Dragon Tamer - Book 1

Chapter 31

Jins and Basti's attempts at humour and lightheartedness were the only things that seemed to allow Aldren to pull himself up in the morning and set off. He helped to load the horses and took centre point, Jin in front, as he had more tracking experience and so was the most well equipped of the three to lead and Basti at the back. All of them kept one hand at their sides, ready to draw their swords if necessary.

The horses stumbled along, their sounds muffled in the close quarters of the forest.

Without the safety of their camp, Aldren felt exposed and vulnerable, he constantly scanned their surroundings.

Their slow progress over uneven ground kept them warm under their furs and Aldren soon began to sweat,

"It is getting warmer" he said,

Jin sniffed, his eyes roving, 

"Could mean we're not as high up as we were?" he said, "Too damn hard to tell in this begotten bloody forest!"

Their slow progress continued, and nothing happened.

The tension and fear was driving Aldren mad, and when he was frustrated or scared he tended to lash out. He kept his comments to his companions short and clipped to try and disguise his mood. But the men cast glaces his way that proved his efforts fruitless

It was what kept him from telling the both of them that he was sorry, sorry his pride made him bring them on, what was undoubtedly a suicide mission. He wanted to say the words, but he couldn't.

Could not admit he as wrong for doing this. His father would be so disappointed if he showed such enormous holes in his  emotional armour.

A bird, such a deep green that it blended right into the canopy, flew over head, shrieking as it went. All three of them ducked instinctively. Jin readied his bow again, guiding the horses slowly and carefully they climbed on for a little while.

Then suddenly, a large doe leapt over the trail they were making behind them and bounded into the trees. Jin released an arrow with the seasoned reflexes of a stable hand who had snuck into the soldiers training field every night since he was nine years old. However he wasn't fast enough and the arrow landed harmlessly in a tree trunk.

Before he had time to curse his aim, another deer leapt past them, then another, then another. Jin hurried to reload and fired more arrows, but the animals were too fast, effortlessly leaping over the harsh ground and snow they bolted between trees, taking many sharp turns, managing to avoid all of the arrows he sent their way.

Finally the last of the herd, an enormous stag with possible the largest antlers any of them had ever seen, crashed to the ground. Jin tried one last shot, hoping a bigger target and a lot of luck would score them some dinner and spare the horses for a few more days, when a figure, wrapped in tight fitting pale leathers with a large hood leaped over a partially covered tree root, bow in one hand. In one smooth movement the figure rolled over the snow, knelt, withdrew an arrow from the  quiver on its back, drew and fired an arrow straight into the enormous stags throat.

The animal stumbled and continued to try and run but crashed into several trees before stumbling to a stop a little way away and slumping to the ground. The figure scurried after it, moving agilely over the uneven ground.

Basti palmed his sword and used his arm to move Aldren behind him. But Aldren knew an out for his frustration and so he shoved Basti aside, and charged after the figure, ripping his sword out of its sheath as he went.

The hunter was intent on his kill, all his attention and focus on the animal in front of him, he pulled a knife out of his boot and prepared to gut the animal. Only the shriek of an unseen creature caused him to lift his head and leap out of the way of a sword swing, at the last second.

Aldren brought his body around and followed his quarry.

He was painfully aware of the fact that this hunter, being the first human contact he had had, apart from Sebastian and Jin, for weeks might have knowledge that could save him and companions, and so he swept his sword up out of danger of taking heads and held it up in a threatening manner.

"Who are you? Where do you hail from?" he demanded,

The hunter lifted his head and a pair of startled pale green eyes peered out of the material, surrounded by strands of golden hair.

And Aldren's grip on his sword faltered.