Fate of Dragons

Chapter Thirty-One, Part II

Sunlight flickered through the leaves above Derol and Astrid and cast mottled shadows on the forest floor below their feet. They padded silently through the network of narrow trails carved by deer and other animals through the brush. More than once, they surprised rabbits and other small creatures in the wood, and Derol wished that he had brought something to hunt them with, or had time to hunt. But they hunted a different type of quarry.

In her explorations of the forest, Astrid had managed to observe a pattern in the foraging parties that the Karume accompanied into the woods just outside of the town of Enval itself. She knew where the berry patches were, and had a good guess where this day's group of children would come to find their spoils. She led Derol to the spot, and they each found places to hide nearby while they waited for the foraging group to appear.

Derol leaned back against the large trunk of the tree that he hid behind. It was surrounded on all sides by fallen trees covered in vines and an outcrop of boulders. He opened his ears to listen for the first sounds of any approach, and at first only heard birdsong, the hush of a breeze passing through the leaves above, and the playful chitter of some tree-dwelling rodent. He rolled a loose handful of rocks in his palm, slowly so they would not clack together and make noise.

The day's sun had climbed about halfway from sunrise to noon when the first loud, cracking footsteps could be heard, along with the happy chatter of the young girls sent out to forage. They approached from Derol's right, and he risked a peek through the leafy vines to get a sight of them. There she was, a Karume mage at the back of the group, her eyes scanning the young girls for signs of flight. She was armed with a bow and quiver across her back, but more notably, a pouch at her waist, which no doubt contained an array of deadly spells.

Derol wondered how many of the spells the young mage understood, or if she could even control them once they were released. From what he had heard, the Karume who'd taken over Enval used these spells seemingly with no thought given to long term effects or the safety of any bystanders. If one of the Enval villagers gave them reason to use the spells, then any others who were injured as a result were blamed on the one who misbehaved. He and Astrid would have to do this in a way that did not cause anybody to get punished, lest the entire foraging party perish in these woods, never to return.

The girls meandered up the path toward the berry patch. Derol sunk back into the depths of his cover of brush as they neared and listened as the sound of their footsteps grew louder. After they had passed his tree, he risked another peek after them.

He sucked his breath through his teeth in a low hiss as the Karume guard turned her head and scanned the forest behind her. He ducked his head back but was not sure if her gaze had passed over him or not. Then, slowly, he brought his eyes back to a gap in the leaves. She shouldn't be able to see him from there; he knew he was well concealed. With a sigh of relief he noted her back receding. She had to watch the girls, too, after all.

Now that Derol had assured himself that the Karume woman hadn't seen him, he set his efforts to drawing her attention away from the girls entirely. He opened his pouch and plucked one of the rocks from it. No spellstones, these, just simple, loud rocks. He edged around the tree so that he would be out of sight, then rose into a half crouch. He took aim at a large tree on the other side of the path and threw his rock as hard as he could. It connected with the trunk with a satisfying thud.

Derol ducked down into the brush again, then peered around the tree. Up the path, he saw the guard's head swing around. She stared in the direction of the sound for a long moment, and then her attention was caught b ya squeal that arose from the group of girls. Derol took this chance to throw another stone. The guard's head whirled around once more. He aimed another throw at a tree farther down the path. The guard broke into a run, jogging toward the sound with a quck glance back at the girls, most of whom did not seem to have noticed their guard's brief inattention.