Keldron leaned back to get a better view of the skylarks, groaning as he stretched the wrong way. Hitting the rock face to break his fall brought mixed blessings; snapping at least one rib through sheer impact, but he had been saved from falling off a precipice not ten strides below where Joleen and Malcolm had found him. He was so intent upon maintaining the focus that he barely noticed, and it was only the next day when the man, who had never broken so much as a nail before, felt what it was like to be injured.
He repeatedly offered blessings upon the earth and the Gods for putting that rock in his way. He even kept a bit of it, hoping Belyn might find some use for a focus with it. But against all odds, his colossal focus had maintained itself for a day more than he had hoped. Trained well by Obrett in the mental arts, Keldron was able to put the focus away in a metaphorical box in his mind, thus requiring only minimal concentration. He knew he would be aware of it when it failed, but the extra day was a bonus. In his present state he could not move very fast. In the days that followed, they had heard little or nothing of any pursuit. Malcolm made sure their tracks were well hidden, and laid false trails to make it look like they had wandered South of the point where they had lost the mercenaries. The sense of warmth that the awareness of the forest brought to his mind also suffused his body, and he healed remarkably quicker than he should have.
It was during his accelerated healing that Keldron realised the reason for the age some of the tribal elders had reached, and their apparent youthful vigour. They were filled with the same goodness that was healing him. Joleen described it as a blessing of the forest, but Keldron wished Belyn and Raoul were here to share in his discovery. He baulked at the word discovery. Nobody could possibly have such self-importance to say that they had discovered this; it was more a realisation.
The focus had always been a part of the tribal life, so to Joleen, and to a lesser extent, Malcolm, it was nothing to make a fuss over. Keldron knew that Belyn would be as giddy as a youngster with a new toy if he were here now.
Stooping to rinse out a wad of cloth in the Merry Stream, Keldron winced yet again. Dropping to his knees made the task a lot easier, and wiping the cool, damp cloth across his forehead brought instant refreshment from the humidity of the forest.
Looking up from the stream, he saw Joleen smiling warmly as she looked into the sky. “Need a hand up there, old man?” she asked, her tone not quite managing to hide the understated mockery Joleen used whenever she was speaking to him.
“If you please,” Keldron replied, prepared to call her bluff. To his surprise, Joleen reached out and gently helped him stand. Covering his surprise by turning and coughing, he thought that he should maybe reassess Joleen once again. Whenever he thought he had her figured out she surprised him.
Stepping gingerly away from the stream, the pair continued to walk slowly North. If a stranger had come upon them at this time, they would have appeared like lovers, out for a stroll in the woods, so content were they to keep a slow pace. Such a stranger would also have certainly missed Malcolm flitting in between the trees as he scouted the area. The man kept watch so fervently that Keldron was convinced he took this as an obsession more than a watchful eye, and he voiced such opinions to Joleen. As Malcolm disappeared into the forest ahead, Joleen whispered her reply. “I am sure that something bad happened back at the village, as I know you think the same. I suppose he is trying to keep himself occupied.” Keldron watched a pair of squirrels gathering nuts; undisturbed by Malcolm, the timid creatures would had not even known he was there, but for the merest ebb of air flowing past them. “I don't think any good will come of it as long as he bottles himself up,” Joleen observed, as the squirrels, seeing them now, quickly scrambled up their tree, chattering noisy warnings. “I am sure he would not drop his guard even if you cast another focus to block the way behind us.”
Keldron looked around him. “I couldn't, not in this place.” “Why not?” Joleen asked.
Keldron smiled gently. “You know the reason as well as I. The old law prohibits needless interfering with nature. I could not cast a focus of that magnitude here. The forest is teeming with life. What if I were to build an invisible barrier causing a league detour for a fox who is in sight of her cubs? Is that not interfering? What if I created such a focus on top of something half a league away?”
The set of her chin showing that Joleen was not going to back down, she replied. “But what about before? We were in the very same woods that we are now, and they would have been no less populated than these.”
“They weren't. There were no signs of life dependent upon the trees, nor was there any land based animal life. Joleen, we were on a precipice, with more rock than anything else.”
Not convinced, Joleen pressed further. “What about the birds? They live in the trees and would have been affected.”
Keldron shook his head. “Joleen, I am more capable of casting a large-scale focus than anyone I have ever met, save for my good brothers, may they be safe under boughs of goodness.” Joleen smiled as Keldron used a ritual greeting without even consciously acknowledging the fact. “There are stringent limits to what I can do. The focus I cast may have been wide, but it was seven, maybe eight feet high at best. The fools who were after us were so intent on what was in front of them, they never even gave the slightest notice to what was going on above them.”
“What do you mean, above them?”
“A leaf dropped from one of the trees when they were battering at the focus, and it caught on the top of the focus. Jo, no bird would be affected, if any were there at all. Besides, and this is the most important point, I believe a very strong magic user was present that day. Were I to cast a focus needlessly and without a lot of careful planning, it would more than likely draw his attention to us. The evil we felt outside the tavern; that is connected, and we don't want to be caught by whatever that was.”
Malcolm glided into view on silent feet, and approached them with next to no noise at all. Joleen turned to him. “Malcolm, the night we were almost caught…”
“No. There weren't. And no, it wouldn't have affected anything save those after us,” he pre-empted her with his quiet voice. “Now, a bit of advice for the pair of you. If there were anybody trying to find us, and I still believe that there are, they will not need magic when they have the sound of your voices to follow.” With that, Malcolm disappeared off down the trail, leaving a couple of suitably chastised and very embarrassed people in his wake.
The day dragged on without a single peep of Malcolm. Joleen assured Keldron in whispers that he was close by, and at times he thought he could sense something stronger with his link to the forest. Forgetting the discussion they had, the pair once again began to enjoy strolling through the dappled glades, full of lush green grass, and an abundance of wild-flowers. The sun shone through the canopy, warming the path for them. Contentment was absolute until Joleen stopped and gasped a quick short breath. Instantly, Keldron scanned the area around them. Seeing nothing amiss, he looked back at Joleen. Looking not unlike a startled deer, she looked around, trying to see everything at once. “Something's wrong,” she whispered.
As her words left her mouth, Keldron began to get an uncomfortable feeling in the back of his mind. “Something's definitely amiss,” Keldron agreed. The knowledge was something, but the certainty turned a pleasantly warm, late summer afternoon into a suddenly chilly day. Then the realisation came to Keldron. “Malcolm,” he stated.
Joleen could but only nod. “Hide,” she replied.
Keldron found a sudden burst of speed he would not have thought possible, given his condition, but it aided him immensely. Keeping pace with Joleen, he let her lead him off of the path and into vegetation thick enough, and smelly enough to hide them. It was a pleasant aroma, but the concentration of wild-flowers in the glade they came upon was so strong as to be nauseating. Still, they did not know why, but the thought of being warned was still strong in their minds.
Crouching down under the shelter of
a large bush, with glossy leaves, the strength of the thought diminished somewhat. Footfalls could be heard from far off, and suddenly Malcolm was there in the glade with them. Keldron grinned with the realisation that what sounded like far-off footfalls actually belonged to Malcolm, who was a lot closer. He sat, cross-legged on the ground before them, and whispered. “You two might as well get comfortable, we are going to be here a while.” Receiving a reply in the form of two enquiring stares, Malcolm explained. “There is a troop of men following us, perhaps a half league to the South.”
“How many?” asked Keldron, sitting down beside him.
“Twenty, maybe more.” The big man shuffled around to get a better seat on the grassy floor. “They are all armed to the teeth, and on horseback. There is no way to outrun them, so we had best let them pass us by.”
“Were they looking for us?” Joleen asked in a timid voice. Unused to being in such a situation, she was somewhat scared. It might not have been obvious to someone normal, but Keldron could feel the fear radiating from her. He thought to himself that maybe there were some drawbacks to such a focussed mind. The fear he felt began to creep into the back of his head.
“Don't,” Malcolm said suddenly. “Fear leads to rash decisions. You of all people should know that, wizard. I have laid enough false trails that even if they were looking for us, and we don't know that they are, they would lose us. Besides, this place is more than adequate. Now, if we just remain silent, they will have no way to track us.”
Keldron took Malcolm's advice, lying down on the soft earth. The warmth of the tree-filtered sun was a counterpoint to the coolness of the earth, and Keldron found himself drifting. Eventually, he noticed Joleen lying on the ground between himself and Malcolm. The only noise was that of the hint of breeze playing over the leaves, and the sound of a well-hidden bird. The trill of its song was enough for him to concentrate on, and he soon forgot any worries he had about being pursued.
After a while, he thought he heard heavy footfalls on the nearby path, but for some reason, they failed to unnerve him like he felt they should have. The afternoon was just so pleasant that nothing could have possibly ruined it for him. The sparkle of the sun reflected off the edges of the leaves far above, and mesmerised him. The sensation dimmed with the light, and as it did, Keldron's self-awareness improved to the point that he realised he was uncomfortably cold. Reaching for his pack to get at his cloak, he found himself unable to move. Turning his head, he saw that Joleen prevented him from moving so much as an inch.
She was surprisingly strong for her lithe appearance, and held him easily. Keldron did not have to wait long for the answer to the question he burned to ask. The noise came in a sudden rush; horses galloping, men running and shouting as they did so. There were other things as well, but Keldron could not recognise them from the odd grunts that they made. And then the feeling he had dreaded for so long materialised both within and all around him. The dreaded feeling of evil so untainted by anything good made him appreciate the fact that he was still lying down. He feared he would have collapsed had he been standing.
He felt Joleen's grip on him weaken, and turned his head slightly. She was staring right at him, tears streaming out of her eyes as she held her head still. Well, almost still. Keldron could discern a slight shake, as if she was trying to deny the fact that a person once in a lifetime, let alone twice, could have felt such a feeling. If that was what she thought, Keldron completely agreed. Were it not for the look in her eyes, Keldron would have sworn that the being was after him.
Something brushed by the bush, causing it to shake, and Joleen to bite back an involuntary yelp. Although it was quite gloomy, something huge could be clearly seen as it walked on northwards and by them.
Malcolm rose in an instant, before Joleen could grab him too, and edged towards the path. Apparently satisfied with what he saw, he turned back towards them, and the look of pure horror on his face told a whole book of stories by itself. Keldron knew then that whatever that evil originated from had a lot to do with Malcolm after the attack on the village. The big man just slumped beside them miserably, making the amount of noise most people would consider to be nothing above a whisper, but for him was a racket. They were unable to say or do anything for hours, and it was well into the night before the dregs of whatever this gathering was had passed.
Finally satisfied that the danger had passed, Malcolm started talking in a whisper as cold as ice. “When I ran back into the main room of the tavern the fighting had already started. The watchers had gone, and every armed man was on his feet. It was only pure luck that a body of troops friendly to the tribe had passed our way for a drink. Had they not been there, I would have had an entire room of sword-wielding maniacs after me. As it was they were not enough for the troops, who excelled in battle. When it was over, I could not find my wife and girls. They were nowhere to be seen, and then I made the connection to the watchers. I ran as fast as I could to the centre of the village, where the fighting was thickest, and in the centre of it was a row of bodies.”
He choked back a sob and then continued. “There were more bodies there than I could count; they could have made a pile, ten deep. A creature was there, right in the middle of it all. It made me giddy with fear just to look upon it. It was resistant to any weapon. Swords only made sparks as they raked along it, and pikes just deflected. It was ripping the people apart, whilst the rest of the mercenaries made a dash for the valley path. It held half of the village by standing in the middle and grabbing anything within reach. I have never seen anything like it in my life. It dwarfed me, it must have been at least half as tall again as I am, like a massive rock come alive.
“The thing grunted a lot, but aside from that there was not a noise. Not even when it was hit with weapons, which didn't affect it at all. It just homed in on a person, and pulled them apart with its hands of rock and arms like tree trunks. I remember the coldness of its jet-black eyes, and I would have gone to fight with the rest of them, had I not been paralysed with fear. But was all I could do to return back the way I had come. The only thing I was sure of was that my family had survived. There were no women there – only the men who had been fighting the creature.”
Keldron appeared confused. “There is no shame in running when staying would have just got you killed. Surely, it was the right choice to make?”
Malcolm lowered his head, shaking it slightly. “Once, Keldron, I may have agreed with you. But I have been with the tribe too long. They know nothing of fear. They are without it.”
“But do you not see, my friend. That is as bad as it is good. The tribe, and I mean no offence Joleen, but this tribe has been apart from mankind for too long. A lack of fear is not necessarily a good thing. It can make you unwary and overconfident, no matter who you are. Take my friend Raoul, for example. There you have a man who fears sleep for the thought he might not wake up, and fears living for the thought that one day it might end, swallowing him into eternal blackness. The man seems to live in fear of everything, but he will not let it show. He may have a few choice words with me if this ever gets back to him, but the point is that it's his fear that makes him individual. It shapes who he is, and makes him strive to improve himself, and his biggest fear is that the Old Law will be forgotten, and I can only echo him in that.”
“We were taught that to fear is to be weak, so we strive against fearing.” Joleen was adamant in her reply, and Keldron knew he had to tread carefully.
“True though that may be, Jo, a lack of fear does not make you stronger. Your people are brave, but there is a lot in the world that could ruin them if they do not learn to fear it. You have been isolated from all but a few merchants for years uncounted, and with this sudden emergence of people, many might try to take advantage. But remember this always: fear kept Malcolm alive, though he might not like it, and his fear has meant our lives being saved several times already. And I know you both fear the same thing I do. Anybody with any sense would do well to fear that creature. Anybody
who does not is a fool. There is a lot you can learn from fear, but to deny it is to deny a part of yourself.”
Keldron stood slowly, his bones aching from being still for so long. Staring through the bushes to where the army had passed, he noticed Malcolm doing the same. “How long would you give them until we can start up the path again?”
Malcolm brushed himself down, straightening wrinkles in his clothes made stubbornly deep by prolonged inactivity. “I don't think it will be safe if we even step out onto that path. An army like that would surely have scouts at both ends, and even I may miss one. I think we should strike out directly West into the mountains. That way we have a better chance of making Fallmar Pass while some of our people are still there.”
“Are you up to it, Keldron?” Joleen asked. “Things might get a little rougher with no path to follow. You might have to contend with twigs and sudden turns.” Turning to see the cheeky glint in her eye when Joleen was mocking him, he grinned, thankful for the respite from all of the gloom. “I am okay, better in fact since sleeping here. I think the forest's heart has been kind to me, and I pray it lasts.”
The trio waited in the grove that had been their shelter for perhaps an hour. Malcolm scouted the immediate area, finding the going easy, though not as straightforward as before. When they did eventually move off, Malcolm set a pace so blistering that Keldron was hard pressed to keep up with him, but the thought that they might again be followed was enough to keep him going. The gruelling pace did have its benefits though. In the days that followed, Keldron felt himself growing physically stronger, feeling that the pace had eased, until he realised it was just that he was able to keep up easily now.
The Focus Stone (The Tome of Law Book 1) Page 30