by Nic Weissman
*******
The five members of the newly formed group had good, tough and strong horses. They all were used to traveling long distances and were very accustomed to their masters. Horses were the fundamental mode of transport in Bor and in much of the world of Oris.
The group rode tirelessly throughout the day. From their talk at breakfast, shortly after dawn until late afternoon, the trip passed without relevant events. They stopped a couple of times when they passed near a stream so the horses could drink and take a short break. They also took advantage of these stops to eat something, and talk.
It was obvious that much was needed for a true bond of trust between them to be established, but you could say that, for the moment, they were getting along reasonably well. The most friendly and open of them all was Ithelas. The young man seemed to consider that the other human beings were, by default, good people that he could trust. Some might think that this was due to his youth, and not having many opportunities to find twisted or malicious people, but the reality is that it was more a matter of his own character.
Samar was perhaps the quietest of the whole group. As an elf, she had a slightly different perspective on things. Worldly matters were secondary to her. She possessed the calmness and the temper that gave wisdom and experience to those of her race. It was predictable that she would take longer than the others to fully trust the new members. But on the other hand, she seemed to have started well with them. Erion made some compliments to Samar's skills as an archer and asked her to teach him some tricks to better maneuver his crossbow. She did not flinch at the compliments, but responded positively to his request for help.
Mithir was obviously very limited in his communication with the others. He spoke mainly with his brother and, occasionally, with the rest of the group through Erion. Despite his language barriers, Mithir was beginning to establish a stronger link with Ithelas. The two of them had a lively interest in magic, but came to it by completely different paths. Both of them felt attracted by knowledge and loved antique books, although usually on different topics. With Erion's help, Mithir began teaching some basic gestures of sign language and, almost inadvertently, the communication began between them. Later in the day Ithelas, who had an excellent memory, had learned more than forty words.
Thost made an effort to provide the same level of attention to the new group as he did to his normal one: even a little more so. Again and again, almost without meaning to, he set directions, established criteria, defined minor rules and routines that the others would accept in quite a natural way. Thost always asked for the opinion of the others, but then, pretty quickly, he managed to establish a criterion which usually seemed the wisest. Erion and Mithir confirmed quickly what they had already perceived in the forest: the man was a born leader.
Erion didn't want to get carried away by the apparent ease with which the group was amalgamated, although part of his heart was glad of that situation, which seemed an opportunity, above all. His instincts told him that these were good people that could be trusted, but his mind forced him to take it easy, as it was still too early. His life, and his brother's, could depend on any of the group's members in the coming days. If only one of them had ulterior motives, and wouldn't let them be seen until the critical moment, Mithir and he could find themselves in a very complicated situation.
Moreover, Erion was accustomed to the solitude. Except for his brother, he barely related with others for long. Their occupations and travels made it difficult to maintain relationships with others, because they never were in the same place for long. Like all orphans, Erion needed the company of others to compensate for the lack of attention from parents he never had. In practice this was not possible since they had left the orphanage six long years ago. He maintained some friendships from that period, but he saw most of these friends only two or three times a year. In the depths of his being, he longed for that group to be successful and for this to become a permanent thing. But first, and more important than that desire, was to ensure the safety of his brother, and his own.
At lunch they were talking and drawing more detailed plans of what they'd have to do the next day.
“Tomorrow's going to be a really busy day if we want to complete all these preparations,” Ithelas said.
“I think we have to split up in order to do several things at once,” concluded Thost, after some thought.
“One thing is for sure, the day will start very early for all of us and will probably end quite late,” Erion added.
During the long ride, they sought the County's secondary roads whenever they could. At other times they had to ride off-road. The only way to have traveled the main roads, in a good part of the route, would have been if they had gone to Deepcliff first, and then shifted to the southwest by Ekunon's road. But this would have delayed them a lot because it meant a major detour. So, they all agreed to travel the most direct route, although it was not the busiest and, therefore, not be the safest. However, the trip was uneventful until it began to get dark.
“We'll be getting there soon,” Ithelas said cheerfully. “Perhaps a little more than a league.”
The sun was setting. They were going through a semi-forest area, and they could see their destination in the distance—some small hills. That's when they saw a winter wolf pack running parallel to them, vigilant. They seemed to have no direct intention of pursuing them, and none of them had attacked. Samar explained that they were probably going through their territory and perhaps the herd had some pups. So they wouldn't leave until they had gone far enough. She also explained that they couldn't trust them not to attack, as this depended on how hungry the pack was at that time. She recommended them to keep going at the same pace and in the same direction and to have their weapons ready, just in case.
Mithir hadn't seen a winter wolf before; at least a live one. He became fascinated with the animals. The winter wolves that lived near Ekunon were famous throughout the Kingdom. Samar explained that she occasionally hunted them for their fur. The magician admired the gleaming white fur of those animals. They were very fast and apparently resistant.
The group shared a mixture of fascination and concern, since the herd was quite large and if they attacked, they'd be in serious trouble. But that wouldn't be the day when things went wrong for the group and, after riding at a good pace through this forest for a while, the pack loosened and then stopped the persecution.
Looking ahead they could see the road that went straight to the Mansion on the Hill, where Thost, Ithelas and Samar lived. They were home.
CHAPTER 11: BOOKS AND POTIONS