Soon, all the normal cheerfullness of Albia was gone, and all that was left were the twisted trunks of the tall, dark trees. There were no noises of birds here, the air was warm, silent and still. Bek had armed himself with a stick that was roughly his height, and he clutched it in both hands as he proceeded. Suddenley, he stopped still. Pricking his ears up he swore he could hear voices. The deep, gruff voices of Grendels. In particular, the two troublesome brothers; Gwarf and Griff. Stepping forward cautiously, he parted some bushes and peered through.

Nirri struggled to turn her head away from the foul breath of Gwarf. Tied to the tree as she was, she couldn't escape the pair, but she was a brave little norn, and didn't show her fear. Griff stood nearby tending a fire, hardly ever speaking. Gwarf paced up and down in front of Nirri, breathing into her face and spitting on her as he spoke. "Huh-huh-huh. That stoopid norn that's s'posed to look after you, is gonna hate hisself after this. I can't wait to see 'is face when 'e finds yer bones that we leave fer 'im outside 'is kitchenplace." He slowly reached out with his horrid, scaly claws towards Nirri. Quick as a flash she bit him hard, and shouted in his face. "Nono. Gwendle no push Nirri! Gwendle stop!" "Why you littwle..." roared Gwarf as he snatched a stick off the floor and started to swing it towards her head.

"Nooooo!" Cried Bek. He ran into the clearing and hit Gwarf on the back of the head with his stick so hard that it snapped in two. Gwarf fell in a heap on the floor as Bek turned to face Griff. Gwarf was bigger than Bek, and Griff was even bigger then him. He picked the norn up in his claws and raised him high above his head, throwing him into the tree that Nirri was tied to. Taking the opurtunity, Nirri riggled free of the vines that tied her there and helped Bek up. Griff, realising he was about to lose his dinner, ran forward and breathed a horrendous green cloud of foul stinking air over Beks face, causing him to cough and splutter. Bek shook his head as clear as he could and scooped Nirri up in his arms, limping out of the forest as fast as he could.

Two days later, Bek lay partly curled up on the floor in the kitchen, surrounded by norns of all ages. His eyes looked foggy and his breathing was slow. Sendor the Elder stood up from where he was kneeling beside him and turned to the crowd of anxious faces. "I think it was the Grendels breath. We don't have any herbs for that sort of thing." The whole group looked dismayed and mournful as Sendor simply stepped back to show there was nothing he could do. Suddenly Nirri appeared. She squeezed through the crowd and sat down, resting her back against Bek. "Bek happee. Bek sleep. Bek warrorr norn now, like he want." Bek smiled, and closed his eyes.