Airie

Chapter 3

Their advantage of surprise ruined, they simply charged. Borwin slashed at the pirate by the tree before he could as much as raise his sword. They ran past him as he fell to the ground, his hands pressed to the wound in his chest.

The other two were on their feet already, their swords in their hands, eyeing the charging men. One raised his sword in a practiced movement of a man accustomed to fighting, but the other was, apparently, quicker in estimating the risks, for he turned, and ran.

Dusan followed him, leaving the other one to the rest. Mirche was good in tracking, but Dusan excelled in running. Nobody in the village could beat him in that. The pirate stood no chance. This was not his sea. This was Dusan's territory.

It was also, apparently, the territory of the air people, or at least that one annoying, smiling airie who'd messed up their plans by giving their presence out to the enemy. The tales were true – the air people were mean for the fun of it. Dusan felt an urge to turn and check if the creature was still there, but that was not a good time for curiosity. He had to catch the running man before he reached his peers at the shore.

The man wasn't too bad a runner himself. He made good use of the trees, maneuvering, changing his direction, forcing Dusan to slow down with each turn before picking up speed again. This wasn't like competing with Mirche and the others on the firm, familiar dirt road. Here, Dusan's feet landed in moss and slippery rotten leaves, and the uneven ground threatened hidden holes and treacherous dry branches just waiting to trip him up.

He glanced back at one point and saw Mirche following him at a distance. After a while, another glance revealed that Dusan was on his own. He squeezed the handle of his knife and pushed on. The back of the man running ahead appeared and disappeared between the trees, as distant as before. He wouldn't be able to run all the way to the shore, though. They weren't that close. He'd have to stop at some point, and then Dusan would get him.

The forest floor rose gradually, forming a trees-covered hill. The man slowed down, climbing it, and Dusan used the opportunity to shorten the distance between them. Still, as he started his ascent, he was forced to slow down as well. Panting, his chest hurting, he finally reached the top of the hill behind which the man had already disappeared.

He paused on the top, leaning on a tree trunk with one hand, wiping the sweat off his brow with the other, looking at the forest stretching out in front of him. He could see the endless rows of trunks disappearing into the distance, and a few boulders on the hill and down below. The only thing he couldn't see was the running man.

He had to be hiding behind one of the boulders—some were large enough for that.

"Oh, he got away?" someone said behind Dusan. "You must be so sad."

Dusan whirled around, his knife ready. The airie was there, standing a safe distance away. He wasn't laughing this time, but a little smile curved his lips. Dusan frowned. Could the sudden disappearance of the man have had something to do with this creature's presence?

"Where is he?" Dusan said. "What did you do?"

"What makes you think I did anything?"

"Why did you follow me?"

The airie gave a lazy shrug. "I find you entertaining."

"Did you try to freeze me to death when we first met?" This was perhaps not the best timing for this question, but Dusan had struggled with it for a decade, and now he finally had a chance to have it answered.

The airie raised an eyebrow, looking mildly puzzled, but then his smile resurfaced.

"Oh, it was you? I knew you looked familiar."

"Why did you try to freeze me?"

"It wasn't personal." The airie shrugged again. "I just found your reactions amusing."

"Would you have gone through with that? Would you have finished me, just for fun?"

The airie looked thoughtful for a moment.

"It was so many years ago, I'm not quite sure what I intended to do." His smile widened. "Should we try again and find out?"

Dusan felt a breath of cold air against his feet. The feeling had plagued his nightmares, and now it was happening again—for real. He put all his effort into keeping a straight face. If this creature enjoyed his reactions, he should give him none of those.

"Could you do this to the guy I've been following?" Dusan said, trying to keep his voice even. "This would be even more amusing to you."

The airie hummed. "Possibly."

Abruptly, the cold wind against Dusan's feet ceased, and then, moments later, a sharp cry of surprise came from behind the cluster of large black boulders on the side of the hill.

Dusan started towards them, clutching his knife. The pause had allowed him to catch his breath, but the man had rested, too. There was also the airie to consider now, who, Dusan knew without looking, was following him again. The unpredictable creature could intervene at any moment and take the side of Dusan's opponent for no other reason but to mess things up.

No man awaited him behind the boulders. Instead, a narrow dark opening in the wall of the hill glared at him, large rocks overhanging the entrance to the cave.

Dusan had never been to this part of the forest before, so this cave was unfamiliar to him. He couldn't see too deep inside, but the man he'd been following had to be there, hiding, preparing to strike. Dusan didn't like the rocks over the entrance, too, a bunch of unsteady boulders ready to fall on his head.

"Aren't you going to go inside?" the airie said behind him.

"Can you make him come out?"

"It'll be more fun if you go in."

"I'd rather wait here." Barging in and trying to fight an armed pirate in an unfamiliar dark space didn't seem like a good idea. "My people will be here soon. We'll smoke him out."

"Oh, that's clever," the airie said. "Unless, of course, the cave has another exit."

Dusan turned around and stared at him.

"Does it," he said slowly, "have another exit?"

"Maybe it does," the airie said. "Maybe it doesn't."

Dusan groaned in frustration.

"But if there is another exit," the airie continued, "then he might not even be in the cave right now. He might be outside already, running away."

This was too good a point. Dusan had to at least make sure the man was still in the cave and had no other way out. Then he could wait for the others to help in capturing him. The prospect of the man possibly heading to the shore right now to notify his accomplices about the whereabout of Dusan's village made him sick. He swallowed hard and stepped towards the narrow entrance.

Inside, the passage quickly widened, opening into a larger space. Dusan made a few steps and stopped, letting his eyes adjust, his fingers clutching the knife. The space, as far as he could judge, was as large as a two rooms house. He took a few more steps, looking for openings in the walls, for passages, for corners where a man could be hiding.

"Anything interesting?" the airie said behind him. Dusan startled, and glanced back as the airie stepped inside, carefully avoiding the sharp rocks protruding from the passage's walls.

"Hush," Dusan said, and looked around again, then up. His eyes adjusted by now, he could see the rocky walls of the cave rising to about twice his height. There was no other exit, and nowhere to hide.

"He's not here," he muttered, and then jumped as a sudden rattling, clattering noise came from the outside. The light, weak to begin with, got instantly dimmer as dirt rained over the entrance, and then, the boulders began to fall.

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