Bonded

Chapter 27: Vulnerable

CHAPTER SUMMARY: Rey runs into trouble while scouting a route for a slave rescue

The forest is alive with sound— the call of birds flitting from tree to tree, the rustling of small creatures through the brush, insects chirping in a rising and falling song.

Rey stalks through the woods, the earth crunching under her boots, moist soil covered by of leaves, twigs, and all manner of flora. She surveys the scene, sharp and observant, filtering everything she sees through a mental checklist.

It's thick here. The trees are full and close together, the ground covered with brush and vines.

It's not ideal. On the one hand, they'll have more cover. On the other, it'll slow them down, make it easier for the slavers to catch up to them.

The target for this rescue is fifty, more if they can. Fifty people, tired and underfed, trekking through the forest at first light. They'll be scared, on edge, moving through unfamiliar surroundings.

It would be better if there more space between trees, less brush to push through. They'd move more quickly and in a larger pack, reduce the chance of someone getting separated. Rey can only hope that someone else finds a thinner area of the forest, anything more open than this. She's got four other scouts out here. Surely one of them will find a better route.

But she can't count on it. For all she knows, this is the best route. She needs to keep her focus, imagine the escape in her mind, what they need to watch out for. She reaches for the navigational device in her pouch, checking the distance to the rendezvous point.

Three and quarter miles to go. Close to halfway.

She tucks the device back in the pouch, looking up and around for something distinct, any sign that this part of the forest is different than where she started.

But there's nothing. It seems like the same mass of trees, so high and thick they blot out the sun, light trickling through in thin streams.

Rey sighs and steps forward, brushing past vines hanging from above. Suddenly, she slows, squinting.

She can't tell for sure, but it seems brighter ahead, much brighter, as if the forest abruptly ends. Maybe it opens into a field...?

She picks up her pace, pushing away greenery as she weaves between the trees. She hops over a log, eager to make out what she's seeing.

Her heart sinks as she gets closer, the view coming into focus.

That's an open space alright. But it's no field.

It's a ravine.

Her pace tapers to a trudge as she approaches the edge of the drop, at least twenty feet deep. She halts, sighing as she takes in the scene.

The ravine is wide, so wide that even the tallest tree in the forest couldn't bridge the gap. It stretches indefinitely to the left and to the mountain on the right. It's covered in green, vines crawling up steep sides, curling around roots jutting out of the earth. Under any other circumstance, she might think it was beautiful...

She shakes her head.

No. This won't work.

They can't take the rescues this way. In fact, depending on how far the ravine goes, they might have to rethink their strategy altogether...

Rey crosses her arms, mulling over this unpleasant development. She examines the ravine closely, reluctant to give up.

If it's as long as it appears to be, perhaps there's a bridge somewhere? Though if there is, it's the first place the slavers will go when they realize a chunk of their property's missing.