His eyes transfixed upon the gigantic sea of stars and night sky, Dalmar trotted in the flat valley between the two mountains. The steps of the horses seemed to bounce softly from tree to tree and rock to rock, allowing the sounds of the night to encroach upon the area around Dalmar. Dalmar's eyes scanned the vast open area between the three mountains that rose around him as he directed his horses into the wilderness where he and Lars divided their efforts. His eyes attempted to trace the ground below him as he rode, but no discernable signs of Lars' trifle could be found. Unbeknownst to Dalmar, a breeze had begun to blow through the ancient riverbed that he now found himself traveling, and his own discovery and senses told him that he would find no tracks tonight. Still, he kept riding toward the trees at the other side of the south mountain where the darkness overtook the land before him.
It was some time later when Dalmar came upon a small pool of water when he spied a lone horse sipping at the water and trotting aimlessly through the passage. Spotting him, the horse lazily walked towards Dalmar and his band of horses, joining them as if it recognized its brothers and sisters. Dalmar paused, looking over the newcomer and noting the rugged leather saddle that still adorned its back, Grabbing its reins, he twisted them in his hand and dismounted his own horse. Tying a solid knot with the the rest of the reins of the horses, he hopped back onto his horse and headed towards the treeline once again. Finally, after a while of solitude, Dalmar reached the edge of the shadow of a thin strip of forested land that crept up the east side of the mountain, and Dalmar made his way up the slope, skirting the edge of the forest until he eventually made it to the other side where he was able to spy the roadway below. He knew this road. It was the one that he and Lars rode in on before they were spotted. Dalmar was cautious as his eyes scanned hard and he peered intently to the west. A soft glow of firelight could be seen far in the distance signaling a campfire, and Dalmar knew this could only be where the line of armed horseman sat for the night. But he had no way of knowing whether or not the men who rode after Lars had rejoined them or not, and he wasn't about to approach them to find out. Even if the goddess was with him tonight, he was not about to tempt fate.
Looking at the four horses behind him, Dalmar turned his face back towards the moon which had moved across the sky and begun to wane. How long had he been traveling alone? Dalmar didn't know the answer to this strange question. He looked at the ground still bathed in ghostly moonlight, and then looked at the mass of horses around him. His travel down into the roadway again would make a large enough mass of shadow for someone to notice from a distance, especially if there were more scouts about. Dalmar dismounted once again and untied the reins of the horses from one another, hoping that they would begin to wander off. Dalmar waited, but the well trained horses stared at him expectantly. Dalmar raised himself up, throwing his hands in the hand with one set of reins in his hand. "Hyeah! Shoo!" Dalmar said briskly as he jumped about in the faces of the horses, careful not to sound off too loudly. The horses snorted and backed away from their new found master, uncertain of his intentions. But still the horses stayed close, watching Dalmar. Again, Dalmar charged the horses, jumping at them and slapping their haunches until they finally trampled back down the mountainside to the north and through the trees. Smiling to himself, Dalmar then mounted his own ride once again, and slowly entered the trees as he descended the mountainside.
The forest was dark as it forbade the moonlight to pierce its many branches and timbers. Dalmar's human eyes did little as his horse stumbled through the soft earth covered with foliage and fallen limbs. The silence was deafening, and the strange, precarious sounds of the denizens of the forest were unnerving. The eerie sounds of owls screeching into the blackest of night air and the occasional snaps of twigs caused the hairs on Dalmar's neck to stand upright. But still, Dalmar patted his horse, calming its nerves as they split the winding sea of branches and foliage. There was no path here, no signs of habitation, and the forest seemed to swallow everything that entered it. But eventually yielded the edge of the prairie beyond it, and Dalmar and his horse stepped out into the roadway that traveled north and south, the same road he and Lars had decided traveled to Gr'valdth.
Dalmar sighed a sigh or relief, deciding that the danger was over for now as he turned his horse south toward the fork. Dalmar scanned the tops of the dark tufts of grass swaying in the light breeze and darkened by the disappearance of the moon. The early morning was upon him, and his joints ached from fatigue and adventure. A swift gust of wind rose as a whiff of familiar scent struck him, and Dalmar's eyes lit up. His head swiveled on its shoulders looking in all directions around him as he paused his horse. Dalmar's eyes squinted, hoping to catch a glimpse of the source of the sweet smell that he couldn't quite placed yet caused him to be reminded on an indecipherable flash of memory. Then, suddenly, Dalmar heard the lazy beating of hooves in the distance before him. Dalmar peered intently once again as a figure came into view, completely shrouded in the blackness of the night but outlined in the afterglow of a moon that had dipped below the horizon. Nervously, Dalmar's mind warned him of chance encounters on a road in the middle of the night in an area of the world that he did not know, and he quickly moved his horse back into the cover of the trees. There, under the blanket of foliage, Dalmar watched as the horseman slowly trotted into view, his breathing slowed with the anticipation of both good and evil. But then the horseman stopped mere meters away from his own position, and the rider blew a puff of pipe smoke into the air as he leaned over the his steed's neck. "Well, Zeke, are you going to join me or are you going to sit there and try to take root like the rest of the trees?" the man asked. Dalmar smiled. Lars had rejoined him.
Dalmar's heart jumped in his chest as he kicked the horse in its side to enter the roadway once again, and he rode to greet his friend. "Lars!" Dalmar exclaimed. "Am I ever glad to see you...." Dalmar smiled as he joined Lars on the road, the stout dwarf pausing to take a puff from his long pipe. Lars looked Dalmar up and down before removing the pipe from his mouth and blowing a puff of smoke. Lars smiled.
"Glad to see you too, Zeke. Are you sure you weren't followed?" Lars asked, his eyes scanning the forest's edge.
"They'd have been a fool to try. That I am sure of, friend." Dalmar answered happily as he smiled.
"Good man." Lars said as he grinned and put the pipe back into his mouth to draw more smoke.
"How long have you been on the road here?" Dalmar asked.
"It was just before the moon disappeared that I began traveling this way. I had a suspicion that you'd enter from the trees in or around this spot. Looks like as if I was right." said Lars. "But let's not stand out here in the open. We can talk about all this sort of thing once we find a safe place to rest. Come on. North. Let's ride. We should be fine by morning." Lars gestured as he bade his horse to continue northward, Dalmar beside him. Each took a lazy gait, the fatigue coursing through their joints. "Tell me, Zeke, how did you get away?" Lars asked after a few minutes.
"We raced north until my own horse tossed me from its back and I had to stand and fight." Dalmar began.
"How many?" Lars beckoned.
"Six. How many for you?" Dalmar replied.
"In the beginning, ten. But in the end, four." Lars paused as he spied a footpath leading through the prairie's grass to the east. His eyes followed the small trail to the edge of the road and across to the treeline beside them. "There" Lars said, gesturing to the opening in the trees. "Let's find a spot in the trees to rest." Lars yawned as he tapped his pipe against his saddle, spilling its glowing contents out onto the ground. The two riders edged their mounts into the forest as the ground dipped below the road, and the smells of the forest hit Dalmar's nose once again. Soon, the two travelers spotted the remains of a campfire in a small, rounded space in the trees. The ground had been cleared and the soft earth was cool and dry. "Wait." Lars said as he peered through the forest around them. "This is far to auspicious." he said uneasily. Lars jumped down from his horse and stared at the ground as he paced the area. Noting a particular spot in the soft earth where a footprint had been pressed, Lars stood up and smiled. "We're in luck. They are bare feet. No signs of horse prints, either." Lars began to gather wood around the small glade as Dalmar dismounted and wrapped his horses reins around a young sapling. Within moments, the two men had before them a small, warm fire. Little was said for the rest of impending morning as it broke the sky. It took only a few moments for each of them to fall fast asleep, letting the strain of the previous night's events wash away like the dust before the first rain of autumn. It was there, in that forest, surrounded by the bare feet of ghosts and the guardians of the wood that the two warriors finally found peace for the moment.
Invino Veritas
4/15/12
EOF
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