75. An Ill Advised Visitor (Patreon)

When the others caught up with me they, or at least Herald and Ardek, were in a much better mood than I’d expected. Makanna was keeping her expression carefully neutral as she scanned our surroundings, on guard in case the sound and scent of the hunt attracted unwanted attention.

I had to fight down an urge to warn them off from my kill. These are our friends, the little voice reminded me, but besides that they were my humans. They needed food, so I would provide.

“I will not pretend that it was a good shot,” Herald told Ardek, “but it was a hit. That’s better than many manage on their first hunt. Of course, if we had not had Draka to help we would have had to track the deer down to finish it, which might have taken hours if we were unlucky. And then we would have had to carry it back from wherever we tracked it to, which might have taken almost as long, only with the added burden. I suggest you thank her for sparing us all that.”

He ducked his head towards me. “Right. Thanks, boss.”

“Thank me by shooting better next time,” I said lightly. “I won’t run the next one down for you. All that tracking and carrying sounds like a great way to motivate someone to get better, right?”

I was, of course, bullshitting. I’d loved running that deer down. It was like winning a race with my friends watching, and the prize was that I got to eat my opponent.

Herald took my words at face value and looked less than enthusiastic. “You do realise that we will have to go with him in that case?”

“I like walking in the forest with you all,” I said. “But if you don’t like the idea, then I suggest you make sure that Ardek gets better. With all that motivation I don’t see how he could fail.”

Herald sighed, but didn’t argue. If she wanted to keep him and train him, I was going to make sure that she took her part seriously.

“What about your arrows?” I asked.

Herald crouched by the carcass. “This one might be recoverable. We will see once I cut it out. We can consider the other one lost. As much as I would love to have Ardek look for it, it is more important that he is here to dress the deer.”

“What’s that?” Ardek said.

“You’ve got to get the blood and guts out,” Mak said from off to the side. “Or do you want to carry all that extra weight back to the camp, and then have a pile of deer guts, full of deer shit, next to where we spend our time?”

I couldn’t tell, my night vision being all greys, but from the expression on Ardek’s face I’d guess that he went quite pale at that. “No,” he said. “I guess not.”

“Then we may as well get started,” Herald said, pulling out a short, very sharp-looking knife. “So, you want to start with a cut around the butthole…”

*****

By the time the deer was dressed and tied to a pole Ardek had thrown up twice. But to his credit he’d come right back each time and done what he was told to. He almost ran off again when I started chowing down on the lungs, but he kept himself together that time.  There was hope for him yet.

Herald and Ardek being the closest in height, they carried the pole, with Mak taking Herald’s bow along with her own spear. The bow was too long for her, but not so bad that she couldn’t shoot it if necessary. And while she wasn’t anywhere near as good a shot as Herald she was still better than Ardek.

While Mak kept watch and Herald tried to make Ardek sick again by describing how they’d skin and butcher the deer when they got back, I mostly just walked along. I felt fat and happy. It wasn’t to the point of needing to sleep it off, but I’d eaten a lot of the wobbly bits that Mak and Herald didn’t want, and it had added up. I would have loved to take a nap, but Herald insisted that the deer needed to be taken care of as quickly as possible, and she’d been less than amused when I offered to just spray it down with venom to keep the flies off for a couple of hours.

Loose and relaxed, I joined Mak at the front. “Let me know if you see any signs of a bear,” I said softly. “I keep smelling one, but I’ve never seen it.”

“Do you think it’s the one you and Lalia fought?” she replied at the same volume.

“Nah. That was much farther south. Although that bastard was good at hiding, so maybe? Hope not, though. I am not ready for a rematch, and none of you have horses to escape on.”

“It was really that bad?”

“Like I told you. I’d’ve been bear food if Lalia hadn’t come back for me. I got the hell out the moment I got a chance. Oh, and there’s at least one more of the monsters in this part of the forest. With cubs! Can’t smell the difference between a monster bear and a regular one, so it could be one of those, or it could be a basic bear.”

“Out of curiosity: what is your plan if we do run across a bear?”

“A regular one? Kill it. Between Herald, you, and me, it shouldn’t be a problem. A monster? Shit… Dump the deer, hope it’s happy with that? Otherwise I’d try to lead it off while you guys climb the tallest tree you can.” I lowered my voice even further and switched to Tekereteki and said, “Maybe use the boy as bait, hmm?”

That got an amused snort and an actual smile out of Mak.

“If necessary, I would like to do it myself,” she said in the slow, careful way that she spoke the language. “But feeding him to a bear… acceptable.”

We didn’t run across any bears that night and I lost the scent when we got closer to the mountain. When I thought about it I hadn’t smelled any wolves for a while either. I didn’t want to assume that I’d been lucky enough that they’d just decided to abandon my mountain. They’d be back, I was sure of it. But it was nice to have one less thing bothering me, and we could always go looking for them if we got bored one night.

Back at the mountain Herald asked Mak to get a nice big fire going at the scholars’ campsite, while she and Ardek got to work skinning and butchering the deer. There were apparently a lot of steps involved in preserving the skin and the meat, but I honestly wasn’t really interested. I might grab some grilled venison from them when they got to that point, even though I’d already eaten enough for the next two days at least, but otherwise they were doing human things that I had no use for. Instead of trying to learn anything I picked a nice, tall tree with a good view of the area. Telling the humans to shout if they needed me, I climbed about three quarters to the top, found a great place to comfortably wrap myself around some branches, and finally took that nap.

*****

I snapped awake. It was early morning, about time for the humans to go back inside to sleep. Someone should have woken me already. Something was wrong.

I looked at the camp. The fire was burning, making quite a lot of smoke, with a large rack full of long strips of meat over it. Herald had warned me that dealing with the meat might take well into the day, so that was probably who no one had woken me. Mak and Ardek were there, sitting on either end of one of the logs serving as seating by the fire, but they were silent. They had their weapons prepared close at hand, and were looking south warily. At first I couldn’t see Herald, but then I spotted her behind a tree fifty feet from the others. She had her bow ready and an arrow nocked, occasionally throwing a glance my way.

Something was wrong, and they hadn’t called for me. That probably meant that there was no immediate, obvious need for violence. I stayed silent, but moved to make myself more visible and waved to catch Herald’s attention the next time she looked. Once we made eye contact she nodded once, then returned her attention south.

“Hello, the camp!” a man’s voice called not much later. “Do you mind if I approach?”

The voice was familiar, but there were too many trees in the way for me to see the speaker with how high up I was. I was sure that I recognised it, though.

“What brings you out here?” Mak called back. “And are you alone?”

“I am. As for what brings me here, I was hoping to use this very camp site. Mind if I join you?”

“We came out here for some privacy.”

“Did you? Well, a young couple like you. I won’t impose. I can make my camp on the other side of the stream if I must. I don’t suppose it makes any difference if I’m a fellow Guild member? I must admit that I recognise you. I don’t suppose that Valmik is around? He could vouch for me.”

I saw Herald shift uneasily when the man said that he recognised Mak. I didn’t like it either.

“Come closer,” Mak called. “Let me see you! What’s your name?”

“Barro,” the man said as he stepped into the clearing, leading a donkey. Or a mule. It wasn’t a horse, anyway. As soon as I heard the name I could place the voice, and sure enough, the man that approached was the one who’d been in charge of Tavia and Ramban’s, the scholars, guards. I recognised him by his lanky build and his long, messy hair before I even got a good look at his face.

I was very displeased. I had been very clear, I thought, that they were not to return. That included him.

Herald had not stood by idly. She’d been circling around among the trees, and around the same time as Barro walked into the clearing Herald stepped in behind mine. With some effort in the morning light I deepened the shadow of the tree and shifted, gliding down silently and shifting back next to Herald.

“That man,” I hissed, “is not supposed to be here. I thought I made myself clear.”

“Who is he?” Herald asked. “What do you want us to do?”

“Remember the scholars? He was in charge of their guards. And when I ran them off I told them, very clearly, that they would not enjoy the consequences if they came back.”

“Do you want us to… I mean, it does not feel right.”

I ground my teeth in frustration. Or I would have if I had any flat grinding teeth. She was right. I couldn’t ask them to clean up my mess, especially not when it was a man who hadn’t done them any harm.

“I do recognise you,” Mak was saying. “And I don’t know that I’ve heard anything bad about you. You may already know, but I am Makanna. This is Ardek. We are not,” she said sharply, “a couple. You can join us for some fresh venison if you haven’t had breakfast, but then we really do want some privacy.”

It was probably the right choice, though I didn’t like it. Mak refusing hospitality probably ran straight against her reputation, and would look even more odd than her being out here in the first place.

“Go, join them.” I told Herald. “I will figure out what to do about Barro.”

She nodded, and returned her arrow to the quiver on her hip as she approached the others. As she did, I began to stalk around the area, making sure that Barro was as alone as he said. And it turned out that he was being honest. There was no sign of either the guards he’d had with him or the scholars. I could only assume that he had a great deal of confidence in his ability to keep himself safe.

I had no idea why the hell he was there, though, especially alone, so I stayed close enough to listen to the conversation going on by the fireplace.

Barro didn’t look surprised to see Herald coming out from the trees. “Ah, hello. I thought you might be around,” he said, after turning to look at her approaching footsteps.

“And why is that?” she asked.

“You’re all quite well known around the Guild,” he answered with a small shrug. “You’re even more recognisable than your sister. I suppose you know that. And from what I’ve heard the four of you rarely go out unless you’re all together. Speaking of, again, I don’t suppose Val is around here somewhere? We know each other from years back, and I haven’t had much opportunity to speak with him lately.”

“He and Tam are busy on another errand,” Mak said.

“And you, Ardek was it? Are you a new member of the team, then?”

“Ah, not exactly,” Ardek said, but he was interrupted by Herald.

“We will see,” she said. “Someone asked us to look after him for a while. He is in some trouble in the city.”

“Ah,” Barro said, giving Ardek a knowing look. “So which was it? Did you get a girl in trouble, or did you duel the wrong man?”

“Neither,” Ardek said. “Turns out my boss was a criminal. Well, a worse criminal than I knew of, anyway. And she’s not going to forgive me for running off.”

“A man of conscience, then? Oh, thank you.” I guessed that someone must have handed him some of the left-over grilled venison. “The world can always use more men like you, Ardek. Though you’ll have to be skilled and clever to survive and get far, I’m afraid. Like Makanna, here! We may not all know her name, but everyone in the Guild knows that our Tekereteki members are reliable!”

At this point I was satisfied that there was really no one else hiding among the trees, so I took a position in the bushes behind Barro’s back where I could watch the camp.

“Now you know why we are out,” Mak said slowly. “Other than flattering us, what’s your business here? This place is quite out of the way, far from any road. What brings you to this camp site?”

“There is something in the area that I was hoping to get another look at,” Barro said, and even without seeing his face, even if I hadn’t already had a pretty good idea of why he was here, I would have been able to tell that he was being evasive. “I helped set up this site, several weeks back, but my employers returned to the city before I felt quite done here.” He gnawed a bone, perhaps a rib, for a while. “Oh, that’s good. Thank you again. How did you find this place, then? Like you said, it’s quite out of the way.”

“We have friends who go all over this forest. It is quite easy to find if you just travel along the hills,” Herald said, not nearly as smoothly as she might have wished. Sneaking, she could do, and quite well. Deception, not so much. But Barro was too smooth or polite to comment on it, simply acknowledging Herald’s explanation with a grunt.

“If you’re looking for something, why don’t you just tell us what it is?” Mak said. “We can tell you if we’ve seen it.”

I couldn’t see Barro’s face, but from behind he seemed to sag a little. “I really don’t know if I should be involving you folks in my troubles, especially not after you’ve invited me to your fire and shared your food with me. I’m probably a Sorrows-damned fool as it is, chasing my nightmares out here.”

Herald suddenly laughed, long and loud. It was, perhaps, not the most polite thing to do after such sombre words, and she was clearly well aware, covering her mouth, then turning away completely when she couldn’t get herself under control. “Sorry! I really am sorry,” she said, then broke into another fit of giggles. “But do you expect us to be dissuaded by mysterious pronouncements of doom and gloom? We are adventurers, man! We have delved into the hearts of the mountains to rescue enchanted people from the clutches of monsters, and you try to scare us off with maybes?”

Mak just shook her head, and I barely heard her mutter with mock disgust, “I’m suddenly surrounded by poets.”

Barro took it with good humour. “I don’t blame you for laughing. Maybe I was being a little overly dramatic. But I mean it when I say that what I’m doing is foolish. I just can’t help myself. What I saw out here haunts me. I keep thinking about, dreaming about it. I’m risking my life to face it, and… I’m doing nothing to dissuade you, am I?”

“Nothing at all!” Herald said cheerfully. “So why not simply tell us what it is you are after?”

At that Mak simply abandoned all pretence at politeness and spoke to Herald cautiously in Tekereteki. “Sister, is it good to speak like this?” she said. “We have secrets here.”

“He has been in the mountain,” Herald answered her sister just as brightly as she’d just spoken to Barro. “Our scaly friend told me about him. He was with the scholars I mentioned. We need to find what exactly he thinks that he knows.” She turned to Barro with a smile. “Apologies,” she said. “This will only be a moment.”

“Oh, no. Take your time.”

“If he is a threat to you-know-who, then we will have to deal with him, one way or another.” Herald continued. Mak frowned unhappily.

Ardek sat down next to Barro and murmured something, to which Barro just shrugged and shook his head.

“You know that I am right, Mak,” Herald said softly.

Mak sighed. “Fine,” she said, to both Herald and Barro. “Go ahead.”

“I don’t believe that I have actually agreed to share anything yet,” Barro said, but Ardek cut in from the side.

“Oh, come now, Mister Barro!” he said. “You’d be a right bastard to leave us wondering after what you’ve already said. I don’t peg you as a man who’d dangle a mystery in front of someone’s face like that and just snatch it away.”

“Does it have anything to do with the pit someone dug against the mountainside, a stone’s throw north of here?” Herald asked.

“Of course you would have seen it already, if you’re camping here,” Barro sighed.. “Yes. It does. When I was last here my employers had myself and my companions dig that pit over quite a few days. Very carefully, I should add. They went over the stone face with brushes, if you can believe it.”

“And they found what they were looking for, did they not?” Herald pressed. “The gate.”

Barro straightened in his seat. I was getting really tired of not being able to see his face, so I started circling back among the trees to try to get a side view instead.

“You know about the gate?” Barro said. “Is it open?” He was leaning forward, his voice suddenly eager.

“Perhaps you don’t know this, Barro, but we were the ones who discovered the gates. We can recognise one pretty easily,” Mak said. I could give her that. It was partially true. At least they’d found a gate, and they were the ones to tell the council about them.

“And yes, it is open,” Herald said. “We have been camping just inside.”

“Then you may already be in danger. Please say that you have not gone deeper!”

“Oh, should we not have done that? We have our main camp at the end of the tunnel, in some kind of nexus. We only sleep near the gate to make it easier to go outside.”

“Oh, Mercies! Please, listen to me. You have to move your camp outside, the sooner the better. There is something in those tunnels, and it does not want us there! As one adventurer to another, I promise you that I have only your safety in mind. I have my own reason for why I must go in there, but if the thing that lurks in there does not know you yet you may still have a chance!”

“I do not see what the fuss is about,” Herald said innocently. She was doing a much better job of deceiving this poor man than I would have ever expected from her, though his excitement probably helped. “Whatever this thing you may have seen was, it has not bothered us, and we have been here for days. I suggest you come inside with us once we’re done smoking and drying this meat, and you can see for yourself! What do you think, Mak?”

Mak shrugged. “He may as well, if it will calm him.”

“I guess that you will have to see it to believe me,” Barro sighed. “But I’ll come with you, if only to help you break down your camp and carry your things when it drives us out.”

“That is a very kind offer, Mister Barro,” Herald said, and smiled.

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Hey! I hope you all have some nice and peaceful holidays, for those of you who celebrate! Everything will be publishing as normal thanks to the magic of scheduling, in case you just can't go without a new chapter on Christmas Day.

//AB