In moments, the guards were moving across the bridge. Brid, leading Rolf’s horse, was at their head. Honey, Bella and Swift, on lead ropes, trailed at the rear.
Lief sighed with relief as the whole party reached the other side in safety. He saw the men turn and wave in farewell, and raised his own arm in response.
‘I hope we are doing the right thing,’ Barda muttered. ‘Brid clearly thinks we are mad.’
Jasmine snorted. ‘Brid thinks anything out of the ordinary is mad,’ she said. ‘He is so dull!’
‘Brid survived ten years as a slave in the Shadowlands,’ Barda said quietly. ‘No doubt this made him thoughtful.’
Jasmine bit her lip. ‘I did not mean to insult him,’ she said. ‘But you should not let his disapproval shake you, Barda. This is our best chance of losing our enemy, and reaching Broome without endless delays.’
She sighed. ‘It is a pity we had to let the horses go, but we had no choice. Horses cannot sleep in trees as we can.’
Filli chattered agreement, delighted to be rid of the large creatures who had jolted him about so painfully.
Barda groaned. The idea of sleeping in the fork of a tree did not appeal to him at all.
Lief said nothing. He was startled to find that, despite everything, he was feeling extremely happy.
Am I as mad as Brid thinks? he wondered. There is nothing to be happy about!
But he was happy. Yes, he was worried by what had passed. Yes, he knew that danger lay ahead. But as for the present—why, he felt like singing as he stood with Jasmine and Barda, watching the guards move away.
Watching the guards move away …
And that, he thought suddenly, must be the answer.
The guards were always very respectful to him. They regarded him with awe. But this did not please him. Instead, it made him feel like a fraud. It made him terribly aware of just how young he was, in comparison with them. And it made him feel that he had to act like a king, at all times, so as not to shock or disappoint them.
Now, however, with only Jasmine and Barda for company, he could be himself. He was free.
He felt as if his blood was fizzing in his veins. As if the air was sweeter, and the colours in the world brighter, than they had been before.
‘Come on!’ he shouted. And began running towards the Forest.
12 - End Wood
After several hours of walking, Lief’s bubbling happiness had settled to a feeling of quiet contentment. The twisted, weed-choked trees of the Forest fringe had been left behind. End Wood was now a beautiful place, filled with birdsong. Golden pools of sunlight dappled the soft earth, and ferns clustered at the roots of the mighty trees.
All the companions knew, however, that the evil reputation of the Forests of Silence was well deserved. They knew, too, that within the greatest beauty terror could be lying in wait. So they walked in silence, one behind the other, alert for signs of danger.
Just before sunset, Jasmine chose a tree for them, and they climbed up to high branches where they could eat and sleep in some safety.
It was not a restful night. They dozed fitfully in turns as unseen creatures slid and prowled below them.
In the darkest hours, when the moon had set, a faint, chilling chorus of howls and screams began. It lasted only a few minutes, but after it had died away, the companions slept no more.
They welcomed the dawn gratefully, but forced themselves to wait until sunlight fell on the forest floor before venturing down from their hiding place and moving on.
As before, Jasmine led them, threading her way almost silently through the trees, brushing the smooth bark of each one lightly with the tips of her fingers as she passed. Kree fluttered ahead of her, a black shadow against a background of green and gold.
After a time, Jasmine began to move faster. Lief and Barda, their muscles stiff and aching after their night in the tree, found themselves struggling to keep her in view.
‘Jasmine, slow down!’ Lief called in a low voice. But Jasmine only turned with a frown, her finger to her lips, beckoned impatiently, and set off again, even faster than before.
At last Lief became aware that a new sound had begun to mingle with the bird song. It was the sound of trickling water—a stream, somewhere near.
It made him realise how thirsty he was, but he did not dare to stop and drink from his water flask. Jasmine was almost running now, and all he could do was follow.
The gurgling, rippling sound grew louder, and at last Jasmine stopped.
Lief saw that she had reached the stream he had been listening to for so long. Broad and shallow, the stream ran directly across their path, sunbeams dancing on the clear water that gurgled over its pebbled bed.
On the other side of the stream there were no trees, only a mass of giant ferns, rising like a feathery barrier that completely hid whatever was beyond.
Kree fluttered down to the water’s edge. Jasmine waited while he drank. Only when he had finished, and had flown up to perch on a branch high above her head, did she kneel to drink herself.
Filli scuttled down from her shoulder and began to drink also. His tiny pink tongue lapped busily, but all the time his dark eyes darted from side to side, so he could not be taken by surprise.
‘Did you have to go so fast?’ Barda muttered, as he and Lief at last reached the stream and crouched beside Jasmine to quench their raging thirsts.
‘The trees say we are being followed,’ Jasmine said shortly. ‘Someone has been tracking us since dawn, from the direction of End Wood Gap.’
As she spoke she glanced up, to where Kree kept watch. He was so still that he looked part of the tree itself. Only his yellow eye was moving, fierce and bright.
Lief had lifted a handful of water to his lips. Now he felt as if the icy liquid was trickling down his spine.
He glanced down at the Belt. The topaz still gleamed brightly, but the ruby had paled once more.
‘Who?’ he murmured.
Jasmine lifted Filli to her shoulder, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and stood up.
‘The same enemy, I imagine, who tried to make us fall to our deaths at End Wood Gap,’ she said. ‘All the trees can tell me is that he is tall and fierce, and moving very much faster than we are. Where we have travelled above ground, he does also, swinging from tree to tree. Where we have gone on foot, he runs bent double, sniffing the ground like a beast.’
The words painted a disturbing picture. Lief’s scalp crawled.
‘How close is he now?’ Barda asked. Once, the big man had scoffed at the idea that Jasmine could understand the language of trees, but those days were long past.
‘Already he has almost reached the place where we spent the night,’ Jasmine said. ‘We must throw him off the scent. That is why I made haste to reach the stream. If we wade through the water he will not be able to smell our tracks. He will not know if we have gone left or right, and so we may escape him.’
‘Why should we try to escape?’ Barda growled. ‘Why not stand and face him? I would like to give him proper thanks for all he has done for us.’ Scowling, he touched his sword.
‘We took this way to save time, Barda,’ Jasmine pointed out coldly. ‘The forest edge cannot be far away now. Do we want to waste energy fighting a beast-man who has a grudge against us? Or do we want to reach Dragon’s Nest with all speed?’
‘We want to reach Dragon’s Nest,’ Lief said reluctantly. ‘Let us use the stream, as Jasmine says.’
He felt as Barda did, but he knew that Jasmine’s plan was more practical. To Jasmine, all that mattered was the task at hand. Pride, revenge, curiosity … to her, such things were not important, and could wait.
And they can wait—of course they can, Lief told himself. But secretly he sympathised as Barda grumbled in annoyance.