by J. K. Barber
Jared’s body relaxed, but his eyes still darted around the fire to see if anyone else was watching. He bent his leg, moving his boot, and the knife hidden within, closer to his hand. Jared’s pack and sword were nearby, and the woodsman took a quick mental calculation of how many steps it would take to get to them. He knew there was no way he could fight his way out of the army encampment; there were too many men, but perhaps he could make it out if he ran swiftly. His eyes immediately went to the horses nearby. If he could borrow their speed without anyone noticing, he could be beyond the camp and into the dark wilderness around it before anyone would be able to stop him. Once gone, he could come back for Sasha later, if she would go with him at all. If she found out about me, how would she react? Would Talas tell her? Jared’s thoughts were jarred back to the campfire, as Talas spoke again.
“No one told me anything, nor have I said anything to anyone else. I realized the truth about you the same way you knew about me,” Talas’ voice was barely a whisper. “I know by watching what people do, when they think no one else is looking. I saw you when you were tending the girl’s horse and remembered stories I’ve heard about men who could speak with the beasts of the world. I thought they were just stories, but…” Talas said and inclined his head again towards where Hoarfrost was tethered, cropping the grass on the side of the road with her flat teeth. “But that’s not the point now is it?” the veteran continued, his voice once again rising to a normal tone and volume.
“Then what is the point?” Jared asked, his voice tinged with anger and suspicion, and hoped no one else would notice.
Talas held up his hands in a gesture of peace. Apparently, the older man had picked up on Jared’s irritated tone. “The point is, my friend, you made a promise and now you must keep it,” Talas said, shooting Jared a stern glance. The woodsman could see the sparks of a once strong faith briefly flare to life in the old man’s eyes, but darkness soon followed. Jared also noticed that the former priest’s eyes held no fear, nor did Jared smell any on him.
Having no fear meant that Talas might be one of those few people who knew what Jared was and would not recoil at the knowledge. Instinct told Jared to trust Talas, and the woodsman straightened his leg again, placing his hidden blade out of easy reach. Relaxing his shoulders, Jared sighed in resignation before replying.
“Well, I don’t have to be happy about it, do I?” Jared asked and took a long pull on his pipe. Talas drew his own pipe from his belt pouch and began to fill it.
The older man’s voice held the same tone of resignation, when he replied, “No, young man, no you don’t.”
Chapter 17
Jared and Sasha said their goodbyes to the caravan the next morning. They would head southwest, traveling along the Bloodwood River in a small sturdy canoe. The Trades Master was less than pleased to lose another two of his caravan guards and let Jared know it, loudly. However, after a short period of negotiation he let Jared and Sasha leave with half of their pay for services rendered.
Sasha was less than pleased at this cut in their wages and let Jared know it, in an even louder manner than the Trades Master had. Jared explained, as calmly as he could, that they were lucky to get even that, since their pay was originally contingent on the completion of the caravan’s journey; one they would have finished had she not been so insistent that they head southwest immediately. The logic of this, plus Jared’s repeated assurances that they would not need funds while in the wild, finally put Sasha at ease, mostly.
They would have to leave Hoarfrost behind, because of her injuries and the method of travel; there was no room for the large beast in the canoe he had purchased. Jared had assured the horse that they would return, but he could not keep the nervousness from his body language. He suspected that the horse knew the truth; where they were going, there was no guarantee that they would come back. Jared had already spoken with the stable master. Should they not return in one month’s time, Hoarfrost was to be set free. She would be able to find her way home to Snowhaven. Looking at the other horses in the stables, Jared knew that Hoarfrost would be well-tended to in the meantime.
Sasha was less certain though. She drilled the poor stable master with questions and then insisted on personally inspecting the stall where Hoarfrost would be kept. She looked over the other horses as well and seemed satisfied with their treatment. She tried to overpay the groom for Hoarfrost’s boarding, but the man politely refused, saying that he had already been compensated. Sasha looked confused for a moment and then shot a scathing glare at Jared, proclaiming vociferously that she could take care of her own affairs and thanking him to stay out of them. Jared said nothing, simply staring at her with a cheerful smile, as though they were having the most pleasant conversation imaginable. The groom was equally unmoved by her insistence that she pay for Hoarfrost’s care. Falling back on his oath of service to the King, the stable master said it would be illegal for him to charge any additional fee over and above what he had already been paid. Sasha stormed away, heading towards the stables to say goodbye to her horse.
Jared knew that behind all of Sasha’s bluster was her genuine concern over Hoarfrost. The horse was her last tether to her home, and she was reluctant to let go, even for a moment. Jared had felt the same way when he parted from Sirus. Jared subconsciously fingered the handle of his hunting knife, a gift from his old teacher.
Giving Sasha a little more time with Hoarfrost, Jared watched the caravan making its final preparations for departure. Ruharc, Gabe and Talas each came by to clasp hands with Jared, before mounting their own steeds and joining the caravan. Ruharc and Gabe gave the traditional Eastern farewell, bowing from the waist, clasping hands and formally wishing him safe journeys. Jared tried to remember what he could from the little he had learned of the Eastern Kingdoms’ traditions, stumbling over his reply. The other two Easterners showed no sign that he had done anything incorrectly, which Jared suspected was done more out of courtesy rather than the woodsman actually getting the ritual right.
Talas surprised Jared with a hearty hug and a whispered ‘blessed be’ in his ear, then a louder admonition to take care of ‘that girl’ or he’d be back to ‘set things right,’ as the veteran put it. Jared couldn’t help but smile and shake his head as Talas rode away. Great Mother willing, the old man would see many more dawns.
Jared walked to the stables. They should get going soon, if they wanted to make any decent progress before they ran out of daylight. The days were getting longer, as the seasons moved fully into spring, but were not nearly as long as if it were High Summer.
Jared just wanted to get moving. As he walked, the hunter considered their journey. They would be able to follow the Bloodwood River southwest until it forked. Then they could take the western branch right into the haunted wood itself. Jared suppressed a shiver and wondered again how he had gotten talked into such a foolish trip. He did not see how Sasha’s sister Katya could have made it into the Bloodwood in the first place, much less survive for as long as she supposedly had. However, Sasha insisted that her sister was alive and in the cursed forest. Jared’s promise nagged at the back of his mind, where it wrestled with his sense of self preservation.
Jared walked into the stable through the groom’s entrance and rounded the first stall, before coming up short. Sasha stood in the dim light with her arms wrapped around Hoarfrost’s neck and her head resting in the hollow behind the huge horse’s jaw. He could not make out her words, as she whispered to the steed. Her shoulders shook, and Hoarfrost brought her massive head down to nuzzle against the young woman’s shoulder.
The swordswoman seemed somehow smaller in the light that filtered in through the few open windows. For a brief time, she wasn’t the brave warrior who had ferociously fought the shadowy creature, nor was she the proud woman from Snowhaven who was stubbornly determined to make her own way. She was just a young woman, far from home for the first time and being forced to leave behind the last living creature from the village of her birth.
&nb
sp; The sudden urge to protect Sasha welled up in Jared’s chest, and he silently vowed to keep her safe by any means at his disposal; a promise to himself and to the Great Mother. No one would harm her with impunity. The pack will be safe, he thought, remembering the first lessons he had learned from his lupine brothers.
Abruptly, several of the horses near Jared became agitated, whinnying loudly and thrashing around. They stamped their hooves against the floor of packed dirt and began pulling at their tethers. A small cacophony of equine mayhem arose, and the horse closest to the woodsman reared in its stall. Jared backed away slowly, calming himself. He had encountered this reaction before from some beasts, mostly from prey animals. Ever since he had contacted his first animal, a great grey she-wolf, he had had to watch himself around creatures that were prey. He cursed his lapse and steadied his breathing.
Once he had backed far enough away and gotten his emotions under control, the horses calmed. They still kept a wary eye on the woodsman though, now recognizing him for the predator that he was. Jared looked back to where Sasha stood. She was looking at him with an expression of irritation on her face. She was once again the proud swordswoman that he knew. All signs of the young vulnerable woman he had seen moments before were gone. Jared indicated that they should leave soon and left the stable.
Sasha had been silent as they pushed off in their canoe from the northern shore of the river, heading south. Over the next two days, she returned to her normal self. The swordswoman became more talkative, rather than stoic. Her manner became easier, and some of her color returned, now that they were on the move.
Jared wondered again at the sudden bouts of nausea the young woman had previously experienced. They always seemed to occur when they camped for the night or rested for the noonday meal, but then she seemed fine once they were moving again. Sasha had said that the motion of riding had made her stomach and head feel better, but Jared had noticed the same symptoms and her relief from them, now that they were traveling by river. It might be the slight rocking of the canoe, as they paddled down river. It was close enough to the motion of a horse, but something just didn’t sit right with Jared. It was nothing he could lay his finger on, so he pushed it to the back of his mind. He had more important things to worry about, like the Bloodwood.
Following the western fork of the river for a quarter of a day, their canoe slid silently into the dark forest. Almost as soon as they passed beneath the thick canopy of the forest overhead, there was a drop in the temperature. Both Sasha and Jared shivered and pulled their cloaks from their backpacks that lay on the bottom of the small boat.
Jared had insisted that they camp just outside the Bloodwood the night before, so that they could enter the cursed wood in full daylight. At first, Sasha had dismissed his concern as superstitious nonsense, but, as they flowed along in the river between the thick gnarled trees, she admitted, to herself at least, that Jared’s idea was a good one. With the rising sun behind them, they had a full day of light by which to see, as they navigated the strange forest.
Concern for her sister once again flared to life in her mind. Somewhere in this dark wood, her sister was alone, probably frightened and wandering lost. Both the twins had been taught by Mistress Mala the rudimentary skills needed to stay alive in the wilderness should they lose their way, but neither one had been forced to put those skills to the test. Also, the things they had been taught, how to see if water was safe to drink, which plants were edible, and how to judge direction by the path of the sun, were of little help here. The plants that grew along the river were as alien to Sasha as they would have been to Katya, and the sun would simply be a vague source of light above the thick twisted canopy of leaves that shut out the sky overhead. She began to paddle faster.
Chapter 18
The day had passed slower than Katya would have liked. She ate no food, as was custom for her on a full moon and was a little dizzy from hunger by the time the sun set. The young sorceress sat, legs-crossed, next to the Elder, his little hand resting lightly in the middle of Katya’s palm. Cumo and his warriors stood in a quiet circle around them and the crystals, their hands linked as well. Niko, Chyla, and Lady Amara had also come to join the scrying and took places among the standing circle of Nhyme.
As night fully descended, moonlight washed over the little meadow, brightly illuminating everything and everyone. The trees surrounding them were like pale guardians, whose boughs framed the rare break in the canopy. The Elder’s low muttering echoed strangely in the clearing about them. His one voice had turned into many and the wind picked up.
A little frightened as to what would happen, Katya focused on gathering slivers of energy about her and lending them to the Elder. While aiding the Nhyme, she also concentrated on the tall crystals in front of them, which very closely resembled the single one that those rose through the Sorcerer Tower in Snowhaven. With a jerk that the Elder shared with her, their eyes were pulled up to the looming full moon above, its sudden closeness filling the woman with awe. The Elder’s muttering came to an end.
“Lady Katya, look for your answers now. Focus on your sister, then on her surroundings. I will be able to see through your eyes, and I will guide you, if need be. Don’t be afraid,” the elderly Nhyme whispered.
The sorceress nodded, and she stared deeply at the moon. The brightness became overwhelming. Everything around her faded away, although she was still subconsciously aware of her body sitting in the small meadow. The brilliance burned for half a heartbeat and then faded away, leaving her in a pure white nothing. She took a deep breath and brought the image of her sister in her ivy breastplate to the surface of her thoughts.
The sorceress whimpered, as suddenly barrages of memories battered her mind. Sasha in the training field, Sasha in their house, Sasha helping her father in the forge... The Elder’s consciousness touched hers, urging her to focus on something more recent. She was confused for two more heartbeats; images of the last few days fluttered past like the pages of a book left open in the wind. Tumbling through the darkness, tendrils of light, the crystals, pain, Niko, the Nhyme, how the soft moss of her bed here felt...
“Focus child! When did you last see Sasha?” The Elder cried.
In her mossy bed here... in the dream... Katya recalled.
“Yes, yes the dream!” Razorik said aloud.
Sasha hung in the grip of a thin pale hand… Katya dedicated all her attention to her latest memories of her sister. Her eyes stared forward in horror...
“Yes, good, concentrate while I search,” The Elder said, his voice adrift and sounding far away.
Katya focused on Sasha’s face, memorizing every detail and feeling sorrow as she passed over the healed cut on Sasha’s cheek, the seam of the scar still bearing the redness of a new scar. The white brilliance filled in around the face and then faded. Sasha’s body, in her ivy etched armor, appeared. She wandered, sword at the ready, amongst moonlit trees along a small river, as if hunting. The swordswoman was crouching on a rock by a pool of calm water...
That rock! I recognize it. Sasha is... Elder! She is here! Katya said inwardly, through her connection to The Elder.
“Wait! Who is that?” Razorik asked.
A man in a forest green leather jerkin shadowed Sasha, moving from tree to tree behind her with a sword of his own in hand.
No! Katya ripped her eyes away from moon.
“He is the one who hurt her in my dream. I am sorry, I must go now, before I am too late,” Katya said with labored breath, the efforts of scrying coming to bear. The sorceress’ head was suddenly throbbing, but she rose from the crystals anyway and ran into the woods, towards the rock she had sunbathed on two days before. The Elder sat dumbfounded as he watched the human girl disappear into the trees.
Jared stalked through the darkened wood. The thick forest canopy blocked out most of the light of the full moon that hung overhead, which under normal circumstances would have been plenty of light for Jared to find his way. However, as deep in the woods as they
now were, Jared found himself stumbling over rock and root as they pushed even deeper into the Bloodwood.
They had left their canoe on the river bank and struck out on foot at Sasha’s urging. “She is this way,” Sasha had said.
“How do you know?” Jared had asked. He saw no tracks or any other indication that anyone had passed this way, and he had said as much.
Sasha had glanced around, a faraway look in her eyes as she stared into the forest. “I can’t explain it. I just… know,” she had said, as she had turned towards Jared, who was pulling the last of their supplies out of the canoe and hoisting them onto his back. Looking intently into the woodsman’s eyes she had said, “You will have to… trust me.” Sasha had stumbled over the phrase, as though she had had trouble saying the word. She was asking a stranger to trust what she herself could not explain.
Jared knew the great weight of what Sasha was asking, even if she could not fully put her request into words. The swordswoman was asking for help, and it pained her to do so. Jared had handed Sasha her pack, settled his own more comfortably onto his back, drew his sword, and said simply, “Lead on.”
The tracker was now regretting his decision. Sasha was obsessed with finding her sister, which Jared could understand, but her desire was making Sasha take needless risks. Either one of them could turn their ankle, tramping through the darkness. An injury would slow their search even more.
Jared didn’t dare light a torch to light their way either, as thick as the leaves were at their feet. Haunted or not, Jared didn’t want to burn down the forest, when they could just as easily camp for the night and resume their search during the daylight. With no light source and no sign from Sasha that she had any intention of stopping, Jared attempted to garner aid from the animals of the Bloodwood. Feigning that he had a pebble in his boot, Jared had gotten Sasha to stop briefly, as he unlaced his boot and drank some water from his waterskin.
