Elissa was laughing gaily, trying to frantically push Stone along from behind, as they finally emerged from the trees, out onto the road. “I told you,” she laughed, “you don’t need no doomhamm…”

“OOOF!” Half crashing into Stone’s wide back when he just suddenly stopped moving, Elissa laughed lightly and slowly rubbed her nose, while asking, “What gives?”

“Hi.” Lifting one large arm, Stone slowly waved at the handsome young man standing, and staring, in front of them.

Dressed in a fine suit of deerskin leathers, with a long bow and quiver of arrows hung across his back, the young gentleman looked very familiar to Elissa somehow. “Stone!” Half yelling in glee, the young man ran his hands through his short, cropped hair, pulling wavy yellow strands away from his face, before marching over and punching Stone squarely on his forearm. Looking both annoyed and relieved at the same time, he demanded to know, “Where have you been, you idiot?!”

“He’s not an idiot,” Elissa firmly interjected, squeezing around in front of Stone, placing herself between both boys. Glaring firmly at handsome boy – she really hadn’t been introduced to know his name yet – Elissa drew back and slightly thumped him across his forearm. “You’re the idiot,” she told David squarely, “if you think Stone’s an idiot.”

“What the hell?” Blinking, David ran his hands through his hair several times in confusion. “Lady,” he turned to address Elissa directly, “I don’t know who you are…”

“Elissa. Elissa Silverstar,” Elissa informed him regally, crossing her arms around her chest, while maintaining her icy glare.

“Well... Um…” David shuffled left and right from one foot to the other, obviously uncomfortable with learning her family name – after all, they were some of the richest and most influential merchants in the kingdom, with their hands into dozens of different businesses and enterprises.

“Look,” David coughed slightly, slowly taking a step back and holding up both hands to indicate that he meant no harm. “Lady Silverstar, trust me,” David told her, “when I say Stone’s an idiot. It’s not his fault, he was just born…”

“You’re right,” Elissa snorted, interrupting him, as she wrapped her right arm around Stone’s massive left one. “It’s not his fault. It’s yours.” Tugging ever so slightly, she pulled Stone gently to the side and started walking down the road. Laughing lightly, determined not to let anything ruin her good mood, she asked, “Is it this way?”

Nodding once, Stone simply grunted in assurance, as he allowed himself to be led off slowly and steadily down the road. Never once did he look back to check on his brother, who was still standing at the edge of the road, blinking stupidly.

“Wait a damn minute!” David yelled after the two, who simply kept walking without showing any indication either of them heard him as they walked arm-in-arm; two lovers on a lazy afternoon stroll down the lane.

“Gods dammit!” Cussing, David rushed over and starting kicking dirt on the small campfire he’d had made for cooking. Hurrying to do up his sleeping bag and tent, he yelled down the road at Stone’s and Elissa’s ever retreating backs, “Wait on me one damn minute!”

Striding on, Elissa leaned her head over and rested it against Stone’s arm, without either slowing their pace.

Panting and out of breath, David rushed to catch up to Stone and Elissa, after quickly taking a few moments to pack up all his traveling gear and stomp out his small campfire. Running after them, as fast as he possibly could, seemed to be an exercise in futility for many long minutes, until David finally spotted the two casually strolling down the road, arm in arm, at a pace which he was finding almost impossible to match.

“Dammit Stone! Stop!” Yelling ahead, David gasped to catch his breath and slowed his pace when Stone and Elissa finally stopped and turned around to look back at him. Elissa was giggling lightly at something, and Stone was staring back at David with one eyebrow raised slightly, questioningly.

“The damn forest is doing it again,” David explained, still panting slightly, as he finally caught up to them and plopped on the ground. Sitting his packs down beside him, David opened his canteen and then poured a small stream of water over his head and shoulders to help him cool down, before turning up the canister to finish off the remainder.

“Doing what, again?” Elissa asked, still smiling brightly as she leaned up tight against Stone’s arm.

“It’s this damnable forest,” David explained, slowly packing his canteen back into his pack. “Have you ever seen a map of the kingdom,” he asked Elissa, as he pulled out a second canteen and hung it on the side of his belt.

“Several times,” she assured him, laughing lightly. Her father had a large map of not just this kingdom, but also several of the adjoining lands and ocean, hanging up as a tapestry in his office which she used to stare at and imagine all the different places and peoples as a child.

“Ever seen two maps of the kingdom, side by side?” Fastening his pack, David stretched and slowly got up, beaming a brilliant, beautiful smile to Elissa, before running his hands through his vibrant golden hair.

Elissa half snorted to herself under her breath, but warmly returned the smile. She’d met plenty of “pretty boys” like this one, who’d showed up at her father’s businesses and tried to use looks and charms to get their way in both business and pleasure. Normally, Elissa would have a cool reception for someone like David, who relied on their looks to sway others, but she was doing her best to be polite since this was Stone’s brother after all.

“I’ve seen several maps of the land before,” Elissa assured David once again, as she unconsciously repeated his gesture and brushed a strand of her own hair out of her face.

“Then you know they’re different,” David laughed, once again beaming a brilliant smile oozing warmth and confidence.

“Well all maps are a little different,” Elissa assured him, smiling slightly in return to his infectious warmth, even though she didn’t intend to. “Different scales, different symbols. Different features.” Laughing lightly, Elissa snuggled herself up a little tighter against Stone’s massive, unmoving side, as if trying to draw strength from his support to help resist the dazzling brightness in front of her.

“Ha!” David half barked a laugh, then lightly leaned over and tussled his hands through Elissa’s hair briskly. “You’re right, but you’re wrong,” he told her, merrily. Grabbing up his pack, he slung it back across his shoulders and then graciously offered his arm out to Elissa so she could take it. “Walk with me?” Even though he was asking, it sounded as if David was talking it for granted that she’d choose his arm over Stone’s.

“No thanks.” Snorting a little more loudly now, Elissa let go of Stone’s massive arm and slid behind him. Emerging from his shadow out onto the other side of his massive frame, Elissa wrapped her arms around Stone’s other wrist, placing him squarely between her and David. “I’m fine here,” she assured him, coolly, before asking, “and just what do you mean ‘I’m wrong’?”

Laughing, David winked conspiratorially at Stone and then lightly punched him on the forearm. “Let’s go, dufus. We got to get the lady back home before there’s trouble.” Slowly leading the way down the road, David’s blazing smile never faltered a bit. If he was the least bit troubled by Elissa’s none-too-subtle rejection, he didn’t show any sign of it.

Walking obediently a few steps behind David, Stone never said a word, while Elissa bit her cheek lightly to hold back the words she was on the edge of releasing. ‘It’s Stone’s brother. It’s Stone’s brother,’ she repeated to herself mentally, over and over, to help resist saying something which might offend David or cause a rift between him and Stone.

“You’re right,” David explained, laughing lightly as he slowly led the way down the path. “Every map is slightly different, with different scales, symbols, and features. No two mapmakers are every exactly the same,” he agreed, merrily nodding his head up and down slightly.

“Where you’re right,” David chuckled, “is in regards to The Direwood Forest; which is what we’re presently enjoying a peaceful stroll through.”

“The Direwood?” Elissa frowned slightly, forcing herself to ignore David’s contagious warmth. “I’ve heard something about it before,” she muttered, slightly under her breath, “though I’m not entirely certain what I’d heard. Something about it being dangerous, with wild bears and boars, and other beasts, I think?”

“Well,” David laughed gaily, “I suppose it can be. There are some creatures around here which could be dangerous to people.” Stopping, he spun around suddenly and flourished a deep bow towards Elissa. “Fear not though, fair lady,” David laughed, reaching up to take her hand gently in his, “I’ll keep you safe from any dangers around here. You have my word on it.”

Yanking her hand back out of his, Elissa half snorted. “Seems to me that you might be the most dangerous thing around here,” she told him coolly. “And you still haven’t managed to tell me how I was ‘wrong’, either.”

Laughing lightly, as if her rejection was of absolutely no consequence to him, David spun back around and slowly started walking again. Pointing left and right to the forest on both sides, he chuckled slightly to himself. “It’s this damn forest which makes you wrong,” he informed Elissa, still laughing merrily. Even annoyed at him as she was, Elissa had to admit that his smile and laughter was somewhat contagious, as she found the corners of her own mouth slowly turning up in a smile in response.

Clearing his throat, David coughed slightly and then tried to take on a more serious, lecturing tone, like his father used to use when teaching things about hunting in the forest for him. “The first thing you have to know, my child,” he repeated his father’s words verbatim, as best as he could remember them, “is that the forest sometimes moves.”

“Not everyday,” David coughed lightly, sounding a little embarrassed at his poor impression of his father, “but it can, and sometimes will move, all on its own. Trails you learn today may be gone tomorrow. Trees you mark, or places you camp may disappear completely; or they may end up appearing some place utterly different from where they were the last time you were in the forest.”

“The forest moves,” David repeated again, solemnly. “Every time you walk under its branches, you have to treat the forest as if it’s the first time you’ve ever walked it. Expect treasure and treachery with every step you take, and be prepared for anything.”

Stopping again, David turned to stare directly into Elissa’s eyes. “There’s those who walk into the forest and are never seen or heard from again,” he told her, dead serious. “You have to understand just how dangerous The Direwood is, and always respect it, if you’re ever going to walk in the shadows of the forest.”

Elissa nodded slightly in response to David’s seriousness. “I believe you,” she told him, honestly. “After some of the things I’ve seen in this forest, I’d believe you if you told me there wasn’t any place more dangerous in the whole kingdom.” Subconsciously nervous, Elissa snuggled a little tighter against Stone’s arm.

“Not dangerous,” Stone snorted, slowly shaking his massive head from side to side, before insisting, “Home.”

Blinking a few times, David looked up at Stone’s face and then laughed merrily again. “You’d say that, dufus!” Leaning over, he whispered conspiratorially to Elissa, “See, I warned you. He’s not right in the head. He just can’t comprehend how dangerous the forest actually is. You can’t pay any attention to his ramblings.”

“Hmmmfft!” Snorting, Elissa let go of Stone’s arm and then moved around his back to take his other one, once again placing Stone squarely between herself and David. “If Stone says it’s not dangerous,” she glared at David, “then it’s not dangerous.”

“No bad,” Stone agreed, slowly wrapping his massive arm around her shoulder, comfortingly. “Forest no bad,” he assured her.

“See!” Elissa stuck her tongue out at David, realizing that she was somehow acting more childish and spiteful towards him than she normally would. Perhaps just because he was Stone’s brother and was looking down on him as much as he was? Frowning, uncertain where he own emotions were coming from, Elissa glared harshly at David, as if it was his fault. “Stone says the forest is safe, so it’s safe,” she insisted, stubbornly.

Frowning, David shrugged slightly. “It’s your funeral,” he muttered sullenly, as he turned back around and started walking once again, a slight hint of concern obvious in his voice. “All I can do is warn you. The forest is dangerous, and not just from the beasts in it. The damn thing is unpredictable. It moves. Changes. You never know what to expect when you walk inside it.”

Shaking his head slightly from side to side, as if to clear his thoughts, David continued on down the road in silence for several long moments. Stone, naturally quiet by nature, did nothing to break the awkward silence, and Elissa squirmed uncomfortably as she tried to sort out why her feelings were so erratic this afternoon. One moment she was giddy happy, then annoyed, then angry. Then she felt like laughing, followed by feeling like strangling David. It truly wasn’t like her, and she was starting to wonder if it was perhaps some odd influence from the forest itself affecting her.

“Anyway,” David suddenly said, jerking Elissa out of her introspection, “the stupid road here is just as unpredictable as the forest itself. Some merchants travel it time and time again, and they claim the length of the Direwood only takes a few days to travel. A few others claim that the forest is massive and that it takes a month or more to walk the road through it. No two merchants will ever agree on how large the forest is, or how long it takes to travel it,” David informed her, once again imitating his father’s lecturing tone.

“That’s why you and David were happily enjoying a stroll earlier, and I had to run my ass off to try and catch up to you, even though you only had a few minutes head start on me,” David explained, snorting slightly in irritation. “From what father taught us, the road moves in the forest, just as much as the forest itself moves.”

“I’d never really believed it myself before,” David laughed, “but I certainly believe it now. “Father wasn’t telling us some set of wild tales to scare young children to keep us out of the forest. For the past several days, the damn woods wouldn’t even let me in them – whether you believe that or not!” Turning, David shook his fist left and then right at the trees on either side of the road. “Stupid forest,” he muttered softly under his breath.

The branches of the trees on either side of the road swayed and shook in gentle response, as the soft wind drifted through them, almost as if they understood David and were returning his sentiment back to him. Stone, who was normally so quiet and stoic, chuckled slightly under his breath, causing Elissa to look up and raise an eyebrow at him questioningly.

“Stupid David,” was Stone’s only reply to Elissa’s unspoken question, as he half shrugged his massive shoulders as a massive grin slowly spread across his face.

Staring up into Stone’s brilliant blue eyes as they sparked like brilliant gems in the moonlight, Elissa laughed happily and nodded. “Stupid David,” she agreed, smiling brightly herself once again.

The trees on both sides of the road swayed and shook gently in the wind, as if agreeing and approving of her sentiment.