The next two months were nearly uneventful for the two sisters…nearly. A vicious cold snap that swept over Vadhudra almost overnight. The cold season came earlier than anyone expected. Some of the newly planted crops had been affected but not all. Still, it would affect the winter growing cycle. The people began to take special care of their own backyard gardens as a precaution to offset any consequences of a bad harvest. It would be a winter of self-reliance rather than communal.

  Alia stared at the piles of snow covering her cobblestone walkway with distaste. It would take ages to shovel all this away, and it was backbreaking work. Grumbling, she made her way to a small tool shed in the backyard and rooted around for her snow shovel. She didn't have two, so Esha would not be able to help her when she got back. Pity. It'd go much faster with two people working at it. Alia began the arduous chore with an unhappy expression as the stinging cold slapped across her cheeks.

  She was a bit more than halfway done when she began to look around in search of Esha. The girl had gone down to the stream a bit ago to hopefully catch a couple of fish for tonight's supper. She'd been gone for quite some time. Rajan had gone with her of course. In the two months or so that he'd been with them, Esha and he had become inseparable. And much to Alia's pleasant surprise, Esha had indeed kept her word that she would be responsible and care for him properly. She hadn't missed a day of feeding; Rajan was now also completely housebroken and had learned a selection of simple commands. All at the guiding hands of her little sister. Perhaps she was growing up more than Alia realized. Alia was proud to see Esha showing such responsibility to be able to care for another living thing. Maybe she would give in to the girl's pleas to go out on a date with a boy.

  Maybe.

  She had almost finished when she heard faint barking coming from the trail. She turned, both relieved and a bit cross that Esha had been gone for so long. She opened her mouth to perhaps give a bit of a scolding but fell silent. Esha was bounding up the trail stark white and wide-eyed. Something had spooked her. She raced up the walkway and caught hold of Alia’s arm, pulled her inside, and slammed the door shut locking it behind them.

  Rajan was barking excitedly at the commotion. Esha leaned back against the door and slid down until she was in a sitting position. She was breathing heavily and shaking.

  "What?? What is it? What's happened?" Alia knelt by her sister and looked her face over, shaking the girl gently.

  "I-I saw... down by the stream, he was watching me. I saw h-his eyes and they were glowing!"

  Alia’s gut twisted, even though Esha's explanation was hasty Alia knew it was them, "Slow down, Esha. Tell me again. Who did you see? Whose eyes were glowing?"

  Esha gulped and took a deep breath, attempting to slow her thundering heart. She glanced up into Alia's worried face and trembled again. "I was fishing on the big flat rock. The one where the trout like to hide?"

  Alia nodded and Esha continued, "I was having rotten luck and was just packing up when Rajan started growling. I looked over to see what he was upset about and saw this...this man."

  "You saw a man? Who was it? Did he threaten you? Are you hurt?" Alia fired one question after another, angered at the thought of someone hurting her little sister.

  She shook her head, "No. He wasn't doing anything. He was just crouching there...staring at me. And he wasn't a regular man. He wasn't... I don't....I can't..." she began to stutter with the effort of trying to explain what it was she'd seen.

  "What do you mean, 'he wasn't a regular man'? Was it an elf perhaps? They live in the forest as well-"

  Esha shook her head forcefully, cutting Alia off, "No! He wasn't an elf, and he wasn't a human! I don't know what he was! I had never seen anything like him before in my life! All I know is that he was just looking at me and when he noticed I'd seen him he looked surprised. Then angry. His eyes began to glow and then he just...backed away into the bushes and was gone!"

  At this point, Alia had sat back on her heels and was giving Esha a quizzical look, "Are you sure you saw something? Perhaps you fell asleep and-"

  "No!"

  Alia jumped, surprised at the force behind Esha's shout.

  "I didn't dream this! Rajan saw him too! He was growling and that's the only reason I looked over there in the first place. And you know what? When he disappeared into the trees he was still there. I could feel him watching. It felt like that night when we were walking back from the festival a couple of months ago."

  Alia rose to her feet. Esha was not known for telling tales, if she said she'd seen something then she had. Even more upsetting was the reference to the night that someone - or something - had followed them. She'd taken extra care to lock the place up at night after that had happened.

  "You say it felt the same? Can you try and remember what this...man... looks like?"

  Esha wrapped her arms around herself and shivered again. She swallowed, "Scary. I only saw him for a few seconds, but it felt like I was looking into his horrible eyes for hours. He was tall and broad with strange armor. He had two huge, and I mean truly huge, swords strapped to his back. His ears were really pointed, even more than an elf's. His skin was this weird light red color and really smooth, like a polished river stone. His hair was dark but not black like mine. It was a dark blue and it was long and done up with a bun on the top. His eyes were the scariest though, Alia. They were like almost a violent shades of green and they glowed. When I saw him, his face got angry and his eyes flared orange. I know how it sounds Alia, but it's true. I swear it is."

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  She managed to get back to her feet and continue, "He was bad, Alia. That's the feeling I got from him. Like really, really bad. And that feeling followed me all the way home. I think he was too. Just like that night only it didn't go away. I think they might be out there right now." She shivered again and started to sniffle.

  Alia's skin went cold. Outside right now? They? "More than one?"

  Esha nodded. "Yes. Definitely. I only saw one, but I felt the other one. There were at least two."

  Alia hadn't wanted to tell the girl that she had felt that she was being spied upon at least once before as well, praying that she was just being paranoid. But what Esha was telling her had a very similar ring to what had happened a few weeks prior.

  She'd been out in the clearing, gathering the last of the berries and enjoying the last of the warm weather when she sensed something was amiss. She paused mid-berry pluck and tilted her head frowning, unsure what was the matter. Everything seemed quiet enough and-

  That was it. There was complete silence.

  The forest was never silent. The day and night each had their distinct sounds, but total prolonged silence was not one of them. You could hear birds chirping and small mammals rustling and jumping from tree to tree. Unless there was a predator nearby of course. Alia straightened up and held her breath trying to hear. Something. Anything.

  Nothing.

  She felt that almost tangible heaviness in the still air once more, and invisible eyes bored into her again. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck try to stand on end and her heart skipped a beat. She tried to swallow but found her mouth was dry. Irrational fear stabbed at her, sending little prickles of concentrated fear up her spine. Trying to act nonchalantly, like she'd noticed nothing out of the ordinary, she bent to pick up her berry basket. She backed out of the meadow slowly, casually, attempting to conceal her mounting alarm.

  A soft chuckle issued from the trees. Menacing and amused all at once. Alia let out a small shriek and sprinted away at top speed. All the way home. And they followed. She could feel them just as Esha had described, and the vibe was not friendly.

  Without realizing it, she began telling her story to Esha, who listened with her eyes growing bigger and bigger. "Alia," she began haltingly. "What's happening?"

  "I-I don't know. But it seems we are being stalked by something and I don't know what to do. I've never dealt with anything like this before. I'm open to suggestions." Alia began surveying the house, wondering how they could possibly arm themselves.

  "We could always-" Rajans' low growl issued forth, effectively silencing Esha.

  The two young women clutched at each other and stared at the dog. His puppyish growl was hardly threatening but succeeded in sending arrows of fright into the pair, nonetheless. The hair at the scruff of his neck was standing on end and he was poised in an attack stance at the front door.

  "What do we do now," Esha squeaked.

  "I don't-" loud pounding at the door made the sisters scream in chorus.

  "Oi! Are ye ok in thar, Misses? Tis t'sheriff! Open up!"

  They glanced at each other, eyes wide and then they both burst out into relieved giggles.

  "Only the sheriff. Gods, we're children," Alia breathed, opening the door.

  The older man who stood on the porch steps had his trust sword drawn in preparation for the worst. Alia held up both hands and froze, surprised at his response to a woman's scream. He lowered the blade immediately when he realized all was well. "I heard screaming. Dint know what t'expect. My apologies Miss."

  "You startled us is all. We're unaccustomed to visitors way out here," Alia replied with a demure smile.

  Esha lurked in the doorway, unsmiling and still upset. "Why is the law here, Alia?"

  That was a good point. Alia furrowed her brow and nodded, "Yes. Why are you here, good sir? Have we done something wrong?"

  Sheriff Vivek shook his head in negation, "nah, nah. Wasn't y'all. But somethin' wrong did happen. Is why I came. Invite me in, please?"

  Alia nodded and stood aside. Vivek tipped his hat to her and Esha as he walked in and took a seat on the sofa. He gestured that the two women ought to sit as well. They did quietly and he heaved a sigh.

  "I dun wanna alarm you young ladies but you should know."

  Esha paled, "know what? What's going on?"

  "Well, I dunno how t'say it but t'jus' say it. Ole Farmer Baajee was killed t'other night."

  Alia gasped. "He's the fellow that lives way down the road from us! I always gave him eggs in trade for milk. My Gods! What happened?"

  "We arrested several robbers that had made camp in t'woods not far from yer cabin here. We figured they t'ones that done it. They're bein' questioned at t'castle now. It's when we got 'em that I remembered that you ladies lived out yonder as well. Thought it'd be best I come check on the two o'yas." Vivek cleared his throat and reddened slightly.

  Esha still couldn't believe it, "He's dead? I can remember him from when I was really little. He always had a cookie for me. How did he die? Was his house robbed?"

  Brown's mouth thinned. "Naw, that's th' thing. Didn't look like nothing was gone from his place. Was strange He was just...dead. I can't tell ya all about it, confidential an' all, but it wasn't a pretty sight. Never seen anything like that before."

  Alia frowned, "But if it was indeed bandits that raided his place, wouldn't there be valuables stolen as well?"

  "Aye, that's what I figured too. An' that's the weird part. I wanted to ask you if you ladies seen anything unusual lately. We arrested four men, maybe you've seen a few more around t'woods?"

  The sisters glanced at one another and reluctantly told their stories. Vivek looked incredulous. "Well, I never heard nothin' like that before. Are ya sure ya saw this creature, young Miss? Maybe you just fell asleep an' dreamed it?"

  Esha was insulted, “Why does everyone think I would just randomly fall asleep by a river during the day and have nightmares and then confuse them with reality? I don't! I never have! I was awake!” She slammed herself back into the couch and crossed her arms, sulking.

  Vivek gave Alia a questioning glance, surprised at the younger sister's reaction. Alia shrugged, "I asked her the same thing. But I can assure you, sheriff, Esha does not tell stories. And from our other experiences, I will tell you, something odd is happening. Perhaps there are a few more robbers out there that managed to escape you and your men. It would be wise to be diligent. Especially after Farmer Baajee-"

  "Aye, got my men doin' patrols now. Can't have this happenin' again." He stood and tipped his hat once more. "I'll have one of my officers drop by tonight. T'make sure you and the young Missus are ok. Meantime, be careful outside. Don't go off by your lonesome until this thing is wrapped up. You savvy?"

  They nodded and Alia saw the man out. "Thank you again, Sheriff Vivek. And thanks for looking after us."

  Esha was still pouting but Alia felt better, "There you see? The guards are out there right now protecting us. And one is going to check up on us later."

  "That still doesn't explain the thing I saw in the trees, Alia. He looked like he could take on several deputies, easily."

  "I hardly think a bunch of random crooks would be able to beat a single armed guard, Esha," Alia replied, obviously much more at ease.

  Esha twirled a strand of hair around her finger and didn't reply. She kept recalling that strange, sullen-looking male -thing- crouching there glaring at her. Alia hadn't seen him. She didn't know just how foreign the stranger had actually appeared. Had Esha the adequate vocabulary to describe him, perhaps Alia would have been just a little more careful. And maybe she would have remembered Myra’s cryptic warning, from m