Chasing Sparks

Chapter 2.1

The horses had held up surprisingly well. They may not have had the glossiest of coats, but it seemed they came from decent enough stock, as the four sparked affines had made good time. It was six days now since the incident in the village and Tiel stood on a corner surveying the small woodland area they had entered. Medhi had confirmed that Sar had not passed this way yet. Whether he ever would was a completely different question, but for now everything was going to plan.

Tiel signalled for Medhi to continue his look out duties, while he set the others to making a trap. Bolo digging. Alona clearing the surrounding area and sharpening some stakes. Himself supervising.

The trap was simple. Numerous very sharp stakes pointing upwards from the bottom of a deep pit. That was it. But despite its simplicity, it did look kind of nasty and Tiel wanted to avoid using any kind of magic wards as he suspected Sar had some way of detecting them. Such methods did exist, he knew.

So the trap was just an old fashioned hidden bear pit. To further enhance its nastiness, however, Tiel took out a small vial of green liquid from his pack and carefully put one drop of the gloopy greenish looking liquid on each of the upward pointing stakes. A little something to slow the Runner down should the stakes themselves not be enough.

Alona then commanded the grass and bushes to cover the area and by the time she had finished, there was no evidence of a bear pit whatsoever. It looked just like any other part of the trail. Alona lengthened a piece of vine that hung from a tree directly above the pit. She pointed this out to Bolo and Tiel, to make sure they didn't inadvertently stumble into the pit. Mehdi wouldn't require this, he would know where it was. He was the most skilled woodsman she had ever known. Incredible for someone without the dryad affinity.

They had also hidden the horses well out of sight and decided on a spot to hide around the trap. However, there was no point in taking up their positions yet, Medhi would let them know, if and when, the time came. Setting a trap was all well and good, but there were never any guarantees the prey would actually fall in it. Or if there would actually be any prey. So the only thing left to do was wait. Be patient and wait.

So, the three of them moved together to a little hollow off to the side of the track, where Tiel immediately began clearing away some stones and patting down the damp grass, all the time wondering if there wasn't a better spot further down.

Alona, in contrast, just rested quietly up against a tree watching the restless ice affine. She was completely at ease out in nature and looked on with amusement at the fidgeting Tiel, who was still twisting about trying to find a semi-comfortable position.

Eventually, after numerous attempts at comfort, Tiel gave up and settled for mild discomfort. Why people chose to live out in nature was beyond him.

Bolo, like Alona, was resting comfortably up against a tree. "You've spent most of the last hundred years travelling through the wilds but you manage to look like you just left your house for the first time this morning," Bolo said, raising his big bushy eyebrows at Tiel.

"That's because the wilderness reeks," Tiel said.

Bolo left the conversation there.

Tiel sighed and closed his eyes. He might as well try and get some rest. He wasn't too worried about anyone creeping up on them as both he and Alona had set wards in the area. Wards being simple enchantments, set up to sense the presence of anything larger than a domestic cat. Medhi, of course, was out there keeping watch too but the wards added a nice little bit of extra security.

But despite all this protection, Tiel never truly felt at ease the way Bolo did. Bolo just relaxed completely in camp. Something about Hun culture meant that once the camp was established, the safety of those around the fire was assured. If those guarding the camp were to let anything or anyone disturb the peace, it would bring grave dishonour to them and their family.