“When we find the first victim,” Roheth replied bluntly.
“I think we are lucky not to have met this Silona before,” Kumul said. “To think of all the nights we were sleeping in the open.”
“She stalks the hamlets and the forest surrounding them, mostly.” Roheth caught Lynan’s attention. “But now that’s changed. If she’s felt your mind, she will pursue you.”
“But I am safe here?”
“Not anymore. You’ve frustrated her once. She will keep on returning to our hamlet until she takes you, or some other unfortunate falls in her way.”
“We can keep watch,” Kumul suggested, his voice becoming strident. “We will set a trap for her—”
“Do you think we haven’t tried this before?” Roheth demanded. “Our traps never work. Watchers fall asleep where they stand, or become victims themselves. She is used to the ways of people: she knows us the way we know the boar we hunt or the fish we spear.”
“You mean that our presence is placing all your lives in danger?” Ager said.
Roheth nodded reluctantly. “That’s what Tion wanted to talk about. He believes I should ask you to leave, for the sake of the hamlet.”
“Will you force us to go?” Jenrosa asked, appalled.
“No. I cannot do that. You are my guests. If you wish to stay, I will do what I can to protect you.” Roheth’s face was bleak as he said the words.
“We’ll go of our own volition,” Lynan said, startled by his own decision. Ager and Kumul stared at him in surprise. Jenrosa looked aghast. “From what you say, Roheth, we’re no safer here than in the forest, but while we’re here, we increase the danger to you and your family.” He turned to his companions. “A prince’s decision. Isn’t that what I’m supposed to be making these days?” The woods people looked at their guests with puzzled expressions.
Ager nodded resignedly. “What a time for you to practice your leadership skills.”
“Any of you who want to stay are welcome to,” Roheth said. “Not all of you have to go.”
“Just the one Silona touched?” Lynan asked.
“Yes. The others are safer here if you leave the hamlet. It is you Silona will be after.”
“We’ll all go,” Kumul said definitely, and Ager nodded his agreement. Only Jenrosa gave no indication of what she was thinking.
Chapter 17
The light of the morning sun struggling through the tree A canopy found the four companions saying their farewells to the people of the hamlet.
“Keep your campfires burning high and bright,” Roheth advised them. “Legends say she finds strong light uncomfortable. Other than that, there is not much else that will help. Except maybe this.” He offered Lynan his own coat, a finely made woolen garment dyed the dark green of the forest.
“Does it carry a magic charm?” Lynan asked, wide-eyed.
Roheth laughed. “No, but you’ll need it to keep you warm if I take yours.”
“Mine? I don’t understand.”
“If we keep something of yours with us, it may fool Silona into thinking you’re still here, for a night or two at least.”
Lynan gratefully exchanged coats and shook Roheth’s hand. Berala handed them seed bread and strips of dried rabbit which they crammed in their pockets.
“Good luck, Lynan,” the forester said somberly.
Lynan smiled weakly, already frightened of what might lay ahead.
The companions kept to the main trail heading north out of the hamlet. They talked sparingly, each feeling the tension build in them as the day wore on. They stopped briefly for a meal around noon, then continued on their way until they came across a narrower, less-used trail that headed northeast. Ager suggested they take the less-used trail, reasoning that if Silona came hunting for Lynan she would follow the main trail first.
The way was gloomy and overgrown, and they often had to struggle through brambles and tall bushes. Tempers frayed. As evening approached, Lynan’s stomach started to compress into the now familiar knot of apprehension. His knees no longer seemed strong enough to support his whole weight.
“We should stop soon and make camp,” he suggested.
“I thought you’d want to be as far away as possible from the hamlet,” Jenrosa said.
“What I want is enough time to gather so much firewood that our campfire will shine all night like the sun.”
“One thing about a campfire is that it’ll draw attention to us,” Jenrosa said helpfully.
“Then what would you suggest we do?” Lynan snapped.
She shrugged, looking miserable. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do. It seems to me if we’re not being chased by guardsmen or warships or mercenaries, then it is bears and vampires. What’s next, do you think? When do we stop running?”
“We stop when we reach the Oceans of Grass.”
“What makes you think Areava won’t stop hunting for you, even as far as the Oceans of Grass?”
“It’s easy to hide in the grasslands,” he said with more confidence than he felt. “They go on forever. Areava can’t spare the troops or the money to search for me forever.”
“Face it, Lynan, you’re not simply fleeing Kendra, you’re going into exile. All your life you’re going to be a wanted man. I don’t want to be a part of that, but I don’t know how I can get out of it. As long as your life is in danger, so is mine.”
“Then why didn’t you stay behind in the hamlet? You could have stayed there until the danger with Silona was passed and then made your own way elsewhere.”
“Elsewhere? I only have one home, and that’s Kendra. And eventually even the foresters will hear of Berayma’s murder and the four outlaws accused of it. Besides, I’m not interested in wielding an ax and hunting rabbits and being surrounded by nothing but trees, vampires, and screaming children. With you, at least, I have the protection of Kumul and Ager.”
“And me,” Lynan added quietly.
Jenrosa glanced at his sideways. “I need to be by myself for a while,” she said, and increased her pace to pull ahead of him. Her place was taken by Ager.
“Adventures aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, are they?” the crookback said.
“Adventures?”
“What we’re all going through now, your Highness. It’s an adventure, really, when you look at it properly. Think of all the things we’ve done in the last few days. I’d call it an adventure.”
“I don’t think I’d call it that. More like finding increasingly unpleasant ways to die.”
“But that’s what adventures are when you’re actually experiencing them. They don’t become adventures until afterward, when you’re sixty-three years old and sitting in front of a huge fire with your grandchildren all around you.”
“It’s not the adventuring that worries me, Ager. It’s the fear. I always seem to be frightened, sometimes so frightened I want to throw up. I want to rest. I want to be able to go to sleep on a soft warm bed and know that not only will I wake up the next morning, but that I won’t have to get up just to do more running.”
“I don’t know when you’ll be able to do that again,” Ager said.
“Jenrosa doesn’t think I’ll ever be able to. She said I’ll be an outlaw for the rest of my life.”
“She’s scared too, Lynan. I don’t think she really believes that. Things will seem better when we leave the forest. This is a dark place, and makes for dark thoughts.”
“And hides dark things, Ager,” Lynan reminded him.
They found a space among the trees which, if not large enough to be called a clearing, at least allowed in some light and made them feel less closed in by the forest. They gathered as much wood and tinder as possible and started a large fire.
Kumul arranged the watch. “From what Roheth told me, this demon usually comes in the hours before dawn, so I’d rather Ager or myself faced it. You take the first watch Jenrosa, followed by Lynan, then Ager, and lastly myself.”