Valley of the Ancients: Book Three of the Restoration Series (20 page)

Chapter 12

Wandering alone in the forest, Trestus was bored, plain and simple. They had been here for several weeks now and still they waited for this Master of the Forest to show up. At first he had been rather nervous about meeting this man, but the longer they were forced to wait, the more he just wanted to get this over and done with.

After the first three or four days of sitting around, Derek had put them to exercising. Every morning they would start noups been caug the day with a five mile run. After the run, he had them alternate amongst a variety of exercises. In the beginning, Trestus had thought the exercising was a waste of time, but he quickly realized that it was good for him. He had been surprised, and a little embarrassed, at having difficulty finishing the first run. His stamina had returned quickly enough, though, and he now looked forward to the group runs. It had taken several more days, but finally Keenan had even joined in.

None of the Wildlings went with them but a strange variety of animals always seemed to be following and watching them. The idea of fleeing the village had been discussed several times but they had decided against it. They weren't sure if they could get out of the forest before they were captured and they cautiously believed Gilbert that they would be safe.

The afternoons were their own, except when they were required to do various chores. Trestus had taken to wandering the forest near the village. It was actually enjoyable. The forest was cool and completely wild just several hundred yards from the edge of the village.

Having been raised in the city of Telur, Trestus had not spent much time playing in the forests and woods as a kid. While in the Guardians, he had spent some time training in the forests around Telur. Training was not the same as freely wandering and enjoying the forest though.

He paused in the shadow of two pine trees that were growing close together. It was early afternoon and the sun was quite warm but not too hot.

Glancing back the way he had come, he saw a squirrel, just before it dove into the bushes. Squirrels were common in these woods but this one appeared to be following him.

"Damn it Reega. I'm not going anywhere." It was still rather unnerving that the boy could talk to the animals. Well, no one seemed to know if he actually communicated with them but the animals certainly did what the boy wanted them to. He grinned suddenly as a thought occurred to him.
Wonder what Reega would do if I caught that squirrel and ate it?
The grin slipped a little. Reega was hard to deal with. He was rude and haughty. Probably had his reasons. The boy couldn't be more than fifteen or so and he had lived in the forest for several years now. No one seemed to know what had happened to him before he came to the forest, but it probably wasn't too hard to figure out. Most likely his parents had kicked him out when he started acting unusual. Had to be hard on a kid, but it still didn't excuse him being an ass.

Putting the thoughts of Reega aside, Trestus started walking again. His little wanderings were giving him a decent knowledge of the area surrounding the village. There was a small creek not too far from here and he turned his steps towards it.

He reached the creek quickly and walked along the bank. The creek was not wide and in most places could be waded across. There were several small lakes or large pools that the creek emptied into on one side and then flowed away from on another side. Several times he had tried his luck at fishing in these small lakes but he hadn't caught the first fish. He didn't mind though, fishing was relaxing.

The ground sloped downwards to the creek and most of the shore was dirt and rock. No trees or bushed grew up near the edge of the creek, although several taller trees leaned out over the water.

There was a gasp from the creek and Trestus turned, tensing up. He caught a quick glimpse of a woman's naked backside diving back into the water and then she was gone from sight for a moment. It seeme vheigck d that he had interrupted someone's swimming and he hadn't even noticed them, as he had been lost in his own thoughts. He cursed himself silently. That backside had looked rather nice and he would have preferred a much longer look.

A woman's head emerged from the water and she glared at him. The water, and her hands, hid most of her body from view. "What are you doing?" she demanded. It was Karina. Her hair, which was normally wild and unruly, was wet and plastered to her head. He thought it was a good look for her, or maybe it was just that she was naked.

Trestus held his hands up, in what he hoped was a placating manner, "My apologies. I was just out for a walk. I didn't know you were here." He fought hard and managed to keep his eyes on her eyes.

Karina didn't answer, instead she just kept staring at him. The woman was hard to figure out. She had helped save them from the soldiers but that had to be because she had been ordered to. She seemed angry all the time, and she barely spoke to anyone, including the other Wildlings.

"How's the water?" Trestus asked.

"Great," Karina answered coolly. "Why don't you come in and see?"

"Really?" Trestus asked surprised.

"No, not really." Karina retorted in her normal angry manner. "Go away!"

Trestus didn't move, he just stood there. "Why are you so angry with me? Have I done something to offend you?"

Karina looked startled, which was nice. Usually she always wore a grumpy expression, at least surprise was something different. "What? Don't flatter yourself. My moods have nothing to do with you."

"Really," Trestus said, "so you're just naturally this disagreeable?"

"Leave her alone," a new voice said from behind Trestus.

He turned to see Reega walking down from the edge of the trees. The boy was the last person that Trestus wanted to see right now. "Why?" he asked as Reega stopped several feet away. He looked from Karina back to Reega, a sudden idea occurring to him. "Are you two," he trailed off trying to come up with the right words, "more than friends?"

"That's of no concern to you," Reega said through clinched teeth.

Sensing that he had hit a sore spot, Trestus grinned. "Perhaps that's why you're always in a bad mood," he said in Karina's general direction. She scowled at him from her hiding place in the water and Reega blushed mightily.

A deep and low growl came from the edge of the trees and Trestus looked to see a cougar slowly approaching. "Oh, is that the way it's going to be?" he asked, still watching the cat approach. "I thought this master of yours wanted to see me." He grinned, "I assumed that meant unharmed."

Reega smiled back, but it was an unpleasant smile. "Maybe he'll be happy with just your friends. Probably wouldn't even miss you." The rustling in the bushes and along the tree line let Trestus know that other animals were approaching.

The grin on Reega face turned even more nasty. "Not so tough now. Are you?"

Trestus whipped his belt kn vh="4." ife from its sheath and dove at Reega. The boy was caught completely off guard and his eyes widened in a comical look of surprise right before Trestus hit him hard in the chest. Both men went down hard to the ground, but Trestus came out on top. He straddled the boy and held the knife to his throat.

Trestus' wild charge had even caught the animals by surprise and they had been slow to react. He could feel their hurried approach. He looked over his shoulder at the cougar, "Call it off Reega. If I'm going to die, I'll cut your throat until I hit bone."

Reega swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing perilously close to the knife blade.

"Call them off Reega," Trestus repeated and this time he applied some pressure with his knife. A thin line of blood appeared on Reega's neck.

"Okay! Okay!" Reega said, breathing hard. Sure enough the cougar turned and walked back to the trees, although it did watch Trestus the whole time.

Trestus waited until all the animals had disappeared back into the woods and then he turned back to Reega. "I don't know what your sad story is and I don't care. Either treat me with some respect or leave me alone. I don't care which but I've had enough of you."

Reega was breathing hard and staring hate up at Trestus.

"Let him up," Karina called from just behind him.

He spared a glance over his shoulder to see that Karina had emerged from the creek and put her shirt on. It was animal hide and looked rather coarse, but it did come down just below her hips. It made her look even more attractive.

"Why should I do that?" Trestus asked. "Won't he just call those animals of his back?"

"Reega, if he lets you up, are you willing to forget about this?"

The boy looked anything but willing to forget but he was wise enough to nod his head.

"Fair enough then," Trestus said and he slowly removed the knife from Reega's neck. He stood up quickly and backed away several steps.

Reega sat up rubbing his neck. He still wore that look of anger mixed with hatred. He climbed to his feet and slowly backed away.

The rustling started up again and Trestus looked around to see a large number of animals slowly stalking back down the creek bank. He dropped his hand to his belt knife.

"Reega, no!" Karina called out but it was too late.

The cougar was the closest animal to Trestus and she sprang. She jumped straight at the Guardian, her front paws outstretched to hit the man in the chest and knock him back to the ground. Once Trestus was down, even the smaller animals would be able to help by biting and scratching.

The cougar was still in mid-jump when a tree limb, from one of the trees that leaned out over the water, knocked it away. The cat let out a cry of pain, landed hard, and rolled away. A little disorientated, the poor animal climbed to its feet and began to limp away. Its front right leg appeared to be hurt and it wasn't putting any weight on it.

The other animals froze and Reega turned his angry glare to Karina. "You side with him over me?" His tone was angry and hurt at the same time.

"You broke your word," Karina answered coldly. "You lied and you know that I don't like that. Not to mention that you would have disobeyed the Master by killing this one."

Without another word, Reega turned and ran into the forest.

"Thank you," Trestus began but he didn't get to finish.

Karina slapped him hard across the face. "Was that necessary? He's just a boy and you nearly killed him."