One morning they decided to bathe in the river before continuing along the road. Astrid had finally lightened up after three days together and even laughed as they splashed around. She and Sam challenged each other to see who could stay underwater the longest. Sam was the winner (with a certain amount of satisfaction).
Rodrick emerged from the water. They all became aware that the scars on his face were not the only ones; his body was riddle with them, and not just from claws and fangs, but blades and bullets too! He was not afraid to show them, but he also spoke little of this. “If you pick your fights carefully then every scar will be a reminder of a life you saved.” He climbed out of the water and picked up his shirt. “Okay, enough dilly-dallying. We’ve made good speed so far; at this pace we’ll be spending tomorrow night in Westmyre.”
They walked from then for six hours. The sound of Victor’s belly groaning served as a sign that it was time for lunch. “Our food is getting low,” said Hansel. “We ate the last of the bacon this morning.”
Rodrick smiled. “Now that won’t do. We’ll eat some now and for the rest of the day we’ll travel slightly off the road; might be we’ll come across some game to hunt.” And then he muttered as he walked: “It would be nice to hunt something that doesn’t screech at you for a change…”
The sun glistened like orange spears through the tree tops when Victor fired an arrow at the first deer they spotted. It was a poor shot, and the arrow stuck loosely into the deer’s hindquarters. They had to leave the road entirely to follow it downhill. Rodrick made the nearly impossible shot through the trees, his arrow hitting the deer in the neck, killing it almost instantly. “That, dear Victor, is how one hunts a deer.” Suddenly a peculiar and unnatural noise travelled up from the bottom of the slope; it seemed to slither through the woods where the fallen deer lay. “Get down!” said Rodrick. “There is something else here. Let us go take a look.”
He shuffled through the undergrowth and stealthily descended the slope until he could see the bank of the river, lined with unnatural structures; huts, pits and cages. Wild men and women gathered around a growing fire. The sang and danced and yet there was something evil in their voices and some malice in their step. A hideous green creature stood among them; it slouched in a battle stance with its thick arms ready to embrace an enemy, and within its long face it beared vicious yellow teeth.
Rodrick watched the creature wrestle with a man, and, curiously, he said: “What a party! Now look carefully, and keep your eyes on the man fighting the goblyn.” Something peculiar happened indeed. The shadow of a great wolf emerged from the man’s features and howled mightily at the sky. The wolf-man circled the goblyn before lashing out in a furious attack.
“Who are these people?” said Victor.
“They are called Dark Ones. You’ve certainly heard of them. They are like us in a lot of ways. They study the lore of monsters and harness their strength and wisdom. But where we use this knowledge to protect the people of Haswhald, they only want it for themselves. The wolf-man has learned from witches how to manipulate his own etheric presence in order to cast a shadow of lies upon the physical matter around him. Tricky stuff, that is, and very dangerous.” He pointed to the green fighter. “That goblyn looks like a Kyoryn, a tree-dweller, simple minded but very aggressive.”
“There are some many of them. What are we going to do?”
“We aren’t going to do anything. Leave them be. I suspect this group was among those who attacked the academy. If Silver can spare the manpower he may send someone to deal with them, but as we are there is nothing we can do right now, other than to go on.”
That night they travelled as far as they could from the Dark Ones before daring to set up camp, and even then, they could not risk lighting a fire to cook the meat they had obtained. The night seemed colder than usual. Victor lay awake listening for the cries of the Dark Ones, and every now and then he thought he could hear them ringing through the night. The sky brightened as dawn came upon them, and poor Victor was still listening.
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