BACK IN ELDAD

CYRAN

I never thought the sight of the forest would gladden me as we flee the cursed city. I cover the rear, while Ronn carries Keilen. I relish the the cool night air on my face, the normal sounds of trees dancing in the wind and the smell of grass; and I promise myself never to return to that place. Something tells me there are worse things than demonic hybrid wolves, a dragur and an annis within those walls.

Annis. The word makes my skin crawl; gooseflesh still rises on my neck when I think of her voice and that screech. Ronn said they were witches, dead elven witches, worse than the mages that still lurk inside those walls. The fact that we escaped relatively unscathed by her is the greatest miracle I've ever known, even though he says I am to thank. I'm sure my magic was just a slap in the face, nothing major to a creature like that.

We cross the field faster than we had done when we came this way, but I feel my lungs start to gi