Chapter 1

Four year old Tama looked up at her mother who was sitting on one of the stone bench's at the village park were parents could bring their children to mingle and play together safely and asked, "When will papa be coming home mama?"

Willow Arrowmark reached down and rubbed her daughters copper red hair, "He will come home when they finish clearing the deadfall off the main road to the spires Tama."

Their home was a small outpost village near the Butcherblock Upper Pass. The duty of the guards was to insure the area around the pass stayed clear of rogues, bandits and other assorted riffraff that tended to haunt the remote parts of the Greater Faydark forest.

Little Tama saw several butterfly's around some wild flowers and ran off chasing after them. To be so young again thinks Willow. She watched as her daughter laughed and played. When several more children came over, they played games all children have played through the ages when time permitted. Chase, hide and seek, tag. All the fun they knew they could have was to be had with a few simple things to help pass the time. One of the older boys had found he was able to climb the lower branches of the small trees in the park. He found a nest and just looked at it, then said it is not his place to disturb the eggs. Tama told him the mother bird was very upset with him and wanted him to go away. She made her point by swooping at his head and screeching. Once he was down, normal play was able to resume.

After playing and running around for a while, Tama noticed some funny marks on the sand. She followed them and discovered a mouse nest at the edge of the park. Like the boy, she left the nest alone. After that, she found she could follow tracks anytime she tried, at least she could if she knew what she was looking at.

Tama always remembered the sounds of the park and wood around her. The wind in the trees, birds singing their songs to mate or warn others away. In the dark of the night, the frogs and crickets sang to her and she would sleep in a pleasant fog of sound. Other sounds around her would cause her child mind to go racing off to find the source. There was the sound of the mouse digging near the kitchen, with the dogs barking, and the cats singing, a world full of sound for a child's listening delight.

So life in the Greater Fay went on its normal slow way. She played with the other children, learned from the masters her letters and numbers, and learned the basics of how to track and hide in the woods. On the arrival of her fifth season, several new teachers entered the classroom and where introduced to the children by Elder, their teacher.

He explained to the students what each persons talents are. A Bard is the singer of songs and bringer of power. The Druid is the master of the natural magic arts and protector of all living things. The Rangers are the scouts and the guardians of the peoples of the Greater Faydark.

Elder, like all the Elven of the giant wood were of the Wood Elven. Smaller than the tall human men that would come by to trade cloth and tools, larger than the short bearded Dwarfs that traded metals for food and wood supplies. The Elven are slight, with sharply back pointing ears, with hearing sharper than any other race of Norrath. They are the Wood Elven, the eldest of the races remaining from the elder days of Norrath.

The Druid was in his light leather armor. The Ranger wore a mixed suit. Leather legs, arms and wrist, while he had Chain mail for a tunic, gloves and boots. They had all of their travel gear and weapons with them. Swords, daggers and staves, but one item of gear caught Tama's eyes and held them. It was a slightly curved staff, with the middle section being thicker, almost like a handle she thought. A string was wrapped around the top, otherwise hanging loosely from a notch at the top end of the staff. On his back was a thin tube with many sticks with feathers stuck on them.

Tama almost went over to ask the man what the feathered sticks were, then decided Elder, her teacher would be unhappy with her. She decided to take the safer course and ask her teacher about feathered sticks. "Elder, what are the feathered sticks in the small bag on his back?"

"Those are called arrows Tama. There is a sharp point on the other end of them. The feathers help the arrow fly straight when they shoot them with the bow."

"Is the bow that funny shaped stick with the string?" she asked pointing at the bow.

"Yes Tama, the stick is a bow. He will be explaining the tools of his trade shortly. So return to your seat and be patient."

"Thank you Elder, I will wait for him to explain them to us."

Each visitor explained what their purpose was, and how they did some of the things they did. When the bard played a song, the entire class felt as if they could all run faster and lift great weights. The feeling faded after a minute once he stopped playing. "I played that very lightly and as low as I could make it and still have any effect. I have to be careful or the effects could hurt all of you very easily do to your age and size," he explained. He did notice that one boy was trying to hum what he had just heard him playing. That one he thought will be a bard, count on it.

The children looked at the bard, most with respect, a few with fear. One boy though, Silor was looking at him in wonder and had started trying to hum what the bard had been playing. He didn't feel any effect, but he knew that someday soon that would change. The bard looked at him and smiled. "Someday soon you will start to feel your musical powers and they will raise you to levels of greatness you have not yet dreamed of."

The druid showed his skill with the living things in the classroom. He could make plants grow faster, or cause nearby animals to serve him. He did this with several small birds and had them fly around the class and land on the children's heads. Once released from the spell, they chirped as he held out some seeds as payment for their time. None of the kids in the class seemed to feel the urge to try what the bard had been doing, so no further comment was made.

The Ranger had moved off to the side and had vanished during the other demonstrations. He had moved around to the back of the class and waited. None of the students noticed his actions except one. Tama had been watching him when he vanished into the shadows. As he moved she felt she could almost see him still as a fuzzy outline and tried to follow his movements. I can almost see him she thought. The harder she looked, the clearer he became in her eyes.

He had noticed her following him with a look that said I think I see you. I know you are there. He snorted quietly thinking that she was too young to really be able to see him when in camouflage. Her head snapped around and looked right at him. She squinted and smiled at him, then out loud said, "I can see you now."