The Hekamon (6 page)

It was partly the tiredness that brought her emotions to
the surface, but feeling of loss was far stronger than she'd
anticipated. She had never so much as misplaced it before and now it
could be anywhere, lost in an area she could not easily or safely
search and needed to do so alone, or so it seemed.

She walked a few hundred yards, before stopping and
looking around to see if her brother really had left, or was just
calling her bluff. Threatening to go without her, just to scare her
into going back with him. She waited and listened but heard nothing.
He really had gone without her.

Alyssa thought of all the times that Kormak and his
friends refused to let her join them on their adventures around the
marshes. It's too dangerous, they would say, better for you to stay
behind, you'll only get lost or something.

Only if she was careless.

Yet the potentially useful but genuinely risky endeavor,
of trading herbs up near the pass for things they needed, was now too
much for them but fine for her. It was their face paint they claimed,
it would give them away. Well since it wasn't permanent, they could
let it fade, but no, it seemed they couldn't. It wouldn't be right
somehow. Being a ferguth was a calling, apparently. If they let mark
fade what else would they let go? What other rituals would fall by
the wayside? She could think of a few things.

Well, if she had to find the necklace by herself, so be
it. She was good at finding things.

Walking slowly and looking at the ground the whole time,
Alyssa let her eyes dart from side to side, looking for a tell tale
glint of silver. The light was improving all the time, which would
help make the necklace easier to see. Unfortunately, it would make
her more visible as well.

Did the guards patrol here? Trappers, thieves? With her
attention focused on the ground she would be vulnerable, but there
was no other option, she had to find it. The sooner she did so, the
sooner she could get home.

For a while she was confident she was going the right
way, there was a path, it was subtle but it was there. This side of
river the ground was not so boggy, since the land started to slope,
but it was still wet under foot. As the hillside started to rise more
steeply the forest returned to a more random scattering of trees. The
path was gone and she could no longer be sure she was retracing her
steps exactly. The leaves, dry again, were now rustling underfoot.

Alyssa allowed her eyes to sweep a wider arc trying to
find not just the pendant but some sign that this was where they had
been, a foot print or some disturbed soil but she couldn't see
anything. Fennreans were good at hiding their tracks, which was
normally a good thing, but not now.

With her head down and finding it hard to keep her
bearings, she stopped several times and looked around so as not to
become lost. Even then she couldn't be sure she wasn't losing her
way. After an hour or two of searching, the creeping sense of
loneliness and futility of her task caught up with her and she sat
down on a fallen tree. Her new shawl proving a useful cloth to wipe
her tears.

Since daybreak, the sun had steadily risen in the
eastern sky, bringing with it more light and warmth to the forest
floor. This had provided her with a degree of comfort but the respite
was proving to be short lived. The arc of the sun as it crossed the
sky now took it behind the ridge of the mountains and the dark and
cold returned.

Standing again, Alyssa looked up the hill, through the
branches of the trees and at the highest peak of the mountains, now
silhouetted against the blue sky. It was a familiar sight, but to see
it so close was disturbing, a reminder she was a long way out of
Fennelbek. Yet despite its imposing appearance, the peak gave her an
idea.

Using a combination of the close proximity and angle of
the mountain, along with the steepness of the hill she was on, Alyssa
thought she might be able to orientate herself. The type of tress
would help too, the birch trees becoming more numerous. As she looked
she started to become more sure of her location. If she was right,
then there were some caves about a quarter of a mile to her left, due
east, while the glade with the fresh water spring was directly ahead
of her and further up the hillside. If so, then she was very close to
being on the same route they had taken back from the trading post.
The fallen tree on which she had rested seemed familiar, too.

Spring glade might not be far away. Could that be where
she'd lost her necklace? Thinking about the mountain spring, she
reached for her flask and took a drink from it. The water from the
mountain stream was still cool and refreshing. Alyssa recalled how
she had knelt and filled her flask from the pool. Perhaps the
necklace had fallen there. She thought she would have noticed if it
had, but it seemed as likely a place as any.

Fastening her flask onto her belt Alyssa moved off
again, allowing herself a to feel a little optimism and walking a
little more briskly.

Resting on the dew covered grass, Decarius took a drink
of water to wash down his meal of bread and honey. He'd filled his
flask from the nearby spring, its cool refreshing water a welcome
tonic after the night's exertion.

The intention was to have descended the mountainside by
daybreak but the going had been slower than he'd anticipated.
Decarius was tempted to blame Aegis entirely, but all three of them
had found the descent difficult. The damp air had made the rock face
slippery, and despite their warm clothing they'd been chilled to the
bone. The brisk northerly wind had swirled around them, their cloaks
a protection against its icy grip, but a liability to the wrenching
pull it had exerted.

He'd wanted to be on the Regis Highway by now, but had
acquiesced to his young cohort's demand for a rest. The place he had
chosen was a clearing on a north facing hillside and offered a view
almost as good as that from the Eyrie, this time with the advantage
of daylight.

The son of the saceress had been cosseted at the Halvyon
temple and a night on the mountain had taken its toll on him.
Fortunately, a couple of hours rest, some breakfast and a
invigorating drink from the mountain stream had brought some color
back into his cheeks. And with Aegis having regained his alertness,
he had been asking about the northern lands that were spread out
before them.

Decarius decided to oblige, having been somewhat
aggressive with the boy earlier, he would now need to be gentle. The
saceress would ask her son about the journey to regain the gauntlets
and it would help if the boy had some anecdotes other than nearly
being thrown off the mountain. That would hardly assuage Volusia's
suspicions as the subsequent events unfolded. So out of courtesy, and
self interest, he pointed out some of the landmarks.

"You see the course of the river?" he said,
pointing east and tracing its flow, "That's were it drains into
the swamp. It then continues around," he indicated as it
disappeared from view and behind the tree line of the clearing, "before
heading north."

"I can see." Aegis said, his gaze following
the river to the horizon. The mid-morning sunlight that reflected off
the surface of the river and pools was quite noticeable, despite
Fennelbek's perennial fog.

"And there, in the middle?" Aegis asked,
pointing to the hill just visible amongst the haze and mists that
clung to the marshland.

"Ochre Hill," he replied, saying the name the
way the Fennreans who resided there said it, sharp and staccato.

"That's Ochre Hill?" Aegis said breathlessly.

Decarius smiled, he had reacted the same way when he'd first seen it, too. That had been eighteen years ago, when he was the
same age as Aegis was now. They were at war with the Fennreans then,
and the Demedelites for that matter. A series of running battles and
skirmishes that would last another three years. Bewailing wars? What
was lamentable about sorting the weak from the strong? If anything,
the resulting injustice should be called the bewailing peace.

Ochre Hill, every Coralainian had heard of it, but the
mountains that separated them meant it always seemed further away in
their minds. Yet there it was. He could even make out the dark red
streaks of clay soils that gave the hill its name.

Luckily, they would be having nothing to do with
Fennreans on this journey. So there was no need to let Aegis trouble
himself recalling tales of those who survived encounters with them.
Rather than dwell on the swamp, he pointed out another area, less
fearsome, less brutish.

"And over there," he said, pointing east,
"bear country."

"Really?" Questioned Aegis, a little
disbelieving.

"And wolves, too."

"Wolves I can believe, I've seen wolves, they're not
uncommon, but not a bear. Are there any near here?" Aegis asked.

Decarius shook his head, "Not that I know of, but
they forage at this time of year, and look for places to hibernate,
so I wouldn't be surprised if there were."

"What should we do if we see one?"

"Kill it, skin it and sell the pelt to one of these
tradesman." Decarius said, without hesitation.

"There are no bears," Gregario chimed in,
chewing on the last of his bread cob. "Their existence is an
invention to scare off anyone who might tempted to explore the
tunnels."

Decarius smiled wryly as his assured bear hunter facade
evaporated. "Wolf pelt is worth more anyway." He had hunted
a few wolves so felt on firmer ground.

Gregario glanced at him, seemingly about to correct him
again, but chose not to. Wise decision, Decarius thought, he would be
sure to re-establish his authority by his preferred methods if the
man did.

He stood, indicating the rest was over. Gregario and
Aegis wordlessly followed suit, and the three of them set off again.
Walking out of the clearing and into the woods.

They were close to the wall of the mountains, its sheer
rock face rising above them, but not so close that they would be
above the tree line and silhouetted against its gray expanse.
Decarius wanted to be as discrete as possible. Just the three of
them, to trading posts and back, with minimum fuss.

Within the hour they would be at the trading post in
question, one that specialized in surplus military stock, and their
journey home with the Plautius Gauntlets would begin shortly after.

After walking for a few minutes, Alyssa lifted her gaze
and looked up. Ahead of her she could see the glow of Spring Glade
and the silver birches that surrounded it. Their bark reflecting
what little light there was and illuminating the forest.

The sound of
trickling water became more apparent, too, and before long, Alyssa was standing by the stream, at the point it turned to head
east. She and Kormak had stood at this spot a few hours earlier and
she was relieved to be able to locate her position precisely.

Following the stream to its source, Alyssa entered into
the clearing. The yellowing grass and fallen leaves imbuing the glade
with a golden hue. A welcome sight from the comparative dimness of
the forest.

The breeze may have been gentle, but where it was
channeled down by the rock edifice it grew in strength. The resultant
dust eddies whirled around the clearing, forcing her to raise a hand
to shield her eyes.

At the very moment she did so, there was movement
away to her right. She stepped back, out of the glade and back into
the cover of the forest. Holding her breath, she looked again,
scanning tree line.

As she watched, the gusting downdraft from the mountain
flowed and swirled, causing the tress to sway with it. At its
prompting, the occasional dust devil of earth and leaves sprung up
before settling back just has quickly.

The thought that it was a dust devil that had caught her
attention, only partly calmed her fears. They were said to be the
apparition of malevolent spirits, trapped in this world, awaking to
stalk the unsuspecting and unwary. At the very least they were a
sign that she needed to keep her wits about her.

As the breeze subsided and the swirling leaves with it,
Alyssa moved forward once again, following the stream up to the
spring were it trickled out of the hillside. As she reached the pool
her excitement grew. She might be about to chance upon her necklace
and she found herself willing it to be there. But after a few minutes
searching, her heart sank once more, when she saw no sign of it.

It wasn't as though she was looking in the wrong place,
she was able to see exactly where she'd knelt in early hours of that
morning. Alyssa searched around the rocks and even in the crystal
clear pool itself. If it was there she would see it. It wasn't there.

As she sat on one of the nearby hailstones, her
despondency welled up again and the shawl was once more required.
Dabbing away a few more tears, she felt all cried out and her
emptiness gave way to anger. She threw the embroidered garment away
and watched as it fell limply to the ground.

It had started to occur to Alyssa that her brother
placing the shawl around her neck, was very likely the moment the
necklace had come loose. Kormak had been a rough putting it on her
and his heavy handedness had probably been to blame. Could he have
broken the chain? Not that she would blame her brother for his
clumsiness if he had, it was thoughtful of him to buy her something,
but she had lost far more than she'd gained.

If the necklace really had broken at that moment, then
there was a chance it was either in Tansley's hut or in the tunnel.

Yes, that would explain it. Her hopes rising again. She tried to picture the series of events.

When the
shawl was placed around her neck, the necklace broke but stayed in
the folds of the fabric. As they entered the tunnel, crouching down
and crawling along in the tight space, the necklace worked free and
fell. It would be impossible to see in the darkness.