Reyr the Gold (Dragonwall Series # 2)

Chapter 10 - The Trap

Northern Barrier Range

Mikkin wandered around the pile of Gobelin bodies while he pondered his next move. His plan had worked, he and Jamie were free. They now had a heap of dead bodies to show for it, with the exception of the Gobelin leader.

"Where do you think it went?" Jamie asked, traipsing around the camp as if he might find the Gobelin hiding in the bushes.

"Don't know, lad. Maybe it ran away." If the Gobelin was smart, it was long gone. He doubted that was the case. He cupped his hands and called out. "You there! Gobelin? If you are hiding, come out. We will not harm you; you have my word."

It was risky calling out into the night, but the noise of their fight with the Gobelins had already alerted the forest of their presence. If the Gobelin came forth, he would be true to his word. He waited, but no answer came.

"Well, we had better not let these rabbits go to waste." Jamie held them up.

Mikkin laughed as some of the tension fled his nerves. "We had better not!" He paused and glanced about. "Let's first move those reeking bodies, reclaim our arrows, and arm ourselves. I do not like the idea of an unaccounted for Gobelin lurking. We can take watches. I will take the first tonight. You may take the second."

They got right to work, and stinking work it was. Unpleasant did not encompass the entirety of the disgusting task. The bodies reeked of garbage, rot, and dead fish. It was a miserable chore to remove the arrows and clean the guts from them. When they finished, they too smelled of death.

"Gods!" Mikkin cursed. "If it was not so dark, I would go to the creek for a bath."

Jamie heartily agreed. They set about skinning and skewering the rabbits. After the task was done, Mikkin tried once more to tempt the Gobelin out of hiding; he kept his voice lower this time. If the Gobelin lingered in the area, then it would hear his call. Part of him had a tingling feeling that the creature was watching them from the darkness. "We will share our food with you," he called into the night. "If you come out, I promise we will not harm you. Surely you are hungry." Still there was no answer, so he shrugged his shoulders. Perhaps it was better this way—more food for the two of them.

They feasted well that night. He took a whole rabbit to himself and gave Jamie one too. They saved the third for breakfast. The excitement of the day had generated an insatiable appetite within them. When they finished, they both stretched out and lay back to gaze upon the little bits of stars visible from the forest floor. Together they pointed out as many as they recognized.

There was Elduin, the north star, always visible in the north. Then there was Orym and Elmar, two stars that made up points of a bull's horns named Katar, lord of all the bulls. Katar was one of Elduin's guardians. They also spotted Lhoris, Sylvar, and Gaelira, bright lone souls in the vast night sky.

After a time, Mikkin heard Jamie's snore. He chuckled. Likely the lad had seen enough bloodshed this evening to last him a lifetime. This journey was a good opportunity for Jamie to do some growing up. A young man of nearly twenty should have experiences that shape him. This one had certainly done the trick.

Gods only knew he had experienced his fair share of maturing moments. Memory took him back to his fifteenth name day—the day his father insisted he prove his manhood. He was tasked with going into the mountains alone and bringing back meat fit for feeding his family. At that age, the idea of an independent conquest excited him, but it also scared him. He dared not show his father his fear.

"A smart man fears the right things," his father often said. He knew the forest wasn't one of those things smart men feared, so long as those smart men knew how to behave in a forest. At fifteen, he believed himself to be a smart man. He was even eager to prove it.