“What did you take?” Adam finally asked.
“Take? Whatever do you mean?” Amber looked from Kyle to Adam and back again and there was a long pause while she waited for either of them to challenge her version of events. When they didn’t, she confessed. “I saw a small silver acorn. Just a simple thing really, but it caught my eye and sometimes a girl just wants to own something pretty. I didn’t mean any harm.”
“If you’re telling us the truth about the map, we could use your help. But…listen closely…no more stealing. We have enough trouble without having to worry about getting thrown in a local jail because you want to add to your trinket collection.”
“Okay, no more stealing.”
“Agreed. Just remember that if you’re lying about what you know about the map, we’re done. You go your way and we’ll go ours. Alright? If you can live with that, you are welcome to travel with us.”
“I’ll be good,” she said, making a crossing motion across her heart. When she smiled, it revealed a mischievous spirit, rather than one of restrained compliance. Both Kyle and Adam darted eyes at one another.
Amber removed a small cloth sack from a fastener at her waist, undid the cloth strap tying it closed and pulled a small reddish fruit from it. She offered it first to Adam and then to Kyle, but they both refused it. With a shrug, she replaced the bag at her waist. Reaching to her boot, she pulled a thin stiletto from a sheath sewn into the leather and began to remove the skin from the fruit. Looking up she noticed both Adam and Kyle staring at her.
“What? I don’t like the skin.”
Kyle watched her peeling the skin free and wondered if he was going to regret allowing Amber to join them.
Chapter Seven
They walked along for several hours, following the Barrow Road as it snaked around the foothills of the Sutter mountain range they could see in the distance to the West. When they finally decided to stop for the night and make camp, they moved away from the road and into the heavy brush. They found a small meadow, and cleared a space for a fire pit. Before too long, the three were sitting around a small fire, each huddled under a blanket. Between bites of cheese and hard bread, Amber asked Kyle where he was from originally.
Kyle described the farm where he’d grown up. With his eyes closed, his description wandered about, and he spoke of the rich smell of the earth after a heavy rain, the hard work planting, caring for and reaping crops. He spoke of the green fields, the thick woods and the crystal clear streams of the valley. Before he knew it, he was speaking of his lost mother and then his father. He paused and wiped the tears from his red eyes.
“It sounds like a beautiful place,” Amber said, her voice soft and whispery. She cleared her throat and looked at Adam, “What about you, handsome?”
“My farm was less than a mile from Kyle’s. We’ve known each other since we were small children. My farm was a little smaller than the one where Kyle grew up, and I was lucky enough to have both of my parents growing up. There is no better life in the world. Its hard work, but rewarding.”
Amber sat in silence for a moment and then said, “So you two are traveling together.” She looked at Adam and asked, “Why are you traveling this far from your homes?”
Before Adam could answer, Kyle piped up, “I think it’s about time we went to sleep. Tomorrow we need to take a good look at that map piece and see if we can determine if it’s the place Kalaldi wanted me to go. Goodnight.” With that, Kyle curled up, laying against his pack and closed his eyes. With a shrug of his shoulders, Adam settled against his pack, followed by Amber with hers.
“Do you think that you will return to your farms someday?”
Adam turned his head and looked at Amber who lay still staring at the star-filled sky.
“I hope so. I really do.” Adam closed his eyes and slipped off to sleep.
Amber looked over at Kyle’s form, huddled under the blanket and wondered what secret it was that her two companions were keeping from her. And if they were keeping secrets from her, how much about what she saw drawn on that map parchment, should she reveal?
* * * *
The sun peaked over a low rise to the east and played out across the camp. Adam woke and looked across the darkened coals of the burnt out fire and noticed Amber still asleep but Kyle’s bedding empty. Alarmed he sat up and looked around the small clearing. He spotted Kyle making his way through a small cluster of trees. His hair was wet and his clothes damp in several places. When he crossed into the clearing, Adam called to him.
Kyle ran his hand through his wet hair. “About a quarter mile on the other side of those trees is a river. I got cleaned up and filled my canteen. Feels good to scrape the dirt off. I figured I would do that before Amber woke up and we started going over Kalaldi’s papers again. I’m interested in what she has to say about that map section.”
“Well that sounds like a good idea.” There was a long pause before he spoke again. “Are you going to tell her about our problem?” Adam gestured toward Kyle’s hand.
“I don’t know yet. If she’s willing to point us in the direction of where that scrap is locating, maybe there isn’t a need to get her involved in whatever else is going to happen. We still don’t know why someone would want to kill Kalaldi and my father.”
Adam let out a short breath and said in a whisper, “Well, it’s possible the little thief doesn’t know anything and is just bluffing. Don’t underestimate her ability to lie. I have a feeling she is quite good at it.”
Adam glanced in Amber’s direction. “Well, I’ll be back. Don’t start without me.” He headed off through the cluster of trees.
Several minutes later a bird hidden within the trees squawked at the rising sun and startled Amber out of her sleep. She rubbed her eyes and yawned a drawn out, “Good morning.” She stood slowly and started stretching to the left and the right.
“Oh I hate sleeping on the ground. Hey, where’s Adam?”
“He went down to the river, on the other side of those trees, about a quarter mile. When he gets back we can go over the map and the rest of the papers I retrieved from Kalaldi.”
Amber opened her bag and pulled out breakfast and started to eat. She looked at her traveling companion glancing at the papers as he pulled them out of bag. Between bites of her food she said, “Last night you didn’t want to tell me why you and Adam are traveling so far from your homes. Why?”
Kyle opened his mouth and shut it again. When he opened it up again, he blurted out, “I’m wanted for murder.”
As soon as Kyle said it, he wished he could pull the words back, but they seemed to hang between the two of them as Amber stood between chews and simply stared. To her credit, she recovered quickly and spit out a quick laugh.
“Come on. Why the lie?” she asked.
“Huh? What lie?”
“You’re not a murderer. I don’t know you very well, but I can read people. It’s a skill that comes in handy when separating the easy pickings from the troublesome ones. You? You’re not a murderer. Not outright.”
Amber paused for a moment, “You said you were wanted for murder, not that you murdered someone. So, who was it that ended up dead and why are you being accused of the crime?”
Before Kyle could answer, Adam walked out from the brush and called out, “Well, good morning all.” He stopped and looked from Kyle to Amber and said “Did I miss something? What’s going on?”
“Kyle was just about ready to tell me what the big secret is that has got you two traveling so far away from home. Weren’t you Kyle?” Amber said, taunting him.
“Actually, no I wasn’t. I think…”
Adam pulled Kyle to one side and whispered.
“Kyle. I think you should tell her. If she’s going to travel with us, at least for the time being, she should know that we’re in trouble with the authorities and we’re being followed.”
“And the medallion?”
“I wouldn’t mention it, but she should probably know it isn’t safe to come in
contact with you. That’s all she needs to know.”
Adam turned and addressed Amber.
“Okay, are you going to help us with that portion of the map? If you can.” Kyle added.
“I’ll help you with the map, and in exchange, allow me to travel with you for as long as I can see an advantage for me. Agreed?”
Kyle looked at Adam who nodded in return.
“You aren’t going to make me regret this, are you?”
Amber smiled.
Kyle sighed and sat down in front of the burnt out fire. He adjusted his pack behind his back and motioned for Amber to sit down next to him.
“We’re from two farms, outside of Whiteforge. The long rains finally came to an end,” he began his abbreviated story, and it was ten minutes later before Kyle finished, careful to dance around the subject of the medallion, the curse and the glowing runes on his hand.
“Whew,” Amber whistled after the story was complete.
“Still want to travel along with us?” Adam asked.
It was long pause before Amber answered. “Sure. As long as we agree to finders-owners if we should come across anything of value in our travels that has been abandoned by its previous owner…that’s not considered stealing, right?”
Kyle looked at Amber and wished he could see what was going on in her head at that moment. Then decided that it might be best if he didn’t know.
Amber reached her hand out. “Let’s take a look at that map piece.”
Kyle pulled the small folded piece of parchment from the rest of the sheets and handed it over, watching her closely as she examined it.
She traced the lines with her fingertip. Her brow creased and then relaxed again, “I think I know where this place is, but this piece may not be drawn correctly. See how this road is drawn as a mountain pass? If it’s where I think it is, it’s not really a pass, it’s more of a tunnel through the mountain. Where it begins, I don’t know.”
“Well, that doesn’t help us,” Adam said.
“But…I do know someone who lives in that area that may be able to take us to the entrance.”
“Who is that?” Kyle asked.
“That’s my secret.” Amber slid her finger across the surface of the map and rested on the small symbol in the lower right hand corner surrounded by a circular mountain range. “See that symbol? I know that symbol. That’s why I’m pretty sure I know what area this scrap of map is showing. That is a tower, and is the home of the Guild of the Silver Dagger.”
Kyle stared at Amber for a long while, deciding there was more to this thief than just her skills at stealing things. He wondered when or if, he could trust her completely.
* * * *
They followed the Barrow Road on its winding southeastern direction for several hours, only passing a handful of fellow travelers. These they gave a wide berth and only a cursory greeting. They turned a wide curve which bordered a thick wooded area and heard several loud voices to one side, off the road.
Amber broke from the group, ran in the direction of the voices, and found a large clump of grass…behind which the three scrambled and could watch the source of the noise undetected.
“Leave me alone.” A female voice screamed.
In a small depression on the edge of the woods were two men, one with a drawn sword, the other armed with a dagger, closing the distance between themselves and a fallen young woman. With a wave of her hands, a large glowing shield of swirling green energy appeared, emitting a soft hum.
The men stepped forward and hacked at the shield repeatedly, each strike causing the shield to shimmer and emit a crackling sound. The intensity of the shields’ glow diminished with each strike until it finally shattered into sparkling light fragments that quickly disappeared.
The men charged the woman. Before they could reach her, she cast another shield and pushed the two men back again. Her breath was now labored, sweat covering her face and dripped along her throat.
“Gods. Look at her,” Adam whispered.
The young woman got her legs under herself and shakily stood. She took a tentative step in retreat, shooting a glance right and then left, her eyes pausing on an opening in the tree line.
“We need to help her,” Adam said, not taking his eyes off the struggling magic user.
Amber whispered to Kyle, “I don’t think she’s going to last much longer. I bet you and Adam could scare those two men off if you two charge them from the side and make a lot of noise…”
“Great idea. What if they don’t frighten off?” Kyle asked.
Amber shrugged her shoulders and grinned.
“What do you think? This isn’t our fight.” Kyle whispered to Adam.
“True, but we can’t just let this go. They could kill her.”
“Look,” Amber said, pointing at the female wizard.
The robed female dropped to one knee, the shield spell barely visible now. The two figures saw their opportunity and renewed their attack, hacking at the shield with as much vigor as they could muster.
The coloring of the shield disappeared completely and the female figure collapsed to the ground exhausted. The bigger one of the two men shoved the smaller one away from their victim.
“Step back. This one is going to bleed before I worry about the valuables she got,” he said, running a thumb over the edge of his sword.
The smaller of the two tucked his dagger into his belt and took two steps toward the fallen girl.
Kyle nodded at Adam.
The would-be rescuers exploded from their hiding place. Swinging their swords over their heads, they screamed unintelligible gibberish as they quickly advanced on the unsuspecting bandits, who turned in the direction of the sudden outburst.
Their surprise attack worked as Amber described. The two bandits stood frozen in place until Kyle and Adam halved the distance between them and then their paralysis broke. They turned and ran, closely followed by the two sword wielding young men, doing their best to create the illusion of either blood-thirsty savages or insane cut-throats.
Several long moments later Kyle and Adam crashed through the brush, out of breath and laughing, slapping and punching one another on the shoulders. They stopped short at the sight of the robed woman backed against a tree, a dagger in her fist and Amber standing a short distance away.
“Stay back,” she hissed at them, her breathing labored.
Kyle sheathed his sword and held his empty hands up, palms outward. He quickly moved to Amber’s side.
“You do have a quality with people.”
“Very funny,” Amber said.
“You can put away the dagger. We mean you no harm. Are you okay?” Adam asked, from behind Kyle.
“You’re not bandits, like those others?”
“No we’re not. We happened to be traveling along the Barrow Road and heard the scuffle. You looked like you could use a little help. My name is Adam, this is Kyle, and you seem to have met Amber already.” Adam stepped around Kyle, took a cautious step forward and held out his hand.
The woman scanned the three, finally settling on Adam’s face. He broke into a smile and slowly she relented, a smile forming on her face. She put her dagger away beneath her robes and took Adam’s hand.
“Nice to meet you, Adam. My name is Delas Endine.”
* * * *
Delas sat down in the clearing in the woods and swallowed another piece of the dried fruit Kyle gave her. She looked up and saw Adam staring at her. She smiled and he turned away, a blush rising to his cheeks.
“Delas, what are you doing out here? Traveling to or from Allenon?” Amber asked.
“Through Allenon, I suppose. I am traveling north to an outpost village to seek additional training from a very talented magic user. My intention is to travel to Whiteforge and attempt to contact him.”
At the mention of Whiteforge, Kyle and Adam looked at one another, and then Adam looked away.
“Did I say something wrong?” Delas asked.
“No, not at all. Are yo
u seeking council with the Elder Kalaldi?” Kyle asked Delas.
“Yes. Yes I am. So you have heard of him. That is great news.” Delas clapped her hands together several times. “Are you heading in that direction too? It would be nice to have some traveling companions. If you’ll allow me. I’ve...” Delas’ voice dropped to a whisper. She looked down at her fingers and had to consciously stop their fidgeting. Her shoulders began to shake and tears raced down her nose and dropped to her lap.
Adam looked from Kyle to Amber and then crossed to Delas’ side and sat down.
“Are you okay?” he whispered.
She pulled her hands apart and wiped her damp palms on her clothes.
“It’s just…I’ve been traveling alone for quite a long time and I miss...”
Delas grew quiet and stared at the last piece of fruit in her hand.
“I’m sorry,” Adam said quietly, barely a whisper. He reached out and touched her shoulder.
“You don’t have to be sorry,” Delas said, covering his hand with her own.
With a sigh, Delas stood, wiped her cheeks dry and said, “So, during my studies, I heard the Elders talking amongst themselves and they would mention Whiteforge and the Guild there. I was hoping to continue my studies.”
“I’m afraid, that won’t be possible,” Kyle said.
“Why?” Delas’ eyes narrowed.
“The Elder you seek, Kalaldi, is dead.”
Delas’ eyes grew huge and her bottom lip began to quiver. She was quiet for several long moments, and then she exploded, her eyes welling up with fresh tears. “You lie.” She pointed at Kyle, “The Elder Master cannot be dead. He-He’s a great man. A great magic user.” She dropped her accusing finger and her voice lowered to a whisper, all of its previous energy gone. “How? How do you know? How do you know of the Master? Do you know of the Arts?”
Kyle looked to Adam and saw him shrug his shoulders. He took a breath and pursed his lips.
“No, I know very little about magic. I met Kalaldi, spoke to him once, but believe me, when I tell you he is dead,” Kyle said.
Delas looked at Kyle’s face as he spoke and then turned away from the group. She stood alone, staring at the empty sky for a several long moments. Finally, she turned around.
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