by Pile, Duncan
“Ho!” Heath called from up front, pulling on the reins of his horse and bringing it to a stop. “Time to make camp.” He slid down off his horse, followed by the rest of the group. Emmy groaned as her feet hit the ground, relieved to finally be back on solid ground. She bent her sore knees, easing out the cramps in her legs. Heath led them off the trail, winding through the ranks of tree trunks until they came to a small glade. Emmy followed on leaden feet and tied her horse to a low branch.
“You look exhausted,” Heath said. “I’ll look after your horse. Just sit down and rest for a bit.”
“Thanks Heath,” she said without hesitation. The druid was a kindly man, and loved all living things. Tending the horses actually seemed to make him happy, so she didn’t feel guilty about letting him help her out. Besides, she was exhausted! She slumped down on the ground and sent out a mental summons to Lilly. The spirit preferred to soar through the air as they travelled, but she always returned to Emmy when they stopped for the evening. A bright streak of blue soared down out of the trees and circled Emmy joyfully. She laughed as Lilly came to rest in her lap and changed form in a final flash of cobalt light.
“You don’t have to ride a stupid horse do you?” Emmy said, tickling Lilly under the chin. As happened every night, she felt healing power trickle into her from the spirit, easing her aches and pains. Sighing in relief, she shoved her pack behind her and leant against it.
She rested there until the others joined her, by which point she was starting to feel like she should be doing something to help out.
“Want me to cook?” she offered as the others sat down. Heath, Hephistole, Rimulth and Lydia exchanged a look.
“I’ll do it tonight my dear, but thanks for offering,” Heppy said with a smile.
“I saw that!” Emmy said indignantly.
“What do you mean?” Lydia asked innocently.
“You know what I mean! The way you looked at each other. You’ve only let me cook once on this whole trip.” Emmy said, narrowing her eyes.
“And that was once too often,” Heath said bluntly. Emmy was so surprised she couldn’t think of anything to say. Heath was always so nice to her! For a moment she felt defensive, even a little angry, but then she saw the corner of Lydia’s mouth twitching and she couldn’t help smiling.
“I’m that terrible?” she asked.
“Absolutely awful!” Heath said. Hephistole let out a bark of laughter, and even Rimulth, who carried himself with more dignity than the rest of them, couldn’t help smirking. Lydia tried to restrain herself, but she ended up chuckling until her shoulders shook and her eyes were moist. The sight of Lydia laughing warmed Emmy’s heart so much that she gave up any pretence of indignance and laughed along with the rest of them.
“Sorry Em,” Lydia said as she stopped chuckling, wiping the moisture from her eyes.
“Don’t be silly,” Emmy said, smiling broadly. “I know I’m terrible. I just want to be more useful.”
“It’s going to be a long trip,” Rimulth said seriously. “Who knows what you may be asked to contribute before the end?”
“Rimulth’s right,” Heppy said. “But if you want to help out right now, you can gather firewood.”
“Okay,” she said, glad of something to do.
“I’ll go with you,” Lydia said, and the two girls left the glade and started picking their way through the forest, looking for fallen branches. Heath was very particular about things like that. He didn’t like them cutting down living branches, and he certainly didn’t approve of using magic to speed up the cooking process. He thoroughly disapproved of Heppy’s enchanted cooking pots, but as they had no others, he’d made a concession on that. At the druid’s insistence, everything had to be cleaned and prepared by hand, and cooked without arcane interference. He made them say a word of thanks to the Great Spirit before every meal, and even insisted on thanking the animals whose bodies gave them sustenance. Hephistole didn’t seem to mind Heath laying down the law at all. In fact he watched the whole process with obvious enjoyment, as if it was all some kind of grand experiment.
“When do you think we’ll catch up with them?” Lydia asked as they searched, distracting Emmy from her thoughts. Emmy thought her friend sounded strangely vulnerable.
“Very soon,” she responded. “I can’t get an exact answer from Lilly, but she’s very excited today, much more than yesterday. If I had to guess I’d say tomorrow or the day after.”
Lydia didn’t respond to that, and carried on picking up fallen branches. All of a sudden, she stopped and straightened up. “What are you going to say to Gaspi?” she asked. Now she definitely sounded vulnerable.
“I don’t know yet,” Emmy said. “I suppose it depends on what he says to me.”
“I was so angry at Taurnil,” Lydia said, as if she hadn’t heard Emmy’s response at all. “But now I just don’t know. He was just trying to protect me after all.” She stared intently at Emmy as she spoke, but Emmy got the feeling Lydia was talking to herself and not to her. “He’s an idiot of course!” the gypsy girl continued. “We are Soulbound, and should never be separated like this, but I guess he wouldn’t understand that. Maybe I should just forgive him and be done with it,” she finished, bending down to pick up another branch. Emmy didn’t know what to say to that. Lydia had been through a very hard time in the last couple of months, and if forgiving Taurnil made things easier for her, then that had to be a good thing. But that didn’t mean she had to take the same approach. No way! However the reunion turned out, Gaspi wasn’t going to get off so easily, that was for sure!
…
The Darkman raced across the landscape, faster than a horse at full gallop. It didn’t tire, nor did it sleep. Bound by Shirukai Sestin’s compulsion, it chased after its prey with unrelenting energy to the exclusion of all else. People shuddered as it passed, hugging themselves tight as bowel-loosening fear gripped them. The feeling passed and they went about their business, never knowing how close they came to the foulest form of death.
Day and night it ran, crossing fields and thoroughfares, cutting through towns and villages with only one thought in its mind; it must kill the Nature Mage. The Darkman had an inner compass, drawn magnetically to its quarry and, though it had been thwarted once, it would not be again. It was drawing closer now. More than half its journey was complete, and it wouldn’t be long until the Nature Mage was at its mercy.
…
