Quest's End: The Broken Key #3 (52 page)

“Four?” asked Chad.

Bart nodded. “I saw four other distinct tribal patterns,” he stated. Then he glanced to Kevik. “I saw his magic user too.”

“Great,” Kevik replied. From what Bart had told him of their encounter, he didn’t want to have to test his skills against such a formidable foe.

“Now…” began Bart, but was interrupted by Riyan.

“We have our own news,” Riyan said, then nodded to Seth.

Bart and Soth turned their attention toward him.

“While you two were gone,” Seth told them, “I spent some time in the common room and overheard a conversation between a soldier and a woman. The soldier must be part of the group to the east. Anyway, the soldier told the woman that he wouldn’t be able to see her after tonight. That he would be moving on.”

“Moving on?” Bart asked.

“That’s what he said,” explained Seth. “She pressed him for why, but he wouldn’t give any explanation.”

Bart sat in a vacant chair next to the table and thought for a moment. “From what I saw of their camp, they won’t be able to sustain such a force in that area for much longer,” he stated then returned to contemplating the situation.

“An army on the move is easier to infiltrate than one in a fixed location,” offered Chyfe. “They’re more disorganized. This may be the break we need to get the last segment.”

“True,” agreed Chad.

Bart glanced to Riyan who had a thoughtful look on his face. “What are your thoughts?” he asked.

“I was thinking about the object of their attack,” he replied. “Shouldn’t we warn someone?”

“Who would we warn?” countered Bart. “The only people between here and the border are small border towns used to having hostile forces passing through. After that, our soldiers will spot them soon enough.”

“Maybe they’ll run into Captain Lyrun,” mumbled Chyfe. He still hadn’t forgotten the name of the soldier supposedly responsible for atrocities against innocent civilians.

Bart grinned at him. “Maybe.”

Over the next hour, they discussed various strategies they could employ to further their aims. When no consensus could be reached, they finally decided to follow the River Man’s forces in hopes an opportunity presented itself. With that, they turned in to get what rest they could before morning.

The town of Sterrith was quiet the following morning. Arising before dawn, they found few about as they headed south out of town. Bart led their group back to the trail he and Soth had followed the night before.

“They may have rear scouts,” Chyfe told the others. “Best if we keep vigilant.”

“And no talking unless absolutely necessary,” added Bart. He glanced back to where Chad and Seth were in a whispered conversation.

The flow of words ceased coming from Chad as he met Bart’s gaze. “Sorry,” he said.

Turning back to the fore, Bart scanned the road ahead as well as the forest to either side for movement. Behind him, he heard Chad say a few more words in a barely audible whisper before finally becoming completely silent.

The place where the trail diverged from the road was easy to find. It didn’t look as if anyone had used it since he and Soth had passed back through last night. Turning onto the trail, Bart led them into the forest.

Birds chirping with the coming of the dawn accompanied them as they moved ever closer to the clearing in which the soldiers’ encampment lay. After hearing what Seth had reported overhearing last night, Bart fully expected to find the camp breaking up and getting under way.

When Bart figured they were getting close, he had them move off the beaten trail and into the trees. Taking Riyan with him, he left the others with the horses as they moved to investigate the situation.

You could imagine his surprise when they drew close and found the camp unchanged. Soldiers still huddled in blankets near roaring fires to keep winter’s chill at bay, tents remained in their circular formation. All in all, it looked as if they didn’t plan to move any time soon.

“I thought they were heading out,” Riyan whispered quietly to Bart.

“So did I,” replied Bart. “Apparently, Seth’s information was inaccurate.”

“Now…” began Riyan, when Bart laid his hand on his arm and motioned for him to be quiet. He then pointed to the circle of tents on the far side of the meadow. “Look there,” he said.

Straining his eyes, he couldn’t see anything untoward. Keeping silent, he shrugged and cast a questioning look to Bart.

“The tent,” whispered Bart. “The big command tent in the middle.”

“What about it?” Riyan asked, confused.

“It’s not there,” he replied. In fact, now that he examined the tent area more carefully, he could see several gaps in the concentric rings of tents that weren’t there before. Bart glanced back to Riyan and said, “I think the River Man left.” After another moment’s scrutiny of the camp, he motioned for them to return to the others.

“Why would he leave?” asked Riyan.

Shaking his head, Bart said, “I don’t know.”

They were quickly back with the others and informed them of what they had discovered. “I can’t believe he would leave his men like that,” Chyfe exclaimed.

“Me either,” agreed Bart. Turning to Kevik, he said, “We need to find out where he’s going.”

Kevik understood exactly what he was asking. “I only have one of the far seeing mixtures left,” he told him.

“I understand,” replied Bart. “But we need to know.”

Glancing around at the trees, Kevik asked, “Here?”

Bart nodded. “May as well,” he responded. “No one’s around.”

Kevik removed his pack containing the bowl and mixture, and set it on a nearby fallen log. Removing the bowl, he placed it on the log next to his pack then took out the flask of mixture, emptying it into the bowl.

Before he began, he turned to the others. “As I’ve never met the River Man, I’ll need to start at the camp and then see if I can locate him from there.”

“Whichever way you feel is best,” Bart said.

Kevik set the empty flask back in his pack then turned his attention to the mixture filled bowl. Once the spell was cast, an image of the forest began to form upon the surface. Having cast it several times now, he has begun to get the hang of moving the image to and fro. When the image clarified, the encampment of Tribesmen was visible.

Not removing his gaze from the image, he asked, “Which direction do you think he went?”

“Try north,” suggested Riyan. Standing beside Kevik, he saw the image begin scrolling northward. Moving away from the clearing holding the Tribesman army, the image soon showed nothing but trees. That lasted a short time before the trees gave way to the plains.

Other than a tree or bush here and there, nothing was visible. After he must have scrolled the image for ten miles, Bart said, “Try to the east.” Again, just as before, they came up with nothing.

“West maybe?” suggested Chyfe. “He couldn’t be headed south, he just came from there.”

Centering again on the Tribesmen filled clearing, Kevik began scrolling west. In order to cover more ground, he began moving the image a little to the north, then a little to the south, alternating between them as he continued eastward.

The road passing through Sterrith came into view and he spent some time scanning it to the north and to the south. Still, no sign of the group of Tribesmen traveling with Lord Kueryn.

Moving the image west of the road, he continued the search. After another five minutes of fruitless searching, he said, “The spell isn’t going to last much longer.”

“Where are they?” Chyfe asked under his breath.

Then, a group of riders appeared in the image. The River Man and the magic user rode at the fore of thirty riders. Behind the riders followed a line of pack mules. From the way the shadows lay, it was apparent they were heading west. “That’s them!” exclaimed Bart.

The others gathered around as Kevik kept the image centered on the group of riders. Just before the spell ran its course, the riders came to a river where they turned and followed it north.

“Riyan,” Bart said. “Get out the map.” Slapping Kevik on the back, he said, “Good job.”

Kevik beamed at the praise. Turning back to the bowl, he saw that the spell had run its course. Tossing the mixture into the bushes, he cleaned out his bowl then returned it to his pack.

On the log next to him, Riyan was unrolling the map. They quickly found Sterrith and the river to the west. “How did they get there so fast?” he asked.

“They must have left not long after Soth and I returned to the inn,” Bart said.

Chyfe nodded. “They have a day’s head start on us,” he said.

“Not for long,” Bart said as he hurried to his horse. Swinging up into the saddle, he said, “We can’t let them stay too far ahead of us, or we’ll lose them.”

In a minute the others were mounted and following Bart back along the beaten trail to the road. Once there, Bart quickened their pace as they set out westward to catch the River Man.

By the time night had fallen, they were at the river and heading in the direction their prey had followed. With so many riders and mules, the River Man left a trail a blind village idiot could follow. They continued well past dark before finally making camp.

Next morning they were off with the dawn.

The River Man’s trail continued to follow the river all the way to the hills at the base of the Tinderlock Mountains. An hour into the hills they came to a small village situated on the banks of the river. A small, inconsequential road left the village on its way east.

Bart brought them to a halt when the first building appeared. Moving them to a place out of sight, he and the others dismounted and then climbed a nearby hill overlooking the village. Lying atop the hill so their silhouettes wouldn’t give them away, they searched for signs of the River Man.

There wasn’t much to it. Just a few buildings which could possibly be considered the village center and another dozen homes spotted here and there throughout the hills. There was no sign of the group they had been following.

From their position, they could see that the makeup of the town was composed predominantly of Byrdlon stock, with a minority of those whose lineage was that of the Tribes. Bart glanced to Riyan, “Should be alright,” he said.

Riyan nodded. “Maybe,” he replied. “Let’s go find out.” Moving off the hill, the companions returned to their horses and made their way to the village.

The first person they encountered was a man carrying a woodsman’s axe. He saw them approaching but didn’t react one way or another until Bart altered course to intercept him. Then he took his axe in both hands and turned to meet them.

“Good evening,” Bart said in a friendly manner.

Staring at their group, the man offered no return greeting, simply continued gripping his axe.

Realizing he wasn’t going to receive a reply, Bart asked, “I was wondering if you could help us?”

The man shifted his hands on the axe handle. “How?” he asked.

Others from the village began to take note of the man talking with the newcomers. A few began gravitating toward them.

Bart was quick to notice the others on the way. But since they didn’t have a hostile appearance, he dismissed them. “Did a group of thirty or so Tribesmen come this way?” he asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “They passed through on their way up to the lake.”

“Lake?” asked Riyan.

The man nodded. Indicating where the river flowed from the Tinderlock Mountains, he said, “The river flows from a lake high in the mountains.”

“Are you sure they went that way?” asked Riyan.

“They were following the river when they left,” he explained. “No place else they’d be going but to the lake.”

Riyan glanced at Bart. He could see Bart was just as confused by this turn of events. “Thank you,” Riyan told the man. “We appreciate your help.”

The man nodded.

“Come on,” Bart said to the others, “let’s go.”

Moving away from the woodsman, Bart led them north through the village until they were once again moving along the banks of the river. Behind them, the buildings of the village were soon out of sight as the river wended its way between the hills. They continued to set a quick pace as night continued its approach. Once it grew too dark to follow the trail, they found a sheltered area in the lee of a hill to make camp. The next morning, they resumed the pursuit.

Around midmorning, they found where the River Man and his group camped the night before. Coals were still present in the half dozen fire pits, and semi-fresh piles of horse dung dotted the area.

“We can’t be too far behind,” Bart said.

Chyfe was inspecting one of the piles of dung and nodded. “I’d say maybe three hours, four at the outside,” he stated.

“Excellent,” replied Riyan. Looking around the camp, he couldn’t find where the large tent Bart had described had been set up. He finally came to the conclusion that while they were traveling, it must remain on the pack mules.

“If we hurry,” announced Chad, “maybe we could catch them before nightfall.”

“Then,” Bart said as he returned to the saddle, “let’s be on our way.” Once everyone else was mounted, he returned to the trail left by the River Man’s men.

Nightfall found them still some distance from their prey. Though they knew they couldn’t be too far behind since they had come across a pile of horse dung that still held some of its warmth. Encouraged, they continued on well past the waning of the light.

Stars shone brightly overhead giving them some light with which to see. The trees on either side were dark and foreboding, with naught but vague, indistinct shadows. On their left, starlight was being reflected by the surface of the river, enabling them to keep their bearings.

Sometime after the coming of night, light began to be seen through the trees in the distance. Bart had them move ahead cautiously until they knew for sure that they had caught up to the River Man. The light was definitely coming from several campfires, and silhouettes could be seen moving to and fro.

Bart brought them to a stop and turned to face the others. “Up ahead is their camp,” he told them. “I suggest we return back along the river and find a sheltered place to set up camp. Then I’ll return on foot.”