Still holding its prey, the demon tore into the captain’s chest with its other talons. Armor, flesh, bone … nothing withstood the force of the attack.
At last, the demon released its victim.
Dropping his sword, Galifar fell to one knee, then sprawled before the demon.
The winged fury turned its attention to Shiera.
Try as she might, Shiera could still not move from the spot, could not even call for help, not that any would come. She stared in horror as the fiendish being drifted toward her, its single eye filled with obvious ill intent—
A howl broke through the silence of her dream.
And just like that, Shiera’s nightmare ended.
* * *
She awoke still bound. Darkness surrounded her. Remembering the nightmare, Shiera fought hard to push herself up enough to see Galifar and the others. However, before she could, a tremendous exhaustion filled her, and she collapsed onto her back.
A moment later, she was asleep again.
* * *
Day came, such as it was in the Worldwound, and with it consciousness. Shiera moaned. Her entire body ached. She stretched her arms and legs, then took a deep breath.
Only then did she realize that she was, as in her nightmare, unbound.
With growing dread, she stared at her freed hands. Someone or something had cleanly severed—or bitten off—the ropes.
Despite her stiffness, Shiera found the strength to rise to her feet.
Around her lay the slaughter she had been hoping she had only dreamed. Galifar and his men lay in the same awful conditions.
Shiera stumbled forward, then stopped as she was once again reminded that she was free. None of this made sense. If, as she believed, she had actually witnessed the slaughter, she saw no reason why the demon would have left her alive. Yet here she was.
A sound from her side made her jump … then added further to the mystery. As with her, the horses remained untouched. Indeed, they now stood calmly waiting, as if no longer aware of the horror that had transpired.
Why was I spared? It makes no sense! With those thoughts continuing over and over in her head, Shiera took a step back. Only then did she notice something on the ground next to the nearby body.
The drawing was crude, just lines scratched in the dust, yet its shape was unmistakable.
A one-eyed wolf.
14
HUNTED
It was an hour before Raffan regained consciousness. Daryus had considered throwing the young man over his horse and dragging him along, but had decided against it. If they came across danger, Daryus thought that Raffan at least deserved the chance to defend himself, however meager that defense might be.
Raffan was clearly out of his element so near the Worldwound, which made it all the more curious why he would be here alone. Daryus could only assume that either Raffan had followed Galifar and the others or that he had decided to pursue some trail of his own, perhaps in order to gain more favor with his unnamed patron.
As Raffan stirred, Daryus readied a piece of the rabbit he had caught. The rest he had already prepared as best as possible for the journey ahead. Unfortunately, most of the supplies were still back in Kenabres and there was no hope of returning there. Whatever Daryus and Raffan had with them was all they would be carrying into the Worldwound.
The young man rubbed his head. “You. I thought I remembered seeing you…”
Daryus brought the piece to Raffan. “You look like you need food. Eat this.”
Raffan looked as if he would have preferred to cut his throat rather than eat the seared meat before him, but finally accepted the offering. After the first bite, he began eating with more gusto. Hunger could change even the most delicate sensibilities.
“How did you end up out here?” Daryus asked after a moment.
“I finished up with the first of my master’s associates here, then went in search of Captain Galifar to coordinate some details,” Raffan answered after swallowing. “Only to find that the captain was not where he was supposed to be. In fact, when I did a little more searching, I discovered that he and his men had been seen leaving the city … and that a woman resembling the Pathfinder was seen with them beyond the city walls.”
Daryus saw many holes in Raffan’s story thus far, but only asked, “What did you do?”
“The master has several friends in the upper echelons of Kenabres society. I made use of the master’s name to gain what I needed in terms of some quick supplies and a fresh horse.” The other man frowned. “I never thought to run into you again, either, not after what happened with those crusaders. You left me in a devil of a situation, trying to explain how I only knew you as a hired sword!”
“So sorry to inconvenience you. Next time, I’ll let myself be carted off without a struggle.”
Raffan glared. “I know you used to be one of them and committed some offense, Daryus Gaunt. I’m willing to overlook that so long as it doesn’t interfere with the expedition.”
“How kind of you. So you pursued? You knew to follow them here?”
“Not here … not exactly.” Daryus’s companion flushed. “I got lost even though I was following a path Galifar himself had pointed out on a map. Finally, I became so exhausted that I accidentally let the horse lead instead of the other way around. The damned beast must have smelled water. I suppose I should be grateful to it for that, at least.”
“No doubt.” Daryus continued to let the story remain unquestioned. He would divine the reasons for Raffan’s inconsistencies soon enough.
However, as he finished speaking, Raffan suddenly clutched his head. Daryus leaned close, studying the other’s face.
“Let me see your eyes. Make them wide.”
Raffan obeyed. After a moment’s study, Daryus nodded. “You’ve ingested something. Either by accident or by design.” Daryus rubbed his chin. “Did the good captain give you anything?”
The younger man looked perplexed. “He provided the emergency food kit in my saddlebags. I transferred everything to the fresh horse before setting off. Had some then and more on the trail. Dried meat and such. Awful stuff. This is better, by the way.”
“I’m honored. Which bag?”
“The one on the right side as you sit in the saddle.”
Leaving Raffan to finish his food, Daryus hurried to the saddle. Digging into the bag in question, he found what remained of the food kit. Raffan had not left much, but there was one piece of meat large enough to test.
Daryus tasted a tiny bit. Under the heavy salt layer, he noted a slightly peculiar seasoning. It reminded him of something …
Returning to Raffan, Daryus asked, “Did this meat taste at all odd?”
“Of course! It’s salty, leathered beef.”
“More than that. There’s something else on it. I can’t recall what, but I think it’s the reason you lost your senses and your way.”
Raffan stared open-mouthed.
“Captain Galifar apparently intended something dishonest once we were deep in the Worldwound. This was how he planned to put you out of the situation.” Daryus straightened. “Hurry up with that. We’ll be on our way as soon as you’re ready.”
“We’re continuing the expedition?”
“If you mean, ‘Are we going to rescue Shiera?” then yes. You did mean that, didn’t you, Master Raffan?”
Daryus’s companion blinked. “Yes, yes, of course that’s what I meant.”
Nodding, Daryus left Raffan to his remaining food. After dealing with the campfire and other small necessities, he glanced back. Not at all to his surprise, Raffan had somehow managed to finish the tiny bit of rabbit just as Daryus finished all the work.
“Are we ready, then?” asked the well-clad young man.
In reply, Daryus silently mounted. Raffan rushed over to his own horse and followed suit. He grunted in exasperation as, without a look back, Daryus rode on.
* * *
Daryus did not wait for Toy, either, but it still did not surpri
se him when, just a few minutes into the journey, he felt the weasel’s claws on his shoulder and heard the voice from right behind him.
“We should leave him!” whispered the creature. “We should find her ourselves!”
A side glimpse at Raffan revealed the young man to be focused entirely on the rough ride. He would hear no part of any conversation. “Not going to leave an innocent out in the middle of nowhere. He would’ve tried to continue after us and likely gotten killed. I’d be happy to leave you behind, if you like.”
“He will slow us.”
“Shut up or you’ll follow the rabbit next stop we make.”
That was enough to silence Toy for a time, but eventually the weasel regained his voice. “There is a better path.”
“I know all the trustworthy paths in this region. This is the one they would’ve taken.”
Raffan finally stirred. “What did you say?”
Daryus felt the familiar scurry down to the saddle. “There’s another small spring a little ahead. We’d best top out our water sacks there.”
“Mine’s still at least two-thirds full—”
“There won’t be much water for some time after that. I know.”
Their route first led them up a hill, then down the other side. They rounded part of another hill, finally ending near the spring.
The two men went about filling the sacks. Leaving Raffan for a moment, Daryus climbed back up part of the hill to get his bearings. Although he had indicated to Toy that he knew just which path was best, it had been many years since he had taken it. A glance from above would help verify that nothing major had changed.
The weasel scampered alongside him. Daryus ignored his four-footed companion as he reached the lookout point and began studying the land ahead. The dark skies over the Worldwound beckoned a short distance ahead.
“Master Daryus…” came the whisper from behind him.
Something in Toy’s tone eradicated any annoyance Daryus had with the familiar and made Daryus quickly look down. However, Toy did not look back at him, instead appearing more interested in something behind them.
A slight dust cloud.
Even had it not been rising along the same general path that he and his companions had traveled, Daryus would have recognized it immediately. A group of riders were heading the same direction as the trio, something that could not be a coincidence. Indeed, Daryus knew exactly who they had to be.
Harricka Morn was on his trail.
Quickly descending, Daryus returned to Raffan, who was already mounted. Swinging up into the saddle, the former crusader said, “From here, we pick up the pace. There’s somewhere I want to be by the time darkness arrives.”
Raffan silently shrugged. Glad that the other man did not realize why they were going to ride faster, Daryus urged his mount on. Toy jumped up behind him even as the mare picked up speed.
They rode on … and Harricka followed.
* * *
Daryus kept them going at as fast a pace as possible. Once, Raffan called for a stop, but Daryus pretended not to hear and rode on. That forced Raffan to do the same.
Three times, Daryus dared peer over his shoulder. Three times, he saw the dust. He judged it to be no nearer and, in fact, slightly reduced in size, as if the crusaders had fallen farther behind.
That was not enough for Daryus, though. Despite his original intentions, he finally veered off the expected trail. Daryus hoped to lead Harricka and her party in a different direction, then double back.
That left the going tougher. The terrain turned uneven and in some places soft to the point where Raffan’s mount nearly tumbled forward as its hoof sank deeper than expected. After that, Daryus was forced to slow their pace, even if it meant further risk of the crusaders catching up.
To his relief, though, when he looked back just before nightfall, it was to discover no hint of the crusaders’ party. It was still too soon for them to have stopped for the night, which to Daryus meant he had managed to shake them off.
Even then, Daryus pushed the trio as long as there was light. He had lied about having a particular spot in mind, but knew the area well enough to believe he would find some location safe enough.
He finally settled on a flat area surrounded by low hills that gave them a view of the path behind while protecting them from any eyes farther ahead. Setting up the camp naturally fell to Daryus. Raffan spent his time constantly perusing his notebook as if it were some sort of religious text. He only looked up when Daryus began taking what was left of the rabbit to prepare for a simple meal.
“We’re eating that again?”
“Do you see anything else?”
Raffan wrinkled his nose. “I thought you would go hunting.”
“Not a good place to do it, although you’re welcome to try, if you disagree.” Daryus made no mention of the pursuit. “We’ve enough. There will be a better place tomorrow.”
The other man wrinkled his nose again, then returned his attention to the notebook.
From near Daryus’s feet, Toy snickered. Daryus kicked at the weasel, who deftly evaded the foot despite it coming from his blind side.
Thinking of that eye, the former crusader determined that when Raffan slept, Daryus and the familiar would have a long, thorough conversation. There was too much that Daryus believed Toy held from him.
He handed Raffan his share of the meat, then, carrying the remainder, started up toward the tallest point. As he neared the top, he crouched. After first peering in the direction of the Worldwound and seeing nothing, he focused on the trail behind them.
A cloud of dust in the distance warned him immediately that he had not lost Harricka’s patrol after all. They were not following the same path, but one close enough that there was still a chance Harricka might actually figure out where Daryus was.
We’ll have to move on if they start veering to their right within the next hour. He started back down … then paused as something farther toward the Worldwound caught his attention.
It was another party. The dust was unmistakable, as was the fact that this second group had to be larger, based on how the dust rose.
Daryus could think of very few groups that would come from the Worldwound save another crusader patrol heading back after some hunt in the demon-benighted land. That did not bode well for Daryus; he had no doubt that if they ran across one another, Harricka would convince the second officer to combine the two patrols.
Gravely concerned, he remained where he was and watched. True to his luck thus far, Harricka’s band turned to their right just where he feared, setting them on a course for where Daryus hid.
That settled it. Daryus rose, mind already running over potential locations ahead. However, barely had he started down than something about the second group of riders made him hesitate. They were now near enough to Harricka’s party to see some trace of them and yet they did not either move to meet Daryus’s pursuers or keep on toward Kenabres. Instead, they were taking a path that would bring them just behind Harricka.
For some reason, that made the hair on the back of Daryus’s neck stiffen. Common sense demanded that he shut down the campsite and drag Raffan on, but still Daryus lingered. His gaze went back and forth between the two oncoming groups, his wariness growing with each passing second.
“Master Daryus!” Toy whispered. “Master Daryus, I think you must come—”
“Not now, Toy!”
“But Master Daryus—”
Frustrated, Daryus swung a heavy hand at where he heard the weasel. Toy deftly evaded it.
Trying his best to ignore the creature, Daryus continued to study the new group. Its choice of trails seemed designed to evade notice by Harricka’s party.
“Master Daryus…”
Gritting his teeth, the human finally responded. “What is it now, Toy?”
“Your Master Raffan appears to be wandering off. He may be seen by the riders following us before the last light fades enough.”
Swearing an oath that w
ould have had a new Flaming Lance recruit scrubbing latrines for a week, Daryus rushed down to the campsite. Sure enough, Raffan was nowhere to be seen. It did not take Daryus long to find his footprints, though. As Toy had indicated, they led back along the way the trio had come.
Is he mad? Then Daryus recalled that the younger man had no idea about the crusaders nipping at their heels.
Hoping to catch Raffan before it was too late, Daryus raced after.
Raffan proved to be quick on his feet. Daryus wondered if his companion had started off the moment the fighter had left. That was about the only way Daryus could see Raffan making such distance.
As he feared, Raffan stood in the open, his attention on something Daryus could not yet make out but that he suspected was Harricka’s band. Cursing again, Daryus closed on Raffan.
The younger man turned as he neared. “I think someone’s heading our way.”
“You have a talent for noticing the obvious. We need to get to our horses and go.”
Raffan pointed. “Look! Something’s happening!”
There was more than merely “something” happening. Daryus’s earlier suspicions now proved too true. Harricka’s band was being attacked from behind by what he had to assume was the second, larger party.
It should have been a relief to Daryus, but instead all he could think about was that fellow crusaders were in terrible trouble. Never mind that he was no longer one of their ranks, or that they’d be all too happy to execute him; all that Daryus saw was comradesin-arms perishing before his eyes.
“Get back to the camp and stay there,” he ordered Raffan. “Stay near your horse. If I don’t come back in an hour, ride like hell to the south, then turn west again. Take whatever path you have to from there to get back to Nerosyan.”
“Wait! What are you—”
“Do it!” Even as he gave the command, Daryus hurried back to the horses himself. He wasted no time, leaping atop his mount and turning it. Kicking hard, he rode past a running Raffan, then out into the open.
Pathfinder Tales--Reaper's Eye Page 13