Keryan
Isle
- Distant Star
Dragons
| -Lahranne -Mezanine -Renoud -Tokei -Ruben -Wernyv -Sezanee -Jonayk -Sophia -Arrenji -Kuruma -Sekai -Barune -Thekardien |
KSG!
The Second Movement
Chapter 7: Forest Walking
The froup of five escapees had been walking through the forest for 4 days
now. The progress they made each day was disapointing because they had to
venture around many objects that blocked the path, and because of Tokei,
who was still week and needed to rest a lot because of his wound. Though
the jester kept telling them he’d be fine, both Lahranne and Mezanine
had received a basis in medical care since young women were supposed to
know these things. Though they had complained at the time, now they knew
that they should not heed the words of Tokei. His wound was still bad and
if it were to infect, or start bleeding again from the strain, it’d be
even worse.
"Where are we headed exactly, Ruben?" Lahranne asked again.
"Hmm, from memory I’d say it’s still a day South before we reach
the bridge. It’s the only way t cross the river without people seeing
us, and then we can continue due West on a better path for maybe a week or
so more. This actually isn’t such a big forest, but it’s roads are
tended badly and people just decided to go around it."
"Why is that?" Mezanine wondered, "No matter how small,
cutting through the forest would still be easier than going around."
"That’s because it’s cursed." Renoud butted in, "Or so
I heard."
"Cursed?" Lahranne asked.
"Supposedly people who enter the deepest heart of it are never seen
again. Spirits are said to take them captive and suck the life from
them."
"Any truth in it?" Mezanine asked.
"Nah, it’s just some people who have gotten lost, or people who got
mugged by bandits and were either killed or sold. If they were to patrol
the roads again, these things would not happen." Ruben shrugged,
"But lucky for us, not many people dare to come around these parts
anymore."
"Are you so sure of that?" Tokei asked, while the others were
chitchatting, he had been giving his eyes a lot time to recover their
sharpness. He was surprised at how fast his mind relearned every aspect of
predicting danger and foreseeing traps and ambushes. However, though his
mind was willing, his body wasn’t as fast to recover.
"What is it Tokei?" Renoud asked.
"Maybe 10 yards away, I’m pretty sure I saw someone ducking away
when we came closer."
Seeing that the bard was serious, and not prone to be influenced by ghost
stories, Renoud decided to venture into the bushes and just make sure.
Though there really might have been something, a deer would just as easily
run if it saw them as a human with bad intentions.
Carefully, Renoud stepped closer. Making as little sound as possible,
though his footsteps seemed to echo all around him. Finally reaching
through a bushy undergrowth, Renoud’s hands touched cloth. So it hadn’t
been aan animal. Tokei had been right.
"You there!" Renoud called and dragged the squirming youth
through the bushes. "Just what are you doing here?"
Looking through the hole in the hedge, Renoud at first couldn’t believe
what he saw. A dead body was laying there and the boy had been busy
searching his bodies. More, the dead man clearly looked as if he had been
murdered. Shocked by the sight, Renoud loosened his grip just enough for
the youth to break free. Without much delay, he shoved Renoud, making him
fall and then quickly disappeared in the thick growth of the forest.
"You better not come back and try to do the same to us!" Renoud
called after him.
"Very, brave." Mezanine laughed as the interior decorator got
up, rubbed the dirt from his trousers and returned to their small group of
travellers.
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