“What do you mean?” I am now thoroughly perplexed.
“The mark,” she says with an eye roll, like the answer the obvious. “You’re him aren’t you, the one.”
I stutter, words failing me. I haven’t the faintest idea what this strange girl is talking about, although it would seem my confusion has gone unnoticed as she turns back towards her brother.
“Come on,” she says, “can’t keep everyone waiting.”
We gather around the steps.
The three of us wait for a few moments whilst the last of the supplies are carried out of the entrance until, eventually, the steady conversation slowly dies down to allow Orrian to speak. The king stands a few steps up and addresses the entirety of the tribe, all of whom surround myself, Horas, and Astera. Everyone is ready to move, the cavern floor is now bare and everything has been cleared out, leaving no conclusive evidence for the colony that we were here at all in the last few days.
“We can’t stay here any longer,” Orrian begins, “The Halpians are on their way, so it’s time for us to leave. Everyone ready?” Orrian asks the crowd, Orrian quickly eyes several of us before taking our silence as a yes, “Good. Let’s go.”
I breathe fresh, cool, mountain air. I hadn’t realised how cooped up I had been beginning to feel trapped inside that mountain until now. I wrap my skins around me tighter as the crisp wind bites at our exposed skin.
From here the world is laid out below us. After regaining my sense of direction, I can trace the path that myself, Orrian, and Edwyn had arrived in. Off to the distance, peeking out through the snow-blanketed tips, I can make out the deep greens marking the boundary of the forest, before which, whilst hidden from view, must sit the lake whose rocky shore we had circumvented.
A long line of people already stretches below us, presumably with Orrian in the lead, headed for the cart.
“You might want to go ahead, that way our friend Dale here can stumble into you this time,” Astera says behind me, pushing her brother in front. I look back at the older girl flushed with embarrassment, but she smiles warmly and gestures onwards.
Sure enough, moments later I must steady myself on Horas’ back as loose rocks below upset my footing, earning a chortle from behind me. Thankfully Horas is noticeably bigger and can manage the little force so I don’t end up causing a knock-on effect due to my clumsiness. Unfortunately, whilst I may have had protection before, the slip causes a small cut on one of my toes, I’m going to have to be much more careful now.
We reach the bottom of the mountain considerably quicker than it had taken us to climb it with an injured Edwyn between us. The carts and first of the group have already started heading off in a new direction, almost opposite in direction from the lake. Orrian can be heard discussing the route with a few scouts up ahead but it means little to me, I learn that our trek will be lengthened slightly to allow for the horses and carts to make their way through the difficult terrain but apart from that I learn nothing of any significance. This travelling period where we’re out in the open is where we’re at our most vulnerable and Orrian will undoubtedly be alert for any signs of a threat, as such, I choose to stick back with Horas and Astera so as not to trouble him.
With all the tribespeople out in the open I am reminded of just how few of us there are. When cramped up in the close confines of the mountain you could almost kid yourself that you were part of an entire community, but out here, we look like nothing more than a few beaten and damaged survivors. Of course, that is precisely all we are. Our illusions of numbers are not helped as we are dwarfed by our surroundings.
We continue at a steady and irritatingly slow pace. Even I would prefer to get more of a move on, I cannot imagine how these fitter forest warriors surrounding me must feel, but no, we must stick with the young and the elderly. For now, all the children are walking hand in hand with their guardians, although I reckon they’ll start being picked up or else complaining before long. Some of the older members of the group are also struggling with the thin atmosphere, already wheezing despite still being in sight of the mountain, whenever the struggling becomes too apparent however, someone will wordlessly come and ease their load every time.
Sage Malach has been having a particularly tough time, as a result he now sits cramped inside one of the carts cradling a few bags of goods. The community spirit among these people is astonishing, all of them have been tied together impossible closely through disastrous times and are on the constant look out to help the group as a whole.
As well as we can given the terrain, the tribe has been organised into a rough formation. The twins and I are a few heads back from the front of the main group where Orrian leads. Before them are only a few scouts ensuring that the path ahead is clear. Bringing up the rear and sandwiching the sides loosely are all fighters not at the front, forming a protective barrier between the outside and the huddle of the families and more vulnerable in the middle with the carts. Bringing up the rear is Jaq and to my great surprise, I spot Faelyn brushing shoulders with Orrian as they discuss travel plans and tactics, still struggling to keep up on his cane but he doesn’t complain or ask to slow down. Since the duel and the parting of the Horith, Orrian’s ex-competitor had thrown himself fully into the arrangements, maybe trying to
