As he briskly trudged across the leafy clearing, the wizard extended his arms. His body suddenly liquefied while reducing its size at the same time. In the next instant, Arileez swiftly transformed into a large, red-tailed hawk. With a few powerful flaps of its wings, the bird shot airborne and was soon flying freely over the vast emerald expanse of the Ebrean Forest. He glided northeast on the shifting currents, disappointed that this mission had failed, yet anxious to get back to the village of Kanesbury and report his findings to Caldurian.
CHAPTER 34
The Clearing
The aroma of simmering soup enticed William to open his eyes. For a moment he thought Martha had left a tray of lunch in his room at Red Lodge. Had he overslept? Had he been sick? The ceiling looked unfamiliar and a cool, damp cloth had been placed behind his head. An uncomfortable throbbing in his neck nudged him fully awake, and soon the imagined images of Martha and Red Lodge were replaced with the horror that had been unleashed.
He whispered his brother’s name as he struggled to sit up, his heart pounding, his head swimming. “Brendan!” he called again before going silent, noting three men sitting at the table and staring at him as if he were an exhibit at a village fair. “Who are you?”
A fourth man stooping over the fireplace while stirring a kettle of soup over the crackling flames echoed his question. “Who are you?”
The stranger’s unshaven face beneath a head of dark brown hair appeared honest enough to William, though he was hesitant to say anything until he learned more. The man joined the others at the table, at which point William realized that he had been lying on the floor on a straw mattress brought down from the loft. He glanced at the area near the fireplace. His brother’s body was missing.
“Where’s Brendan?” he asked. “Where’s my brother?”
The men looked apprehensively at each other before the first one answered. “My name is Ramsey. These are friends of mine. My I have your name?”
William glanced about, wondering who these people were. But as they had apparently tended to his injuries, he decided he could at least trust them with his name. “I’m William.” He picked up the cool cloth and held it to the back of his head.
“You had a bump, but no cut,” one of the others said. “You knocked yourself out on a chunk of wood wedged under those pine boughs out back.”
“I think I’ll survive.” William again looked at the area where Brendan had fallen. “Please, where is my brother? He collapsed over there after he was…” He took a few uneasy breaths, swallowing hard, wondering if what had occurred a while ago had actually happened. “Where is he?”
Ramsey fixed his uneasy gaze to the floor before looking up at William. “What happened here? We found you unconscious outdoors about two hours ago and your brother inside on the floor. Who did this to you?”
The young prince shook his head. “I don’t know. He appeared out of nowhere. He was standing outside the door. When Brendan opened it to get water, he attacked us.” William, his spirit distraught, his eyes burning and wet, pleaded again for a simple answer to his question. “Where is my brother?”
William knelt on one knee, alone beneath a pine thicket on the edge of the clearing. His arm rested on a low pile of split logs that had been neatly stacked in a rectangular pile over Brendan’s body. This would serve as a temporary grave until he could accompany his brother home to Montavia where he would be properly buried with the honor he so deserved.
Earlier, Ramsey had confirmed what he already knew in his heart–that his brother had perished from the terrible wound inflicted upon him. Ramsey had shown William his brother’s body which had been removed from the cabin and brought outdoors after wrapping it in a blanket. William felt cold and disoriented when he removed the covering from Brendan’s face, his brother’s eyes forever closed, his countenance peaceful and fair. At his request, Ramsey’s men dug a shallow grave and placed the wrapped body within, covering it with pine branches before building a cairn of wood over the deceased.
Now, William knelt there in the late morning silence, alone with his brother, alone with his leaden thoughts, wondering how he would ever break this wretched news to his mother and grandfather as a stream of hot tears flowed down his face.
Later, while downing a bowl of hot soup and bread, William cautiously answered some of the questions the men posed to him as they sat around the table. He told them he was a citizen of Montavia who had been visiting the capital of Arrondale with his brother when they decided to journey south for some adventure.
“You travel much for one so young,” Ramsey said as he dipped a chunk of bread in his soup, sensing that William wasn’t telling him everything yet willing to give the boy leeway considering the trauma he had suffered. “Why are you roaming in these parts, and how did you get lost in the Ebrean?”
William studied the faces of the quartet over the rising steam from his bowl, wanting to trust them to a point but knowing he had taken an oath in the Citadel not to reveal information about the medallion. Though he had spoken of the same to his attacker, he discounted that breach considering the circumstances. But these men who had fed him and tended to his injuries deserved some answers, so he decided to be honest yet vague until he found out more.
“Could you first tell me if I’m far from Drumaya’s border? My brother and I only took refuge here to wait until the sun rose higher before we tried to find our way back.”
“You are deep in the forest, but not far from the kingdom,” Ramsey said. “From where in Drumaya did you enter the woods?”
“We were in Grantwick and then hiked to the Ebrean, camping along the tree line. The gates to the King’s Quarters had already been closed for the night.” He helped himself to more bread, ripping another piece off a large, round loaf and soaking it with broth. Only now he realized how truly hungry he was.
“Why were you planning to visit the inner city?” another man asked as he leaned back in his chair, picking at his teeth with a sliver of pinewood.
William paused as he raised a bit of bread to his mouth. “We were, uh–sightseeing.” He greedily devoured the piece of food and ate another spoonful of soup, momentarily avoiding eye contact.
“There weren’t enough interesting sights in Arrondale’s capital that you had to travel all the way down here?” Ramsey asked, eliciting a few chuckles from the others. “Or have you had your fill of Morrenwood already?”
“Not exactly,” William replied, knowing that they would press him until he supplied a reasonably logical answer. After helping himself to a few more spoonfuls of soup, he looked up warily, debating how much information he should offer. “Well, my brother and I were hoping for an audience with– I mean, hoping to meet with–” He froze, realizing he might have already slipped up. He ate another mouthful of bread as Ramsey looked on curiously. “We were to meet with someone. A friend.”
Ramsey smiled. “Does this friend have a name?”
Moments of strained silence followed as the flames snapped in the fireplace. A cool breath of morning air poured in through the open window. William finished the last of his soup, pushed the bowl aside and glanced at Ramsey. “Forgive me if I’m not completely open with you. I appreciate what you’ve done for me, but... Perhaps if you told me more about yourself, I might be able to say more.”
Ramsey grinned, noting that the others were likewise amused. “I think what you’re really saying is that if we told you more about ourselves, you might be able to decide if you trusted us or not. Yet here you are in our cabin, eating our food, and with your injuries tended to.” William’s face turned a light shade of red. “Don’t worry. I take no offense at your caution, especially after what you’ve endured. But since you are an intruder here–though by necessity–you shouldn’t be surprised that we don’t open up to you simply because you ask. You have to earn our trust, not the other way around.”
William locked gazes with his questioner, feeling as if he had unintentionally insulted the man. “I’m sorry. I didn’
t mean…”
Ramsey dipped the last of his bread into his soup bowl and finished eating. “As I said, I take no offense. Besides, I am the least of your worries. Even if I wanted to answer all your questions, there is someone else who you must report to first before we can allow you to return to Grantwick. You may be silent to us, but he will certainly want to know everything that happened here regardless of your doubts and insecurity.” Ramsey walked over to the hearth and threw another log on the fire, stoking the flames with the metal poker.
“He?”
“My leader,” Ramsey said, glancing at William over his shoulder. “We all report to someone, don’t we?”
“I suppose. Could you tell me his name? And is he around here?” he asked, briefly looking about the room.
Ramsey stroked his chin. “Right to the point. I admire that trait in both friend and foe. But I won’t reveal his name to you. That is his privilege. But we’ll leave shortly and seek him out. It’ll be quite a hike deeper into the trees before we reach his residence. You may want some more bread and soup first.”
“All right then. Thank you,” William said, realizing he would get no more answers at this time while feeling both eager and fearful about what might lie ahead. He briefly debated whether he should make a run for it the first chance that presented itself, risking hunger and being permanently lost. Or would staying close to Ramsey and his men be the wiser alternative? Even though he didn’t completely trust them, he realized that he didn’t yet fear them and took that as a good sign.
“Be prepared to leave in another hour and expect some brisk hiking. We should arrive by twilight.”
“All right.” With the interrogation of sorts over, William suddenly felt tired and overwhelmed by the day’s events. Though he absorbed with interest all that Ramsey had told him, his thoughts and emotions turned to his brother lying beneath the somber clouds outdoors. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to sit with Brendan again for a while. I feel that…”
“Of course,” Ramsey said, his voice radiating concern. “We’ll stay in here to discuss our journey. Or would you like one of us to accompany you?”
“No thanks. I’d prefer the solitude, if you please,” he replied, though in the back of his mind he wondered if Ramsey suspected that he might try to flee. As he stepped outside the cabin in the deepening quiet, William wondered where they would be going and who exactly would be greeting them when they arrived.
They talked little during the first two hours of the hike. Though the trees were thick and shadowy, the gray blanket of clouds had begun to thin, allowing rays of sunshine to stab through the treetops as the early afternoon progressed. The scent of sweet pine mixed with the sharp pungency of decaying leaves being crushed underfoot. William, dressed in his overcoat to ward off a damp chill, breathed in the revitalizing aromas. Ramsey and his men wore hooded jackets of lighter material beneath thick cloth ponchos in shades of russet, umber and fern. The travelers halted occasionally to drink from passing streams and refill their water skins, and later stopped near a large outcropping of rock to eat a brief lunch of dried venison, corn biscuits and apples. The meal tasted like a feast to William after such a strenuous pace. Though he and Brendan had traveled many miles south, they had leisurely ridden on horseback. Only during their escape from Montavia had he moved with such speed and determination.
He recalled the flight to Morrenwood with his brother, and though their mission to seek help from King Justin was both grave and urgent, he had enjoyed their time traveling together, sharing stories and ideas while passing through the mountain valleys and across the roads and fields of Arrondale. Now, he was on a completely different journey with four strangers, yet William felt incredibly alone. Part of him wished that Brendan had survived the attack in the cabin instead of himself, knowing that his brother was far better suited for the burden of leadership should that eventuality ever arise. He vowed to do his best nonetheless, knowing he owed that to Brendan who gave up his life to save him.
Another hour had passed when they began to climb up a gradual rise in the forest floor. Here the trees grew thinner and the light brightly shone. William took pleasure in the rich blue sky as the clouds broke and drifted east. He savored the warm touch of sunlight upon his face as it made its westward trek toward the Northern Mountains.
“We are near one of the outposts,” Ramsey said, stopping to allow everyone to catch his breath. “It is little more than an hour’s hike from there to our destination. Now rest for a moment.”
“Gladly,” William said, sitting upon a rock to stretch his aching legs. He drank greedily from a water skin Ramsey had provided as the others quietly discussed the way forward. He realized how foolhardy it would be now to make a run for it, guessing that he would surely remain lost and probably die of cold and starvation. But just as he grew comfortable, briefly closing his eyes and thinking that this respite might last awhile, Ramsey called for everybody to continue. William sighed and reluctantly got to his feet, wondering if the journey would ever end.
They continued on swiftly like a blur of shadows. But less than twenty minutes later as they hiked along a gurgling stream, a half dozen men suddenly stepped out from behind several trees just ahead, all armed with swords or bows at the ready. William stopped with an audible gasp and looked to Ramsey for guidance, expecting the worst. But when he saw a faint smile spread across his face and noticed the armed men lowering their weapons, his rapidly beating heart began to settle as he realized that the men must be from the nearby outpost.
“Tell me that you have a kettle of stew on the fire, Harbus, and I will be in your debt,” Ramsey joked as he approached the leader of the group and shook his hand.
“Would you expect anything less?” he replied with good humor, his long dark hair peeking out from beneath a weather-stained hood. “Bread, cheese and ale are on the table, too.” He glanced at William. “Who is the boy?”
“Ladle out the stew and I will tell you. But be quick,” Ramsey said. “I want to reach the Clearing before sundown.”
William shot a curious glance at Ramsey. “The Clearing? What’s that?”
“That is our destination,” he said.
After the five guests sat down to eat with Harbus and his men at the cabin outpost, Ramsey told how he had found William and his brother’s body at the hunting cabin, though unable to explain the terrifying entity who had committed the atrocious murder. William listened in subdued silence as the men talked, not in the mood to rehash the details, though knowing he’d have to explain everything at some mysterious place called the Clearing.
“My condolences for your loss,” Harbus said to William.
“Thank you,” the prince replied. “Your words are a comfort.”
“And your culinary kindness is a blessing,” Ramsey added as he finished his meal. “But we cannot tarry much longer if we are to reach the Star Clearing before sunset. I need to make my report and get some rest before the final march back to Grantwick.”
“You have information from some of the other Clearings?” Harbus asked.
“There are others?” William piped up, realizing he shouldn’t have interrupted as Ramsey cautioned him with a raised hand.
“Two are on the march now, Harbus, and they will already be encamped near Grantwick before we arrive.”
“So after all these years of preparation, we’re finally on the move,” he replied with a mix of satisfaction and unease. “At times I thought we were simply putting down roots like the trees we’ve lived among, never really intending to make a stand in the end.”
“You were always an impatient one,” Ramsey said. “But for good or ill, the time has come.” He then addressed William, sensing the numerous questions and boundless curiosity bottled up inside him. “And yes, there are other Clearings within the Ebrean. Five in all. From what I’ve observed of you so far, I think I can trust you with that bit of information.”
“That is where you live? In the Clearings?” William asked. “Not in th
e cabin where you found me?”
Ramsey chuckled. “That cabin where we found you is just one of many small lodges we have built for our hunting parties to use when needed. The four of us were part of a scouting team and stopped there for a meal before returning home to the Star Clearing. We do not permanently man those buildings. However, others do constantly occupy a series of outposts like this one that surround each Clearing. We protect our residences and monitor all who may roam about.”
“Brendan and I might have eventually found you somewhere along the way in our lost travels,” he said.
Harbus grunted, scratching his whiskered face. “Chances are they would have found you first.”
William sighed regretfully. “Sadly, they didn’t.”
Ramsey sensed the crushing grief weighing down upon William, knowing that the best thing right now would be for him to keep moving. He quickly downed the last of his ale and gave his compliments to Harbus. “We can’t tarry here any longer. We must continue for the Star Clearing. I’m sure William is as anxious to get there as we are.”
William nodded as he rose from the table with Ramsey and the others, quickly gathering their supplies for the final stretch. After wishing Harbus farewell, the five travelers exited the cabin into the cool, crisp air of late afternoon and proceeded northward through the maze of trees, rocks and decaying undergrowth. Flashes of clear sky gazed down from above, its blue richness having deepened as the sun continued to dip slowly in the southwest.
Ramsey and his friends traveled the last few miles to the Star Clearing in record time, propelled by a longing for the journey’s end and the anticipation of a leisurely meal among family and friends. William thought that the final stretch was swiftly covered as well, though he was motivated mostly by the desire for answers from someone in charge. He needed to know what the leader of the Star Clearing had in mind for a young prince from Montavia who had lost his way in the woods.
Nicholas Raven and the Wizards' Web (The Complete Epic Fantasy) Page 55
