Five hundred years had passed since the Wizard’ s War. Okit the Betrayer had been banished, but some of his evil goblin minions or their descendants returned to the lands of the Three Kingdoms. They hid amongst the trees of the great ancient forest of Aldoren, where they would launch raids into the surrounding countryside and make the roads too dangerous to travel. From this was born the Brotherhood, men who accompanied travelers, turned back raiders, and searched for lairs where the brigands would strike from.
Emrik of Aril was one of those men. Living within view of the ancient forest, Emrik and his wife Brenna raised their daughter, Rhianwyn. She was a child of their latter years, and Emrik and Brenna knew there would be no more. Emrik loved his little girl more than life itself and taught her everything he knew. How to survive in the wild, how to ride, the ways of the sword and the bow. She became quite proficient, and when she was old enough she would accompany him on some of his rounds.
One day, however, he would not take her along, as he and his cohorts would be closing in on a known brigand hide-out. Days passed with no word. After a fortnight, three of the Brotherhood returned, with Emrik’s body draped over a pack-horse. The battle in the brigands’ lair resulted in the deaths of all the evil-doers, as well as that of one other ranger.
The night after Emrik was buried, Rhianwyn approached her mother. She had her father’s sword clutched in her arms. Brenna understood, though it grieved her that she might lose her daughter, too, if she agreed to what Rhianwyn had intended to do. But Rhianwyn wasn’t a child anymore, and she was able to make her own decisions.
To say the Brotherhood was surprised when Rhianwyn showed up at camp two days later would be an understatement. Their first inclination was to run her off, but in the end they decided to let her stay because of their friendship with Emrik. Arul the leader still told her, “you pull your weight, we’ll keep you around.” At first, she sat away from the group, keeping to herself. In the mornings they would find her gone, but she’d return a few hours later with some fish, berries, or a fat pheasant she had trapped. The murmuring over her presence slowly quieted.
The Brotherhood was called upon to escort a group of travelers along the road passing through the Winsome Wood, on the northwest edge of the Forest. Arul went himself and brought Rhianwyn along. The trip was relatively short–two days–so he thought there would not be any trouble. The northern branch of the Brotherhood kept that road well patrolled. Once among the trees, however, Rhianwyn felt uncomfortable. Arul ignored her. Another hour in, she stopped and listened for something. All of a sudden she took her bow and shot an arrow upward into the tree branches. Something screamed and fell down into the underbrush. It was a goblin with Rhianwyn’s arrow through its throat.
They had walked into an ambush.
Six goblins dropped from the trees and attacked. Arul ordered Rhianwyn to move the women and children to safety while Arul and the men fought the brigands off.
Soon five goblins lay dead, with the sixth escaping through the brush. Quiet fell over the forest. Just as Arul turned to collect Rhianwyn and the others, he heard the familiar ring of Emrik’s sword leaving its scabbard. There was a clashing of weapons and another unearthly scream. Arul ran toward the sound. A few feet off the road and near a fallen tree, the women and children had taken cover. Rhianwyn was standing over the body of the sixth goblin. A bit shaken, she wiped the blood off the sword with the tail of her cloak and returned it to its scabbard. Exactly the way Emrik had done it.
It was as if Emrik had returned to them. So the Brotherhood made room…for a sister.
