Chapter 5 - The Watcher

When Andres eventually awoke, he was startled by the strange surroundings.  He found himself in a dark chamber with no windows; the only illumination was a lantern perched on a nearby table.  The walls appeared to be covered with animal skins and animal heads.  In one corner was a complete skeleton of some kind of animal.  Cable was leaning against the opposite wall, directly under the mounted head of a growling bear.  Their satchels had been pulled off them and were hanging over the bear's nose.

In the middle of the room, facing toward them but apparently paying no attention, was a man who appeared to have more hair than skin.  His face was seemingly completely covered with his bushy beard and mustache.  And where his beard left off, his hair picked up.  All that could be seen was a pair of beady eyes whose whites seemed to glow in the dim light.

Andres tried to stand up, but quickly realized that his feet were tied.  He went to untie them, only to realize that his hands were tied as well.  In frustration, he turned to Cable and said, "Mmmmf mmmmf mmf mmmf mmmmmmf."  Actually, what he'd meant to say was, "Cable, can you untie me?"  But the gag in his mouth limited his choice of words.

However, the grunt was enough to startle the hairy man.  He immediately jumped up and walked over toward the boys.  He stooped down and peered at them.  He paced around for a couple of minutes.  Then he blurted out, "What are you boys doing in my woods?!"

Andres quickly replied, "Mmmmf mmmmmmf mmf mmmmf."  Translated, he meant, "We can't tell you anything as long as these gags are in our mouths."

The hairy man seemed to understand Andres, so he loosened the gags from both their mouths.  Then he bellowed again, "What are you boys doing in my woods?!"

Cable said, "Well, we're awfully sorry for intruding, sir.  I can't even exactly remember how we got into these woods.  You see, the last thing I can remember is that we were about to go over a waterfall.  Then something happened, and here we are."

The hairy man paused for a moment.  Finally, he asked, "Then what were you doing, traveling down the river and disturbing my peace?"

Andres piped up.  "Look, mister, we really don't want to disturb anybody.  We were just sent on a mission, and this is where we ended up.  We were told to travel to a clearing just above a waterfall.  If we did, the man said we would find good help.  Well, it didn't exactly end up that way.  I mean, we almost fell over the waterfall, we never reached the clearing, and I wouldn't exactly call you good help!"  The longer Andres talked, the more agitated he got.

Cable closed his eyes.  Didn't Andres realize that they were in danger? 

The hairy man tiptoed over toward Andres.  He looked him in the eyes, then slapped him across the face.  "Don't speak like a fool, boy," he said.  "If it weren't for me, you'd be dead by now."  Andres was startled by the blow, but it didn't bother him too much.  He'd been struck in the face a hundred times by Cable's bamboo stick during their jousts.  This was nothing.

But Cable was worried.  He spoke up.  "Hey mister, you have been very kind to us to save us from...from whatever was about to kill us.  If you could bring us our satchels, we can give you some money for your trouble.  We just need to get going.  We're on a mission, you see."

The hairy man stalked over toward Cable.  "A mission, you say?" he said in a low, somewhat raspy voice.  "What kind of mission is it?"

"We're...we're trying to find a lost prince.  His name is Dorian," replied Cable.

The hairy man got quite agitated when he heard this.  He paced around the room, scratching his beard repeatedly as he did so.  He walked over and grabbed one of the satchels.  "Your money isn't worth much to me," he declared as he reached in and grabbed the bag of coins.

Andres was worried that he might have grabbed his satchel.  He was not fond of losing any money.  So he said, "Please, if it's not worth much, then only take two or three coins.  Then could you please let us go?"

"I'll take as much as I want!" the hairy man declared.  He reached into the bag and--to Andres' great relief--grabbed just one coin.  He walked over to the lantern to examine it more closely.  He stared at the coin for what seemed like 10 minutes.  Time stood still.  Eventually, the hairy man wiped his eyes.  He was apparently crying.

He turned to Cable and said, in a low whisper, "Where did you get these coins?"

Cable answered, "From the man who sent us on our mission.  His name was Ronaldus."

At the mention of that name, the hairy man thrust his arms into the air and leaped.  Cable thought he even saw a smile, but it was impossible to see his mouth through the hair.  "So he's alive!" the hairy man declared.  "He's alive!  I thought I might be the only one left!  Oh boys, please forgive me.  I've had to learn to not trust anyone."  Then he hastened to untie the ropes around the boys' hands and feet.

"Please, come have a seat," he then said to the boys.  He motioned them over to his table.  His "seats" were stumps of wood, but they were a whole lot better than his dirt floor, so the boys eagerly sat down.  The hairy man grabbed a nearby pitcher of water and poured the boys a drink.  Cable sipped it; Andres downed it in one gulp.

An awkward silence followed.  Finally, Cable asked, "So mister, what is your name?  And how did you get to these woods?"

Everyone was relieve to have the silence broken.  Welcoming the chance to speak, the hairy man began this story:

"Most people that know me call me The Watcher.  But really, my name is Kylus.  As for how I got to these woods...well, that is a long story.

"It began about 15 years ago or so, though I lose track of time.  I was living in a small village named Corrin with my sister, Krystara."  (The boys glanced at each other--this man lived in the village where they had grown up!)  "One day, a visitor came to our door, asking for some food and a drink of water.  We quickly invited him in.  To our great surprise, we found out that it was King Maximilian himself!  He had been out on a hunting expedition and was looking for some refreshment.

"You see, the king had gotten married about 10 years earlier to Queen Valeria.  It was a wonderful wedding; the whole kingdom of Aberdeen was invited.  We all loved the queen.  About a year after they got married, she gave birth to a son--Prince Dorian, whom you seek.

"But tragedy struck shortly after.  For some strange reason, in the flower of her youth, the queen died.  Oh, how we all wept at the news!  The king was absolutely heartbroken."  Once again, Kylus wiped his eyes.  His broken voice continued, "For days, it seemed, no one in the entire kingdom seemed to speak a word.  Even in our village, far from the castle, we walked around drearily.  Oh, how sad was that time!

"Eventually, everyone settled down and went back to our routines.  The king raised his son, and the boy quickly grew up in his father's image.  And the king, as a distraction, took up hunting.  Sometimes he'd entrust his son to the care of his servants and go out hunting for two or three days at a time.  He was always alone.  Those days, it seemed as though we had nothing to fear.  It's so different now..."  His voice trailed off for a moment.

"Well," he resumed, "as I said, he came to our house in the middle of one of these hunting trips.  My sister entertained him, while I grabbed my bow and arrow and dashed into the woods.  In about an hour, I brought back a deer.  I prepared some stew while Krystara continued to talk with the king.

"We ate and talked for hours, well into the night.  The king laughed and smiled and repeatedly commented on how much he enjoyed our company and our food.  And...well, I'll cut out all the mushy stuff.  You are boys, after all, and don't care much about romance.  But anyway, one year later, the king married my sister.  And he invited me to come to the palace as well and serve as the royal hunter.  My job was to hunt and serve the king, and I could live with him in his palace.  It was the most wonderful life I could have possibly imagined.

"A few years after they got married, Krystara had a son; they named him Cornicus.  Two years after that, they had another son named Abello.  The castle was getting quite full!  By this time, Dorian was about 17 years old.

"Then, about 6 months after the birth of Abello, tragedy struck once again.

"The day began when the king summoned me to his chambers.  He said, 'Kylus, today I have a great announcement to make.  Could you hunt some elk for a special feast to be held tonight?'  I of course said that I would be delighted.  I immediately mounted my horse and headed for the woods.

"A few hours later, I had slain my prey.  However, as I prepared to bring it back, I smelled strange smoke in the air.  I quickly climbed up a tree and looked in the direction of the castle.  To my horror, I saw that it was in flames. 

"So I left the elk lying on the ground--something I'd never done before--and mounted my horse.  I dashed back to the castle as swiftly as that steed could carry me.  When I arrived, I saw that an army of soldiers clad in black armor had assaulted the castle and set it ablaze.  Fallen warriors--friends of mine that served the kind--were lying dead all around.

"I grabbed my sword and shield, which had been mounted on my horse, and dashed into the castle.  I ran straight to the king's chambers, for I feared for his life, as well as the life of my sister.  I must have slain 10 of the black knights in my fury, for all who stood in my way felt the wrath of my sword.  When I reached the hallway leading to the king's chambers, I saw a black knight coming out of the room.  He turned and looked toward me and raised his visor.  To my great amazement, it was Dorian!  I couldn't mistake him, strange as it was to see him dressed that way.

"And then, to my even greater surprise, he raised his bow and flung an arrow toward me.  I ducked just in time.  The arrow instead struck another tall black knight who was just behind me.  If I hadn't have gotten out of the way, that knight would have taken my head off with his sword.  As it turned out, the arrow from Dorian struck just under his helmet and killed him.

"I turned toward Dorian, but he ran down the corridor.  I gave up pursuing him and ran into the king's chambers.  Quickly bolting the door behind me, I scanned the room.  A most horrifying sight met my eyes.  For, lying in the middle of the room, was a body with the king's garments on.  But the body's head was nowhere to be found.  Neither did I see the queen anywhere.

"I was in utter disbelief.  It seemed as though Dorian had come and killed his father!  What had possessed him to betray the king?!  I was momentarily paralyzed, not knowing what to do.  Then I turned toward the door.  A note had been thrust underneath.  I ran over and picked it up.  It said a single word: "Watch."  That was it.

"When I turned back toward the king, another strange sight met my eyes.  An owl stood in the corner of the room.  I ran toward the owl, summoned by its stare.  I looked where he stood and saw a handle protruding from the floor.  I grabbed the handle and saw that it opened a trap door in the floor.  As soon as I'd opened the door, the owl disappeared.  I descended and closed the door behind me.  And I walked through utter and complete darkness.

"The path led me, after what seemed to be hours, into this cave.  And ever since I arrived, I have continued to watch, just like the paper told me to."

The boys listened, rapt with attention.  They turned toward one another as if to say, "What kind of adventure have we stumbled into?"