by AC Cobble
Pick up the Pieces
The next morning came early and both Ben and Amelie woke groggy.
Ben walked back to their previous campsite and used the daylight to quickly search their attacker. His body was cold to the touch and unpleasantly stiff, though, fortunately, it had not begun to smell.
The man must have dropped his supplies before attacking them because he didn’t have much on him. He had a belt pouch with a handful of coins, a bloodstained handkerchief, a strange tiny copper bowl inscribed with miniature runes around the rim, and a set of flint and steel. He had a utilitarian knife on his belt, the rapier, and the dagger. Other than that, Ben found nothing worthwhile. Ben tried to remember what Rhys looked for when he searched bodies. The only thing Ben could recall was being disgusted by the concept. That hadn’t changed.
He took the bowl to show Amelie, and on a whim, he picked up and wiped off the man’s weapons.
He brought them back to where Amelie was preparing a quick breakfast they could eat on the move. Despite being exhausted from almost no sleep the night before, neither of them was interested in hanging around the area for long.
Amelie looked up. “Find anything?” She frowned at the two blades. “What are you doing with those?”
“They’re good quality and light weight. I thought…” Ben shrugged. “Well, I thought maybe you could use them. That man was pretty effective with them last night. If you can learn that, I think they’d be a better fit for you than the saber.”
She frowned. “Saala has been teaching me to use weapons like the saber. I don’t know how to use a stabbing weapon like that, much less two of them.”
“You’ll learn,” assured Ben. “We can start with the rapier. If you like it, we can see about adding the dagger. I don’t know much about fighting with two blades either, but after seeing what that man was able to do, I think it’s worth trying. He was able to keep three of us at bay. Anytime we struck at him, he could use one blade to defend and one to counterattack. That style relies on quickness and not strength.” Ben shrugged. “Maybe…”
He trailed off without completing his sentence. He was going to say maybe she wouldn’t end up like Mathias.
“I understand,” she finished for him.
He showed her the copper bowl the attacker had. “He was carrying this.”
She kept making breakfast and then looked at it. “It does look like a magical device, but I have no idea what its purpose could be. Did he have anything else strange?”
“Everything else was normal,” answered Ben.
Amelie stood up and handed Ben a chunk of bread stuffed with cheese. “Let’s walk and eat.”
They headed north toward Kirksbane. They stayed just below the tree line, in the light cover of the forest. This far into the mountains, the travel was quicker than they experienced below. Speed was their friend now. Ben opted to stay high and make use of the clearer ground instead of heading deeper into the thicker growth which would provide better concealment.
It was a hard day, but neither complained. They kept moving through lunch and only paused long enough to refill their water skins at a small stream. Barely speaking, they communicated by hand gestures and in whispers when necessary. Silence was wise if someone was nearby, but also, they just didn’t feel like talking.
By evening, they covered several leagues and felt comfortable stopping to rest. They slung their packs down on the ground. Amelie started digging through to find something they could eat. Earlier, they decided to forgo a fire that night. They weren’t sure how the hunter had tracked them, but a campfire was too obvious a giveaway to anyone nearby looking for them.
Ben sat, staring blankly while Amelie worked. Before long, she paused and glanced at him.
“I understand what it’s like, Ben.”
“What do you mean?” he responded.
“Losing a friend,” she answered solemnly. “It wasn’t that long ago I lost Meredith. I’d known her my entire life. When she died at Snowmar, for a while there, I didn’t know how I could continue.”
Ben sighed.
“I didn’t know him like you did,” she continued, “but when you needed help with an insane plan to break into the Sanctuary and sneak someone out, he’s the one you went to, and he actually did it. Friends like that don’t come along very often.”
Ben picked up a rock off the ground and rubbed his thumb over its rough surface. “You’re right. He was a good friend. Better than I deserved, and I got him killed. If I hadn’t gone to him, if I hadn’t asked him to help with that insane plan, then he would still be alive and tending bar at the Flying Swan.”
“Ben, you can’t think like that,” protested Amelie.
“But it’s true, Amelie,” replied Ben harshly. “I know you’re going to say that he knew the risks and he came along anyway. You’d be right, he did know, but it doesn’t absolve me of asking him in the first place.”
She rummaged in the pack and pulled out a paper wrapped packet of dried beef. She didn’t answer for several minutes.
Finally, she said, “I’ve realized since I left Issen that the world is a hard place. Meredith died. Reinhold died. Mathias died. I don’t know what the hell happened with Meghan, but as far as I’m concerned, we lost her too. To me, she may as well be dead. I’m going to be pretty damn tempted to make it official if I see her again.”
Unwrapping the package of dried meat, she continued talking, “Ferguson would have died if it wasn’t for Towaal. We’ve both gotten cut up, you were captured by thieves, we’ve been banged around, and barely escaped death ourselves a couple of times, but here is the thing Ben, it’s only going to get harder.”
Ben blinked at her, unsure of how to respond.
Amelie kept going, “If one hunter found us, then others will too. We’ve got a long way to Whitehall and it’s only the two of us now. We don’t have a mage, a blademaster, and whatever exactly Rhys is to protect us. It’s all on us, and if we do somehow make it to Whitehall, we still won’t be safe. Lord Jason slaughtered a hundred men and was going to come after me at the Sanctuary. We killed at least one man and maybe a mage when we escaped. King Argren and his tall walls won’t stop them. Ben, we may never stop running.”
Ben frowned at her. “Are you trying to cheer me up? It’s not working.”
“I’m trying to be realistic,” she replied. “If we lose focus, if we stop trying, if we stop moving, then we are as good as dead. If we’re not committed to doing anything necessary to get through this, then we might as well march back to the Sanctuary and give ourselves up. The easy part, if there ever was one, is over.”
Ben tossed the rock he was holding into the woods. “So what do we do?”
“We stay alive, we get to Whitehall, and we tell Argren what happened with Coalition and the Sanctuary. We warn the Alliance so they have time to prepare for what the Coalition is planning. Unless you want to go into hiding somewhere deep in these mountains and ignore what’s going on in the world, what else can we do?”
“I don’t know,” he answered morosely. “When you put it like that, there isn’t anything else.”
4
Free State
They slept hard and fast and were back on their feet at day break. Amelie was right. Losing Mathias left a hole in Ben’s heart, but what else was there but to push on? It’s what the veteran and barkeep would have wanted.
That didn’t mean they had to be foolish about it though.
“We can’t just keep running without thinking,” said Ben as they crested a low ridge and descended into a shallow ravine.
“What do you mean? We have to keep moving, right?” countered Amelie.
“Yeah,” agreed Ben, “but we can’t be stupid. That hunter found us somehow. It’s too big of a coincidence that he happened to be in such a random area of the mountains at the same time as us at night. How did he do it?”
Amelie shifted her pack and grimaced.
“I’ve been thinking about it, and I think it must be ma
gical,” suggested Ben.
“He was a man,” muttered Amelie. “He couldn’t have any magic.”
Ben smiled for the first time since Mathias passed. “I think you mean he shouldn’t have any magic.”
Amelie stopped walking and looked at Ben.
“Think about it,” said Ben. “We were three days from the road. We’ve been in the middle of nowhere and recently moving across pretty rocky ground that wouldn’t leave much of a track. I find it hard to believe that man just happened to be lurking way out here with no clue we’d be nearby. What other explanation is there? He somehow used magic to find us. That little copper bowl had runes on it, just like the wooden disc you’re carrying.”
Ben motioned ahead. “Let’s keep walking. You know magic better than I do. Is there any way someone could use it to track us?”
Amelie knitted her brows and thought. “I don’t know anything about that bowl. In theory, it could be possible to track someone if you have a strong enough attachment to them. A very strong attachment. If they’re family or you’ve had a sexual relationship with them, maybe.”
“I didn’t have sex with that guy, if that’s what you’re implying,” joked Ben.
“A strong and knowledgeable mage might be able to replicate that attachment,” continued Amelie, ignoring Ben’s comment. “I don’t know of it being done by anyone in the Sanctuary, but it’s conceivable. Blood or other bodily fluids could contain enough matter for someone to use. There is a force called cohesion where like particles attempt to stay united.”
“I don’t understand,” said Ben.
“If someone had fresh blood or another bodily fluid,” she supposed, “they might be able to amplify the cohesive force enough to draw the sample toward a person.”
Ben blanched. “My blood was all over the walls we climbed. It was probably scattered through the vineyard and the woods too.”
Amelie shook her head. “I’ve only studied cohesion in regards to simple things like drops of water. I’m not sure it’s even a possibility.” She shrugged in frustration. “It’s probably not possible with dried blood because the chemical change would disrupt the cohesive property. I don’t know enough about these things, but I can’t think of anything else.”
“I have no idea what you just said,” muttered Ben. “What I followed though, is that as long as we don’t leave fresh blood where a mage can find it, we should be okay?”
“You’ve got it.” She smiled, then stopped and frowned.
Ben walked ahead before realizing she had stopped. He turned to wait. “Amelie, even if they can’t track us, we really should keep moving.”
She’d gone pale and was barely breathing.
“Amelie, are you okay?” asked Ben.
“Ben,” she whispered, “Mistress Eldred had my blood.”
“Your blood!” he exclaimed.
“For our training on healing, we extracted some of our blood. The mages preserved it. We studied the different properties individuals had and how to screen for disease. Mistress Eldred kept samples for further training. It’s preserved. It’s fresh…” Amelie trailed off.
The somber pair kept moving and quickly covered ground over the rocky terrain. They didn’t know if Mistress Eldred even survived the confrontation in the Sanctuary. If she did survive, did she know how to use that blood to track them? Amelie had never heard of it being done, but if someone at the Sanctuary did have the skill, it would be Eldred.
Her role at the Sanctuary was the head of the laboratory, which was the half glass building Ben and Amelie fled through on the night of the escape. The laboratory was where many of the early initiate classes were held, but also where advanced research took place. Knowledge was critical to performing magic, so the initiates went to the lab to learn the fundamentals of science. Experienced mages ran experiments there to uncover new ways of manipulating the physical world. Mistress Eldred, as head of the facility, was familiar with all of the experiments. If someone developed a way to use blood to track a person, she would know of it.
“Do you think she survived?” asked Ben. “What was that stuff you hit her with anyway? It looked like her face was melting or something.” He cringed at the memory.
Amelie shrugged. “I don’t know what it was. I just saw the beaker and thought it looked heavy enough to do some damage. Whatever was in there though, I’m glad it didn’t get on me.”
“Shouldn’t they store that kind of thing somewhere safe?”
Amelie laughed. “Apparently they didn’t imagine anyone would want to break in. The whole building is full of stuff like that. They spend almost the entire first week telling us how we could get killed in the lab or the other training buildings.”
“Mages are crazy,” sputtered Ben.
“You don’t know the half of it,” quipped Amelie.
That evening, they stopped early. Traveling hard to gain distance made sense, but if someone could track them, there was no sense pushing to their limits. If they could be tracked, they needed to be alert and prepared to fight.
They began sword practice again but avoided sparring. They only had real blades and didn’t trust that they wouldn’t injure each other. Instead, they focused on footing, grips, and some basic forms. Amelie’s rapier had a guarded hilt, which was different from the practice swords she used in the City. It was awkward at first, but she quickly realized the benefit of the new weapon over the saber she was carrying. The rapier was light and fast, ideal for her natural speed. She became determined to adjust.
Ben also showed her some thrusting attacks she had not learned yet. The rapier would be next to worthless as a slashing weapon. Many of the forms she learned with Saala would have to be discarded.
After two bells, they settled down and laid out what remaining food they had on top of their packs. It wasn’t much.
“We should hunt and forage again,” proposed Ben.
“I think we have enough for another two days if we’re careful,” replied Amelie. “Maybe we should go a little longer before stopping. You’re right, we can’t risk running out of food, but I’d be more comfortable if we get a little further from where we were attacked.”
“Fair enough,” agreed Ben. He picked up a few items from the food pile. “How does tough jerky and hard biscuit sound for dinner? It’s highly recommended. At least, compared to the dry beans and rice. Without a fire to boil water and cook them, I’d prefer to save those for later.”
Amelie rolled her eyes at him. “The food on this trip isn’t nearly the quality I’ve come to expect on the road,” she joked.
Ben uncorked his water skin and took a drink to wash down a dry bite of biscuit. He eyed the water skin. “One thing I miss is all of the drinks Rhys brought along. I like water as much as the next guy, but right now, I’d kill for an ale or skin of wine.”
Two days later, they started downhill and into the forest around the base of the mountain range. They were looking for a suitable spot to stop and forage for food. Ben hoped they would find a nice stream to fish and find trails where animals came to drink. They were far enough away from where the hunter attacked that he was willing to risk a campfire if he had something to cook over it.
As they moved deeper into the woods, dappled light played on the floor of the forest. High above them, the leaves rustled in a light breeze. Ben noted that amongst the bright green were splashes of yellow and orange. The season was changing. Soon, these woods would be a riot of color.
He steered them into a hollow between two ridgelines. He hoped to find a stream trickling its way down from the mountain heights. In addition to food, they needed fresh water.
Just as he suspected, at the base of a shallow ravine was a small stream, maybe three strides across—not large enough for fish, but a sufficient source of drinking water. Hopefully the local rabbits and deer used it as well.
“How are you going to take down a deer?” asked Amelie skeptically. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure you are a master huntsman, in addition to being
a master brewer, but you don’t exactly have the right tools for the job.”
“I’ll make a spear,” answered Ben more confidently than he felt. “If we find a fresh game trail, I can make a spear out of a straight, solid branch. I’ll hide close to the water until the deer gets near. If it’s close enough, I can spear it. Back in Farview, people talked about it all of the time.”
He didn’t mention that talk was always at the Buckhorn Tavern and after a few pints of ale.
Amelie bent down to the stream and dunked her water skin beneath the surface. “If you say so.”
Ben also moved to fill his skin then stopped and stood.
“Do you smell that?” he asked.
She also stood and looked around. “I didn’t until you mentioned it. Is that smoke?”
They both peered around the creek bed but there was nothing to see.
Ben stooped back down and filled his skin, thinking.
“It is smoke,” he affirmed. “This ravine could be acting as a chimney and is pulling it up. We may be nowhere near the source.”
“So, should we keep moving?” asked Amelie.
“I don’t think so,” reflected Ben. “That smoke may be someone after us or it may have nothing to do with us at all. If it’s someone after us, we need to find out who they are and understand how we can avoid them. If it has nothing to do with us, then it won’t hurt to find out for sure. Either way, we benefit from knowing who else is out here.”
Amelie hesitated. “What if it is someone who is after us and they catch us?”
Ben shrugged. “Let’s not get caught.”
They stalked quietly through the forest and Ben was grateful it was not yet autumn. There were few leaves on the ground to crunch and give them away. They followed the stream down the ravine, working on Ben’s theory that it was acting as a chimney and the source of the smoke would be somewhere below.
The further downhill they got, the stronger the smell.
“It makes sense they would camp near the water,” he whispered to Amelie.