by Isaac Hooke
He swerved inward once more.
“What now?” Abigail asked.
“It’s a horse, I think,” he said.
Sure enough, he came upon a horse that had tangled itself up in the branches of a brambletree.
Gwen dashed forward. “Neeme! Hello Neeme.”
The horse neighed in distress.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get you out!” Gwen rushed to its side and began ripping away the big brambles. Her athletic form moved gracefully.
Malem had Bounder kneel and then dismounted. He didn’t want the iguanid to further spook the horse.
Leaving Abigail, he approached. “You know this animal?”
Gwen removed the last of the brambles and the horse broke free. “It was the tailor’s horse.”
“Well, it’s yours now,” Malem said.
The animal turned around as if to flee, but then paused, looking Gwen in the face with an all-too-human eye.
She combed its flank with a flat hand. “It’s okay, Neeme. Everything is all right now.”
She slid her hand to the face, and the animal neighed, nuzzling its nose against her palm.
Gwen glanced at Malem. “You’re doing this?” She was implying that he was somehow influencing the animal with his abilities.
He shrugged. “It’s all you.”
“You don’t happen to have a sugar cube, do you?” she pressed.
“Sorry, the monkey ate all the sugar,” he said.
Gwen picked some grass nearby and offered it to the animal. Neeme snatched it up eagerly and swallowed. Gwen sobbed suddenly.
“What is it?” Malem asked.
“Nothing,” Gwen said. “Only that... she’ll never see Brenna again. The tailor. Her owner. Nor will I.”
“I’m so sorry.” Malem wrapped his arms around her, and she returned the hug more vigorously than he expected.
She wept onto his shoulder for at least the next thirty seconds.
Abigail, who had stayed behind with Bounder, abruptly called: “Can we go?”
Gwen pulled away. She wiped the tears from her eyes, and her face brightened when she turned her attention on the horse. “Come on, Neeme, let’s show them how it’s done.”
Gwen was able to easily mount the steed without a saddle.
Malem started back toward Bounder, and Gwen led Neeme at his side. As they neared the iguanid, Neeme suddenly pulled up short and neighed in disobedience. He danced nervously in place.
“It’s okay!” Gwen said. “It’s a friend. A friend!”
Malem focused on the bundle of thoughts and energy that represented the animal and issued a calming vibe. The beast stopped its nervous prancing.
“You?” Gwen asked him.
“This time, me,” he admitted. “I had to loosen my hold on the other two animals to calm him. Because of that, I can’t restrain him all the time, so I’d suggest keeping your distance for now, until he gets used to the iguanid.”
Malem mounted Bounder and Abigail wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Where did you learn how to do that?” Abigail asked Gwen, nodding at the steed she had mounted without a saddle.
“Us forest dwellers are full of surprises,” Gwen said. “Just ask your lover.”
“I told you, he’s not my lover,” Abigail said in exasperation.
“If you say so.” Gwen’s eyes glinted mischievously, her sorrow momentarily forgotten.
Now that she was mounted, at least Malem wouldn’t have to worry about testing Gwen’s maximum running speed anymore.
He led the way onward, returning to the road and following alongside it in the forest. He glanced over his shoulder at Gwen, who was keeping her distance as asked. He watched her ride that horse like an equestrienne.
He had sudden dirty thoughts.
I wonder how she would ride me.
He quickly snapped his attention back to the forest ahead before Abigail could notice and comment.
Going to be a long trip.
8
Though Malem kept his mind reaching outward, he didn’t sense any more oraks. It seemed the war party they’d already encountered was the only one out there, for the time being.
One time, he heard sniveling above the sound of their passage, and noticed that Gwen was weeping behind him; she quickly hardened herself when she realized he was gazing her way, and she didn’t weep again for the rest of that trip.
The party reached more burned farmsteads, and passed them without encountering another living soul. There were no bodies, thankfully.
Gwen was soon able to ride alongside Bounder without Malem having to calm her animal. He was a little surprised that the horse was comfortable with the iguanid already; Neeme’s trust in her was a testament to Gwen’s skill with horses. It helped that she had known the animal, he supposed. That, and the animal was probably growing weary from the journey and was too tired to care: it had probably expended a lot of energy trying to get out of that brambletree.
Malem slowed to a trot and Gwen matched his speed. He reached across, rested a hand on her steed, and imparted some of his stamina to the beast. Neeme’s head straightened and its stride quickened.
“Thank you,” Gwen said.
The party finally came upon the next village which was burned, too. The charred bodies of the dead villagers were scattered across the ground.
“So much for escorting her to the next village,” Abigail said.
“We already knew it wouldn’t be safe,” Malem said.
“I knew these people,” Gwen said, her chin trembling, and her eyes threatening to unleash tears again. “They were my friends. I hoped to warn them. Now they’re dead. For no reason.”
“There never is a reason,” Malem said.
She glanced at him, her teary eyes seeming confused at first, but then she nodded slowly and looked away. Her body convulsed slightly, and he thought she was weeping. It was difficult to watch, but he forced himself to.
“You’re a hard man,” Abigail said softly.
“When you grow up in the woods, facing what I’ve faced, you quickly learn to harden yourself,” he told her. “If you don’t, you die.”
He heard sudden footfalls, and before he could give the order to scatter, horsemen burst onto the main street from the woods. They were dressed in bright plate armor, and had the hard faces of soldiers who had seen battle. White plumes decorated the tops of their helmets.
“Halt, looters!” one of the armored men said.
Malem raised his hands. As did Gwen beside him.
He glanced at the steeds: they wore horse armor, but even if they hadn’t, he would have known they were trained war mounts, because they only pricked their ears nervously at the presence of the iguanid.
“What kind of steed is this!” another of the men said. He pointed a sword at Bounder. “It’s a monster!”
Bounder snapped at the sword, and Malem gave the iguanid a mental command to stop. Meanwhile, the man’s steed neighed and stepped back in fear—even a trained war horse had its limits.
“No, I’ve seen mounts like this before,” another said, coming forward beside the leader, who had a red plume dangling from his helmet, unlike the white of the others. “It’s an iguanid. The Tempests ride them.”
The red-plumed leader nodded, and looked Malem in the eye. “What’s a Tempest doing here?”
“I’m not a Tempest,” he said. “I’m just a wanderer who befriended an iguanid mount in my travels.”
Felipe, who had retreated behind his back, peered out from behind his neck. If the soldiers thought that was odd, they didn’t say anything.
Another man came forward. “I recognize the gobling,” he said, pointing at Gwen.
“I’m not a gobling,” Gwen growled, her fingers twitching toward her bow.
“She lives in the next village over.”
“Is that true?” the leader asked.
“It is,” Gwen said. She lowered her eyes. “Oraks have destroyed it. Killed everyone. Like here.�
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“We received a report from two refugees who escaped the ravages,” the leader said. “It’s why we’re here.”
Gwen’s eyes brightened. “They were from Durnwald?”
“No, from here,” the leader said. “I’m sorry.”
Gwen nodded sadly.
“All right, well, move along,” the leader said. “We have to secure this village. Make sure you head northwest, to Redbridge. All passage through the forest south of Redbridge, including trade, has been halted until the orak threat is dealt with. If you’re caught in the southern regions after Sun’s Handsbreadth, you’ll be arrested on the road.”
Sun’s Handsbreadth referred to that time of late evening when the sun was located above the horizon by roughly a hand’s breadth, as measured by a fist held at arm’s length from the body. That particular time could vary at different places around the world, depending on the terrain. For example if the sun set behind a mountain, Sun’s Handsbreadth came earlier than if it set on a plain.
“Understood,” Malem said. “Thanks for the warning.”
He directed Bounder toward the main road.
“Why aren’t we heading back into the forest?” Gwen asked softly.
“We will,” Malem said. “I want him to think we’re obeying his orders.”
“I don’t think it matters,” Abigail said. “Besides, they’re just ordinary men. What can they do to the likes of me?”
“Or me?” Gwen said.
Malem ignored them, and followed the main road until the village, and the soldiers with it, were out of view. Then he promptly guided the party into the trees to begin shadowing the route once more.
The party passed several burned out farms that bordered the village, until only the wilderness remained.
They hurried to the west, remaining watchful of the forest around them. Malem sensed the usual array of forest creatures, and was relieved that so far, it seemed no orak war parties were waiting along this particular route.
After about two hours, farmsteads began to appear once more. These ones were occupied, and surrounded by tall stone fences. Mercenaries guarded the perimeters, giving Malem and the others dirty looks.
“Stick to the road!” one of the mercenaries shouted. “You’re lucky I didn’t unleash my crossbow. I thought you were bandits! In fact, I’m still not sure if you aren’t!”
“We were chasing a hare, got sidetracked,” Malem lied.
“So you say,” the mercenary told him.
Malem turned toward the road after that particular encounter. “Well, we’re close enough to Redbridge now that it doesn’t really make much sense to hide in the woods. It’s doubtful oraks will attack in the open here, not this close to the city.”
They returned to the main road, and encountered no other travelers, thanks to the travel ban. They did, however, soon meet a patrol of guards, who promptly ordered them to continue on to Redbridge as fast as they were able, under threat of arrest.
“The roads are not safe!” one of the men said. “Get that ugly beast of yours and your green woman to the city!”
Malem was glad at least that the patrol didn’t detain them. Though Gwen didn’t take too kindly to being called a “green woman,” judging from the glare she leveled at the patrol the whole time they were in view.
In another half hour the trail forked to the right. A signpost indicated that the city of Craternia, on the western edge of the Midweald, would eventually be reached if one continued along the path ahead. The distance was given in terms of travel time: three days, by horse.
To the right awaited Redbridge. No travel time was mentioned.
Malem took the right path and the trees shortly opened up.
The dirt road ceded to cobble as they approached a large bridge. True to its name, the bridge was red, and it arched over a wide river toward a populated island beyond.
There was a gatehouse at the front of the bridge, manned by two guards armored like the other soldiers they had encountered, with burnished plate mail covering their bodies, and white plumes running down the backs of their helmets.
One of the gate guards stepped forward and looked at Gwen in mock surprise.
“What are you?” the gate guard told Gwen. From his taunting tone, it was obvious he’d encountered other half-goblings before. But before she could answer, the obnoxious man turned his attention to Bounder. “And what the hell are you?”
The second guard turned toward the west, where the setting sun was located a short ways above the tree line. He held a gauntleted hand in front of him, toward the sun, and squinted.
“You’re lucky,” the second guard said, lowering his arm to gaze at them. He blinked a few times as if trying to clear away the sun’s afterimage from his vision. “Just before Sun’s Handbreadth. Otherwise we’d have to arrest you for violating the travel ban.”
“Looking at the sun like that can’t be good for ya,” the first guard said.
“Shut up.” The second guard hit the back of his helmet with his gauntlet, causing a loud clang. He turned back to Malem. “Bridge crossing fee is five drachmae.”
“Last time I was here there was no fee,” Malem said.
The man shrugged. “Inflation.”
“That, or corrupt guards,” Malem spat.
Again the man seemed unfazed. “You got me. Now pay up. Or you can’t cross. And I arrest you for violating the travel ban.”
Malem grudgingly held out a hand toward Abigail, and waited for her to deposit the necessary coins in his palm.
But she didn’t.
Confused, he was about to look back at her, when suddenly the two guards stepped back, touching their hilts with their gauntlets.
“What are you doing now, Woman?” Malem grumbled. He spun around to look at her, but realized she too had twisted in the saddle, and was craning her neck to look back down the path they had come.
He saw three dire wolfs standing there, plain as day.
Malem hadn’t noticed their presence: he had been distracted by the men. That, and the myriad of shore birds that crowded the river’s edge below.
“Go!” the guards said.
Malem and the others hurried onto the bridge. He looked back, but the dire wolves were already gone. He reached out, and sensed the three retreating into the forest. They were running at breakneck speed, maybe to report the sighting to their master—if they hadn’t already.
“I’ve never seen wolves that big before...” Gwen said.
“We’re hunted,” Abigail told her. “One of the Black Swords seeks us.”
“The Black Swords?” Gwen said. “What would they want with you?”
“Never mind,” Abigail told her.
“Is that why the oraks attacked?” Gwen said. “They were looking for you?”
Abigail didn’t answer.
Gwen’s lip curled back, revealing her pearly white teeth. She promptly turned away.
That was all the more reason for her to hate Abigail, Malem supposed.
“You can leave at any time,” Malem told her.
“You promised me I’d get to kill oraks,” Gwen said. “I’m not going anywhere until you fulfill that promise. Besides, I have nowhere to go. My family, Durnwald village, is no more.” Saying that brought fresh tears to her eyes, and she looked away.
“We can’t keep her with us,” Abigail said. “We stand out way too much. If the Black Sword has spies looking for us inside, they’ll pick us out right away.”
“We don’t stick out much more than we do with Bounder here as our mount already,” Malem said.
“Then get rid of the mount, too!” Abigail said.
“Can’t,” Malem said. “Bounder is more than a mount. He’s my friend. I thought you would have figured that out by now. Anyway, while we might be somewhat conspicuous in the island city, we definitely won’t stand out in Northern Redbridge. If you’ve been there, you know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Neeme was even more comfortable with Bounder by then,
and was able to march up the bridge directly at the iguanid’s side. The sight of those dire wolves was probably another incentive for the horse to stay close—he would have felt safer by keeping next to a bigger animal like Bounder.
The party trotted up the arching bridge, which continued to be floored with the cobble the party had encountered near the gate. Neeme’s hooves clip-clopped on the surface, while Bounder’s nailless feet thudded with close to their usual volume, the footfalls sounding perhaps a little more hollow.
The bridge was big enough to fit five people abreast. Rails coated in white alabaster bordered either side, the banisters bearing designs of different fish, most carved to appear as if they were leaping from the river below.
There continued to be no other traffic on the bridge, thanks to the travel ban; Malem and the others had it all to themselves. Not trusting his beast sense, which often failed him when it came to monsters, he kept looking back, past Abigail seated behind him. But the bridge remained empty.
“Those big wolves, could they have taken the gate guards?” Gwen asked.
“Without question,” Malem replied.
“Then why didn’t they attack?” Gwen pressed.
“That would be because of me,” Abigail said.
Gwen gave her an amused look. “You? Please. It was the size of my bow that frightened them.”
Malem glanced at Gwen. “Abigail here is definitely a force to be reckoned with. But that’s not why the wolves held back.” He remembered quite well how her fireball had failed to stop the previous dire wolf.
“Then what?” Gwen said. “Why didn’t they attack?”
“My best guess?” Malem said. “They’re weaker during the day. Their master, whoever that is, was worried I’d Break them, as I did his last wolf.”
“You?” Gwen said in disbelief. “Wolves like that are essentially monsters, aren’t they? A Breaker who can tame monsters is unheard of.” She glanced at his mount. “Though I suppose that thing isn’t far off.”
“Let me rephrase that,” Malem said. “He was afraid I’d intervene. I didn’t actually Break the previous wolf, but I did stop it in its tracks long enough to plunge my blade into its eye. It helped that Abigail had already weakened it.”