Baylee had known them all. The youngest had hardly been more than a boy, fourteen summers old. Baylee felt the ache in the back of his throat as he watched the boy's parents consoling each other. The boy's animal follower, a shaggy gray wolf showing scars from past battles, lay atop the boy's grave. As the priest finished his prayer, the wolf loosed a loud howl of mourning that echoed throughout the forest.
The ranger looked over the carnage. Twenty-nine people still occupied tents, too wounded to attend the service. Bandages draped others as they knelt in the clearing. Myriad other prayers to as many other gods followed on the heels of the priest's invocation.
Baylee kept his head bowed as he surveyed the graves. There would come an accounting, Mielikki willing. He touched the white star and green leaf over his heart.
'You were the eye at the center of this particular storm.'
Baylee listened to the steady words of Ciwa Cthulad, a justifier.
Through no fault of his own, Xuxa said in Baylee's defense.
Veteran of dozens of campaigns spread out virtually across all of Toril, Cthulad stood ramrod straight. His chain mail armor, still not removed from the fight during the evening, held dark spots of dried blood. His face carried lines as well as scars. His hair was gray and the dirty yellow color of old bone. Blue eyes rested on either side of the hawk's nose. A fierce mustache ran down either side of his mouth. 'Nor was such intent implied,' Cthulad said. 'I like this boy.'
'I'm no boy,' Baylee corrected, feeling defensive. The night without sleep on top of the fierce battle had left him feeling unbalanced.
'My apologies,' Cthulad amended. 'I meant no disrespect.'
'None taken,' Baylee said. He took a deep breath and let it out. 'I'm not myself this morning. That's why I came out here to be alone.' Soon after the morning service for the dead was over, he'd slipped away from the forgathering, getting away from friends as well as the watchful eye of the Waterdhavian watch lieutenant. But even here, in the midst of the forest, he did not feel any better.
'None of us are ourselves this morning,' Cthulad said. 'I had no wish to intrude on your thoughts.'
Unable to feel comfortable saying anything, Baylee turned to the old ranger and asked, 'What exactly is it that brought you out here?'
'I'd heard you'd lost Golsway,' Cthulad said. 'I was greatly sorrowed to hear that.'
'Thank you.'
'I trust you are going to search for the people who did this.'
'Of that,' Baylee said, 'let there be no doubt.'
The old ranger nodded in approval. 'Spoken as I was sure you would. There are many among us who think we should provision a band and send them in search of the drow female who led the attack last night, tracking her even to the Underdark should it be necessary.'
'I think that would be a mistake,' Baylee replied.
'As do I. I said as much to the people who came to talk to me.'
Baylee wasn't surprised that the justifier had been consulted. Of them all, Cthulad was one of the most seasoned in battle. 'A large group can be tracked more easily than a small one.'
'Agreed,' Cthulad said. 'Which is how I was able to convince them that they should allow me alone to go in their stead.'
Baylee shook his head. 'No disrespect intended, but this is mine to do.'
'I understand your feelings. My mentor was killed when I wasn't much younger than you are now. Hector Glayne was a brave, fierce man. As a warrior, I'd seen him clear rooms, just him and that axe he carried everywhere he went. He was attacked and killed from behind by two men he considered to be friendly to his cause, if not friends indeed. It took me three years to find them and bring them to justice for his murder.'
Baylee looked at the man.
'Those people that lost loved ones and friends,' Cthulad said, 'need that same release you're hoping to achieve by finding that drow female. I've undertaken the job of representing their interests. That way they can get back on with their lives, trusting me to help them lay this to rest.'
'I could lose you in the forest,' Baylee said, 'just as I could lose those Waterdhavian watch members.'
'Maybe,' Cthulad grudgingly admitted, 'but I've been hunting and fighting men longer than you've got years…' He cleared his throat. 'You are very good at what you do, Baylee, but exploring isn't the same as handling military engagements. It may well be that you could use someone with my experience.'
Baylee thought about the offer.
'There are things you haven't considered,' Cthulad said.
'Such as?'
'Calebaan, Lieutenant Cordyan's partner, has been keeping wards up against any who would scry on this area. Have you any protection against that?'
'No,' Baylee had to admit.
'You're aligned, for whatever dark purpose we ultimately discover, against foes who have vast resources at their command.' Cthulad regarded him quietly. 'I'm asking you to let me help you.'
Baylee, Xuxa said. He's right.
I know. But Baylee's own independent nature warred against accepting anyone he couldn't control into his sphere of operations. He looked back through the trees, at the fresh graves that littered the hill behind them. If I fail, I've no right to deny these people the chance to right the wrong that has been committed here. Tell him.
Baylee turned to the old ranger and offered his hand. 'I'd be glad to accept your help.'
'You won't regret this, Baylee Arnvold.'
Baylee gave him an ironic smile. 'Let's just hope you won't.'
15
'What is that book that you work in so diligently?'
Baylee looked up at the question and saw Cordyan Tsald watching him. He closed the leather-covered book and marked his place with a finger. He held a quill in his other hand. 'A book.'
The watch lieutenant stood before him, dust covered her riding leathers as it covered them. A handkerchief hung around her neck, her lower face white against the dirt-encrusted upper part. 'I've watched you work in it for the last three days of this trip,' she said. 'In my line of work, curiosity is generally considered a boon, but to have to carry it around inside you when you cannot guess at the answer is hard.'
In spite of the dark mood that had hung around him since leaving the forgathering three days ago, Baylee smiled. And when the effort felt so good, he couldn't be totally antisocial. 'I know the hazards of curiosity.'
'I'm sure you do.' She made no move to come any closer, standing a few paces from where Baylee sat in the fork of a tree above her head.
The forest was quiet around them, filled with the bright, quick movements of colorful birds. Nearly a hundred paces away, a mountain lion paced them, working out her own curiosity. The big cat had followed them for the last two hours. Baylee judged she would soon stop, coming to the edge of the territory she claimed as hers.
In the distance, Ciwa Cthulad, Calebaan, and the watch members sat around the remains of the midday feast they'd just shared. Cthulad enjoyed his tea, and had laid in a goodly supply, finding a kindred spirit in the watch wizard. It was an humble table the members of the watch sat with the rangers, mostly journey cakes, sweetmeats, and jerked meat they had been supplied with from the forgathering. Baylee had added to it with berries and nuts he'd gathered before the others had gotten up.
You should not be so stand-offish, Xuxa chided from higher up in the tree.
Baylee looked up to where the bat hung upside down, regarding him with those white, pupil-less eyes. You should stay out of things. Over the last three days of hard travel, the azmyth bat had taken time to point out that the watch lieutenant was also a good looking woman, and to make the occasional disparaging remark about Jaeleen. He knew that most of the conversation of that ilk was meant to distract him rather than to offer any real attempt at encouragement.
