Whisper of the Wilding Woods: Chapter 5
In which exhaustion takes its toll.
Chapter 5
It was midmorning before Kaeleth deemed it safe enough to stop for a rest. His joints ached when he lowered the girl to a seat on a patch of mossy ground next to a freshwater spring so small it was barely a trickle. As he leaned forward and sipped from cupped hands, he decided they wouldn’t stay more than a few minutes. Kaeleth had already been on his feet for half a day before rescuing the girl, and other than a few moments in the cabin, he’d been walking ever since. First dragging the barely conscious girl back to the cabin, then to Daurendale and back. Now another morning’s walking without rest. He hadn’t slept since the night before, and he’d been so preoccupied with getting help for the girl that he’d hardly eaten more than a bowl of thin soup and a meager crust of bread. In his haste to escape the cabin before the soldiers broke down the door, he’d thought only of his father’s cloak and bow. There hadn’t been enough time to collect the satchel he’d packed with supplies. The pyras crystals had burned even more intensely than he’d imagined, but the conflagration had likely been the only thing to save them. His father had shown him how to break off tiny chunks for use as a firestarter when wood was too damp to catch, warning Kaeleth of the dangers of allowing too large a piece to catch fire. It made Kaeleth shudder to think his father kept such a large tin of pyras crystals in the house.
Thinking about his father and his lectures about fire safety made Kaeleth’s heart seize. The man was long dead. Most likely still propped where Kaeleth had left him. An image of scavenging animals converging on the corpse arrived unbidden, and Kaeleth shut his eyes tightly and shook his head to banish the terrible notion. Instead, he shoved all thoughts of his father’s death aside and looked at the girl. She’d become quiet and sullen shortly into their forced march from the cabin. The delirium brought on by Kaeleth’s accidental mixing of tulum and acorus had blessedly not lingered overlong. Though Kaeleth knew she must still be weak and suffering from her earlier loss of blood, he was happy she was able to mostly walk on her own. Now and again he had to help her through particularly treacherous stretches of rocky ground, and she required quite a bit of help up the rope ladder that allowed them to quickly gain the height of a cliff face which would have taken hours of walking to otherwise reach, but she was mostly self-sufficient even if she looked like she was sleepwalking.
Hauling the rope ladder up behind them had given them a substantial lead on their pursuers, assuming they were still being followed. Kaeleth had been careful to stick to terrain that was ill-suited to horses, though there had been little he could do about leaving a trail obvious enough for any half-witted tracker to follow. On his own, he might have been able to manage had he applied every bit of his art and skill to the task. With the girl stumbling along behind him, however, it was impossible to avoid clear evidence of their passing. Without the ladder, they’d certainly have been caught. Now it would take the soldiers at least half a day to find a path to the top of the cliff and pick up the trail again. Even so, Kaeleth still had a few tricks up his sleeve for losing them completely.
“Drink something,” he told the girl. “We can’t stay long.”
She’d been staring listlessly at the ground, eyes glazed over as if shrouded in the web of dreams. At the sound of his voice, she flinched backwards so abruptly she nearly fell over, catching herself only at the last moment with a strangled cry that became a sharp exhalation. Her body shook violently, and it seemed to Kaeleth that she was taking great pains not to succumb to an urge to cry. Once recovered from her momentary fright, she looked him directly in the eye, as if daring him to comment on her show of weakness and confusion. It was only after some internal process of thought that she eyed the spring a moment before kneeling at its edge to sip directly from the little pool of water with her mouth.
“With your hands,” Kaeleth explained, cupping his hand by way of example. “To filter the miasmas. Not to mention leeches. One swam right up Billy Traelstead’s nose a few summers back. Took ‘em ages to figure out what had happened. The damned thing only peeked out when he was drinking water or eating soup. We thought he had a demon in him for a while.”
Kaeleth realized the girl was staring at him again. Unsure of whether or not she’d lost her wits, he reached into the stream and cupped some water for himself to drink. She waited until he’d leaned back to sit on his heels before doing the same. She drank slowly, as if only humoring Kaeleth’s request, but he didn’t see how she could possibly not be thirsty after so long without water. Perhaps some residual head fog from the tulum and acorus still lingered. The girl acted as though she had no concern whatsoever for her own well-being. She moved as if enthralled, forbidden from taking any action but that she was ordered to do. Discomfiting as it was, the girl’s sanity wasn’t a pressing concern. Kaeleth’s father had given his life in order to save this girl, and Kaeleth would be damned if he’d render that sacrifice worthless by letting her fall into the hands of her pursuers. His first priority was to get the girl to safety. Only then could he concern himself with her addled state of mind.
Shaking their pursuers once and for all would require they continue their trek as soon as possible, but Kaeleth took a moment to empty his pockets so that he could do a quick inventory of their supplies. From within the pouch he always carried, Kaeleth produced a scant handful of nuts and dried berries that he emptied onto his cloak where he’d folded it over his legs. Wrapped in a pocket of cloth were three steel fishing hooks and a coil of strong, yet fine woven horsehair line his father had purchased on a trip to Oshald many years earlier. Kaeleth had never seen it like before, and had taken great pains to preserve it throughout several seasons of use. When he fouled his line fishing, he waded or swam into the river to untangle it, or if that wasn’t possible, to cut it free as close to the hook as he could manage. It was one of his most prized possessions, and never had he been so glad to have it with him. The remaining contents of his pouch consisted of a small chunk of sparkrock, a pinch of waxed yarn fuzz to act as tinder, and a small wad of linen bandage for minor cuts and scrapes. On his belt was the tin cup he always carried in the wilderness, and he also had his knife, his father’s bow, and the six arrows that were all he’d managed to grab before they were forced to flee. Though they had no bedrolls, they each had a cloak to keep out the worst of the elements. It wasn’t much, but it was more than Kaeleth had been allowed to take with him on many nights of survival training where his father had sent him out alone with nothing but a knife and the clothes on his back. It wouldn’t be comfortable, but they could survive as long as they had to. Eventually, the men on their trail had to grow weary of hunting them through the woods. Kaeleth only had to outlast the soldiers. These woods were Kaeleth’s home. He doubted the soldiers would last more than a day or two without having to double back and resupply.
Repacking his pouch with all but the nuts and berries, Kaeleth split these into two equal portions and held one out to the girl. “Eat these. It’s the last food we have until it’s safe to look for more, so try not to drop any of it.”
The girl held out her hand to receive her share of the food, but didn’t eat right away. “Is this all there is?” she asked. “Shouldn’t we save it?”
“We can get more eventually. Better to eat now and keep our strength than grow too weak to forage or hunt.” Kaeleth rose to his feet. “Eat as we walk. I’d like to put as much distance between us and those soldiers as possible.”
The girl looked crestfallen. “So soon? These boots have rubbed my feet raw. I can hardly walk for the cramps in my legs.”
“The longer you sit, the more difficult it’ll be to move again.”
Kaeleth reached out to help her stand. To her credit, she did so without any more complaint than a resigned sigh. Neither choosing to waste breath on further discussion, they resumed their plodding march through the forest. The undergrowth was patchier atop the cliff, which made for easier going. It was also riskier to be so out in the open. Kaeleth was fairly certain they had enough of a lead on their pursuers for it not to matter, but being this exposed made him nervous enough to be continually glancing over his shoulder as if he expected to see the soldiers closing in on them at any moment. It was vital they didn’t squander their advantage. Essential they keep moving. Though he felt little of his aches and pains, Kaeleth knew he was in a bad way. His feet were calloused enough to not have blistered through the long hours of walking as the girl’s feet had, but he knew well enough from past experience how punishing it had been to walk as long as he had without proper rest.
For hours now, he’d been feeling a growing numbness both inside and out. He did his best to focus on the ground in front of him, looking for any opportunity to obscure their tracks or avoid difficult-to-navigate terrain, but it seemed as though everything he did or saw provoked a memory of his father. Kaeleth had spent half his life alone in the forest, and it was almost easy for him to believe his father was simply off hunting alone or waiting for him back at their cabin. Almost. The bow riding on his back was a constant reminder of the man who should have been carrying it. The man who Kaeleth had left dying in order to save the life of a stranger. Try as he might to convince himself that the girl was as much a victim in this situation as anyone, Kaeleth felt the fiery heat of anger burning in his gut whenever he glanced back to ensure his charge hadn’t lagged too far behind. Even dressed in his clothing and exhausted as she was, she carried herself differently than anyone Kaeleth had ever met. From the icy coolness in her eyes when she looked at him to the set of her jaw when he told her to do something, it was clear she resented being ordered around. Even without the fine clothes she’d been wearing when her carriage had been attacked, it was obvious she was at the very least the daughter of a wealthy merchant, if not some kind of minor nobility. The skin on her hand had been impossibly smooth when Kaeleth had helped her to her feet. Unmarred by labor and probably more used to braiding hair or turning the pages of books than anything else. In this environment, she was essentially dead weight. A liability. Having gotten himself wrapped up in her troubles, Kaeleth figured he was as good as dead if they were caught. If they hadn’t already known his name before arriving at the cabin, it would be a simple matter of asking anyone in Daurendale. Even if he left the girl to her own devices, it would be his death to show his face around there any time soon.
And so he walked, ignoring the complaints of his body and fuming inwardly at the burden he’d been saddled with. One thing was certain, he thought as he hopped up onto a long stretch of exposed rock in order to minimize footprints, he’d get answers from this girl when next they stopped. His father had rushed to her aid so Kaeleth hadn’t questioned it for even a second, but the longer they walked, the more he began to wonder if perhaps the men chasing them weren’t the aggrieved party. What if this girl had murdered someone and fled? What if she’d stolen that fine clothing and carriage? She didn’t seem the type to stab a man in cold blood, but the stern resoluteness of her demeanor spoke to something dark, did it not? Poison, perhaps. A woman’s weapon. Might Kaeleth find himself on the wrong end of a tainted draught once he’d outlived his usefulness?
If returning to Daurendale was certain death, his best chance lay in moving forward. The only remaining question was whether or not he did so in the company of the mysterious girl or on his own. It would be a simple thing to lose her. A matter of suggesting they rest a moment and then quietly melting into the forest. It wouldn’t even require any great subterfuge. He could slip her any time he chose even if she never took her eyes off him. A sidestep behind a tree. Ducking into a bush. Within seconds, he could dart from cover to cover, effectively vanishing from someone so painfully ignorant of the ways of the wilderness.
Though that would as much as sign her death warrant. If the men on their trail didn’t catch her, starvation wouldn’t be long behind. Or worse, a false step and a broken ankle. A run-in with a scarlet adder or a hungry wolf with an eye to an easy meal. Every step away from Daurendale took them deeper into wilderness untouched by man save for the footsteps of hunters or herb gatherers. Even then, they rarely ranged beyond the foothills of the Cragganmorain mountains where snow and ice covered treacherous rocky terrain even in the height of summer. Kaeleth’s father had taken him into those mountains once. Not into the rocky reaches, but to the meadows above where the last of the trees grew. Down in the valley, it had been one of the hottest summers in memory, yet Kaeleth had shivered beneath the warmth of his cloak in the evening. Far above them, the uppermost peaks had been capped with glistening white gowns of snow that stung the eyes when the sun was high.
Kaeleth shivered at the memory. Better to stay well below the alpine tree line. The first snowfall would hopefully be weeks away, though the air grew more crisp and cool with each passing day. The meadows and beyond, however, were a different tale. Even without the snow, their clothing was ill-suited to the cold. The few mountain springs Kaeleth knew of might even be frozen over already. Though berries would have been plentiful in the upper meadows only a few weeks ago, they’d almost certainly been picked clean by bears and brockets. There was nothing for them and nowhere to hide. Better to stay among the denser stands of trees and hidden cliff bands with secret climbing routes to ensure none could easily follow.
A sudden rustle in the bushes made Kaeleth whirl around. Where was the girl? He drew his knife and crouched low as he scanned the woods. Had they somehow been overtaken without him noticing? Kaeleth couldn’t see anyone, but perhaps that was their intention. Had they grabbed the girl and hidden, waiting for him to walk right into their hands when he came to see what had happened? He wouldn’t let it come to that. Pulling the girl along as they kept ahead of their pursuers was one thing, but if it was time to flee, Kaeleth would run and disappear before the soldiers realized he’d even been there in the first place. What good was kaeleth if the girl had gotten herself caught? There was only so much a boy with a knife and a bow he couldn’t properly draw could do to stand against hardened soldiers.
Kaeleth squinted into the flat evening light. When had it gotten so late? He’d been so lost in thought, he’d hardly noticed the passage of time. The men on their trail had chosen a good time to strike. A thin fog had rolled in, obscuring sight for more than fifty yards and muffling the sounds of birdsong and wind-rustled leaves. There was something, however. The slightest of sounds coming from twenty or so paces back. Was it… crying?
Even lacking his father’s art for passing through the woods as soundlessly as a spectral shade, Kaeleth knew how to step in order to move with little more than the barest whisper of a leaf brushing against his cloak. Daring to investigate, he crept cautiously toward the sound, half-poised to turn and run at the slightest sign of danger. What he discovered, however, made him release a nervous breath and crouch to the girl’s side. She lay on her side, one arm thrown over her face while she whimpered softly.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Did you hurt yourself?”
The girl’s body shuddered, then she fell still. If not for the steady sound of her sniffling, Kaeleth might have thought her dead. Unsure of what to do to get her back to her feet and walking again, he remained hunched by her side, eyes scanning the trees for any sign of trouble. Though, with the fog thickening as it was, he couldn’t see or hear much of anything. An entire army could be creeping up the trail behind him, and he likely wouldn’t hear them until it was too late.
He reached down to lay his hand on the girl’s shoulder. The sniffling had stopped, but she was still breathing. “If you’re not dead, you can walk. On your feet.”
The girl pulled her arm down from her face and looked up at him. Unspent tears pooled in her eyes, shimmering ever so slightly in the dusky light. She’d lost her imperiousness somewhere along the trail over the last several hours. What remained in her gaze was confusion and fear.
“Please…” She closed her eyes, and her body shook with a silent sob. When she opened them again, a fresh stream of tears ran down her cheeks. “I can’t. It’s too much. I can’t.” The girl lowered her head to look away, bringing her hands up to cover her face.
Kaeleth felt ashamed for having to witness her in such a state, followed immediately by annoyance for having to deal with her weakness. He grabbed her wrist and wrenched her hand away from her face, then waited for her to look him in the eye again. “My father is dead because of you. I half-carried you miles to safety. Then, while you slept, I went into the village to fetch aid for you. I have been trekking through the woods all night and all day, with no sleep and almost no food, to stay ahead of the men chasing you. Don’t you dare give up now.”
Whatever response Kaeleth had been expecting from his frustrated outburst, it certainly hadn’t been laughter. It began as a series of sharp exhalations, then escalated to a hysterical peal of laughter that made Kaeleth slap his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet.
“Are you mad?” he hissed, crouching low to minimize his silhouette should anyone be close enough to have heard them. “Lay down and die if that’s what you want, but I’ll be damned if I let you take me down with you.”
He made to leave, but was stopped in his tracks by the girl reaching out to grab him by the wrist. “No, please don’t. I apologize. I don’t know what came over me. You’re right to say those things, but I simply cannot walk any further without rest. Can’t we stop for just a little while? Surely those men can’t track us in this fog?”
The girl had a point. Though it felt to Kaeleth as though the woods were full of eyes watching their every move, the men on their trail had to be far enough back to warrant a rest. And the gathering fog would make it dangerous for anyone to stumble through the dark once night fell. Footsore and hungry as they were, the smart thing to do would be to find a place to hole up for a few hours to get some sleep.
Kaeleth nodded, then reached out with his other hand, once again helping the girl to her feet. Suddenly bone weary, he found himself leaning on her as much as she on him as they moved on in search of a safe place to rest. It didn’t take long for Kaeleth to spot a suitable tree with thickly needled branches swooping all the way to the ground. He swept aside a branch and crawled into the small space next to the trunk. It wasn’t perfect, but it would do for a while. The dried old needles carpeting the floor made for a passable bed, and the layered branches above them would both hide and protect them from the elements or prying eyes. If he’d had the strength, Kaeleth would have gone out to create a few false trails and attempt to cover the footprints leading into their little nest, but the second the girl laid herself down by the trunk, he was too exhausted to do anything but lay down with his back to her, falling asleep the moment he closed his eyes.
