Of Love and Valor

18: Stalked

Traveling through the grassland by night is eerie. The waxing moon bathes the world in silver, making every blade of grass and every pebble in the road stand out starkly, creating sharp black shadows. More stars than I've ever seen before stud the sky around the moon. Looking at the sky would be comforting if I was not so on edge. Since we broke camp after supper and started the next leg of our journey to Kedar-Jashun, I have been unable to shake the feeling of being watched.

The moon is high in the sky when I hear something off in the bushes and throw a knife at it, then bound into the grass to investigate. Jorabij happens to be stationed closest to me and follows me as backup.

We find a mole rat, twitching on the ground with my knife sticking out of its back.

"Nice shot, but how...?" Jorabij asks me. I shrug and shake my head.

"I heard something and just reacted," I explain tersely, scanning the area around us warily.

"Bit on edge, aren't you?"

"Something feels off." I retrieve my knife and resume scouting without waiting for a response. Jorabij scoops up the dead rodent and takes it to Vensimir to see if it can supplement our rations.

Time passes. The feeling of being surveilled doesn't go away. I'm tired, very tired; I don't think I've stayed up this late since the battle in Andelxiao, and that night was in a class of its own. Still, adrenaline courses through me. I cannot shake the feeling that someone is watching us, following us.

I hear noises in the grass again while the caravan is taking a quick break. Again I let knives fly in the direction of the sound, then run to investigate. This time it's Thariyae who's closest to me, and she follows as backup.

"What in the world, Azerai?" she hisses as we search the area where my knives entered the grass.

"I heard something," I answer irritably. Moments later, we find my knives lying on the ground. There are a few black threads caught in scratches on the blades, and a little blood on the ground. Thariyae's eyes grow wide as I show her.

"Back to the caravan. Now."

I could not agree more, although I'm annoyed that whoever I hit got away. Vensimir, Alderon, and Santhrobar are similarly nonplussed when we report back to the caravan.

"You couldn't have wounded them more severely?" Santhrobar questions me, at least half joking.

"I'm mildly pleased to know that you're not paranoid or crazy, but I think I would have preferred that to the confirmation that we're being followed," Vensimir grumbles.

"I second that," Alderon adds grimly. "Perhaps we should rework the watches, so that we don't have to stop at all."

"The horses cannot handle that, unfortunately. But we'll shorten the rests, and do whatever you think best with the guard."

The night seems to last forever. Having confirmation that someone is out there watching us has done nothing to set my nerves at ease. As tired as I am, I am not sure I will rest easy until I know we've found safety or the threat has been terminated. Alderon and Santhrobar placed me on rear guard again when we started traveling again after my unease was proven reasonable, and I am more on high alert than ever before.

Dawn is breaking in the east when I hear noises in the grasses off the road again and throw knives at it. This time I hear a strangled grunt type sound. Instantly more knives are in my hands and I scrape their blades together as I approach whatever my knives hit. Zelphinon joins me from wherever he'd been stationed, and I'm immediately glad we agreed on a signal at the supper camp.

Mere moments later we find my knives. One is stuck in an Erivim fighter's leg, having severed a tendon in the back of the knee. The other lies under his throat, which has been slit. There is a knife wound in his shoulder.

"He couldn't run, so his partner killed him and left him," Zelphinon surmises. My blood runs cold. I collect and clean my knives without answering him. "It's not your fault."

"It is a little bit."

"You've warned them. Multiple times. Smarter foes would have been more cautious, kept more distance, taken fewer risks."

"We should go back. They've drawn us away. The caravan—"

"Has other, very capable fighters." He glances around, clearly on high alert as I have been. "But you're right." He walks slightly behind me as we return to our comrades and clients, I assume to protect me from any ambush that may arise, which is sweet but unnecessary. I would rather put myself at risk than see him hurt.

Vensimir, Alderon, and Santhrobar look fairly alarmed when we deliver our report.

"Perhaps they will have learned something from this incident," Vensimir remarks, eyeing me critically. "You are...much different from how you look."

"Best throwing knife aim and range in the squadron," Zelphinon asserts coolly.

"I believe it, now."

"You desperately need to rest," Alderon says to me. His critical eyes on me make me flinch. "But you're not going to be able to do that, are you?"

"No. Especially not now. We should all be around the caravan, not in the middle, and we should all be on high alert."

"You're not wrong," Santhrobar responds, "but neither is Alderon. Perhaps we'll have to knock you out."

"Yes, brilliant, let's give one of our best fighters a head injury," Zelphinon growls, but swallows whatever else he had to say when Alderon shoots him a dark look.

"We'll reassess at the breakfast stop. Back to your posts, and Heavens above, let's not have any more Erivim lurking in the grass," Alderon orders with exasperation.

"And notify the rest of the squadron what's happened. Azerai shouldn't be the only one on hyper-alert," Santhrobar adds. I bow and take my leave, Zelphinon close behind me.

"Are you all right?" he asks me.

"As much as I can be," I mutter. "I won't be at ease until we know the extent of the threat and put an end to it, one way or another."

"Hopefully this was the end of it. And if not, we all fight with you. I'll handle alerting the squadron."

"Thank you." He clasps my hand and squeezes it briefly before heading towards the front of the caravan, and I move back to rear guard. The sun is coming up now, and despite my exhaustion, sunrise always gives me hope. Here's hoping that Zelphinon's right and they've learned from their mistakes. I don't want any more deaths on the road to Kedar-Jashun, and I shudder to think what life must be like among the Erivim, when a comrade would kill you instead of helping you when the situation gets tricky. I am thankful to have escaped such a fate, myself; if the Erivim commander Keravik tried to bargain with had gotten his way, I would be among them. I still want to end them, but after the interrogations, I want to do so in such a way that as many of them as possible can return to their homes and families and live as civilians again. The ones who did not choose to join the Erivim are also victims of it.

I just don't know if anyone else in my squadron, except maybe Zelphinon, feels the same way, or how they might react if we fight the Erivim and I argue to have prisoners rather than executions.

I hope I don't have to find out, at least not on this journey.