Jerico had wondered how he’d find his way back to Kaide’s hideout, but his worries were unfounded. Reaching the forest was easy enough, the path simple and often traveled. At the edge of the trees, he set up camp and slept, making sure his fire burned long and with plenty of smoke. When he awoke the next morning, his horse was gone.
“Huh?” he grunted, realizing the absence. He hadn’t been alerted by Ashhur to any danger, so he assumed it was members of Kaide’s band. His supplies lay beside him, and he prepared his morning meal while the few remaining birds sang in the bare treetops. After awhile, he sensed eyes watching him, and he grinned.
“You’ve taken my horse,” he called out. “The least you could have done was take me with him.”
A pause, and then the bandit stepped out from hiding. He was hardly the thief he expected.
“Ricky?” Jerico asked.
The boy nodded. He stood erect, as if willing himself to appear taller, more mature.
“I had to make sure you was you,” he said.
“Well, I am I,” Jerico said. “Care to lead me back to camp?”
Ricky gestured, and Jerico slung his pack across a shoulder and followed.
“No one thought you was coming back,” Ricky said. “But they left me here just in case you did. They’re all killing soldiers, so no one could stay and watch.”
“Killing soldiers?” Jerico asked, ducking underneath a low branch. They followed no path, just pushed through the brush and leaves deeper and deeper into the woods.
“Don’t think you can get me to talk,” he said. “I’m smarter than that.”
“Of course, I certainly don’t mean to offend.” Jerico gave him a moment to cool off, then continued. “Beth’s fine, by the way. I don’t know if anyone told you.”
“Kaide told me.”
Ricky shot a glance behind him, and for a moment he looked like the young, indecisive kid he was.
“Thank you,” he said.
“Did it for her, not you, but you’re welcome anyway.”
The camp was silent as they entered, empty as Ricky had said.
“Where are they?” Jerico asked. “If they’re fighting, perhaps I can help.”
Ricky grew flustered.
“Too far to walk, and you couldn’t even if you wanted to.”
The door to one of the cabins opened, and it turned out the camp wasn’t completely empty.
“Our hero returns,” Sandra said, and she laughed at Jerico’s over-exaggerated bow.
“I could never stay away from you for long,” he said, shooting her a wink. Ricky rolled his eyes, then yawned long and loud. Jerico remembered the boy had stolen his horse during the night, as well as how far the walk had been from there to the forest’s edge.
“Have you been up all night?” he asked.
“Kaide says sometimes men have to go days without sleep.”
“And sometimes men go days without food or water, but it doesn’t help them none. Go to sleep, Ricky. I didn’t come all this way just to run off again. Besides, Sandra’s here. She’ll stab me if I try anything.”
Ricky relented, casting one last watchful eye on the two of them before vanishing into his cabin.
“I’m not sure I feel safe around you alone,” Sandra said.
Jerico opened the door to his own little hut and tossed his supplies inside.
“Don’t worry too much. With this limp, I doubt I could catch a crone.”
“Catch me? I wouldn’t run, paladin. I’d knock you flat and crush your testicles for the attempt. And you don’t want to imagine what Kaide would do afterward.”
“Would he make me tonight’s supper?”
Sandra laughed, but the laugh died when he limped toward the stable.
“Your leg,” she said. “Does it hurt much?”
Jerico shrugged.
“It’s bearable,” he said. “I’ll pray over it soon, like I should have this morning. Much of the pain is just weakened muscle, and lingering effects of a curse.”
At the stables, he found his horse tied and fed, and the saddle properly removed. Patting the horse’s side, he took a breath and steadied himself. His knee throbbed, the rough travel through the forest feeling like it’d removed every bit of progress he’d made the past few days. He put on a tough show, though, and tried to minimize the limp as he walked back to the center of the hideout. He made it halfway there before he leaned against a home and groaned, tilting his head back with his eyes closed.
“Let me see the leg,” Sandra said, her playful tone gone. Sighing, Jerico rolled up his pant leg, and even he winced at the sight. A purple bruise covered the entire knee. The bones were healed, though the surface of his kneecap was oddly shaped, as if it hadn’t smoothed out upon rejoining. The surrounding skin was swollen red, and when she pressed her fingers against it, he let out a gasp.
“Damn fool,” Sandra said. “You walked all the way through the forest on that?”
“It felt better at the time.”
“Get to your bed, or beside the fire if you’d like. I need to start it soon, anyway. When Kaide and his men return, they’ll be eager for a feast to celebrate their victory.”
“And if they lose?” Jerico asked as he accepted her help, leaning half his weight upon her.
“Then they’ll need food and drink to toast the memory of the fallen. Either way, we’ll need meat.”
The two hobbled to his cabin, and she laid him down on the bed. The relief was immediate.
“Join me when you wish,” Sandra said, shutting the door behind her as she left.
Finally alone, Jerico spent time in prayer, pouring healing magic into his knee. He knew he should have stayed in Stonahm. He was traveling on a leg mere days after an injury most would take months to recover from. But the way the people of the village had looked at him, as if he had been in the wrong protecting that woman… he didn’t want to feel those eyes upon him anymore. As he prayed, the pain subsided, and the swelling lessened. He sighed with relief. Didn’t look like he’d added any permanent damage.
When finished, he ate the last rations from his pack, then stepped outside. The air had a bite to it, and the burgeoning fire Sandra built called out to him. Grabbing a blanket off the bed, he laid it down beside the bonfire.
“I’ll keep quiet so I don’t wake you,” Sandra said as she tossed on another log.
“Much appreciated.”
The crackling of the fire soothed him, and he was halfway asleep when he heard Sandra say his name.
“Jerico… thank you for saving my niece.”
“Welcome,” he said, eyes still closed. He felt her lingering nearby, though, so he opened an eyelid and looked over. She was staring at his leg, still exposed since he had not rolled down the pant leg after his prayers.
“The man, Kren… why did he attack you?”
Jerico let his head drop back to the dirt.
“Kaide told you about that, I take it? Guess there’s no reason to hide it. He attacked me because I might be all that’s left. Karak’s paladins have begun a secret war, one I fear we’ve already lost. My brothers, my home…”
His voice trailed off, and he listened to the fire burn.
“Don’t you hate them for it?” Sandra asked.
“I shouldn’t. Ashhur forgive me, I often do, but I shouldn’t. I can’t hate, Sandra. It’ll destroy everything I am. Maybe that makes me a fool. Maybe that’s why the world will soon move on without me. But I won’t hate them. Pity, yes. Remorse. Sadness. I’ll even kill if I must, and bloody my hands to protect the life of another. But I won’t hate.”
It took her a long while before Sandra could respond.
“After everything that’s happened, I fear my brother knows only hatred.”
“Then I’ll pray for him, if you’d like.”
“Please do.”
Her footsteps trailed off as she left the fire unattended. Jerico prayed for them both, as he’d promised, and then did his best to forget it all so he might sleep.
The sound of arguing woke him sometime later. Jerico sat up, his hand reaching for the weapon he no longer
