Part 26
Unforeseen Detour
The group gathered around the fire, drying their damp clothes and bathing in its warmth. The rain fell and lightning crashed overhead.
“Are you sure it will let up soon?” the girl asked as another flash of lightning lit the sky above them.
“These storms are strong,” the Trapper said. “But they rarely last.”
So the group stayed put waiting out the storm. As the Trapper predicted, the storm did not last the hour and soon after the party was moving again. The world was soaked and the mud was thick under their feet, slowing their progress. Nonetheless, the Trapper pushed forward. Sworder helped the girl as they walked, rarely leaving her side as he kept a close eye on her.
“He’s hovering around her like a mother hen,” Ranin said.
“She has shown herself to be quite vulnerable to illusions,” Namic said.
Ranin nodded and the two watched the group slowly travel along the path. As they traveled, the right side of the path dropped down into a large gully filled with brush and briar. The mud was slick and they were forced to make their way slowly and carefully.
The girl peered over the edge down into the gully. “It’s a long way down,” she said.
“Indeed,” Sworder said. “But you should be more careful.”
The girl flashed him a smile and stepped away from the edge, when the dirt under her feet gave way. Sworder lunged forward as the girl slipped backwards crying out as she fell.
The Trapper turned at the sound, “You fools,” he said. “It is an illusion! Don’t move!” But his words were too late and the girl fell backwards off the cliff with Sworder leaping after her.
Catching her as she fell, Sworder whipped his cloak around her and it stretched, wrapping completely around her. Together they rolled down hill into the briar far below.
“An interesting focus,” Namic said.
“Not one that is often usable,” Ranin said.
“Indeed.”
The cloak unfolded itself as they came to a rest and Sworder stood surveying his surrounds, “Are you well?” he asked the girl.
“I’m not sure,” the girl said attempting to stand, before collapsing with a yelp.
“Looks like a bad gash on your leg,” the Trapper said landing heavily beside them. “I can treat it, but she won’t be able ta put any pressure on it for sometime,” he continued as he began to remove wrap from his pack and examine her leg.
“How will we proceed?” Sworder asked.
“Firstly, we need someone to carry her,” the Trapper began as he bound the girl’s leg. “We should make for a settlement. There’s one nearby.” Standing up he looked at down on the girl, “At least it will keep you out of trouble. Now, who will carry her?”
“I can handle that,” Sworder said, staging. In a moment he emerged as the Vassal of Fire, who scooped up the girl in his arms.
The Trapper nodded to the Vassal, and the two started up the hillside. Uncle Ben stood peering down at them as they ascended.
“Is everyone okay?” Uncle Ben asked.
“Mostly,” the girl quipped.
“We’ll make a detour,” the Trapper said. “It can’t be helped. I don’t want to travel far with her being unable to walk and her Kazan’s arm bound.”
The girl shifted uncomfortably in the Vassal’s arms. “The shock is wearing off,” he said. “It will get worse before is gets better.”
“Keep the leg elevated above her heart,” the Trapper said. “It will help with any swelling. I can’t say about the pain.” He looked about as if gaining his bearings. “We still have a long trek in front of us,” he continued as he started off.
“They have been delayed again,” Ranin said.
“And winter draws nearer every day they waste,” Namic said.
The two watched the group trudge on. The girl sat in the Vassal’s arms her hands resting in her lap, “Sworder?”
“Yes,” the Vassal said, glancing down.
She squirmed under his gaze for a moment, but then plucked up the courage, reached up and removed his helmet, setting it on her own head before speaking, “What is burning you up?” she asked.
“I was thinking that if the constable had just left us alone we would not be in such dangerous situations,” the Vassal said. “You would still be simply living at that farmstead.”
“May be so,” the girl conceded. “But look at those we have helped since then.”
“I only see the danger you have been in,” the Vassal of Fire said.
“I’m here now, am I not?” the girl asked.
“Indeed, despite what we have done.”
The girl looked at her hands resting on her lap, before speaking softly, “Sworder, don’t you understand that is because of you. No matter what happens you are always there for me. I never have to wonder or question. When the need arises so do you.”
“I live to protect you,” the Vassal said.
“But why do you do things like this?” the girl asked, turning away from the Vassal, her face becoming flush.
“Like what?” the Vassal asked, looking down at her. “I do everything to protect you. This is what I was contracted to do. I have no other reason for my actions.”
The Vassal turned his gaze back to the road ahead of them, and the girl’s hands squeezed together. “Stupid,” the girl whispered.
“What did she want him to say?” Ranin asked.
“The Emotions of a young girl are hard to understand and impossible to reason out,” Namic said.
“Maybe,” Ranin said. “But I wonder if she expects something from him; he is incapable of giving.”
“All he understands is his mission,” Namic said. “He is a Kazan. They do not break from their purpose and despite being used for protection he is merely a weapon.”
“Now you’re the one generalizing him,” Ranin said.
“That may be so,” Namic said.
Evening approached and the cloud cover had not lessened much. The wind was a steady breeze and the Vassal of Fire had thrown his cloak over the sleeping girl in his arms. The girl’s arms were wrapped around one of the Vassal’s as she used his shoulder as a pillow. It may have been the way the dim light framed them, but the figure of the girl looked small in the Vassal of Fire’s arms.
The Trapper dropped back to the two and beginning in a low tone with a glance toward the sleeping girl. “People in this area are quite suspicious of Kazans. It may be best if you don’t do anything to startle them.”
“Considering their main experience with Kazans are the unfriendly kind,” Ranin said, “I guess that is understandable.”
“There are few Kazans the people of Calta would trust,” Namic said. “And a strange one from a distant land will not be easily trusted.”
“A sad reality,” Ranin said as they watched the group rise over the last hill. Before them in a small glade lay several dozen huts. A few figures could be seen moving about below.
The light was dying and the Trapper increased his pace. Following after him the Vassal adjusted his grip on the girl and slowly she opened her eyes. “Ah, you are awake,” the Vassal said.
“Where are we?” the girl asked, shifting around. She stopped and looked at the red cloak covering her and sunk deeper in concealing the lower half of her face.
“We have just arrived,” the Vassal said.
They neared the village. People began exiting there homes and silently watching the group approach as if answering an unspoken call. Large lamps were already alight around the boarder of the houses, and as they approached an older man waited for them at the edge of the circle of lights.
“It has been a long time, hasn’t it?” the Trapper asked offering his hand to the old man.
“You made it just in time to save us,” the old man said grasping the Trapper’s forearm, “I am afraid we shall have to ask you another favor.”
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