REBIRTH OF A WARRIOR

Chapter 8

woke the boy because it was getting dark enough to continue, and he awoke, startled.We mounted, and I led the way through the gloom, which was softly illuminated by the half moon's light.After an hour, I looked back and saw that the boy was almost asleep in the saddle because he relied more on his horse's instinct to follow me than on himself.I let him be and watched his horse's progress from a closer distance to ensure that he continued to follow me because it was working for the boy.

Since we left Kharta, the boy had not spoken.I was reminded of the immense responsibility I had taken on to get this boy to safety in the Valley Lands as I looked at him now, hunched over in the saddle with a blanket covering him to keep out the cold.I ought to have left him behind for our mutual benefit.Nevertheless, I did not completely regret my decision.It would be worth the risk, at least in some ways, if I could make this boy's life better than mine.However, the boy had significantly altered my escape route.I had chosen a route that I hoped our pursuers would not anticipate because he wasn't up to a full-on run for the Valley Lands.I was taking a chance on a different route rather than taking the obvious route higher up through the Hagathic Wastelands.By partially traversing the Plains of Zoar, the very heartland of the enemy, I was going to get around the Zoarinian forces that I was certain would be waiting for us on the other side of the Hagathic Wastelands.

My pursuers wouldn't have expected me to act in such a crazy way, I thought.By hiring a Kawnia Lake fisherman to ferry us across the lake and drop us off on the Silepsium Moors' shores, I would avoid the Zoarinian outposts along the Plain of Zoar's northern border.It would be a straightforward journey to Kingdom Pass and the Valley Lands beyond from there.

We reached the Lomar Swamplands two days later, and I wasn't going to lose anyone who was still on our trail.

In the hope of increasing our party's strength in the direction of the north, I had returned to the camp where I had left my men.However, the camp had been deserted, with discarded clothing and supplies scattered about, indicating that my friends had left without packing.I couldn't help but ponder the circumstances surrounding their hasty departure from one of our most secure camps.Given that the Valley Lander had discovered us, it might not have been as secure.How exactly did he accomplish that?I suppose it's just luck.

Because I had been looking out for my friends for such a long time, I felt like I was somehow to blame for the difficulties they seemed to have experienced while I was gone.Since I wasn't returning to the life of a bandit, they would have to live on what they had.As promised by his father, I was responsible for bringing the boy to safety and submitting the reports to the high council of the Valley Lands.Then, other things would happen.I wasn't sure what they might be; I would just have to find them along the way.I was eager to meet this grandfather, who had spent so much time looking for me.My life's purpose might become more apparent to me when I was in the country where my father lived.So, I hoped.

***** In order to see the boats that were pulled up on the sand directly in front of us, I slightly parted the heavy knot of reeds in front of me.My waist was submerged in water, which was unusually cold for this time of year.

I observed the fishermen on Kawnia Lake as they hauled in the day's catch from their boats.After completing their work, they set out toward the remote, sleepy village.Before I decided it was safe for us to leave the thick reeds where we were hiding, I waited until the sun had nearly set over the horizon.

Two nights ago, we came face to face with a patrol of Zoarinian soldiers.Both parties had been taken by surprise by it.We had to practically run our horses into the ground in order to avoid capture during the subsequent chase.We had started walking toward the lake last night, hoping that the patrol would take the bait and follow our worn-out mounts instead of us. I had released the horses so that they would leave a false trail for our pursuers.

Although our current circumstances were not favorable, it appeared to have worked out in our favor so far.We were standing in foul-smelling, dark water.In the murky water, we were surrounded by dead fish and lake debris, but that wasn't the worst thing.Leeches!They were sliding along my flesh, and when they caught on and started sucking my blood, I felt a sudden pinch of pain.

Right now, all I want to do is roll in a barrel of salt until the wretched things all shrivel up and fall off.I despise insects of any kind, especially leeches.There had been a lot of bugs in the arena dungeons, and the so-called medical professionals who were supposed to help fighters had used a lot of leeches in their treatments.I had come to despise them both.As I stood there, it was all I could do to remain calm.

The boy appeared as depressed as I did.Okay, let's go now that they're gone!

We waded our way through the reeds to the beach, where I launched a small boat with a single small sail into the lake's waters.I reached for the boy and lifted him into the skiff before climbing in myself, pushing it further into the current.To get some distance between us and the beach, I rowed away from the shore for a while before raising the sail and pointing the rudder in the direction of the northern shore of the lake.

I turned to the boy after I had secured the rudder and said, "Now that we're on our way, let's get off these stinking, bloodsucking leeches!"

We sailed through the night and most of the next day before we reached the far end of the lake, which bordered the Silepsium Moors. I had never seen a more foreboding stretch of land as was laid out before me now. Not even the Hagathic Wastelands could compare with the somber mood of these moors.

I kept my reservations about the gloomy moors to myself though. No need to infect the boy with my uneasiness. I pulled the boat up onto the shore and after a brief meal of fish we started out onto the moors.

The boy stuck close enough that he could have been my shadow. He was still as silent as he had been since we’d left Kharta. That night we had another fire and ate some more fish along with a few wild vegetables that I had managed to scavenge on the way.

Things were going well for us until the next day. As we were traveling along through the scrub brush of the moors a sense of foreboding came over me. We were being watched! I glanced at the boy behind me and I could see that he sensed something was different as well. Perceptive boy, I thought approvingly to myself. I put my hand on his shoulder reassuringly, and felt him draw slightly closer to me. I had been followed before, it was in fact, almost a daily occurrence in my life, but this feeling of being followed was different in some way. It took me a couple of hours of puzzling over it to realize what was different and by then it was almost too late.

I didn’t tell the boy. It would only have stressed him out more and he would find out soon enough what was following us. I quickened our pace through the dense brush, searching the gathering darkness ahead of us for a spot to make a good account of ourselves and perhaps live out the night.

We weren’t being followed by humans. Moor wolves were shadowing us! I had heard the stories and the stories had been enough to convince me that I didn’t want any part of them. Unfortunately, I did have them, quite a lot of them. Moor wolves traveled in packs. Although I had never seen the wolves of my home country, I had heard they were of a bigger build than these moor wolves and remained solitary for most of their lives.

I could see wolves ghosting along behind us now, through the gathering shadows.

Snap!

Looking off to my right, I saw another wolf lurking not twenty yards off to the side. That was a bad sign. The wolves of my home country didn’t hunt men as a rule, but I had heard that if moor wolves were hungry they would attack just about anything. The boy had noticed the wolves and his pace after me quickened even more. These wolves were definitely interested in us as prey. They were moving in on us now, which was a clear indicator that they had gone past the point of being merely curious about our presence here.

We didn’t have much time left to us and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw what I had been looking for up ahead of us in the gathering darkness. It was a shallow impression in the land, which was surrounded by boulders on three sides.

“Over there, boy!” I said, directing the boy ahead of me because the wolves were more likely to go for him first.