by Allan Joyal
Jennifer sobbed quietly. I could see Lisa struggling to comfort her as Victoria bent down to pick up a handful of dirt and toss it over the makeshift grave.
Victoria took a moment to walk around the grave and offer her own hug to Jennifer. She then looked up at the sky for a moment. "Martha," she continued. "I really don't know what more we can say about you. You became a good friend in the time I knew you. Wherever your spirit might now reside, please know that you will be missed."
"Godspeed," I whispered. "May you rest in peace, Martha. I'm sorry."
Everyone seemed to have something to whisper as Victoria knelt down for a moment. She caressed one of the stones covering our friend's body and then rose to look at me.
"Ron, in two weeks, we haven't had a single death that you were actually in a position to prevent, and you did prevent Natalie from dying on only our second day in this land," she told me firmly. "We need you to continue to lead us."
Heather wrapped her arms around me, as I nodded. "I just wish I could have saved Martha. But for now, let's get on the move. I'm going to stay in the trees for the moment. We have no idea how big that battle is, and I don't want to find out by having more archers use us for target practice."
"At least they paid a high price," Al whispered grimly. "I think only three escaped the soldiers."
Everyone smiled grimly at that information. I offered Al a nod and then began picking my way through the underbrush. I attempted to keep the road in sight as we moved away from the battlefield.
There was no conversation as we moved away from the gravesite. Behind us the sounds of battle escalated until there was a near continuous roar in the distance. We had travelled for more than an hour before the sounds of the battle started to fade away.
I led the group back to the road. Victoria and Steve pressured me to increase the pace, pushing the whole group to walk faster. Finally with long shadows stretched out over the ground, I held up a hand and called a halt.
"We won't make the Academy tonight," I said. "We need to find a campsite."
Jennifer and Kariy dashed to the left, disappearing into the band of trees that the road continued to follow. I looked over at Steve, who shrugged. "We're all tired," he admitted sheepishly. "But after this afternoon, I think they want a very sheltered campsite."
I looked over at Heather, who had dropped to her knees and was gasping for breath. She held out a hand. When I took it, she pulled herself back to her feet.
I stumbled a bit against her pull, but remained standing as she rose to her feet. She leaned against me as I looked at the others. Just about everyone was leaning against someone else.
Jennifer then burst from the trees about twenty feet further down the road. "We found a small clearing," she called out with a wave.
Staggering with fatigue, we followed her. There was a very faint trail that quickly led to a small clearing hidden by the trees. The light here was very dim as the canopy above was intact, but there was just enough space to lie down and rest.
Kariy, Lisa, and Jennifer passed around cold meals while the rest of us set out bedrolls. No one seemed ready to speak much, and once the food was gone, we paired up and slid under the furs that formed our beds. In moments, I was lying in Heather's arms. The mental stress of the day finally vanished as I fell asleep.
Chapter 24 – Chance Meetings
I woke up the next morning with Heather cuddled in tight to my side. She was using my left shoulder as a pillow. Deciding to wait a moment before disturbing her, I lay still and listened.
Dawn must have broken, because I could see streaks of light lancing through breaks in the canopy. None reached the ground, but I could hear small songbirds singing their greetings to the dawn. I gently freed my shoulder from Heather's clutches and sat up, glancing at the others.
Esme and Natalie were awake, but lay quietly, exchanging kisses and holding one another. I could see Kariy stirring where she lay with Victoria. The others slept on.
I rolled away from Heather and slowly stood up, taking care to remain quiet. Esme and Natalie started at the movement, but then slowly rose to their feet. Natalie bent down to start putting the bedroll away as Esme pointed towards the road. With a nod, I crept out of our camp and made my way to the edge of the forest.
Esme followed me, taking great care to step lightly. We arrived at the edge of the trees and looked around. A heavy mist lay on the ground, and frost covered the border of the road where the weeds were only a couple of inches tall. A couple of rabbits dashed into the taller grass as we approached.
"Nice and quiet," I said. "Hopefully it will remain that way."
"Everyone was very tired last night. I think we marched a bit too fast," Esme said.
"I doubt the death of Martha helped. Worse, we didn't really have time to give her a proper burial or farewell. All we could do was just quickly gather stones so that we might build a makeshift gravesite. It wasn't a good way to honor our friend."
"We had no choice," Esme said. "And you did see the archers in time for us to run. They might have taken more shots if we'd kept walking along the road."
"I know," I muttered. "Well, if we've been told the truth, we should be at the Academy today, and tomorrow it might snow. So we should wake everyone up and get on the move. We don't have the right gear to handle a blizzard."
Esme nodded and turned away from me to head back to the campsite. I followed quietly, still listening for movement in the fields. The birds were now silent. From the campsite, faint complaints of soreness and sleepiness could be heard.
I arrived back at the camp to see Natalie and Heather working with Kariy to serve everyone a cold breakfast. Lisa was still huddled in the bedroll she had shared with Al, but the other bedrolls were rolled up and attached to packs. As I stepped into the clearing, Heather ran over to me to hand me some cheese and a large leaf that had been wrapped around something and tied up.
"What's this?" I asked.
Kariy looked up. "Some cured meat from that monster that tried to eat Eddie. Don't worry, it's perfectly safe to eat."
Dubiously, I slowly opened the leaf. The meat inside was covered with white crystals. I touched them with a free finger. Several stuck to my finger and I gingerly brought the finger to my mouth. The crystals proved to be salt. "Salted?"
"Yes," Kariy said. "I guess the spirits Elmori has helping her have little trouble gathering large amounts of salt. The salt cures the meat quickly. Just brush it off and you can eat."
I raised an eyebrow, but followed her instructions and brushed the salt crystals from the meat until I was holding four cubes of meat about an inch on each side. At this point I choose one and tossed it into my mouth.
Brushing the salt away had not removed all of the crystals, and an explosion of saltiness assaulted my taste buds. Frantically, I waved for a canteen. Kariy handed an open one to me with a smile, and I used a large blast of water to wash the salt away. The meat was still in my mouth, and I was finally able to chew it. It was fairly tough and chewy, but once the salt was no longer overwhelming, it had a surprisingly sharp flavor.
I finished the first cube, but then rinsed the remaining cubes before eating them. They remained far saltier than I preferred, but I was able to finish them and then use the cheese and watered ale to wash them down. When I finished, I looked up to find the others finishing their own meals.
Lisa had remained sitting. As she dragged herself from the bedroll, she moaned. "Do we have to go on another march?"
"Elmori predicted that it would snow heavily tonight," I said. "We need better shelter if we are to survive, and our food won't last long. But we should make it to the Academy today."
"Whoopie," Lisa said mournfully. "How long before they kick us out?"
"It was Elizabeth and Eddie that got us kicked out of Linktrum," Heather said sharply. "By sad chance, they are no longer with us. We should be ok."
Lisa nodded. She had a noticeable frown on her face. While the others were moving quickly to secure packs
and distribute our meager goods, she showed little interest in getting ready. Finally, I grabbed her and led her to a fallen log at the edge of the clearing.
I pushed her down until she was sitting on the log. She struggled for a moment as I held her down by her shoulders and looked at her. "Lisa, calm down."
"Let me go!" she shouted as she fought to stand back up. "We're all going to die!"
"Of course we are all going to die someday," I growled back. "But I'm doing everything I can to make sure that it's not today, tomorrow, or even during the next year."
"Like you can prevent it."
"I can't," I sighed. "Not always. What happened to Martha proved that. But there's no guarantees back on Earth either. We could have all died in elevator crashes. They do happen. We just have to do the best we can. Right now, that means we have to start walking so we get to the Academy today."
"I'm tired of walking," Lisa moaned. "I've never walked so far in my life."
She paused and gazed off in the distance. Her struggles had stopped, so I released her. I was going to turn away, but she reached out to grab my arm. "Ron? Just how far have we walked?"
"I'm not sure. I believe I once read that Roman Legions could march forty miles in a day, but we definitely don't have the training they had. I'm guessing we've done somewhere between fifteen and twenty miles every day we walked on average, but we've had a few days where we definitely did more than thirty. So over two hundred miles."
Lisa looked at me in awe. "So far? I can't believe it."
"Not far by our standards. What we cover in a day a car could easily do in well under an hour. But for walking, it's not bad."
Lisa sighed and slowly stood up. "I guess I can do the final walk to the Academy, but then I want a rest. I want a week where we don't have to walk anywhere."
"I'm not carrying you to the bathroom," Victoria called out. "And I don't serve breakfast in bed."
Everyone laughed at this. Lisa smiled and ran back to her bedroll to roll it up. At the same time Heather brought a pack over to me. She was smiling as she held it up for me to put on.
"You did good there," she whispered.
"I did nothing. She just needed to have someone listen to her for a moment. It was mostly fear."
Heather spun me around and kissed me on the lips. "You still did the right thing."
I shook my head and smiled. Heather started walking towards the road, and I dashed up to slap her on the butt. "And you are a complete brat," I whispered back as I continued past her and led the others to the road.
I found the middle of the road and stopped my run. As the others stumbled from the forest, I looked around, once again listening. It seemed that other than my friends, nothing moved in the morning mist.
The others gathered around me. I waited until Al helped Lisa from the trees and led her to the road, then pointed my spear down the road. "Forward!" I cried.
I took a firm step with my left foot. Heather giggled and jogged up to me and started walking alongside me. "Worried?" she asked me.
My eyes were scanning the horizon constantly, but her words penetrated my concentration. "I want to have more warning before our next encounter with archers."
"Understandable," Heather said. She reached out and put her left hand on my shoulder. "Ron, can we talk about us?"
"What is your question?" I asked.
"Ron!" Heather hissed. "Two nights ago, I slept with you!"
"You've been using my chest for a pillow longer than that," I said turning my head so she could not see my smile.
Her hand left my shoulder and punched me in the side. "Ron! You know what I'm talking about! Stop acting like this is high school!"
I stumbled as I started laughing. The laughter grew, and I staggered down the road for several minutes as I tried to get control of my emotions. Finally, I regained enough control to glance at Heather. She had a stormy look on her face, and I raised my right hand.
"Sorry," I said. "It was just too tempting after all of the pressures we've been under. Honestly, I'm surprised by the question."
"Why?" Heather asked. "Isn't that a normal question to ask after sleeping together?"
"Heather, you've been at my side pretty much from the beginning. I'd like to think you know me well enough to realize that if I didn't care deeply for you, I would never have gone upstairs with you at Elmori's tower. And as I said the next morning, I would like for it to happen again," I said.
"What about how it affects the group?" Heather demanded.
I sighed. "Heather, I've watched the group. When Lydia and Hencktor became a clear couple, no one said a thing. When we all realized that Esme and Natalie were more than friends, no one complained."
"Eddie did," Heather said, interrupting me.
"Eddie would have complained if he ordered an eight ounce steak and the waiter brought him a one pound one. He loved to complain," I explained. "But that's not the point. The thing is that the group appears to understand that we are going to form relationships. As long as you don't use it to cause trouble, they appear to be happy about it."
"Well, a couple of the ladies might wish you weren't devoted to each other," Victoria interjected from behind me. "But you have the basics."
"What?" Heather asked, turning to look over her shoulder.
I heard Victoria giggle. "It's not that complex. We aren't a big group so we've gotten to know each other rather well. Ron is clearly the leader. He's got ideas. Steve and Al aren't idea people. Henck lacks experience. And the culture here isn't going to allow a woman to lead the group."
"Elmori was free and independent," Heather challenged.
"And she lived alone in a swamp in a tower that cannot be approached easily. Think about the cities. Men rule here," Victoria said.
I put a hand on Heather's arm as she tensed. "Heather, it's nothing personal. Think about the lack of technology we have seen. In this land physical strength is going to be far more important than on Earth. And there isn't the surplus of food here we enjoy in the US. I'd be willing to bet that for every ten people living, at least eight are involved in farming, hunting or fishing."
Jennifer had been walking behind us and must have heard my comment because she spoke up. "I remember something like that in a history class I took. The professor was talking about how scientific and mechanical advances at the start of the industrial revolution produced the very machines and farming techniques that finally freed workers from the farms and allowed factories to become common."
"And that's a huge part of why men are usually in charge. When you need physical strength to farm the land, men are more important. Women end up depending more on the men," I said.
"And fighting works out the same," Lydia said. "I can use our crossbow, but dread trying to swing the hammer or axe. Steve and Al struggle with them, and they're a lot bigger than I am."
"So for now we need a male leader," Victoria said. "Ron has been just what we needed. As for you, Heather, we all respect you. Yes, you threw yourself at Ron, but you make a good couple."
"Cute even," Lydia chirped.
I was going to respond, but the road was bending to the left as it continued to follow the line of trees. As we rounded the bend, we found a man pulling a primitive wooden cart down the middle of the road.
We moved to the left side of the road to flow around the cart. As we got to the front, I looked over. The man pulling the cart was bent over with the effort. His head was down, and a battered straw hat was slipping from his thin gray hair. The worn leather garments on his body were stained and torn. He looked so pitiful that I risked approaching.
"Greetings," I called out when I was just out of reach of the cart. "Fine morning to travel to the Academy."
"Only if you get there today," the man snorted without raising his head. "There's a storm in the air. I can smell it."
"Can you make it?" I asked him.
"Sure," the man replied slowly. "No false concern so you can push me away and steal me livelihood."
&
nbsp; "I'd never do that," I snapped. "But my friends and I are traveling to the Academy. We could help you if you need it."
The man looked up. His black eyes scanned me and then panned over the others who were walking alongside the cart.
"You're no bandits," he said with a snort. "Too many doxies in your group and only the one crossbow. What are you?"
"Travelers," I replied. "We represent the Daytona Free Trade group." I produced the trade token from a pouch and showed it to the man.
He scanned the token closely, nodding when he had finished viewing one side. "Fairly new token," he observed.
"A road guard gave it to us about two weeks ago," I admitted.
"What's a week?" the man asked.
"Sorry, I forget you don't use that measurement. We obtained it eleven days ago when we encountered a road guard west of Linktrum."
"Eleven days? You made good time, but why are you approaching the Academy from this direction? The usual route would have you go upriver from Linktrum to Orso Falls and then follow the northern trade road to Windstrom," the trader asked.
"We were forced to leave Linktrum rather quickly," I said. "In our haste to elude pursuit we crossed the river at the ferry just outside of Linktrum and cut across the plains. Three days ago we were in Lakverd."
"Heard of the place, never been there," the man said. "At least I know where you came from. You must have come up the old Verd River. Not many have used that route since the dragon wiped out the villages on the lake."
"We did have to cross a lot of wilderness. And twice we had to detour to avoid battles," I said.
"Damn bandits," the man said with a snort. "They try to raid this time of year to gather extra stores of food and fuel for the winter. Like locusts they are."
"Was that what we saw yesterday?" Heather said with a gasp. "You mean that Martha died because we ran into a couple of bandit groups fighting over something?"
The man glared at her and then back at me. "She asking a question or just flipping her gums?"
I put a hand on Heather's arm as she took a deep hissing breath. She caught my meaning and let it out silently as I spoke. "Please, she's only interested in finding out. One of our friends died when we ran into two groups fighting mid-afternoon yesterday. A group of archers fired at us, and Martha was killed."