“He’ll live,” replies Jiron as he begins getting the rabbit ready for the fire. “This actually happens quite often when he does what he calls, ‘over the top’ magic. He’ll sleep through the night and most likely wake up in the morning.”
Taking a seat next to him, she sits quietly while he skins and guts the rabbit. When he at last has it on a stick and roasting over the fire, she says, “After what I saw earlier, I can understand why they want you so bad.”
He gives her a grin. “That’s not the half of it,” he says to her, but doesn’t elaborate further.
“Do you think it’s wise for us to stay here?” she asks. When he glances at her she continues, “I mean, the archers that were up here must’ve come from somewhere. I understand there’s a large force of the Empire’s soldiers down by the fortress, they’ve been there ever since the invasion of Madoc.”
“If an army is on its way here,” he explains, “we would meet it all the sooner if we went down the mountain.” Gesturing over to James, he adds, “If we give him a chance to rest and regain some of his strength, then we stand a better chance of surviving the encounter.”
Nodding, she returns her gaze to the fire and watches it dance and pop as she thinks about what he just said. “What do you plan to do if you should make it back to Cardri?” she asks after a few minutes of silence.
“That all depends on James there,” he tells her. “I’ll be staying with him for awhile, strange things are afoot and he seems to be in the middle of it all. I don’t know what the gods may have in store for him, but it should prove interesting.” He takes the rabbit off the fire and inspects if briefly before returning it to the flames.
“You could come with us if you like,” he suggests to her. Before she has a chance to reply, he adds, “Since the way back to your home is currently unavailable, that is.”
“I may do that,” she replies after unconsciously glancing to where the stairs used to be.
They sit side by side, the proximity of each other lending them comfort. The clouds have completely disappeared by the time the rabbit is ready to eat. Saving out a large portion for James when he wakes up, Jiron divvies the rest of it between him and Aleya.
After they’ve finished eating, he suggests taking the first watch while she gets some sleep. “I’ll wake you sometime after midnight,” he tells her.
“Very well,” she says as she gets a blanket from one of the horses and lies down next to the fire.
Jiron moves out of the light to better preserve his night vision as he begins to slowly circle the camp. Every once in awhile he catches himself staring at her as she lies there sleeping, the light from the fire dancing across her face.
He moves through the trees further away from the camp and stares out over the valley to the west where the Fortress of Kern lies. Once James finally awakens, they’re going to have to make it there somehow. If what Aleya says is correct, they’ll have an army to get through somewhere between here and there.
Moving to the other side of the ridge where the stair used to be, he sees down amidst the rubble that once was the side of the ridge many lights. From their number he figures there still to be a sizeable force left. Too bad we didn’t get them all! It’s highly unlikely they’ll be any more of a threat for awhile. The cliff’s too high and vertical for the average soldier to scale and they have a long way to walk to get out of the mountains.
The morning dawns sunny, not a cloud in the sky. Jiron wakes to find Aleya already having killed their morning breakfast and can smell it from where it’s roasting on the fire.
“Good morning,” she says when she notices him sitting up.
“You too,” he replies. Nodding to James, he asks, “How’s he doing?”
“Still sleeping,” she tells him. “He hasn’t awoken yet. Is that normal?”
Shrugging, he says, “I really wouldn’t know. But there have been times when he didn’t wake for awhile. Once he took almost two days to come out of it.” Seeing her concern, he adds, “But we’ll not wait that long. If he’s not up by noon, I plan to wake him up. As you said last night, there could be more forces on the way.”
“I was thinking about that last night,” she says. “If they would’ve sent a rider to warn the forces by the fortress back when we first entered the mountains, then it’s possible they could’ve gotten to them in time to send the crossbowmen up here to block off our escape route.”
Nodding, he replies, “That would make sense. It did seem kind of odd that we weren’t pressed very hard in the mountains. They knew where we were going, or at least had a good idea, so they didn’t want us to move too quickly and reach here before their forces could get into position to greet us.”
“So that would mean,” she says, “whatever forces are near Kern, will be waiting for us.” After a moment, adds, “If they’re not already on their way.”
Nodding, Jiron gets up and says to her, “I’m going to check down the trail, just in case. Keep an eye on him, okay?”
“Sure,” she replies. She takes out what was left over from the rabbit last night and begins eating. She plans on saving what’s cooking over the fire for James when he wakes up. As she eats, she watches Jiron disappear down the trail into the forest. She thinks about the turn her life has taken the last few days. Glancing at James, she wonders what she’s gotten into and where it may lead her.
Once she’s done eating, she begins hunting through the woods for sticks just the right length. If one meets her needs, she picks it up and continues in her search for more until she has a dozen.
Returning back to camp, she takes her pack, along with the sticks, and settles down on a fallen log close enough to keep James in sight. Using her knife, she carefully carves off all excess protrusions and evens the stick out. If one is too long for her needs, she trims it with her knife until it’s absolutely perfect.
Two of the sticks have to be discarded after discovering flaws while she was trimming them. When the remaining ten sticks are arrayed next to her, she reaches into her backpack and pulls out a neatly rolled up envelope of leather. Unrolling it, she examines the feathers she acquired days before James and Jiron arrived. She already has them separated into sets of three, each set of exact length, breadth, and width.
She takes one set from within the envelope and sets them on the log next to her before picking up the first of the ten sticks. Using her knife carefully, she cuts slits into the wood at one end and slowly and meticulously inserts the feathers into the slits. Once all three feathers are embedded securely within the wood, she sets it down and picks up the next stick, repeating the process. One after another, she continues until all ten sticks are fledged.
Before rolling the envelope back up, she checks the remaining feathers and sees she has enough for a little over a dozen more arrows. Going to have to hunt for more soon.
Placing the rolled up envelope back in her pack, she then pulls out a leather pouch with a drawstring securing the top closed.
Opening the drawstring, she carefully upends the pouch and pours arrowheads out onto the log. She has many different types and styles, even some crossbow bolt heads which she could use in a pinch, though they wouldn’t be greatly effective.
Picking up one of the sticks which has been fledged, she finds a matching head which will work and then secures it onto the end. Once she’s made sure the head is secure and won’t fly off when the arrow is released from her bow, she sets it down and picks up the next one.
As she works on the arrows, getting them ready for what she’s sure will be a deadly run to Kern, she wishes she had acquired more of the heads when she had the chance. But how was she to even have known she was to be in such a situation as she finds herself in now.
Sighing, she just works on the arrows until she has ten lying on the ground at her feet. Putting the unused arrowheads back into the pouch, she closes the drawstring and replaces it in her pack.