His legs were wobbly to say the least and, though he felt no pain exactly, there was an uncomfortable grinding sensation in his legs. The nymph smiled wide.

�It will feel out of sync for some while,� she said. �The mending will adapt to your movements in time, becoming one with your reflexes.� She rose from the ground to lead him onward, then hovered to a stop, looking deep into his eyes. �It is unlikely you will ever heal enough to run.�

Simeon masked his thoughts as best he could, but from the nymph�s expression he probably could have done better.

�Perhaps in time...� he replied, testing his movement cautiously. �I am indebted to you Fey... I owe you my thanks, and would speak it if I knew to whom I gave it.�

The nymph took wing toward the heart of the wood saying, �In your tongue I should be known as Chendrelle... and you�ll owe much more than that mortal.�

So much for sweet talk, Simeon thought as Chendrelle led him onward. At first, he struggled to keep up. The grinding in his legs stopped him at times, forcing him to bite back the discomfort of walking. Chendrelle would flutter back to him then and whisper some brief, beautiful verse of song that calmed his twitching. By mid-day there was more calming than walking, so Chendrelle told him to sit for a time to rest his legs.

As he sat, Simeon noticed that she looked weary, her milky skin shining and moist. She must have spent a great deal of her strength tending him, he realized. Perhaps a good time to... no, not yet. He was too deep into the woods now. The right moment would come, in time. Simeon pulled the last few berries she had given him from his makeshift pack and held them out to her. She took a deep-hued blackberry and flew up to a nook in the tree he sat under, letting out a husky sigh.

�Our Queen has been taken,� she said sadly.

Simeon was surprised by the Fey�s directness. He had feared he would become the slave of some impossible demand, forever at the nymph�s beck and call, but the mask of sadness she wore bore plain truth. Still, he had barely begun to walk again, and none too easily. What good could he possibly be to a creature as powerful as the Fey?

�Take her back then. Do you think to throw me to her captors for your pleasure?� he asked. �Cast your enchantments upon them, bring down the anger of the Fey-born or curse them for their insolence. Why send this?� he asked, pointing to his maimed body.

�Because only you may approach her place of confinement.�

�So she is held somewhere outside the wood?� Simeon asked hopefully.

�No,� the nymph replied. �She is here in the heart of the forest.�

�What sort of being could make this so?� he asked.

Chedrelle looked away toward the deep woods, gnawing her tiny lips slightly. She wasn�t going to answer. Simeon began to get a creeping feeling in his gut, which usually meant bad things. No man in his right mind ever entered an enchanted wood. What in hell was powerful enough to take the queen and never leave? And worse still, why did he have to try to kill it?

�You must tell me,� he whispered up to her. �We are bound by oath now... our path is set. I must know everything if I am to succeed.�

Chendrelle stared far away and sighed.

�Long ago, when mortals were first born upon the lands, this forest spread far past the village from which you fled. Ten morning�s journey in all directions,� she began. �Our numbers were much greater than now, and the power of the forest seemed immesurable. For eons, we had lived so. But when men came, that all changed.�

She had a pained look in her eyes as she fluttered down to sit beside him.

�The Nameless decreed that men were the greatest of their creations, as they were made in their own image and thus blessed with Qelltalis of great power. Men were to be wed in life to the elder races... a marriage of flesh and spirit, each making the other stronger.�

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