'You have much yet to learn, then.'
I questioned Auric closely and at great length under the watch of the others. We were far enough removed so that our low conversation couldn't be heard even when the Vistani weren't playing, so our privacy was complete. This was just as well, for what I learned was something so profoundly disturbing the impact could not have been more alarming than if a second moon suddenly appeared in the sky.
Auric and his companions had not been brought into Barovia from Forlorn by crossing through the Mists; they had simply walked in, unimpeded. If his story were true, then Forlorn itself was physically attached to Barovia. I was literally stunned-something which had not happened in many, many years.
For such to have happened would mean the greatest change to come to this plane since Barovia's appearance in the first place. It was almost beyond belief. I had to know everything about it.
The hermits, though, had not perceived any drastic occurrence of change, merely puzzlement upon noticing a new mountain range rising beyond the Forlorn forests. Their unconcerned reaction to it I attributed to the alteration the land could bring to unaware minds, affecting their very memories. They were certain, though, that something had happened but a few scant weeks ago soon after the summer solstice when people in their population began to disappear.
I wondered if Azalin's latest failed experiment had anything to do with it. Instead of taking us to Oerth, could he have brought a portion of Oerth to us? It seemed unlikely, but perhaps he was indeed as ignorant of Forlorn's existence as I had been. Certainly my tie to the land made me more sensitive to changes, and I hadn't had the least clue of it until my dream. On the other hand, the experiment may have had nothing to do with this, and it was only coincidence of timing. But I'm very reluctant to believe in coincidence.
More information was required, and I wanted Auric along. Freeing him from my influence, I gave him a fair offer to guide me into Forlorn, which he accepted after recovering. We would leave now, I told him. He had no objection to it, which again marked him as an utter stranger to Barovia.
The innkeeper had sufficient scruples to offer a nervous admonition against our leaving. 'It is very dangerous to be out after dark,' he said, understandably reluctant to open his door.
'What dangers?' I asked, in a good enough mood to twist his rope.
'There are wolves, many, many wolves. They are always after the flocks in the valley, but they have attacked people, too.'
'Wolves have never bothered me,' I said truthfully.
'But-'
'Unless with your boundless concern for my well-being you wish to accompany us as a guard?'
'Uhhh-ah-er-'
'Then I suggest you see to your customers.'
He seized the offered escape and fled, nearly plowing into Auric, who had just made his good-byes to his friends. They had also been anxious over his safety, but not for being out after sunset. They were more worried about him returning to Forlorn than anything else.
'It is not a good place to be, Lord Vasili,' Auric said as we departed. Behind us the innkeeper hurriedly shut and locked the main door.
'We will not be without protection,' I assured him. 'And you are well armed.'
'The men who died were also armed, and two were known to be very skilled at fighting. Yet still they died.'
We approached the gate, and he removed the crossbar, allowing me through. No one was around to replace it, so I accomplished the act with a word and gesture while on the outside. The thick length of oak dropped accurately into place. Auric watched this with interest.
'You have a talent for magic, Lord Vasili?'
I had been open about it to see his reaction. He was completely unafraid. How refreshing. 'I've studied the Art for a few years,' I answered obliquely.
'Glad I am to hear it. I don't know what plagues the forest, but I have a feeling that it would fear you and your powers far more than my sword.'
'Most things would.'
In his role as guide he took the lead by half a pace, striding unafraid through the deserted streets to the edge of town before striking off over an open field. I easily kept up with him.
Ahead, where there should have been a wall of Mists, was a long shallow valley, matching the form of the land as if it had always been there. Last night I had been so focused on finding the inn before sunrise that I hadn't bothered to lift my gaze in this direction, for why should I? The view had been the same featureless barrier for nearly two centuries.
'Is Forlorn large?' I asked as we hiked over the uneven ground. How much easier it was to fly or lope across as a wolf.
'No more than eight miles in width and about eighteen in length. Much of it is covered in forest and by the double peaked mountain in its heart.'
'Were you born there?'
'I came from another land.'
'What was it called?'
He provided the name of a country unknown to me, along with some of its history. Perhaps it was part of Oerth, I could not say. His family had been well respected retainers, and he had fought for his lord's house in some war but tired of battle and struck off on his own upon his release from service.
'Forlorn suited me for a time,' he said rather wistfully. 'But things began to change. The skies became more gray, the nights darker and less quiet. Even the trees seemed to shut out the light and make things colder.'
'Does Forlorn have a ruler?'
He shrugged. 'To the west there's a castle, but it's in ruins; no one goes there. I never ventured close, for it has an evil feel.'
'Has it a name?'
'I heard it once; but it's slipped my mind.' He seemed quite untroubled by the lapse.
I gave him a sharp look. Auric's memory of his life in Forlorn must be dimming as his mind struggled to harmonize itself with its new plane. I wondered if his memory would clarify once we crossed the border.
Mount Sawtooth's thick shadow crept over us as the moon began to set. The floor of the shallow valley was smooth, but in places rifts had been cut into the land, allowing miners to burrow horizontally into the north face of the valley. We paused by a deserted mine entry. A rather large pack of my four footed children had claimed it for their own and now tumbled forth to greet me, all playful snarls, yips, and hopeful whines for attention.
I resisted the impulse to adapt to their form; Auric was quite alarmed as it was. He started to draw his sword the instant the wolves appeared, but I put a restraining hand on his arm and told him to stand easy. His eyes fairly popped as he watched them fawning over me, tongues lolling and tails tucked low in homage to their master. Even the half-grown pups came forth from the safety of the den to join the pack in their greetings. They crowded Auric as well, sniffing with curiosity, but nothing more. I had already commanded them to leave him quite alone. To his credit, he stood fast and tried not to show fear, and after the first few trepidatious moments even relaxed slightly, though his eyebrows now seemed permanently affixed well up into his hairline.
'Your lordship is a mage of great power,' he finally whispered.
'It is just the art of making the right friends,' I said lightly. My wolves always put me into a pleasant mood with their uninhibited devotion. 'Shall we go on?'
I motioned to the unmarked border only yards away. Less than a quarter mile off began the dark band of Forlorn's forest, rising high to the western peak of its one mountain. With the wolves as our playful escorts we proceeded forward-or at least Auric did. I reached the point where Forlorn and Barovia were seamlessly joined and stopped cold in my tracks.
Auric paused, the wolves milling around him. 'Lord Vasili?'
I pushed hard against some barrier I couldn't see but solidly felt. With some annoyance, I backed away and tried again, meeting with the same immutable result. I put my hand out and let it trail along the unseen wall of force for several yards and as high as I could reach until I was satisfied the barrier was consistent. It reminded me of the external pressure I'd once encountered long ago when trying to gain entry to a monastery, but this was far more formidable. Back then I'd been able to summon a protecting spell to allow me passage; now I had the sinking
