Ikando Part One (standard:fantasy, 4051 words)
Author: Ikando	Added: Oct 16 2000	Views/Reads: 3896/2398	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
This is the beginning of a long series I want to post on this site, all of them involving a Ranger called Ikando. If you'd like to give feedback my e-mail is... xsylentikando@aol.com

So it’s true, he thought, it’s really true. The boy’s youthful, crystal
green eyes glimmered with the reflection of the black night sky’s many 
stars. Slender rays of pale silver moonlight reached the lush forest 
floor, the plants and young trees all struggling to reach up to the 
endless sky. An echoing howl rang through the trees, the sound of a 
wolf calling to his pack heard from miles away. 

The young scout’s eyes glanced in the direction of the sound, his
sensitive ears alerting him of the slightest change. Several long 
braids of dark brown hair shifted and fell with the boy’s movements, 
the strands ending at the center of his thin neck. Carefully, the 
ranger stalked through the forest, hidden in the safety of the shadows. 


Silence hung in the air like a thick fog, as the young ranger placed a
soft leather stalking boot upon the moist forest floor. Moving with 
care and complete awareness of his surroundings, he crept along the 
forest’s edge, quietly approaching a dark clearing. His well trained 
eyes turned his attention to a large fire, made of gnarled branches 
that crackled and smoked as flames danced over the darkened, charred 
bark. 

Soon muffled chuckled and laughing reached the boy’s alert ears. Man
sized tents glowed from fires inside, which sent smoke and heat into 
the night through the top of the pale grey tent. Rows upon rows of the 
tents filled the massive clearing, hundreds of soft voices filling the 
air, while laughter roared out from a large group of men around a 
second fire pit, which contained a blazing flame that raged against the 
darkness with large, bright red and yellow flames that danced higher 
than the ranger’s height. 

The group of well armed men roared a second time with drunken laughter.
Each of the large men wore a shimmering plate of silver steel, engraved 
with a majestic eagle soaring above a burned and destroyed village-the 
symbol of the barbarians. Everyone of the men armed, most with five 
foot spears, others with heavy blades, while a few wore loaded 
crossbows. 

The ranger focused his hearing, ignoring all the sound that the camping
soldiers produced. He focused intently, trying to listen in on the 
commander’s distant conversation, inside a tent several yards away. 

“We will need to move in the morning,” the commander’s deep, firm voice
was a faint whisper in the scout’s mind. “But I still wonder, why do we 
fight a war with the rangers?” 

“We will attack in the morning. Do not question my intentions, unless
you wish to be answered with a blade.” A second voice rolled into the 
boy’s mind, dark and powerful, though somehow familiar. The thought of 
a man so strong and evil sent a slight shiver down the 15 year old 
boy’s spine. 

“So it is true,” he repeated his thoughts, silently. “It is really true.
The Barbarians are the ones who attacked us..but why? Why start a war 
with the rangers at this time?” Questions filled his mind as he 
straightened, remaining well hidden in the darkness of the trees. “I 
better hurry, father said that he will only wait a half hour for my 
return..” 

The boy’s eyes darted from the ground, to the raging fire pit. His sharp
green eyes quickly scanned the now empty space. Glasses, some still 
half full of beer, sat on trays or rocks, as if their owners had 
vanished. The ranger’s heart skipped a beat as a twig was snapped 
behind him, sending him into a leap out of the shadows. 

“Get him! A spy!” A deep voice exploded from the darkness, more and more
footsteps approaching from the night. The ranger scout took a half step 
backward, his eyes focused on the advancing group. In the corner of his 
eyes a dark figure slowly stalked into view, the commander. 

“You’re in a bad place, kid.” The commander’s voice was dark and
menacing. “What’s your name, boy?” The huge Barbarian folded his 
muscular arms across his armor plated chest. The man’s face was hidden 
behind a knight’s black steel mask, which was stained with a rusty 
colored tint of blood. As the boy turned to face the large man, his 


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