Into the dark black forest
#2 of I've Had Enough
Halen led the horse along through the Forest slowly, the fox was sleeping against his back. The forest was much darker now that they had gotten a few miles into it. The trees were immensely high and spaced out from each other. There appeared to be a heavy fog about the area which also obstructed the view. The canopies of the trees were prevents all but a little light to shine through. There didn't appear to be anything inhabiting the forest and it was very quiet.
Halen's eyes darted all over the place, trying to find something in the darkness. A glint of light caught his eye to the left of him and he turned that way just in time to see what appeared to be a big ball of light hurdling towards him. He opened his mouth to scream but the ball of light blasted him, as well as the fox, off the horse. The landed on the forest floor with a thud, the fox waking up and yipping in fright. Halen grabbed him and pulled him close, trying to protect him. ''Stay quiet...'' He whispered shakily.
The fox whimpered onto his shoulder. ''O..kay...''
Halen opened his eyes to see a tall cloaked figure walking slowly towards them. His first instinct was to run, but previous knowledge told him that wouldn't be very smart. The figure came to a stop in front of them. ''Who are you and what business to you have in this forest?''
Halen whimpered and opened his mouth but no sound same out. He took a breath and answered quietly. ''I'm Halen and th-''
''SPEAK UP!'' The figure shouted.
Halen yelped and he could feel the fox in his arms shaking violently in fright. He cleared his throat and tried again. ''We're just trying to escape from my hometown of Ashaile... and we're just passing through...''
The figure crossed his arms. ''Do you have any connections to the Jhariv?''
Halen shook his head. ''No...''
The figure scoffed. ''Do you know who the Jhariv are?''
Halen shook his head again. ''No...''
The figure laughed and the thick fog disappeared around them. ''I didn't think so, but you can't be too careful.''
Halen looked around. ''What... what happened?'' The fox was carefully looking over his shoulder at the surroundings. The fog had completely disappeared as if it was never there.
''It was an illusion.'' The cloaked figure put his hood back revealing an raccoon. He held out a paw to Halen. ''Come on, I'll let you stay at my house tonight.''
Halen carefully took his paw and the raccoon pulled them both to their feet. The fox clung tightly to Halen, he had stopped crying and shaking but still looked worried.
The raccoon took them a ways off to the left of their course where a small cabin appeared out of nowhere. ''Another illusion.'' He explained when he saw the look of awe on their faces. He hooked the horses reigns up to hitching post at the side of the cabin and then led them inside.
When they got inside their host removed his cloak and hung it on a hook on the wall. He went to a table in the kitchen and took a seat. ''Come sit.''
The two canines complied diligently and took seats at the table. The raccoon leaned back in his chair. ''So what are you're names?''
Halen shifted in his seat slightly. ''My name is Halen and this is...'' He stopped. He realized that he'd been with the fox for about ten hours and they had not exchanged names. ''Uh... what is your name?''
The fox looked over at him, apparently also marveling at the same fact. ''My name is Cheyenne...'' The fox replied, more towards the raccoon than to Halen.
''Halen? As in Prince Halen?'' The raccoon questioned, his head tilted slightly.
Halen blushed and squirmed uncomfortably. ''Yeah...''
Cheyenne looked at him surprised. ''You're... you're a prince?'' Halen nodded.
''Well how come you're out in the middle of a forest instead of back at the castle?'' The raccoon asked, leaning his chair back and propping his feet on the table.
Halen sighed. ''I hate my parents and I can't stand living there... they think they're better than everyone else when really there worse...'' Halen growled a bit, looking off to the side.
Cheyenne's mouth was hanging open a little. ''Why'd you come down to the dungeons to rescue me then? Why risk you're life for one fur?''
Halen looked back over at him. ''I thought I'd be saving more than one fur, turns out you were the only one left, and I couldn't leave you there. It's not right to go an annihilate an entire kingdom just because the king wants to go to war.''
''Unfortunately, Halen, that's what most King's do...'' The raccoon spoke up.
''Who are you anyway?'' Halen asked simply.
The raccoon smiled. ''Sorcerer and Master of Illusions, Shane.'' He replied, raising his paws and leaning his head back. He looked up to see their expressions and he sat the chair back down. ''Okay, so I gave myself the title, but I am really good with illusions. Like all that fog outside that you saw wasn't real, just an enchantment. Anyone passing through will see the fog, until I remove the spell from them.''
''Why are you living out in the middle of the forest?'' Cheyenne asked quietly.
''Because I'm hiding from the Jhariv.'' He stated.
''Wh-''
''The Jhariv is an cult that assassinates furs for money. Guards from every kingdom are trying to track down their hideout.''
''And they were hired to assassinate you?'' Halen was in a bit of a shock.
''Well... no not really... My father and mother were part of their cult... they both were killed on a mission... I didn't want to be part of the cult so I ran away... and as you can imagine, they don't let people just 'leave'. So they want to track me down so I can't tell anyone where they are hiding.'' He sighed and rested his arms on the table.
''Can't you just tell the guards where their hideout is so that they'll be killed and you won't have to worry about it?'' Cheyenne asked softly.
''No... to sort out that problem they have assassins guarding the entrances to all the nearby towns. So if I come anywhere near the towns I'll be killed.'' Shane replied with little interest.
''But you can do illusions, you could just make yourself invisible or something and get in that way.'' Halen's ears perked up a bit.
''Not that simple, it takes a lot more training to perform those kinds of illusions on living things. Besides, the members of the Jhariv are trained to see past illusions. I tried faking my death also, but that was poorly done and didn't work.'' He laughed to himself as he reminisced.
''How old are you, you look kind of young.'' Halen knew the question wasn't exactly pertaining to the subject but he wanted to know.
''I'm twenty two... well I will be in a month...'' He smiled at them. ''What about you two?''
''I'm eighteen.'' Halen turned to Cheyenne. ''What about you?''
Cheyenne blushed slightly. ''I'm only sixteen...''
Shane smiled. ''Nothing to be ashamed of.''
''I'm always younger than everyone...'' Cheyenne's ears back and he sighed.
Halen watched him, a similar frown on his muzzle. 'I want to just hug him... make him feel better... what would he do if I did? Would he get mad at me? Would he hug me back? Could he poss-'
''HALEN!'' Shane shouted, leaning across the table and waving a paw in front of Halen's eyes.
Halen yipped and almost fell out of his chair. ''Wh-what?''
''I asked you where you were traveling to.'' Shane giggled, sitting back in his chair. ''What were you thinking about?''
Halen turned red and looked at Cheyenne quickly, then back to Shane. ''Nothing.''
Shane nodded, looking between the two canines. ''Sure... Anyway, like I said, where are you traveling to?''
Halen leaned back in his chair and rested his paws in his lap. ''I'm not entirely sure, I don't know what's south of this forest, or if we are even traveling south anymore. I lost my sense of direction when we entered this place.''
Shane laughed. ''Well, you were going south. Let's see... the town south of here is Canterbury. It's a fairly decent town. Easy to find work and the tariff isn't too high. Then if you go east of here you'll eventually reach Heradon. That's also a nice place, can find work there as well. Safest place too, they don't have any enemies.'' He giggled to himself. ''Hmmm, then if you go back north you'll reach Ashaile, which you are running away from. West of here... is Verona, it's-''
''Not anymore...'' Halen cut him off.
''What?'' Shane tilted his head.
''Ashaile defeated them recently... nothing is left of the place...'' Halen continued.
''Oh my god... I didn't know... that's amazing.'' Shane replied, a look of surprise on his face.
Cheyenne whimpered and a tear ran down his muzzle. ''That was... that was where I lived...''
Shane's ears laid back. ''I'm sorry to hear that...''
Halen moved his chair closer to him and put an arm around Cheyenne, pulling him so that his head was on his shoulder. ''It's okay...''
Cheyenne began crying hard onto Halen's shoulder. ''My... my entire... family... they're... all... gone...'' He said between sobs.
Shane got up and walked slowly over to him. ''Here...'' He took Cheyenne into his arms. ''Let's get you some rest...'' He carried Cheyenne off into a separate room.
Halen watched as Shane's ringed tail disappeared into the next room. He turned back around and leaned on the table when Shane re-entered. ''I feel so sorry for him...'' Halen confessed.
Shane nodded. ''Yeah I know what you mean... I was the same way when I lost my parents... No matter how much you hate them... when they die... it's heart breaking...''
Halen nodded. ''Yeah... I may hate my parents and everything they do... but knowing they're dead... it just... I can't explain it...''
Shane got up and stretched. ''It's late... come on... you and I can sleep in front of the fire.'' He walked over into the living room where a fire was going and laid down to one side of it.
Halen walked in and laid down opposite of Shane. ''Thanks for letting us stay here tonight.''
''It's nothing...'' Shane smiled. ''Goodnight.''
''Goodnight.'' Halen closed his eyes, thinking of Cheyenne and what he might be able to do to help him feel better.