Chapter 3: The Grey Plains of Lost Hope

The three warriors waved good-bye to their new friends, promising to see them when they came back. They turned their horses towards Almakeen's main gate and cantered out of it. They headed into the forest that would lead them to the open Grey Plains of Lost Hope. The forest wasn't so bad, since some of Almakeen's farmers resided on the banks of the forest. A few woodsmen lived with their families in the forests, and the sun filtered through the trees. Normally animals lived in these woods, with squirrels darting up and down trees, birds flying over head. Merri noticed some deer off to the side and watched as they drank in the small brook that babbled through the forests. Merri took a deep breath, glad that this part of the journey was safe for now.

What she was really worried about now was Daniel's condition. At breakfast, he showed no signs of the nightmare that plagued him the night before. Arlande, Andrew and she were relieved he had recovered, though Merri could see in his eyes that whatever he saw wasn't going be forgettable. She didn't believe that all he saw was Angelina's capture in his dream, he had to see more to break into such a cold sweat, or keep tossing around with such violence. She had played along with him so that he could fall back asleep. Besides, she had only met the man a less than a week ago, and didn't feel he was ready to open that much up to her. She cast a quick side glance towards him, watching him and Andrew in deep conversation.

Merri sighed as she tried to get her feelings in order. Things were going so fast, leaving her only home and going to a distant city and making new friends. Her life was starting to become exciting, something Merri always wanted, yet she was scared. Maybe because she was not too educated in the world outside of her small town. Sure, her father and grandfather had told her about the Grey Plains of Lost Hope, and the Forgotten Ones, but they really had only told her so little. Her father had taught her all the battle moves he knew, but would it be enough now that she was out here in the world? Not all monsters were drunken blacksmiths who made inappropriate moves, including feeling her up. She scowled at the memory, but was still scared.

Andrew called a stop in their journey, as the day was drawing to a close. Merri hadn't noticed the day go by, and found herself hungry since she didn't eat lunch. She dismounted her horse and let him graze with the other two. She sat down with her two companions, who made little conversation with her. After dinner, Andrew set up his sleeping things and was soon fast asleep, leaving her and Daniel by the fire to talk. "I noticed you didn't eat lunch. I tried to get you to, but you seemed deep in thought. What about?"

"The Grey Plains of Lost Hope," Merri said, drawing her knees up to her chest. "I'm sure it's not as bad as the legends say," Daniel said, trying to calm Merri down. Though he hadn't known her for too long, he could sense her nervousness through her calm exterior. "You're right, it could possibly be worse than the legends say," Merri deadpanned. "No, it'll be fine. I promise nothing will hurt you or Andrew," Daniel promised. This loosened Merri up a bit and she smiled. "And I will make sure nothing happens to either you or Sleeping Beauty over there," she said, motioning towards Andrew's sleeping form with a nod of her head. Daniel laughed and then got a deviliesh look in his eyes. "Daniel?" she questioned, before he leapt on her and started to tickle her. Merri's giggles could be heard in the silent trees.

The next morning, Andrew woke up his two friends, smiling at the sight of the two sleeping near each other. Merri was very hard to wake up, he learned, as she fought his shakes. Daniel refused to help, especially when Merri's fists started to fly. Finally, Andrew rolled Merri out of her sleeping bag and she woke up then. "Good morning," she yawned, stretching. "Morning," Daniel responded. "I think I nearly died of laughter last night," she said. "Well, you needed to laugh, especially with the solemn look you held on your face all day," Daniel replied. Andrew looked between the two. "Did I miss something here?"

"Nothing. Daniel here decided to attack me and then tickle me," Merri said, getting a drink of water and heating up a piece of bread. "What are you doing?"

"Toast. My mother taught me this trick. It's very good," Merri said, sticking on two other pieces for the men in the party. Soon, they were toasted on two sides and Merri opened a small container of jelly, which she spread on the bread before handing it out. "Enjoy, boys," she said. The two took cautious bites before devouring the bread. "I guess you liked it," she said, smiling. "All in favor of Merri making breakfast for the rest of the trip say aye!" Andrew said. "Aye!" responded Daniel. "Okay, great. Let's drink some juice that King Henri supplied for us and then continue on our way. Today we venture out into the Grey Plains of Lost Hope," Andrew said. Merri paled and Daniel caught her hand and winked.

Halfway through the day, the group hadn't ran into any problems, and the group was still on guard. They stopped to eat and moved on quickly, wanting to get far out into the plains before night fall. The sun soon started to set in the western sky and Andrew called the stop. They ate in silence and slept in silence, not wanting to alert the monsters to their presence. They even put out the fire right after they finished cooking, worried that the time they had it lit would've alerted the monsters to their location. Merri tossed and turned and kept seeing a purple monster with eight heads approaching the camp. She awoke suddenly and pulled out her bow and arrows. She sat there watching the darkness around her, careful not to breathe too loud. She closed her eyes and saw the Hedera closer to her, and she notched an arrow, pointing it out into the darkness. She slowly counted to five before releasing the arrow. Soon a piercing cry was heard in the darkness, awaking Andrew and Daniel, who readied their weapons.

Out of the darkness, the purple monster appeared. All seven mouths were salivating and the eighth neck was bleeding profusely. "Eew" Merri remarked before notching another arrow. She readied it and pointed it at another neck, shooting. The arrow hit in the right place, the weakest part of the neck, beheading the creature. Now it only had six heads left, one which came down quickly towards Merri, who flipped out of the way and Andrew slammed down his sword. Another head was missing. Daniel went closer to the beast as two heads came towards him. At the last minute, he jumped on the one to his left, beheading the one to his right. He rode the other head to the top, over looking the other three. Merri notched an arrow, shooting at the head right below Daniel. The arrow missed the weak spot and only injured the head. It came crashing down towards Merri who grabbed her sword in time to decapitate it. Another head came towards Andrew who slit its neck with his knife. Merri notched yet another arrow and beheaded the attacking head. Two heads left, one with Daniel on it. He beheaded the last head and slid down the neck of the head he was on to the bottom. There, he plunged his sword into its heart and jumped off as Merri dealt with the last head. As he landed on the ground, he sheathed his sword. Merri's word of warning reached him too late as the Hedera's claw caught into his arm.

Andrew managed to pull Daniel from the claw without ripping the injured arm off, but it was still badly wounded. Andrew looked at Merri, who was close to tears just then. "We need to get him help," Andrew said. "No, really?" came a faint sarcastic remark. "Daniel?" Merri said. "I'm not unconscious yet," the man replied. "Good, let's not get you there," Andrew replied. "The only question is how?" Merri fiddled with her necklace before an idea popped into her head. "Fairies," she whispered. "What?" Andrew asked, as Daniel drifted in and out of consciousness. "Liliana said that the fairies were always willing to help those on the Grey Plains who called on them. It's worth a try, isn't it?" Andrew nodded, as Merri just sat there, concentrating.

A few minutes later, a small light was seen coming towards the trio, very quickly. Andrew and Merri held their breath as the light came closer before stopping. It was, indeed, a fairy, resembling Liliana, though wearing a pale pink dress. She smiled at the two uninjured warriors and bent down to help the third. Light engulfed them all and soon, they were in a fairy village. Fairies flitted about them, male and female. A group came and lifted Daniel up and the first fairy promised that he would be fine. Another fairy, younger, Merri could tell, came to help them to resting quarters. Andrew and Merri laid down, both worried yet confident in the health of their comrade. They soon drifted off into a peaceful slumber, getting their strength up for the rest of their journey.

A/N: I'm baaaack! Did you miss me, huh huh? I'm sorry it's been so long since I last updated, but I write when the muse tells me to write. Recently, my "Passions" muse was coming through louder than any other muse, but this one came back. Sneak peek, next chapter: Merri gets kidnapped! By who? What does Daniel do? ~*Mac*~