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They walked for a few minutes like love-struck teens. Teth knew that she was supposed to be looking for shelter, but she couldn’t get her head into the real world. Dasen had finally said exactly what she’d been wanting to hear since she got that terrible letter. She was so relieved, so happy that she just wanted to grab him and squeeze him. She contained the outpouring of her emotion to his poor hand, which she squeezed with abandon as they walked. Somewhere, she reminded herself to wait. It was one thing for him to say all those things here in the forest and another for him to do them when surrounded by the accusing eyes of strangers. But, for now, she was willing to take words and promises. She’d deal with actions when they happened.
She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she nearly walked off the cliff. She stuttered to a stop and pulled on Dasen’s hand to arrest his momentum. Even so, he had to pinwheel his arms to keep from tumbling down the steep hill in front of them. She grabbed the back of his pants to steady him then brought him in close. He did not say anything, just wrapped an arm around her shoulder and stared out at the site before them. Teth could only gasp.
Before them was a hundred foot drop, a ridge that stretched to the sides like a torn page. On their side of that page was a forest, trees as far as the eye could see. On the other were rolling hills of green, green grass that spanned to the horizon. Teth could see a few trees dotting the landscape, like small green-sailed ships on an equally green sea. In other places, the green was dotted by the brown of a house or barn. Near those buildings, the green had been tamed into fields, but the fields were only differentiated by the square fences that surrounded them and the precise rows of the crops.
They had made it to the end of the forest. Dasen had said that it would just be a few days from there to Thoren. Teth’s stomach turned at the thought. Would there even be a city for them to arrive at? And if they made it there, what would happen then? She said a silent prayer to the Order for help in either case.
They watched the fields for a long time before Dasen broke the silence. “Soon enough we will be sleeping in a soft bed, eating from real plates at a real table with as much as we could want. Warm baths, clean clothes . . . .” He relished the luxury of it, and despite her trepidation, Teth had to admit that all those things sounded wonderful.
That was until her eyes drifted south. She stared for a long time to be sure of what was before her, but there was no mistaking it now. There, weaving its way across the sea of green as far as the eye could see, was a road, an endless brown snake slithering across the fields. And the snake was alive. It moved and shimmered in the hazy late afternoon sun that made it through the clouds above. A constant stream of men marched along that road, as small as ants from their perch but just as numerous.
“We are almost home, Teth,” Dasen said, but she was not listening. She broke away from him and pointed toward the road. The words died on his lips as he followed her finger.
“I hope we will both have homes to return to” was all she could say as they watched the army march. The invaders were ahead of them; they would never get to Thoren before them.
Dasen found her hand and squeezed it. She squeezed back before they silently broke away and headed into the trees to prepare their camp. They would have one more night in the forest, then the final run to Thoren. Teth just hoped she would have the chance to test Dasen’s new commitment.
Chapter 33
From Across the Clouded Range Page 86
