Hawks & Rams by L. Blankenship

Author:L. Blankenship [Blankenship, L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2014-12-30T21:00:00+00:00

Wodenberg

THE SECOND day of patrol, a long blast on a hunting horn gathered the Rangers back together. To cover the ground, Rudiger had split them in three pairs that checked likely spots along the hillside. The call came from high on Ahorn-hügel, above the town of Bachufer. On Gunther and Radulf’s track. Adal and Bernhart trotted into the spruce glen last.

“We’ve guests.” Rudiger gestured toward the fire pit that had been dug back out to reveal the buried ashes. This had been a camp, clearly, and the Suevi had meant to hide it.

“A few embers still lived,” Gunther said. He had a heat sight Blessing; he would’ve seen the warm patch on the ground.

“They filled in their latrine well,” Rudiger said, stalking around the small oval. “Scattered what bones they chewed. Larger group of them, this time. Six or seven, with dogs. Likely they were here two days, and left at dawn.”

It was about noon. “A bit of luck,” Bernhart said, between swigs of water from his skin. “We may catch them.”

Days were a good deal shorter now that Equinox was only a moon’s turn away. Adal knew, as they all did, that there were three upslope meadows that the shepherds of Bachufer used, within an easy walk from the grove.

“We split up,” Rudiger said with a nod. “The east meadow’s been checked already. Gunther and Radulf, downslope. Dolf, with me to the upslope meadow. You two, sweep past the Geröll. If you spot them, we have our orders from the saints themselves.”

They all tapped fists to their hearts, in salute, and split up. Adal took the lead, following the westward trail through the spruce and pine. Low branches tried to catch the unstrung bow jutting above his shoulders, but swept past. He scanned the needle-covered trail with his hawk’s eyes, looking for traces of feet, bent branches, anything to mark the Suevi’s passing.

Orders had trickled back to them, from saints to king to the Ranger captain and the lieutenant in Knapptal, within a few weeks. Despite his failure, Adal’s service had been noted, and Rudiger trusted him as a right hand now. Gunther, who’d served far longer, had groused a bit but took it more gracefully when Adal made a habit of asking his advice.

Thus, Adal headed a team when the six of them split. Choosing Bernhart to pair with him had been easy; when Lura’s new baby arrived and Bern had to give up the tabard, Adal would miss his brother-in-law. Living in his own cottage was lonely business, despite the passing swarms of visitors.

The first mile from the secret camp went easy, running along the flank of the hill through pine and then beech trees. The Geröll, uphill of them, slid by unseen. Where the trail branched, Adal signaled with a whistle and dropped from a jog to a cautious creep. Behind him, Bernhart stayed at the intersection and eased his bow from its clip on his quiver.

Soft leaf litter crunched underfoot and ferns leaned over the trail.

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