In the company of our fellowship, we had last left Scythia Metropolis in search of some remote spot somewhere along the Maeotis swamp. Theirs was a long journey, which would probably have taken three or four days to get to Piscatura Dei, but there was an opportunity to explore some of the ruins and some of the woods opened by hills and towers on one's own; to explore various things like that and get lost in the landscape. Dawn was about to break. 

Rolandus checked his bag. There was still some of the cider he had bought at Halmyris. It tasted good even though it was almost empty. Marfisa drank from the bottle while looking around. The morning dew sparkled under the rays of the rising sun. We should leave soon, thought Marfisa, so we can reach the town of Piscatura Dei earlier. 

"Do you see those ruins too?" asked Rolandus. 

"Yes," answered Marfisa, scanning the horizon: they were all evenly spaced. They looked like signal towers, which were now ruins, perhaps because they predated the tenth century and served to mark the northern boundary of the Bosphorus kingdom. "I wonder why they didn't rebuild these ruins." 

"Perhaps they wanted to preserve them as a reminder of their past glory," said Rolandus. 

"Or maybe they just forgot about them," added Marfisa. 

They walked until midday, then stopped to eat lunch. The remains of a small hill rose above them. From here, they could look at the ruins of a tower, whose top reached into the clouds. At noon, it seemed as though nothing remained of the building except for a few walls, which might have been built later and were not part of the original construction. 

The day grew warm, and the air became humid. As they approached the base of the tower, the ground began to slope downward, forming a natural amphitheatre where several trees stood. A stream ran through that hollow. That place was perfect for camping. 

There were no more traces of human habitation near them. On either side of the road, only wild vegetation existed. All the land was covered in grass, mosses and shrubs. There were different kinds of flowers. 

It was a quiet evening. No insects buzzed around them, nor did any birds sang. Even the frogs croaked less loudly. That was the silence of nature. A soft wind blew across the field. Insects hummed, but their voices were muffled by distance. Only occasionally, something flew over their heads. 

"What do you think happened to the people who lived here?" wondered Marfisa. 

"Who knows? Perhaps there was no longer a need for these watch towers." 

"Maybe," replied Marfisa. 

A light rain fell during the night. By dawn, everything glistened. When Marfisa woke, the first thing she noticed was the smell of wet earth. Then she saw the sky was clear again. The rain had washed away all the mud and fallen leaves. 

When they got up, Rolandus found a depression in the ground. There was a small cave, but a quick investigation showed that it had caved in a long time ago. It appeared to be part of a disused mining system. Marfisa found what looked like a massive mining crate containing long since rusted tools. There were a couple of railroad tracks leading to a heavily damaged mine cart that had tipped over on one side. It looked as if there was raw iron there. 

After breakfast, they continued walking along the track. Soon enough, they came upon another abandoned train car. This one was even worse off than the last. Its wooden frame was cracked and broken, while most of its wheels were missing. 

"What are you thinking about?" asked Rolandus, seeing his friend observing the raw ore. "Do you see anything interesting in those rails?" 

"Just a feeling," she said, looking at the ore. "It concerns the sword of Madalgarius." 

"What about it?" 

She hesitated. "Did you know that swords forged by satyrs, even when they are not fairy, are of a better-quality metal than those of us humans?" said Marfisa continuing to watch the iron ore. "They are not easily damaged and over time do not rust." 

"It won't surprise me if it is true," remarked Rolandus, shaking his head. "There is a point to all this?" 

"I don't know yet... I just feel somehow uneasy..." said Marfisa, looking around, "Do you remember what the innkeeper said? That some nymphs from Tyana had settled in the forest north of Piscatura Dei. Or rather, that they created it? "I mean, if I were a people capable of forging metals of an unprecedented quality and wanted to found a community, I would choose a place rich in minerals." 

"Come to think of it, Tyana is located near Pontus, where the Chalybes people, famous for their metallurgy, were said to live," said Rolandus, before becoming pensive. "If you think about it, the kingdom of Bosporus Cimmerian was founded by a Thracian dynasty and then by one related to the kingdom of Pontus. The former near the Island of Peuce and the Thiagola swamp, the latter near the territory of the Chalybes and Tyana. Two territories populated by nymphs.... is quite a coincidence. Especially when you consider that near Panticapaeum, capital of the Cimmerian Bosphorus there is a village called Nymphaeum, where there is a temple dedicated to the Cabiri, the children of the god Vulcan. One of the rulers of Panticapaeum was even called Satyr of Panticapaeum." 

"The problem is, we have no way of knowing whether any of these stories are true," she added. 

"You're right," he agreed, scratching his cheek. "But still... what if it's true? If the story is accurate, then maybe there are nymphs who founded a kingdom here nearby." 

Marfisa felt her heart pounding at the idea of being near nymphs, but finally shook her head. 

"The purpose of a historian is to analyse facts, not to link names and places into a pleasant tale; and besides, we are more to reach Madalgarius before he gets into dangerous places, we can always come back here on the way back." 

Rolandus noticed the distress on Marfisa's face but said nothing. 

*** 

They left the mine behind them, riding across the open country, until they came upon a small river surrounded by trees. Around them they could only see lots and lots of sheep. There was no one else for miles. Nor could they see any trace of human activity. They thought they could see some river fishermen or perhaps someone who came to shepherd or whoever it was who tended those sheep. Even something inanimate would do, like a field structure of hedges or stone walls. 

What abounded instead were wildflowers and grasses, many grasses that soberly stood out in a wide green mantle, many nettles and banks of pebbles and rocks. 

The stream beside them was widening, beginning to become a river. A forest stood a little further away from it and its waters were just a shadow of that forest leaving a clear edge in the sunlight. The water was indeed clear, although neither of them had tried to drink it or do anything about it. It seemed to be easy to drink, drinking water in short. It looked clear and pure. Really shiny. 

So, travelling a little further along the riverbank, they saw it. There was a series of stones that served as a ford. No acrobatics were necessary, because they were literally walking on less than fifteen centimetres of water, and they were on horseback. One could pass from one side of the riverbank to the western bank without effort. 

After a short while they found themselves back in open, flat terrain, but now there was a choice of direction. They could choose between following the riverbank or entering another forest whose borders were not visible to their eyes. 

There were hills, small hills, and some banks along which the river flowed. They were wide, flat banks and the ground was firm rather than mushy, as one would have expected. There were rushes growing out of pebbles and broken and fragmented rocks, but one could easily pass by following the course of the river. 

Instead, trees grew thick and free, except for a strip dug by human hand, which served as a road. It was wide and elevated, so that the cobblestones were protected from the mud and rain that fell there, and it was certainly the main road. 

"I guess it's a shortcut..." said Rolandus, "...in the sense that we could follow the path." 

"Yes, but we can't know." 

The raised embankment was also used as a road, but it turned away from the other path that led away from the river and into the forest. 

“Alternatively, one could follow the riverbank," continued the catizus. "The original plan was precisely to follow that. The woods can be a stopping point, if only to catch some rabbit and food I suppose." 

"I have daily rations for those amenities to be able to do, and we have apples," said Marfisa. "We could also find timber and such in the woods, but there is also plenty in the river like fish." 

"Actually in a river you can fish, but we don't have any fishing rods and I don't know if we can build such a thing. Make a fishing rod, with a stick with string." 

"I don't see why we can't try, but the fish that live in this river are roughly five or eight centimetres long." 

Marfisa glanced at them: they looked like sardines and swam in schools of about twenty or thirty. It would therefore have been quite easy to catch them. They could split them up and trap some of them. The pools were very large in places, with smaller rock pools, but you could cross the river itself, always staying where the water was shallow. Even Rolandus could do this, despite his stature. Or, if they wanted, they could spend twenty minutes to an hour building a small stone fence, like a small dam, to trap the fish. And besides such things, there were other perfect ways that came to Marfisa's mind for the fish to fall into their hands, ensuring a hearty meal. 

"You're not afraid of the river, are you?" said Marfisa. 

"...!" (Rolandus). 

"Ah! So that's it then." 

"You know. When my head only reaches your hips..." 

"Don't be a child. The water won't even reach your belt." 

"..." 

This time I must side with Marfisa. The water wasn't that deep, even for catizi; but Rolandus was already patient with a horse under his legs, I think we can understand his unwillingness to go near flowing water. 

They both scanned the sky. They had left when it was still early morning; really early morning, just beginning, and they had been travelling for about three or four hours. In the absence of clocks, the best, the only possible way to judge how much time had passed, when in the country, was to look at the sun and they both judged that the travelling time had been about three or four hours. 

Rolandus asked Marfisa if she wished to fish. 'Perhaps we can go into the woods, camp and then return to the river...' said the catizus in a courteous tone, '...or do you want to continue until we get to another ruin, or something like that since it's a little while before we can prepare lunch. Well, what time do you think it is?" 

"About ten, ten thirty, I couldn't say exactly..." said Marfisa, "...but between ten and eleven in the morning. It's still morning. We can still travel for a while. I'm not going to count how many minutes until we eat yet." 

They looked around again, but again, there was no one around. There were fish, there were birds, but since breakfast they had not seen any humans or catizus, so asking for information was not an option on the table. 

As they approached the river, they felt an inexplicable scent of fried fish reach their nostrils, but the birdsong of the forest also had its attraction. They were undecided whether to stay along the river or head for the birds, as they were still interested in the forest both for the benefit they could get and because it was perhaps the quickest way to Tanais, but they had to stay close to the river. This is what he had been told. 

"Perhaps we would have done better to do some more thorough research," Rolandus said. 

"Maybe it would be better to stick to the river to know where to go. So we can deviate from here and stay on the bend of the river over there. It is quite flat and open," proposed Marfisa. 

"So you want to follow the course of the river going up that way?" said Rolandus. 

Marfisa scanned with her eyes, all that could be seen before becoming an indefinite distance along the horizon. There was a wooded area and there was a possibility that at some point the riverbank would rejoin the path from which they would depart. 

"Of all the rivers in Sarmatia, I could not tell the path of this one. I think it is perhaps even too small to appear on maps,' said Marfisa. "However, this seems to be the main river in the area, and it is likely that the road also follows its path as closely as possible." 

It was a reasonable statement, but Marfisa decided to leave the choice of route to Rolandus. After all, he was the one at greatest risk if he fell into the river. 

In the end the choice fell on the riverbank, as it was the route that had been suggested to him by the innkeeper. 

It became cloudy: overcast, but still sunny at times of the day. They saw no sign that they were going in the wrong direction, so they continued like this for over an hour, until Rolandus spoke: "You know, I think maybe we could go into the woods. Maybe we could also pick up some old sticks to light a fire later. Yes, pick up some of the sick or fallen ones and make a small stash for when it comes time for lunch." 

"It's true that you catizi like to eat..." said Marfisa. "...but I'm not too sure we've made up for the time we wasted debating whether to follow the river or decide to head for the path leading to the forest." 

"There, there is a road that heads towards the woods. We could go and see if it re-joins the road we discarded and in the meantime stock up on timber." 

"That seems the most efficient thing to me." 

It was not a main road, nor had it been used frequently, but it had been used in the last week. By whom? It had probably only been used by one or two people passing through, and it was heading into the woods, but to where it was hard to be sure. 

Rolandus went forward. He could see the trees in front of him well, but beyond a certain distance it became an indistinct patch of green and brown, with no trace of human activity. He walked into it. 

It was a beautiful mixed forest. There were a few beech trees and some hints of undergrowth, although he would have preferred not given his height. Despite the flat terrain, there were still some sort of hills, like small mounds in the forest. The ground was a mixture of tangled weeds, nettles, brambles and mostly foliage. In the neighbouring woods were oaks, beeches, elms and other types of trees. The elm was the dominant tree in that spot, but there were various other types of wild trees. None of those looked as if it had been planted by human hand. It could be said that that wood had been there for a long time. There were, however, many dead trees; many others damaged by storms, as well as moss-covered trunks and mushrooms growing on their sides. There were also things like berries of various kinds.   

"I would like to go inside. Into the forest I mean. Just the first part, but don't go right in the middle. Just go into the far part to collect some useful stuff." 

Marfisa nodded.   

She surveyed the ground along the road. It had been ruined by the continuous rain, but it was still smooth. It didn't matter anyway, since she had no intention of exploring thoroughly. He stopped for a moment at the tree line and then headed into the woods. He stuck his head in, and advanced about three or four metres. 

It did not look like a huge forest. There was something like a pass between the hills that acted as an opening and made the passage passable, despite the condition of the road. There was a small group of about six or seven trees, then a canopy of bushes and finally a gap that could be crossed, and then start again with another group of trees.   

He could have climbed one of them to get a better view of the surroundings, the tallest ones reached perhaps forty-five metres, but there was no need. The forest was very sparse at that point, nor did it have complete cover. There were holes looking up and space between the trees. The risk of losing your way was minimal.  You could see birds' nests and things like that. Was that a squirrel? 

Whatever would have come up, would he have been able to handle it? It was a question to be asked given his small size. While he could see dangers approaching from a long distance, only sporadic ferns and bushes could have sheltered him. In any case he was wearing armour, so many animals would have offered relative danger. 

Everything said yes, yet in his mind he couldn't help but hear a resounding no, no. Probably not, but reasonably not. What terrified him, however, was that he could not say why. 

He looked around to see if there was anything he could identify as something that should not be there, or anything like that. 

It was all obvious. If there had ever been danger there, there was nothing there now. It seemed to him that he had just entered the woods and that the woods were real and yet....   

"Is it a figment of my imagination? Or am I to imagine that out of bad jest or irony there is a spell there, which wants to make me feel as if enchanted?" 

He should have reflected that it was imagination and that there was nothing magical about it.  There was nothing strange, there was also stuff typical of such places, like trees and grass, earth and stuff. 

"Oh, my goodness! By dint of listening to Marfisa I'm seeing nymphs and satyrs everywhere."  

He shook his head and saw if there was anything he could take to make fire later. Anything at all. He picked up some wood. There were numerous branches, broken tops and things like that. He put his hand against a tree, just to support it, and the tree, some kind of old elm, broke.   

O my goodness! Imagine the fright Rolandus got. Especially considering his state of mind. 

He walked over and looked closer. It was not a very big tree: it had come down and its roots had toppled over. Now he could be sure that there was a new and abundant source of wood to use for a bonfire or something. There were also twigs and pinecones on the ground, which were good enough to light a fire. 

He quickly took five pinecones. He didn't even need to look for them, they were practically at his feet, and a few twigs, five or six to grab on the fly.   

With so many branches and so many pinecones it was a real game.   

"A wood mine in a forest." he said before realising what he had said. "Yes, you have discovered that wood is found in a forest. Your goal will be to make a bad impression today."  

He took the wood and so laden he retraced his steps and came out of the forest with his little treasure to set on fire: a few broken branches and pinecones. 

Looking around as far as his gaze could reach, he noticed rocks nearby. They were rocks probably dragged there by centuries of ice and mud, but they seemed to have been arranged like chairs or couches around a long stone table. It must surely have been a figment of his imagination: the table and chairs were too far apart and placed too haphazardly, to have been placed there for good measure, and yet... 

There were marks and veins decorating the table, but as much as he noticed regularity in them, such marks were normal in weathered rocks. 

He placed his hand on it and felt the need to go towards the main path. Nevertheless, he could not take his hands off the rock and think that this place had any meaning. 

"Have you always been alone or was there a time when nymphs and satyrs kept you company? Was this a place of trivial banquets or high diplomacy? Or in the end is all this a figment of my imagination and we will one day have a laugh? There, on the edge of the forest, is a good girl who deserves to know about nymphs and satyrs. Come on speak, so that I may bring her good news. She is kind and curious, she will not harm your friends." 

The rock did not answer, and since he had finished gathering wood. What he did not notice was a strange symbol engraved on the rock: it was two sets of mirrored, albeit slightly oblique, concentric circles engraved on the rock. In the series on the left, the engravings were deeper and less distant, giving the illusion of a long series of dark circles. Those on the left were further apart, creating the illusion of lighter circles. He returned to the path where was waiting for him Marfisa, herself not immune to the effect of that forest. 

It was a normal, everyday day, and that was only a small forest, yet there was something eerie amid it. It was a mixed forest: there were pines and beeches, and all the typical elements of a forest. Many bushes, many weeds and even brambles... and an apple.   

This is strange. Marfisa thought. There were no apple trees in sight and yet there it was: a beautiful red apple. It reminded her of the apples Madalgarius had cheated her with, except that there were no traces of gold in that forest.   

"Did you go in there and collect pinecones, branches, logs and things like that?"  

"Trust me. We'll need them," he continued.   

"Do you need a hand?" 

"No, no. And anyway, I could never ask a young lady to carry all this weight." 

"..." 

"...?" 

"..." 

"What?"  

Marfisa reached out her arm and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, lifting him by force until his face was close to hers.   

"Do you know that without a backpack you weigh about twenty kilos? I can lift you and your little treasure of lumber," said Marfisa before putting him back down. "Besides, I understand that in your species there is not so much difference in strength between males and females." 

"Politeness was not born yesterday, Marfisa. Besides, it's not all that much of a burden to me."  

Marfisa watched him put his rucksack on his shoulder, as small timbers fell from the sides and pinecones rattled inside it. Indeed, despite his small body, he was a good walker. Much better than any human child of the same size.   

They returned to the path through the forest and, after about twenty minutes of walking, came to a fork in the path, which led north and south. 

This time they had lost sight of the river. They could neither here nor see it. To the north was open moorland with some rocky outcrops. To the south the path crossed the northern cliff of the hills they had passed, passing along the riverbank. The other path seemed to extend over open terrain until it reached a large, flat, open area. 

"So which way should we head? Towards the road where we know the river is?" said Marfisa. 
"I was going to say that. And anyway, the direction we should take is east,' Rolandus replied. "Neither of them seem to me to be well-trodden paths. They are back paths to get from one point to another. They are not a trade route, or a route taken during transhumance or anything like that. They are, however, very open and flat, and go in the direction we want." 

They travelled for another hour or so, so an hour was approaching when their stomachs began to grumble.   

"Once we get back near the river, should we make camp?" Rolandus asked. "Although I think we are hungry enough to say this place is good enough, but I can say no to food. I will not stop here. It will be good to have food from the river." 

It was not so long later that they began to hear the river again. It was then, when the river was visible again, that beyond it they saw what remained of a small, ruined castle.