Chapter 3

Around camp the sounds of the sleeping reached her ears, but Korynn knew the guards were watching. They were always vigilant towards the outside, rarely glancing at those inside. Though she guessed they would be watching her tonight, just to make sure she wouldn’t be foolish.

“Ready?” Tjorvi breathed against her ear, his eyes much better suited to the darkness than her own. She didn’t trust her voice, instead tapping his arm to let him know she was ready.

With dark packs slung tight, their cloaks shielded them from most of the big cats prowling. The only give away would be their scent or their sounds, but with so many clustered together tonight, it would be easier than usual to slip away.

Tjorvi slipped through a break in the tents, making it to the trees with her close on his heels. The wind shifted, blowing their scents clear of the track the guards had cleared earlier in the day. Not enough to be noticeable to those without extra skills, but enough to not hinder their patrols.

Korynn let him lead the way deeper into the forest, crossing a shallow stream not too far out. She looked up through a break in the canopy, they were following the stars back the way they had come earlier. It would be the only way to find the soldiers, since they would leave a better trail to follow rather than guess which village they had gone to.

He let out a breath, finally relaxing as their village faded from his heightened senses. Korynn came up beside him, walking less confidently in the darkness, even though she did try to pick out the roots and rocks.

“So, what is the real plan? We can’t just go charging in there and think we’ll not be chained up too.” Tjorvi muttered after they had walked awhile, glancing over at her.

“I want to survey the situation, see if we can just set them free without the soldiers the wiser. If it’s too dangerous, I won’t even consider trying. But we can’t just sit and do absolutely nothing.” Korynn grumbled, trying to convince herself that she could walk away from the danger if they had to.

He didn’t answer her for a while, focused on following their previous tracks back to the point they had seen the soldiers. The moon crossed the sky, but she trusted him to do what she’d asked.

“Found it.” Tjorvi muttered to himself, turning to follow deep wagon ruts in the ground. They followed the path led to near where their village had been, though they hadn’t stopped in the neighboring clearing long. A path was trampled through to the stream, though not wide enough for the wagon to have made.

The makeshift wagon road continued, the oxen digging a little deeper in the soft earth here. Tjorvi kept low, ready to shift forms at the first sign of danger. She followed with her hand on her dagger, though more cautiously with the near blinding darkness of the canopy above.

The path split not much farther ahead, the soldiers going away from their camp and the stream towards the river villages. The other path followed the stream deeper into the forest, leaving them less exposed.