Tales

"I wasn't gone that long" Matthias muttered in complaint as the young hunter lead way out of the fields and through the streets of Dalahurst. "Why did you come looking for me? I thought we would all meet up much later."

Tino looked a bit guilty and let out a nervous laugh as he scratched the back of his head uneasily. "Berwald was worried about you. Well, he didn't exactly say that directly, but he mentioned that you had seemed a bit distracted and he wasn't sure what was going on with you. He just makes me a bit nervous and I didn't know what to do, so I offered to go look for you." He didn't notice how Matthias ended up tuning out more and more of his speech as the young man didn't seem able to stop his flood of words.

Matthias wondered if he would have been able to convince Lukas to come down from the tree had he not been interrupted by anyone back in the field. It was a truly inconvenient that Tino arrived when he did, it gave the stranger what little time he had needed to get away. He might never have a chance to meet Lukas again.

But also, what Tino had said about the king being a sorcerer made him think that maybe that was how Lukas had gotten away in the first place. The bird in the three had looked strangely at him before it flew off, that should not be the normal behavior of birds. But the more he thought about it, the surer he was that Lukas was knew at least a little magic and had used some to escape.

He had suspected something like that already when a shadow of Lukas had led him through the forest. It was just a ridiculous coincidence that the stranger had to actually take contact for real, just minutes after Tino had blurted out that he believed the king was a sorcerer. It was hard not to think that there was any connection between the two.

Berwald had looked suspicious before Matthias ran off to chase after the stranger, but he had not expected him to send anyone out looking for him. The smith's apprentice was observant and definitely not stupid at all. Matthias realized he shouldn't have been surprised that Berwald had noticed he had been acting differently.

But that was not very important really. A bigger question was what to do with the information that Lukas had given him. If the man was telling the truth, then they would all have a real chance of getting a significant advantage over the king's army. But at the same time it was really suspicious that Lukas would just show up and be able to tell the exact plans of the soldiers without revealing how he had come to possess it.

For all he knew, it could all just be some really elaborate trap, made by one of the king's people to end the rebellion before it could truly start, by sending them all into a trap. But then why would Lukas have entered his mind to warn him against the soldiers in the first place? Because he was sure it was the stranger who had used some sort of magic to enter his mind, even if he had tried to deny that he had anything to do with it. Had Matthias not been warned on the night of the rebellion, then they would all surely have been slain by the soldiers already.

Tino kept talking as they found their way to the campfire. He never seemed to take notice of how Matthias had stopped paying attention a long time ago.

It would seem that only a small group of people from Griven had chosen to attend at the campfire, or maybe it was still too early in the evening. The other possibility was that they had chosen to take some long needed rest. The chieftain had after all promised that his people would stand guard throughout the night and keep them all safe so they could take the risk of sleeping.

There was a small stream of smoke rising from the fire and heat was radiating generously from it in all directions. A pig was roasting merrily on a spit over the embers and the smell made Matthias' mouth water. He hadn't realized just how hungry he was and then recalled the last time he had eaten was when they held their feast back in Griven. It seemed like an eternity had passed since then.

He figured he must have stared at the pig, since he heard a chuckle and turned to see a laughing Torleif. "I do believe you are drooling dear boy" the man said merrily and lifted a mug of ale to his lips.

Matthias cast a glance around and noticed that Berwald had already been supplied with a plate of meat. Tino had disappeared when Matthias had been distracted for a moment by Torleif. But now the hunter returned with a second plate and offered it to him with a soft smile grazing his lips. Matthias didn't waste a second before he hungrily devoured the meal without even bothering to sit down first.

Night came quickly and darkness along with it. A few more people came to join them, but the chieftain had revealed that most of the villagers had heard the stories many times before. So he would rather have them keep their focus on standing guard instead of telling what he personally believed to be childish stories.

They sat in silence for a long time, just listening to the crackle of the fire and enjoying the warmth before Tino decided to speak up. "So, do you never tell stories back in you village? I mean, since you have never heard any about the king."

Matthias was about to answer that they didn't usually do that, but to his surprise Torleif spoke up before he had time to do so. "We used to tell stories back in the day" he muttered. The man seemed to be lost in thought as he was trying to dig up old memories from past days.

"When I served the army during the last war, we used to tell stories all the time. None of them being as fancy as to tell the king is a sorcerer though. We just found it curious that there were many times when we won battles that we should not have been able to get out of with our lives intact, but somehow against all odds, most of us did."

"At first we didn't think too much of it. Why should we question the reason for being alive, when we were just happy to see another day? The king just had a brilliant mind for strategy, because he almost seemed to know where the enemy was positioned at all times and predict their movements long before they were even made. To us he was the greatest military mind we could ever imagine."

"But that's the thing!" Tino interrupted excitedly. "He does know things before they happen. And that's not all; we have even heard many stories of how enemy troops could just vanish into thin air. Just how is that possible if he is not a sorcerer?"

"Is that all?" Matthias interrupted. "Just because he's a good tactician, he's supposed to be a sorcerer. He doesn't turn into some great dragon or something cool?"

One of the villagers burst out in a wild laughter. "A dragon! Just what king of mushrooms did you eat when you were lost out in that forest? I think we would have found out if there was a dragon in existence at all."

The others chuckled at the comment, but Matthias brushed it off with a smile, he did have a plan behind his question. He wanted to know more about what a supposed sorcerer would do. "Dragons do make for better stories if you ask me. I just wondered if he is some mighty magician, then why hasn't he unleashed some magical storm to get rid of us all already."

"I told you it was just a stupid children's story" the chieftain snapped. "All of these tales are just made up because the king is so damned secretive all the time. In all these years he have had no political connections with any of our neighboring kingdoms as far as we know, he has not gotten married and there is no heir to speak of. He is supposed to have had many suitors, but he never accepted any of the offers. He doesn't even show himself in public. I mean we're his people and I bet none of us have ever seen the man."

Torleif coughed and put down the mug of ale he had been drinking deeply from. "Actually I saw him once." Everybody present turned to look at him in wonder and disbelief. "It was just after the final battle of the war 15 years ago. Both villagers and soldiers were gathered in the citadel square when he held a speech to celebrate our victory and tell us that we would enter an era of peace. I remember the day well. I was so relieved for the fighting to be over, the sun was shining brightly and there was not a single cloud in sight as we stood in that square. And I overheard some young girls right next to me were admiring the king from afar."

Some of the villagers laughed at him. "Of all the things to remember, that is the thing you decided to focus on, sunny clouds and the chatter from young girls?"

Torleif smiled and cleared his throat again. He put one hand over where his heart would be and used the other to fan his face. "Oh, my." Torleif spoke in a high pitch voice, pretending to take up the persona of a woman, something that did not look good on the strong build, bearded man. "I mean, look at him. He looks so mighty in that royal cloak. And the green in his tunic perfectly matches his eyes. I swear, in this light they are sparkling just like emeralds."

The villagers roared with laughter at Torleif's no less than ridiculous impersonation and the man grabbed his mug of ale again and lifted it once into the air before leading it back to his lips, happy with his achievement.

Torleif's story had seemed to stop the other's desire to tell any more tales rumors and the villagers mostly started whispering to each other instead. The chieftain had been none too happy about the spreading of rumors in the first place and nobody wanted to anger the man.

For Matthias there was more than one reason to smile after Torleif's impersonation. Because if their leader had seen the king in the capitol 15 years ago and the man had no spouse or heir, and another piece of information was that the king had green eyes. Not that it was likely that Lukas had been the king in the first place. He was much too young for that.

Matthias cursed at his own line of thoughts. He felt a bit stupid for having thought that Lukas could have been the king in the first place, but his mind had been making up a whole lot of crazy things lately, so he should not have been too surprised with himself. And Lukas had to be close to the king or the soldiers in some way, for how else could he have come by the information he had?

But still, what Torleif had said made him think that he could take the risk of trusting the information that Lukas had given him. So he decided to take the word. "So what is the plan for our next move?" he asked in a tone he hoped seemed casual.

"I suppose we should gather up every capable of fighting and then move on as quickly as possible" the chieftain answered. "We all know it's just a matter of time before the king's soldiers will find their way here in their search for anyone from Griven and any others that have joined on your rebellion, which now includes our village."

"I know that" Matthias replied swiftly. "What I mean is where should we head first?"

"Why are you suddenly so obsessed with making plans already?" Berwald muttered suspiciously. "Can't it wait until morning? We don't know anything about where the soldiers are heading next; we can just choose any direction at random."

"I just remembered something I overheard in the forest when I was escaping from the village" Matthias lied smoothly. He put up a fake mask of guilt, pretending that he felt bad for not having recalled any of the information any sooner. The others looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue.

Matthias drew a deep breath. "I can't be sure. My main priority was getting away, but I'm pretty confident I heard them mention something about heading to the east very soon when they were done with Griven."

"The village of Dale lies to the east!" TIno exclaimed urgently. "We should head there immediately. They need to be warned!"

"It's the best lead we have" Torleif said thoughtfully.

"Then we should not waste too much time." The chieftain stood up before them. "We should head out already tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" Matthias asked. He was surprised that the chieftain had been so willing to listen to him without any further questions. The chieftain offered him a hand and pulled him up to his feet.

Torleif got up as well. "As Berwald said, which direction we head in first should not matter. If what you said is correct then it's the best clue we have. We have to move quickly if we are to stop the soldiers from hurting any more people." The veteran put a hand on Matthias' shoulder.

"But we should send out a team to scout ahead" Berwald had walked up to them. "The village should have horses, e few people can ride to Dale and gather information, like if the soldiers have been there already or are far away. Then they can ride back and inform the main group in time for them to make a plan of action."

"That's a great idea" Torleif said.

"I volunteer" Matthias immediately answered. "I was the one that suggested we should head east, I want to make sure I'm not putting any others at risk on my information."

"I want to go with him" Berwald added before Torleif or the chieftain had time to speak up. He still seemed to be a bit suspicious and Matthias did not blame him.

"Can I come too?" Tino piped up. "I am much better at moving quietly than both of them and I know the landscape. I have traveled between the two villages many times, I know a couple of roads the soldiers are likely to avoid and we can get there much faster."

"Well it seems we have a team then" Torleif said mildly surprised to have three volunteers so quickly and without having to ask. "That's great. If the village has horses to spare, then we should send you out at first light."

When first light had come over the horizon the three appointed spies were shook awake from their rest and led out in the village square by Torleif. The chieftain had people preparing each of them a pack of supplies that would last them for the few days it would take them to make the journey, food, blankets and material to make a fire.

It had all been packed on one horse for each of them. And then they had been sent off, barely without any exchange of words. The Griven leader and the Dalahurst chieftain had only bid them goodbye and good luck and watched them ride out of the village.

Now they were making their way along a small road with Tino leading the way for them. Matthias was riding between the two others, Tino in the front and Berwald right behind. He could practically feel the smith's suspicious glare boring into his back, trying to see through his agenda.

Matthias could only pray that he was making the right choice by following Lukas's advice and leading them all to Dale. He got more and more nervous as the days passed by in slow motion and the town got closer. It would not be too long before they would find out if it had been a good idea or not. Either they would be able to defend the village from an impending attack or they would meet a city that was unaffected and probably leave some other village somewhere else to be slaughtered far beyond their reach.

Time would tell. He could just hope for the best when Tino signaled for them to make a halt.