The Threads of Destiny - Chapter 6

Chapter 6:  A Moment’s Calm

Osric and Talia crouched low in the brush, peering through the leaves at the wooden palisade surrounding Silham in the distance. They had been traveling for over a day now, making their way carefully through the woods since departing the ruined keep. It had been a near sleepless journey, both nervous every step they took, on the lookout for both more of the men that had been hounding them and more typical dangers of the forest. Thankfully, they’d encountered neither, making good time and reaching the small village well before Osric ahd thought he would.

Surprisingly, the wolf stayed with them the entire time. Osric had thought, now that the magic of the ring had faltered, the wolf would have returned into the forest, no longer under the control of the rings magic. Instead, it had stayed with them, occasional venturing away but always returning to them. While part of Osric was glad, both because the wolf had proven itself a good protector and because he’d grown attached to the animal after their journey into the keep, it now presented a problem, and was the reason they hid out of sight of the village.

“It can’t go in the village with us,” Osric said. “You know how people would have freaked out if someone brought a full grown wolf into Eldham, especially the hunters.”

Wolves were one of the dangers of the forest he and talia had been on the lookout for. While they tended to keep their distance from humans, it was easy to accidentally stumble to close to pubs or their den, forcing the animals into a territorial response. If it was winter, the danger would be worse, as the animals became more aggressive as they got hungry. This time of year, with the forest in bloom and full of small animals, that was less of a concern.

Still, it meant that people were fearful of the animals along with bears and a variety of other, less common creatures that had become unfortunately more common in their forests. Things like Webscuttlers and Bramblebeaks that had become a more and more common sight, and danger, in The Great Forest.

Besides, the wolf would make them stand out, make them memorable, which was the last thing someone being hunted wanted to be.

“I suppose you’re right. I’ll miss...him. Or her. I never even thought to check,” Talia said, glancing at the wolf, who sat patiently a few feet away, its intelligent eyes fixed on the two humans.

“We haven’t even given it a name.”

“What does it matter? It’s not like it’s going to stick around once we leave it behind.”

“I guess it doesn’t, but...it feels wrong, you know? After everything we’ve been through together.”

“Fine, what do you want to call it?”

“I was thinking maybe Cinder. It’s eyes kind of look like a burning coal in the furnace, and it’s got an … I don’t know intensity to it that fits.”

The wolf’s ears perked up, and it tilted its head, almost as if it understood.

“I think it likes it,” Osric said.

“You know it can’t speak or understand Aelorian, right?”

“Him. And I think he can.”

“Are you srue?”

“Pretty sure. Nope, I think we should go with Cinder.”

Talia rolled her eyes and said, “Alright, fine. Cinder it is. Now we’ve hung around here long enough. If someone notices us out here, they’ll start to wonder what we’re doing.”

“Fine,” Osric saiid, and went down on a knee in front of the wolf. “Listen, buddy. You can’t come with us into the village. People will be scared, and we don’t need any more trouble than we’ve already got. Can you wait out here while we’re in there. We’ll come back for you. I’ll even try to bring you some food, okay?”

As osric spoke, he first pointed to the village, and then to a spot under a bush. For a moment, Cinder didn’t do anything at all and then, to Osric’s surprise, it stood and padded over to the indicated bush, settling down and lying it’s muzzle on top of hit’s paws, letting out a soft, mournful whine.

“I promise we’ll come back,” he said with one last look at the wolf before stepping out of the brush and onto the road.

“Wow,” Talia said, following him. “Maybe it does understand, at least a little.”

“You should have a little more faith,” Osric said, smiling at her.

The pair made their way along the narrow dirt path leading into Silham, both trying to act as nonchalant as possible. The village was small, probably no more than fifty structures clustered together behind a simple wooden palisade. Much like Eldham itself, except for the palisade. A few villagers glanced their way as they passed, but quickly returned to their tasks, seeming to pay them no mind.

The tavern was easy to spot, a slightly larger building near the village center with a sign depicting a frothing mug hanging above the door. Osric held the door open for Talia, allowing her to enter first. The interior was dimly lit and smelled of stale ale and smoke, along with the faint scent of something cooking. It occured to Osric in that, as his stomach rumbled, that he’d had hardly anything to eat since leaving the village days ago, other than the meager rations he’d split with Talia and a few berries she’d found for them on the trail. Maybe it was the fear and adrenaline, but he hadn’t noticed until threat moment how ravenous he was. A few patrons sat at tables nursing drinks, while others gathered around a card game in the corner.

They found a small table in the back, positioning themselves so they could observe the room. A tired looking barmaid approached and without a word, slid two wooden mugs in front of them.

“And two bowls of whatever I can smell cooking back there,” Osric said. “And do you happen to have any dried meat or something like that you could wrap up for us to take? We’ve still got more traveling to do, and are low on supplies”

The barmaid raised an eyebrow but then nodded. “We’ve got some sausages, but nothing dried. They should keep for a few days, though.

“Perfect.”

“I’ll bring ‘em out with yer stew,” she said, turning and walking away before he could ask anything else.

Osric took a big gulp of teh ale. It was grainy, thick, and tasted like heaven. Talia took smaller sips, but he could see her sharing the feeling, both forgetting their mission and just enjoying the feel of civilization again.

“So?” Talia said, after a minute, starting to look around the room.

Osric followed suit. Most of the patrons seemed to be locals, though a few might be from outside the village or travelers. There were none who matched the men who’d been chasing him, however.

“Seems … normal.”

“Yeah,” Talia said, and then paused as the barmaid returned with two steaming bowl of stew and some greesy saussages wrapped in a cloth.

Before she could walk away, Osric asked, “Pardon me, but has there been any other strangers come through town the last few days? We’re supposed to be meeting some friends here before continuing on towards the Wyndmere, but seems they haven’t arrived yet.”

The barmaid paused, thinking. “We get a fair number of travelers, since this is the only road south of Meareham that heads to the river, but none that seemed to be looking to meet up with anyone, or who stayed for long. A couple strange fellas did pass through, two days back or so, but they didn’t look like you two. Real deep city folk by the look of ‘em. I would have figured them for Wolfridge or maybe Farvale. They weren’t looking to meet up with anyone, but they was asking around about some boy from Eldham and an old trinket or some such. Only reason they stick out in my mind, particular like.”

“I can see why. Dont’ see much city people this far into the forest. Of course, we come from further south, not far from the boundary, so even less go there. Still, that’s a strange thing to be asking about. Sound more like rangers than just travelers.”

“Weren’t no rangers, but I agree. Woulda told them if I’d seen the boy, though. They had a real dangerous look to em, the kind you don’t want to lie too. Still, the few folk from Eldham who’ve come through here were older, so I couldn’t help em. They headed off to Meareham, I think. Good riddance.”

“Here, here. Don’t take a strangers trouble for a friend,” Osric said, raising a glass.

It was an old woods saying, and one he’d heard Master Ironhand use many times. he hadn’t really thought about those words on their own before, but he’d come to understand them more in the last few days than he ever had before.

“Don’t I know it,” she said, wrapping her knuckles on the table before walking off to another table.

For a few minutes, both ate in silence, their hunger greater than their curiosity.

“So do we follow them to Meareham and hope we catch up to them?” Osric asked after a few minutes, finally setting his spoon down.

“We should look at the map again,” Talia said, pulling the worn parchment from her pocket.

She unfolded it and held it low, partially under the table, forcing Osric to scoot his chair around so he could see it.

“There’s this point marked here, half way between us and Meareham, and another on Meareham itself. Do you think they stopped here, or have something here like the keep, that they would head too?”

“Maybe. It’s worth checking out.”

“Okay, then we go here next, and if no one’s there, we go on to Meareham,” Talia said resolutely, folding the map back up.

“Wait,” Osric said, reaching out and putting his hand on hers, stopping her from putting it back in her pocket. “You should stay here. It’s too dangerous for you to keep going.”

“What? No, I’m coming with you.”

“You’ve already been hurt because of me. Now that the ring’s power is gone, I can’t heal you like before. If something happens...” His voice trailed off as he glanced at the red stain on her torn tunic, memories of the dagger in her skin, blood flowing out, vividly returning.

“And what will you do alone against these men?” Talia countered. “I did as much as you in ever fight.”

“I know. I’d never argue you can’t handle yourself, but I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you.”

“And I can?” she demanded, a little too loudly.

A man at a nearby table glanced over with a scowl.

Osric held up his hands in a calming gesture. “I’m not trying to insult you. You’ve more than proven yourself both brave and capable. But this is my burden to bear. I was the one who found the ring. You got roped into this by accident.”

“And then I killed a man to protect you, which makes it my burden too,” Talia insisted, though more quietly. “We’re in this together now, like it or not.”

“We have been, yes, but … Elder Miriam has done so much for me. For both of us. If something happened to you out here, I could never face her again.”

“She knows the risks of magic better than anyone. I chose this path. I could have run off after that first night, when they weren’t right on our heels anymore, but I chose to stay with you, because this magic … it’s important. I can feel it. Miriam, after you showed her the ring, she talked about it all the time. Sometimes to me and sometimes just to herself. She knew how important it was. She would understand.”

He didn’t say anything back right away. He was torn. Part of him wanted her to stay, desperately. She made everything seem less strange, gave him a sense of grounding. She also knew more about all of this than he did. He never would have gotten this far without her. But … he was afraid. Afraid of what would happen if she was hurt. Or worse.

“Please, Osric,” Talia said, her green eyes imploring him. “We’re so close to answers now. I can feel it. We have to see this through.”

“I don’t like it, but … fine. But please be more careful. You’ve put yourself in too much danger already.”

“We both have,” Talia said, drinking the last of her stew and scooping up the sausages.

Osric hurried to finish his food and throw down some of the coins they’d taken from the men in the keep, before rushing to catch up with her as she walked out of the Tavern

“We should be able to make it to whatever’s at this point before nightfall,” Talia said.

Osric didn’t say anything. He knew he wasn’t going to win the argument, but he certainly wasn’t going to act like he condoned her sticking to this quest with him. Especially since, without the ring guiding them any longer, they were just stumbling around the forest, hoping they figured out what was really going on.

They made their way out of Silham without anyone else stopping them or saying anything, and had gone a few steps down the dirt track when Cinder popped up out of the bush, it’s ears up and head cocked, panting slightly.

“I told you we’d be back,” Osric said.

“He really is remarkable,” Talia said, unwrapping the sausages and holding them out to him.

Cinder’s eyes lit up and he gobbled down the offering in seconds. Licking his jowls, he looked expectantly at her for more.

“Sorry, that’s all we got,” she said. “We’ll find you more int he next town.”

The wolf looked at her a moment before bending down and snuffling around her feet, liek perhaps she was hiding more in her boots.

“Let’s get going,” Osric said.