Martis Ch 1 Greystalker (revised)

Beginning of Fantasy novel

Martis

1
Graystalker

It was the Cat that convinced Martis.

Martis slid through the forest silent as shadow through the forest. He was peering into the undergrowth looking for herbs, mushrooms and fungus which he could sell in in the city of Bramnol. The herbalists there would pay good coin for them. He was very good at it and often spent a week or more into the depths of the woodland. It provided him a comfortable living.
The forest was called the Forest of Mists because in its depths one could find areas of strange mists. Sometimes in areas as small as a few hundred yards and at times much larger. It was said that they were connections to the world of Faery the home the Fay, a powerful race who had great magical powers. Their land was full of strange trees and creatures.
There were many stories about things that they could do because of power within them. Even lore masters would admit that some of the lore were contradictory. They could say was that Fay had once lived among humans.
But when the Breaking War a thousand years ago. came to its climax of conflicting powers some lands convulsed and were literally torn and left in ruin.
When this upheaval happened the land of Faery and some lesser-known lands were torn from the human world entirely to became realms outside the boundaries of the mundane worlds.
Martis had been deep into the forest for years. He discounted the stories because he had crossed mists of a few hundred yards without seeing anything but the normal forest he had seen all his life.
That afternoon he found an area with soft moss growing on the ground and the trunks of several trees...It had many useful mushrooms on the forest floor and fungus on the tree bark. He took many mushrooms and cut slices of several growths from the tree surface adding them to his bag of such things. The bluish Narest was especially good because it was very useful with the fevers and chills of many diseases. It would fetch him a good sum in in Bramnol.
It was growing in a place under the tree canopy that was shadowy. He made his camp on the soft moss on the south side of a large tree. He had a frugal supper of hardtack. strips of cured meat and a few mushrooms good only for the table.
He did not light a fire as that always drew insects to trouble the traveler. He wrapped himself in his cloak and slept.

He woke abruptly in the morning. It was much lighter than it ought to be.
He found a clearing around him that had not been there the night before. The sky was an odd shade of blue. Around him there were rocks of a strange blue color shot with veins of red about the area and an odd forest beyond.
It was unnerving so strung his bow and nocked an arrow to be ready for anything dangerous
He then turned slowly around, scanning the entire clearing and edge of the forest beyond. The trees had smooth light brown bark, their leaves were a bright green and were of strange shapes.
When as he completed his look around the clearing, he found a large gray female cat sitting on one of the blue stones. It looked like many kept by his folk that hunted the vermin that were after the grain and other products stored in their homes.
She was staring intently at him with her blue eyes. The cats he knew did not behave that way.
"I am Graystalker," said in a woman's voice that seemed to speak in his head. He looked around himself. The cat cocked her head "Who are you?"
Martis stared back at the cat confused.
"I am Martis," he said glancing around for the speaker. He lowered his bow.
The cat rose from her haunches, hopped down from the stone and approached him.
She circled him slowly.
"I've never met a human before, but you look like what I have heard." she went on.
She stopped a few feet before him still looking up at him.
"Very interesting." she went on.
:"Are all your people like you?" she finished sitting again on her haunches peering up at him.
"More or less," he was puzzled by what she meant by question...How she did she know he was a human but not know the answer to that question. He answered after spending a long moment before going on.
"Women are usually smaller. Most of my people have hair varies black, brown, blond or red."
"Very few of your people have come here," she said after a moment
"There must be for a reason why you have come." she announced, looking him up and down. "\Why have you come here?"
"I have no idea. I just slept in the forest and woke here. I was not trying to go anywhere."
She seemed to consider that. After a long minute she stretched and walked back to her perch on the stone.
"Come here and lay a hand on this stone for a moment."
He paused considering for a long minute before he approached the stone warily.
"Close your eyes for a moment," she said.
He reached out his hand. The stone was oddly warm when he touched it.
When he opened his eyes the light around him had changed., His hand was on the tree under which he had slept.
Graystalker was staring at him from nearby.
"I think I will have to find why you came to Faery," she said "Such things do not happen without a reason."
"How did you do that?" he asked staring around him.
" I did not. You did."
"How did I do it?" he asked puzzled.
"It is easier to return from Faery than to travel there. As I said we need to find out." she answered.
"We need to leave the forest so I can see more of your people. Maybe I can see a difference in some way.
Which direction is your home?"
"South." He answered.
She walked a few feet in front of him toward the barony.
He mulled overall all as he followed her. What could she see?
His family had lived in the village of Oharen for generations just another family making their home there.
They walked in silence. for three hours.
He went back to his normal activity of silence as he always did.
"We need to stop for a bit. I'll have something to eat and check my supply of wares.
It's been a productive trip for me. These should sell for a good price."
"What is sell?" she asked coming closer to him.
"The herbalist pays me with coins. I can use them can buy things with."
"New words for me," she said cocking her head. "What are coins?"
He reached into a pouch on his belt and produced a silver coin.
"This a coin." he said holding it in front of him.
"Silver," she said, "The Fay make jewelry and decoration out of it but have no coins, nor buy and sell, whatever that means."
This whole situation confused him. He was talking with a cat who seemed intelligent but had knowledge of normal life.
"There an even important question about this situation," she went on, " You can still hear and understand me. That should not be once we left Faery."
"Why?" he was beginning to become even more confused by the whole bizarre situation.
"The power that is in Faery could allow us to speak. That power doesn't exist here. Try to communicate with me be addressing me without speaking aloud."
"And how to do that," he thought looking at her.
"As you just did," she answered.
He had a strong desire to be in the inn of the Dancing Bear with a mug of its best ale in his hand.
His life had become progressively stranger. He was beginning to believe that he was mad.
"I can only think of one possible answer. You are Fayborn."