Book 2 Season's Change Spring's Revenge

Part 28 A Bridge to Cross it

Luck was on their side. They outran that troll. In fact, it didn't even give chase. With both hands regenerating and all of the tendons behind its knees doing the same it took the foul beast a fair amount of time to get out of the water and to gain its feet again. They were long gone by then.

It wasn't easy finding refuge in the swamp at night, but they found a stand of trees and spent the night wary, on edge but secure, in the highest branches of a tree as possible. That night and their second in the swamp was uneventful. They remained in trees where they could and remained hyper-vigilant as they followed the path through the boggy land. They did not want to be caught unaware again by a creature like that troll type thing. After the second day, they emerged from the swamp to find the hardened path continuing in a northwesterly direction. They stopped off to the side of the path to get their bearings and inspect the tracks in the trail. They spoke quietly amongst themselves as they sat on their haunches near the edge of the trail passing the water skin between them. They looked like two very well dressed and well-armed travelers resting beside the road with a large cat-like animal hiding under the cloak of the male and a cute little ferret playing on the ground between them as they shared their water with each other and the animals.

"There are no wagon tracks leading away from this hardened trail. So, he must still be on it. We'll follow it. There are so many others that are starting to join us, this must be a commonly traveled path. Like the trade routes back home. Paths that are safer than the wilderness that go to a specific destination. I wonder where this one leads." Avriel looked around at the people and wagons passing by while he and Katana sat back off the trail and well out of the way. What looked like a family with their wagon loaded with the first spring harvest rolled by. There were small humans walking alongside the cart with the bigger ones.

"Avriel?"

"Yes?"

"The small humans don't seem to have the grace of the larger ones. Why?"

Avriel could not stop his laughter. "They are children. Have you never seen children before?"

"Not your kind. They are unskilled and not very graceful."

"Well, I guess not." He laughed again" They are still learning." Avriel smiled at Katana. "Are your children graceful from the start?"

"No. They are helpless, but they are taught to fight and cast when they reach their first decade if they make it that far."

Avriel was beyond shocked for a moment. "Do your families not love their children?" Then he remembered where she was from.

"Kotas?"

"Right. What about in the lower houses? Is there no sense of family, unity, love? Who raises the children?"

"Their teachers tend to them once they leave the nursery."

"And that happens after 10 years?

"Five."

"Oh." Avriel suddenly desired a change of subject. He pulled her cowl up for her. "We're going to have to do something about those ears and that hair." He smiled. He absolutely loved her ears and he wanted nothing more than to play with her hair. There was little to nothing they could do about her lithe frame but hope her cloak would obscure it from anyone trying to look on from a distance. The things that identified her race didn't bother him at all; he knew her heart. But he remembered how terrified he was when he first saw her and all the assumptions he had made based on the color of her skin and the shape of her ears. He doubted anyone else would give her the chance to prove herself. Their reactions could be a problem. "I hope we can move freely among them. There are many people on this path. Keep your hair and ears covered. They don't know you like I do." He paused and looked into her eyes. He lost his train of thought for a moment and just stared. He smiled and resumed. "We want to blend in. Do you understand what they are saying when they speak?"