Timewalker by Luke Norris

Author:Luke Norris [Norris, Luke]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-04-23T22:00:00+00:00

23. Journey south

In the days that followed, Verity could see the landscape easing to softer rolling hillside. Plowed fields were interspersed with small patches of forest where the land was too steep or not suitable to farm. The travelers had passed through several villages belonging to the Hajir clan. It appeared only Tahat's people used the terrace form of farming, the people living on these gentler hills grew their crops on the fields and more livestock could be seen. Verity spotted the occasional villager even on horseback.

They attracted attention from villagers as they passed, but news of their strange arrival at Tahat's village had already traveled through the territory. They wore the leather clothes and furs of the Hajir people given to them by Zawej, so their appearance was not as startling as people had been led to believe. Although, the dark-skinned driver Drake did receive astonished stares along with Riff’s blond hair.

Zawej had convinced Tahat to give them a pony to bear their provisions for the long march. He had not parted with it gladly. They had given him their jumpsuits as a token of trade explaining the insulation and durable qualities of the material had enabled them to cross the black mountains, a lie Verity had not translated gladly, and the suits would be invaluable for hunters traveling into the foothills. This second part was of course true. In the end, Tahat had relented, giving them a beast of burden, and also a hunting bow that Riff had taken a fancy to.

Riff carried a thin quiver with a few arrows at his hilt and the long unstrung bow diagonally across his back with a leather strap he had attached.

They all wore long leather capes, each with large hood laced in at the nape. They quickly learned that these were far inferior to the material of their jumpsuits. They were good at breaking the wind and keeping off a light shower, but in the first deluge of rain, the leather became sodden and heavy. They donned the capes anyway as heavy rain was seldom and they were more useful than not.

Yarn still had an air of confidence and authority, but his enthusiasm for the escapade seemed to have died with Shira. It was as if she had been the muse for his spirit of misadventure. He was stony set, often walking for long periods in silence. He made no attempt at using diplomacy with the last driver, he simply gave orders. It was as if Drake had been craving somebody to take the mantle of leadership because he accepted the orders readily, falling back into the comfort zone of what he knew as a driver.

Verity felt more comfortable walking behind him. He reminded her of a slinking black cat, nice to look at, but lethal potential under the surface.

“From Tahat's description, we must be leaving Hajir land soon!” Riff said.

Yarn pulled the water skin from his belt and swigged at it while he surveyed the land. The plains now

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