A Minstrel’s Quest (The Trouble with Magic Book 4) by B. J. Beach

up and down to the accompaniment of a constant rustling and twittering which was almost deafening. He shook his head to try and clear it, but the noise continued all around him. Something was digging into his midriff. He groped along his waistline, his fingers tracing two thin strands of strong cord. Bracing himself on his elbows, Corlin tried to sit up. As soon as he shifted, all noise and movement stopped.
    The voice was clipped and high-pitched, with a nasal twang. “Good. You’re awake. Keep still, while we remove your bonds.”
    Too terrified, and in too much discomfort to argue, Corlin lay motionless as a number of hard, prickly things touched his bare arms. It was all he could do to stop himself screaming. He heard a couple of short, metallic snapping sounds, and the cords slithered from round his waist. Whatever was underneath him moved, and Corlin reached down to steady himself. His hands made contact with a hard surface, cold and smooth. He sat upright, eyes wide open, straining to see. All he could make out in the near darkness was the solid unmistakeable shape of a tree. Waving his hands about, he found only empty air.
    His voice quavered, seeming loud in the warm, dark silence.”Who are you?”
    A short ripple of clicks, like teeth chattering, surrounded him. The high-pitched voice spoke again. “If not for us, you’d already be dead. Arana won’t cross paths with me and my troops. She knows better.”
    Still not convinced he wasn’t going to be killed and probably eaten, Corlin tried to steady his jangling nerves. “Your troops? Who, or what, are you?”
    “My name is Frix. Me and my boys make sure there’s no trouble in the forest. When you dropped out of the big oak, you almost flattened one of my rear-guards. He bit you in self-defence.”Another ripple of clicks carried through the darkness. Frix continued. “Then Reduia came hot-footing round the tree, and started spitting poison, so a couple of my boys whisked you out of the way. The rest of us held off old hairy-legs until you’d been carried clear. You were out cold, so we tied you on so you wouldn’t fall off.”
    Deciding that if he was going to be killed, these whatever-they-were would have done it by now, Corlin released a sigh of relief. “So, can you help me get to the heart of the forest?”
    “Tell us why you’re here first. Humans are rare in here, and they don’t usually last long.”
    A cold shiver took one slow step at a time down Corlin’s spine. A sudden and painful spasm in his thigh reminded him of the potential power surrounding him.
    His behind was beginning to go numb, and he wriggled into a more comfortable position. “I’m on a quest. I’ve been told that something lies hidden in the heart of this forest. If I can find it and take it back to a certain lord of the WestLands, he will free my brother from slavery.”
    Frix clicked and hissed. He sounded closer than he had before. “Thought you’d be brave, collect your prize and get out, did you?”
    “Something like that. Then I realised something big was behind me, and it was gaining. I didn’t know what it was, but I soon found out that hiding behind a tree wasn’t going to be any use.”
    “Good job you ran into Quex. There’s only as many trees as I’ve got legs, who can communicate.”
    Corlin opened his eyes wide in an effort to see at least some familiar shape or a spark of light. He could see nothing. He felt disorientated, and not a little apprehensive.
    He turned his head, and spoke in the general direction of the voice, which seemed to be coming from below and to his right. “Is there some way I can see you?”
    A brief burst of rustling and clicking filled the air, stopping as abruptly as it started. Seconds later, Corlin heard a noise like a thousand dry leaves blowing in a light breeze. As the sounds faded, a tiny spot of phosphorescent green light pierced the darkness. A second later another sprang to life, followed by others in rapid