The Lost Forest

Chapter 2

2

By mid-afternoon, the column of soldiers headed by Prince Jarand, Captain Harkell and the little wizard had reached the edge of the forest. After a brief consultation, the column turned to the right and travelled parallel to the base of the mountains until it reached the point where the forest edge swung around to the right, away from the foothills.

At a nod from Jarand, Captain Harkell raised his hand and brought his men to a halt. The captain swivelled in his saddle to address the wizard. He noted with wry amusement that the wizard was looking even more dishevelled than when they set out.

“Not used to horses?” he asked with some sympathy.

Greyskies drew himself up. “No sir, I am not. And I made the reverse journey late last night with my hands tied to the pommel. My legs are killing me.”

The captain flicked a warning glance in the direction of the prince, “But no doubt you feel honoured to be able to serve your prince?”

“Of course I do,” grumbled the wizard. “But it doesn’t stop my legs from hurting.”

“A twenty minute break, I think,” said the prince, “while Grumble Guts here advises on the terrain and our next move.”

“Dismount,” ordered the captain, springing lightly from his horse.

Before the suffering little wizard had time to lift his leg over his horse’s back, the captain was at his side taking most of his weight as he more or less fell out of the saddle. When he hit the ground, the wizard’s legs crumpled beneath him but the captain’s strong arms held him until he had recovered himself.

Greyskies huffed, “Thank you, Captain. That was most kind of you. It would have done my dignity no good at all to have landed in a heap in front of your men.”

The captain gave a friendly laugh, “All of us know what it feels like to be stiff after a long ride, and for someone who has never ridden, you have done a lot of hours in a short time.”

“When you are ready, wizard,” said the prince dryly, “perhaps you can spare us some time to explain where you saw these people and in which direction they were heading.”

“I beg your pardon, Your Highness.” Greyskies took a swig from his waterbag before sweeping his arm around from straight in front of him to the right. “The swamp is in that general direction, following the line of the Montraya River south for the first five miles or so. If we enter the forest here, we will come to the edge of the swamp in another three or four miles. There are only narrow tracks through this part of the forest. Not many people live near the swamp. There is a wider road that leads to the lake at the foot of the mountains where the river has its source,” he indicated slightly to his left, “but the people I saw were travelling away from the mountain.”

“And where did you see these people?”

“More or less straight in from here, perhaps a little to our right.”

The prince turned to Captain Harkell. “So is it reasonable to assume that they would continue in that direction?”

“Failing any other sightings or information, yes. I don’t know what manner of people you are hunting, my lord, but do you have any idea where they might be heading, and whether they would wish to remain concealed in the forest or break out into the open?”

The prince’s grey eyes narrowed. “As you so rightly assume, the nature of these people is none of your business. In answer to your questions, I do not know their intentions or where they are heading but I would like to find out. However, unless they had a particular reason for doing otherwise, I would expect them to stay within the bounds of the forest.” He turned to the wizard, “Does the forest extend further south beyond the end of the swamp?”

“Yes, Your Highness. The swamp finishes where the river cascades through rapids into a steep, narrow, heavily wooded valley that continues for another couple of miles. Although there are farmlands on either side, the valley itself is too steep to sustain any type of agriculture. After that, the river spreads out, and there are farmlands right up to its banks.”

“Thank you, Greyskies. Your knowledge of the area is very comprehensive.”

The wizard flushed with pleasure and bowed. “A pleasure, Your Highness.”

“So, do you have any idea what might lie at their journey’s end if they continued in that direction?”

Greyskies’ brows crinkled in effort but after a few moments, he shook his head regretfully. “No, Sire. I do not know enough about what lies deep within the swamp and I can think of nothing remarkable in the surrounding bushlands.”

After several minutes of silence, during which the prince thought through possibilities, Jarand galvanised into action, “Right. Can we cross this river at any point?”

“Only by skirting around the lake at its source or by ferry which is at least… hmm… sixteen miles south of here. And there is, of course the bridge right back at Montraya.”

“Then we shall travel to this lake, send half the men around to the other side and keep half on this side. Then we will travel along both edges of the swamp towards the south and hopefully trap them within the swamp or in the bottleneck of the steep valley. Captain, I want you to ask through the ranks for any sorcerers who are adept at levitation and bring them to the front. Clear? We leave in fifteen minutes.”

Prince Jarand’s decision directed his troop straight towards the woodfolk’s firesite near the lake.