The Sorcerer Knight by Robert Ryan

Author:Robert Ryan [Ryan, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Trotting Fox Press
Published: 2020-07-19T16:00:00+00:00

13. A Peaceful Land

Aranloth regained strength, albeit slowly. The travelers stayed by the temple all day, and the night after.

But dawn of the next day saw them moving off once more. Aranloth was strong enough to walk, and he led them. He set a slow pace though, one arm in a sling and the other using his staff as a walking stick. Their rest breaks were frequent, too. This was far different from the way he had led them out of Dromdruin, but Faran was just glad to see that he was improving.

Perhaps given time, the old man would be as he was. But there was still a shadow of pain on his features, and the way that he needed his staff to aid balance was worrisome.

They headed south, and the country was an undulating one of open grasslands. But small stands of trees were numerous, some even large enough to be called a wood. There were few pines, and the trees were often oaks, but there were many broadleaf varieties whose names Faran did not know. This land had the look about it of fields that had once been cultivated, but that the forest was claiming back.

“Where are we going?” Faran asked as they commenced to walk once more after a break. It was not that he really cared. Everywhere was new to him, and anywhere was better than where his enemies had been seeking him out.

“I know a place,” Aranloth told him. “A good place. It’s not far from here, and there’s a cabin there that will give us shelter. There’ll be game too, for we’ll soon need supplies. And there’s good water as well.”

“The water sounds good,” Kareste said. “I could do with a bath.”

“Me as well,” Ferla said.

Faran glanced at her. It still seemed strange to see her in chainmail. But he supposed he must look strange to her too.

They traveled at a leisurely pace for two days. Aranloth, despite his infirmity, had lost none of his wits. There was no threat that they knew of, yet still he chose paths that led them over hard ground that would leave less of a trail, and he used creeks when they came across one to hide their trail altogether.

It was still early in the morning when they approached a ridge higher than the others they had found in this undulating countryside. Trees grew on its crest, and when they reached that and looked down into the valley beyond, it seemed that the grass was greener than it had been and that there were many little woods, more numerous than the surrounding areas.

But it was the lake at the center of the valley that drew their eyes. It was not especially large, but it glittered silver and lay still in the quiet of the dale.

Faran was a hunter rather than a fisherman, but he had still caught many a fish back home in Dromdruin, and he knew that the lake would provide a quick and easy supply of food.

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