The Sworn Knight (The Kingshield Series Book 4) by Robert Ryan

Author:Robert Ryan [Ryan, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Trotting Fox Press
Published: 2020-10-10T16:00:00+00:00

14. Hunted

Ferla did not show what she was feeling. Fear coursed through her, but as she had been taught to do she accepted it, and did not let it hinder her actions.

It was daytime, and they had been resting, but there would be no more sleeping now.

“So,” Asana said. “That was the enemy. He seemed somewhat grander than Lindercroft. But I suspect he is no better at fighting.”

Ferla knew what Asana was trying to do. He was reminding her that she had defeated a knight like this before, and while there was reason to be cautious she had no need for undue fear. She understood what he was doing, and her heart surged with affection for him.

“Hey!” Kubodin said. “You think he was grand? Maybe he was. Just like a rat with a gold tooth thinks he’s something special.”

Ferla could not help but grin at that. She knew what Kubodin was doing, too. Humor was the warrior’s age-old way of shrugging off fear.

She was lucky to have these two with her. Very lucky, indeed. But she was still in charge, and the responsibility for what came next rested on her. They showed no sign of taking that burden from her, and she understood now that it was not a test but a way of preparing her for the harder times ahead.

“We have to leave,” she said. “And fast. We don’t know how far away he is, but he has to be close to find me by magic like that. We’ll have to risk traveling by day, at least for the moment. There’s more cover in the terrain now than there was earlier. If we see something, we have a chance of hiding that we didn’t have before.”

“Do you think he knows where we are?” Asana asked.

Kubodin answered that before she did, and Ferla was surprised even if she did not disagree.

“I don’t think he does,” the little man stated confidently. “If he did, he wouldn’t have given us warning like that. He would have tried to surprise us. Besides, that mist thing was only a small magic. Finding someone by magic is not the same as locating them. It’s like a mule finding his way home by himself. He can do it, but if you ask him how he can’t tell you.”

Asana raised an eyebrow at that, but said nothing.

“Kubodin is right,” Ferla agreed. “He did what lòhrens call spirit walking. Finding someone like that is like tracking down a campfire in pitch dark by the smell of smoke. You can do it, but you couldn’t describe to someone else exactly where you found it. But he does have a general idea, and the faster we’re gone from here the better. Also, I don’t think he has the power to spirit walk great distances. He must be close.”

“He shouldn’t be,” Kubodin said. “All your tricks must have led him on a merry dance. But still, I don’t think you’re wrong. He’s not that far away.”

There was no more discussion after that.

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