurriedly placed gemstones in pockets in his tunic and a small leather sack around his neck.  He then waded slowly out into the cold water.  The sand dropped off quickly into the deep and Hunan found himself struggling to stay above water.  He fought to swim north but he was surprised to find the current was already extremely swift.  The creatures looked on silently and the wolves continued to howl at the edge of the trees.  Hunan now cried and flailed with his arms, fighting against the current to try and swim north.  It was no use.  The heavy current was more than he could swim against.  He fought for several minutes before becoming exhausted and giving up drifting swiftly in the dark towards the deafening roar a half mile to the east.  Within minutes, Hunan’s body was crushed and swept away.  He and Eurig were never to be seen again in the Kingdom of Gwyll.