Hal was already dressed and ready to go by first light, and Nani whined impatiently, saddled and eager to get moving. She checked, double-checked, and triple-checked the weapons she had secured to various parts of her body, making sure she hadn't forgotten anything, even though she knew she hadn't. Her bags and blankets were strapped to Nani's saddle, but she was traveling as light as she could manage so that they weren't slowed down by anything unnecessary.
"Do you remember what I told you?"
Denu nodded. "We'll give you two weeks, time to get there and get back. If you're not back —"
"You are not to send anyone in after me," she told him tightly, feeling a tightness in her chest at the words. But she would not allow Denu to sense just how afraid she really was. Of this inhuman thing that Eli and the others had encountered. She and Eli had both agreed the specifics of the attack would remain between them. To anyone else, it was a lovuk attack. That was all they needed to know. The situation was bad enough without piling on anything unnatural.
Denu's grip on his staff tightened. He had done all of his crying the night before. Now, he was trying to be as strong for her as she was for him. Hal didn't have it in her heart to say goodbye, but she had seen too much in her life to be much of an optimist and say that it would all work itself out.
"Look after the little ones. Especially —"
"HAL!"
They both turned in surprise and Hal felt her shoulders drop as the families of the missing men came towards them. The children were running, Layla leading the group with tears running down her cheeks.
The girl collided with her legs, wrapping her arms around them tightly and burying her face in her trousers. "Don't go," Layla whimpered, as though in pain. "I don't want you to go, you can't leave me."
"She's been like this all morning," Eren said tightly, trying to appear indifferent. But she could see it in his eyes, how scared he truly was.
Hal smoothed Layla's thick curls down, and opened her arms so that Eren could fall into her embrace. The other children gathered around, and Hal wiped her face as the wives and mothers came forward with sad smiles.
"They wanted to see you off," Tena said gently, worry in her deep brown eyes.
"As did we," Ophelia added.
"You don't have to do this, love," Imani said, her voice tight as she spoke, but her words sincere. She was Ayo's wife. Four kids. "What you are risking —"
"They would do the same for me," Hal said quickly. "They have done the same for me. I cannot sit idly by if there's a way to bring them home."
She did not speak what the adults all knew could be true: that they may not come home alive. But she had to try. And even if…even if worse came to worse, then their bodies deserved a proper burial. Their souls proper rest. But Hal would not allow such thoughts to cement themselves as true. Not until she had undeniable proof.
"We should go with you," said Micha, Cado's eldest and the oldest of all the children here at sixteen.
"Absolutely not," Hal said firmly. "I need you to keep an eye on the village in my place." She gave them all a gentle smile, wishing she could soothe the aches in the hearts. "I need you all to be strong for me right now, okay? Look out for each other. Look out for your mothers. And look out for yourself. Be smart, and be brave."
She kissed as many cheeks and dried as many eyes as she could, hugging the women and promising she would do her best. Layla clung to her steadfastly, and when Hal realized how behind she had gotten, she regretfully pried the little girl's hands off of her.
"No!" Layla grunted, wrapping her arms around her legs again.
"I have to go, love. You need to let me go."
When Hal crouched down to free herself, Layla only threw her arms around Hal's neck. "NO!"
"I'm sorry, my love."
Tena had to help unfasten her daughter's finger, holding her tightly so that Hal could mount Nani. The woman gave Hal a firm look. "Halen."
"Yes ma'am?"
"Above all else, you make sure you come home. None of us, not even our husbands, would be able to stomach it if anything happened to you too."
Hal could see the fire in the woman's eyes. The resolution. Hal knew how deep her love for her husband was, and the idea of raising those children on her own…but Tena was made of iron, forged in fire. And for all their bickering, Hal had always admired her will.
"Yes ma'am."
Hal didn't dare look back as she and Nani disappeared into the forest. Despite the beauty of the sun's rays on the dewy leaves, there was nothing but a heaviness in Hal's heart. She had no idea what she was up against, had no idea what to expect. And for the first time, the secrets that the woods of her island held frightened her.
…
The only breaks they took were for Nani's sake. Hal ate just enough to keep her hunger at bay, but she was eager to cover the distance Eli had indicated they had made. They had traveled further north, further than they often did, following the tracks Hal had so idiotically assumed belonged to Thorn. Both tracks were fading by now, but the smallest clues were still enough for her to note whether or not she needed to adjust her course at all before continuing forward.
By the morning of the third day, Hal was growing restless and anxious, still having found nothing unusual. Having fed Nani her breakfast, Hal herself had decided to skip it and instead sucked on the leaves of the sweet pepper plant to curbs some of her hunger.
The sun was high in the sky when she stopped once again, sliding off Nani and letting her drink from the nearby stream. There was a small herd of deer, eyeing Hal curiously. She smiled, holding out her hand for one doe to sniff and know that, at this moment, Hal was not their enemy. Just as it took a cautious step forward, there was a sound of rocks tumbling down the dry, eroded cliff. It wasn't high up, probably just where part of the river had once flown through and ate away at the land. The small stream was all that was left.
Hal unfurled, immediately fearing the worst as she nocked an arrow and trained it on the direction of the noise. Anyone would have called out to her, especially the men in the hunting party. Which meant it was someone else keeping their distance. But no one stepped out, and it made her hair stand on edge.
She whistled for Nani and led the horse into the trees. The horse walked a little further before coming to a standstill at a safe distance. Hal knelt in silence, waiting for someone to come out. She waited with baited breath, anxious as footsteps slowly approached. She gave it a few more moments before quietly standing, her arrow already loaded. She couldn't see their face, all she knew was that they were tall, their dark brown hair unruly and wet.
She fired just over the top of their head to scare them and catch them off guard. True to form, they heard the arrow cutting through the air and dropped to their knees. But Hal was already rushing towards them, her dagger pulled from the belt around her waist. But they were ready for her, and they barely had to turn before gripping her arm and flipping Hal over their head like she weighed nothing.
Although she knew instantly it was a horrible idea, she braced her knees for the impact as the soles of her feet hit the ground, the impact reverberating up through her legs. Hal gritted her teeth at the resounding pain, but it was worth it to catch the man off guard. He wasn't expecting her to not hit the ground. Hal gripped his arm and twisted it, spinning around so that she could kick his leg out from under him, putting him at a complete loss.
Hal straddled his waist and held the knife to his throat. And then she stopped, blinking in confusion at a familiar pair of grey eyes that she was sure she would never see again.
Murtagh looked beyond irritated as Hal cocked her head to the side in surprise. "Rider? What are you doing here?"
…
Murtagh stared up at Halen, annoyed she had caught him off guard and stunned to see her, of all people, here, of all places. "What am I doing here? What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?!"
"I asked you first!"
"I asked you — get off me!"
She twirled the knife effortlessly in her hand, always managing to catch the handle without even having to look at it. But she kept a hand to his chest. He could easily buck her off, but that glaring thought didn't even cross his mind. "Was that you up there watching me?"
"I was watching for the deer," he spat, his face flushing at the implication in her question, even though it hadn't been his intention. "You just happened to be there too."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because I didn't see that it was you. And what the bloody hell was with the arrow? You don't know how to check and see who you're aiming for before you start firing those things off?"
"Oh, for Heaven's sake, I wasn't aiming to kill you. And in all fairness, you left and this part of the forest is abandoned. How was I supposed to know you weren't a predator that meant me ill will?"
"Opening your mouth and asking never hurt anyone," he grumbled, irate.
"I'm a defenseless young woman traveling on my own in the dangerous wilderness," she said with her hand over her chest as if the thought of his suggestion was outrageous. Getting to her feet, she then offering him a hand to help him up. "Can't be too careful."
"I saw your handiwork with the creatures back near your village," he said biting, taking her hand. 'Defenseless' is not the term I would use."
Halen snorted, clearly more amused than he was as she pulled him to his feet. She whistled, loud and high. A few moments later, Nani came running out from between the trees.
She gave him a once-over, her expression unreadable. "You never answered my question: what are you still doing here?"
"I'll tell you if you tell me what you're doing here?"
He figured she wouldn't respond, thinking it would be an easy out. But he was surprised when instead she said, "A hunting party left the day before you did. Yesterday afternoon, only one returned, badly injured, saying the others had been lost or taken by an unknown assailant."
"I'm sorry."
She shook her head. "Not your fault. Just…these are people that I really care about. If anything has happened to them…their families…"
"Why are you out here alone?"
She turned to look at him. "Don't think you're getting out of this. I answered your question now you answer mine."
He huffed, but obliged her since he tried to be a man of his word. "I'm tracking the lovuk, trying to see if they'll lead me to the owner of the giant print you found."
"Why?"
"Ah, ah, ah," he said teasingly. "Your turn. Why are you out here alone?"
"You're such an ass."
"I've been called worse, so I would consider being an ass an act of progress."
She snorted, but the smallest of smiles graced her troubled face. "I volunteered to go. The men who left are some of the most capable hunters, so if something caught them off guard, it only makes sense for me to go."
"But why alone?"
"I work faster alone. Besides, I have less to lose than any other person with a family depending on them. It's not fair to ask any more people to give up what several families already have."
She said it so casually, shrugging it off like it was nothing. But her words saddened and angered him. He still didn't understand why she was on her own. And considering that a group of men had been taken, potentially killed, by whatever it was they were both tracking, it seemed shortsighted that she had not brought any support or back-up.
"So why are you tracking the lovuk or this creature or whatever? Why didn't you leave?"
"Because of a favor," he said cryptically, not wanting to get into Eragon and his strange dream that had propelled Murtagh into this unasked-for game of cat and mouse. It sounded ridiculous to him. He could only imagine how Halen would take it.
"Okay," she said slowly, reading his defensive silence for what it was. "Where's Thorn?"
"Flying up ahead, keeping an eye out for predators."
"And have you found anything?"
"Nothing," he admitted, scratching his beard, embarrassed by his lack of progress. "Whatever it is, it's either good at hiding itself or someone is good at hiding it."
"Comforting."
They stood there in silence, and Murtagh took in her appearance in small doses, noting that she was heavily armed. She was dressed in fitted trousers, and light-weight but sturdy-looking boots that came up to the middle of her calves. Her long-sleeve tunic was tucked in to her pants, a leather vest fitted over it. Her hair was pulled into a braid that was then wrapped and tucked tightly into itself at the nape of her neck. She looked every bit the capable hunter he knew her to be. He had seen the dead lovuk that had attacked Thorn. One arrow each, a clean and quick kill.
"You said you were watching the deer," she said suddenly, turning to face him. He quickly averted his eyes before she caught him. If she noticed his staring, she didn't indicate or say. "Have you eaten yet?"
By the time the food was hot and they were digging into the meal Halen had prepared, Thorn had landed and joined them. Halen looked quite pleased to see him, and vice versa. They ate in a comfortable silence, spooning hot stew into their mouths before it got cold.
Finishing her second bowl, Halen lowered it to the ground. The movement caught his attention, but her suddenly shy expression held his gaze. "I suppose now is as good a time as any to thank you…for my sketch, of Thorn."
His face went red. He had completely forgotten…it had been a spur of the moment decision. After thumbing through her book, after catching the way her eyes lingered on Thorn, her compliment of him. It felt wrong not to. But he also hadn't expected to see her again, and he hadn't thought she would bring it up. And then, even though he couldn't see it, he knew she was blushing just as hard as he was.
"It made me happy," she added quickly, before she lost her nerve. "Along with your note."
Murtagh wished he could disappear into the earth, but he couldn't deny how pleased her sentiment made him. "I've never shared those sketches with anyone," she continued in a low voice. "I've always been rather embarrassed by them. I'm so obsessed with it because it brings me peace and joy, and I just…I know the villagers wouldn't understand something like that, so I've kept it to myself. I was — it made me happy to realize that someone appreciated it. And your words were very sweet."
"You're not angry?"
"Why would I be angry?"
"I don't know. You were just so protective of your book, in hindsight I realized it was an invasion of your space. I wasn't sure."
She looked at him thoughtfully. "Perhaps…but it really meant a lot to me, so I didn't mind."
He breathed. "Then you're welcome."
They both shared rather embarrassed smiles, looking away before things felt too intimate. Halen took a slow breath, her expression growing somber. "I should get moving, before it gets too late."
Ah yes, the reason fate had brought them together again. Murtagh got to his feet and looked at Thorn. They shared the same thought, Thorn nodding his head in agreement. He turned to face Halen, finding her gaze already on him. "About that," he said. "We're coming with you."
"You're what?"
"You heard me. Whatever it is you're after, we're heading in the same direction. We might as well work together to figure this out."
He thought she would fight him, but as she rose to her feet, he thought he saw a look of relief in her eyes before her expression turned teasing. "You miss me that much, do you?"
He held his hand over his heart with mock forlorn. "It was perhaps the longest week of my life."
She shook her head, laughing. "Ass."
Just as they were prepared to leave, a thought crossed Murtagh's mind. He looked over at Halen, who was making sure her things were securely tied to Nani. He debated how much to involve her, debated how much he should trust her.
I think it's fair to tell her what we know. Tell her why we're here, Thorn offered. I don't think she would think any less of us and she may have insights we don't about the other villages.
Perhaps. But if this gets to be too big, I don't want her involved.
And it was true. He didn't want to risk anything happening to her if things got out of hand. Especially because of him.
We'll continue to keep an eye on the situation then, but for now, a little information may prove beneficial in the long run. And she may know something we do not or provide an outsider's perspective.
Murtagh sighed, and Halen glanced over at the noise, seeing his troubled expression. "Rider?"
"Halen," he said slowly. She turned to face him, standing straighter at the serious air about him. "I haven't been completely honest with you about why I'm here."