Chapter 7
 
From the open heath of the Silure country, we entered into the dense woods of the Demetae.  In silence we rode among the gigantic elms and tall ash trees, picking our path carefully among the lines and lines of ancient wood that had guarded this land for countless generations.  The air became more and more oppressive as we ventured deeper and deeper into the heart of the maze, the canopy of green reducing the amount of sunlight that was allowed to penetrated through the foliage while a strange mist was drifting across the undergrowth giving the place a creepy feel.  We held our direction to the west, as this was the only way for us not to get lost in this vast expense of green. an increasing difficult thing to do as each tree seemed not so different from another.  Both of us knew if we really got lost, it would be ages before we could hope to find a way out, if at all.  
I reckoned that we had not ridden for more than two hours at the most but the vegetation had become so thick and the visibility had fallen so low that it would not be wise to proceed for the rest of the day.  Bituitius chose a spot beneath a giant elm where we dismounted and made ready for the night.  It was getting cold and we were worn out.  Bituitius and I gathered some woods and fallen leaves and piled them up.  Before long, a friendly campfire was burning and I nudged myself against a cavity at the foot of the elm and drifted into sleep.
When I woke up, it was already totally dark overhead.  I looked around and there was no sight of Bituitius.  A sudden panic seized me as the thought of being marooned in this desolate spot crossed my mind.  Fortunately, Bituitius became visible at that moment when he pushed away some scrub and came forward with our dinner- a full-grown hare.  
I put the creature to permanent rest, saying my prayer for the release of its soul and then set on the task of skinning it and roasting it over the fire.  The tempting smell of the meat multiplied the sense of hunger to a hundred fold and soon, we were enjoying our hearty meal.
"You surprised me."   I turned to him. " I thought you only feed on fruits and berries."
He smiled as he licked his fingers oiled by the sizzling meat.  
"Let us say I am a very practical vegetarian."
We both laughed.  The echo ranged through the forest and was distorted to grotesque form when reflected by the trees.  We fell silent again. and looked around.  No one was there but we both had a feeling we were being watched by a thousand unseen eyes.
"Have you heard anything about the Demetae?"
I nodded.  "
The Land of Demetae was sparsely populated but possessed great wealth of precious stones.  Yet such tempting object of raid never attracted any serious intrusion by other tribes.  Some did try but apparently was not successful. Some said they were ambushed in the thick woods without knowing who the deadly archers were.  Others speculated horrifying magic.  In any case, none of the invading army returned to tell the tale.  They simply vanished without a trace."
"Yes, that was what I was told too, when I had my apprenticeship under my old master." Bituitius looked around him and I followed his path of screen.  There was nothing except trees and a carpet of mysterious fog.
"Did you hear anything?"
I strained my ears.
"No. " I was puzzled as I was proud of my hearing and was certain that if Bituitius could hear something unusual, I should have picked that up even earlier than him.
"Precisely." he was even more pensive.  "There was not a single sound.  What kind of wood is that?"
My hairs stood on ends.  It was indeed a creepy place!
"Bituitius."
"Yes?"
"It is spinning."
"What are you talking about?" he looked at me as if I had lost my mind.
"The disc.  It is spinning." I plugged my hand into the hidden pocket and took out the disc and sure enough, it was spinning, faster and faster.
"What does it mean, Bituitius?"
We felt it before he could give me the answer.  It began as a tiny jolt of the ground, followed by another one, just minutely more noticeable.  I turned to him and we registered the same thing in the other's eyes.
Fear!
The jolt had become a kind of hollow rumble now.  Something under the ground was moving and it was moving fast!
"Epi! Get mounted and run!" Bituitius sprang to his feet and rushed to the spot where our horses were tied.  We only had time to untie my horse before we saw in horror what was making the commotion.  A huge worm, at least three rods in width, reared up its ugly head and came charging in our direction, its mouth wide open, showing its rows of razor sharp teeth!
My horse bolted just after Bituitius swing himself up my saddle.  The second horse, the one we took from the thieves, were neighing in sheer terror, its rein still fastened onto the trunk.  Much as we wanted to, we knew we could not save her.  We heard the death cry and I was foolish enough to turn my head, just in time to see the horse being snapped into halves by one closing of the hideous mouth!
Bituitius must have felt the shivering of my body.  We knew by now where the invading army had gone to!
We spurred our mount into blind gallop.  There was no direction of flight as any direction that could place us a step further from that creature was taken.  But we knew it was still behind us.  We could feel it from the trembling of  the ground on which the hooves of our mount landed.  It was coming for us and it would not stop until it got us!
"Do something, you are supposed to be a Druid!  Make a spell!" I pleaded.  I was not afraid to leave this world but no one, however courageous, would be willing to face such an end.
"Just hold tight!" he bellowed and kicked at the side of the horse to put it to even greater speed.
"Smite it with lightning or something!"
"I do not know such spells!" he shouted into my ears as the sound of rushing wind threatened to drown out his words.
"What spells do you know?" I was becoming desperate.  The worm was moving at great speed and worst of all, it knew the ground while we were like two blind ants.
"To make crops grow better, to find honey....”
"No!  Find some more practical!"
"They are practical!"  He protested.
I could not believe it.  He was surely very helpful.
But it was not the time to fight the battle of tongues.  We were riding uphill now, towards thinner tree lines.  We were betting on the worm not going to follow us out of the woods.  
We were wrong!
It was persistent in its pursuit of meal!
"Damned!" Bituitius cursed as he suddenly found out we had made a wrong turn and was now rushing up towards the side of a cliff.  He reined in and tried to turn the horse around.  But we were trapped.  The monster had blocked our only route down the slope and was now inching forward, confident of a fine dinner.
"What are we going to do, Bituitius?"
He turned the horse around and urged it towards the edge.  It was a sheer drop of at least two hundred feet to the icy current down below.
"Can you swim?" he demanded.
"No!" I answered.
"Good.  Neither could I!"
Without waiting for a further comment from me, he gave a sharp kick to the side of the horse and the next moment, Bituitius, I and the horse were in midair, our limbs moving wildly as we made our free-fall.  The drop seemed to take ages and when it was about to end, my eyes opened wide in terror at the huge boulder on the riverbed that was looming larger and larger and about to crush my skull and spill my brains on it!
"Fulmitius grantinius...." I heard some strange chanting from Bituitius who was falling at the same speed.
Just as my head was to make impact with solid rock, a bright light exploded and the rock was gone and my body, our bodies, struck icy water!
He had made the rock disappeared!
"Very practical indeed!" I said to myself.
That was the last word I remembered before passing out.