A Shifter's Tale

The Pass

~23~

The woods Dante had spoken of were thick and green, despite the winter. We’d managed to cover more ground than we’d expected in the late afternoon and the foot of the mountains were visible in the distance. There were no settlements as far as we could see in any direction, but we decided to continue to the mountains nonetheless.

“You’ll wear yourself out,” Ebony warned me as I continued to pace up and down beside the blazing fire she’s managed to create. It was dark and eerily quiet in the clearing we’d made camp in, just big enough for us three and the horses. The fact that the leaves were still green during this season unnerved me and the nature was far too silent. The only noise was the sound of the crackling flames, my pacing feet and the horses snorting every now and again.

“It’s too quiet,” I hissed into the night, voicing my thoughts.

“We’re in the middle of nowhere, what are we meant to be hearing?” Seth asked, his knees tucked close to his chest with his chin resting on them as he warmed his hands.

“Nature,” I told him impatiently. “No insects, no foxes, no badgers, no nothing. I haven’t even heard an owl.”

“It’s winter, Lex,” said Ebony reasonably.

“But still, there should be more movement than this.” I continued my pacing, my eyes darting between the trees and underbrush. The pair of them watched me cautiously as my steps increased in length and speed. If I’d’ve been walking in one direction, I’m sure I would have reached the mountains by now. Salvador nickered at me and I paused long enough to glance in his direction. He was staring at me with his deep brown eyes from where he and Estrella were hitched to the branch.

I exhaled loudly and sat down heavily in front of the fire opposite Seth and Ebony.

“You’re just impatient,” Ebony told me gently. “We’ll progress, but we’re not going to find him overnight.” I watched her for a moment, the orange glow of the fire dancing on her face as she watched me.

“It’s been three days since we left the Academy,” I replied lowly.

“It’s better to progress slowly and thoroughly than too fast and end up passing him on the way,” she said wisely.

“Unless they kill him in the time it takes,” Seth muttered and Ebony shot a filthy look in his direction. He grimaced in reply and went back to hugging his knees. I waited for a few seconds before jumping back to my feet and returning to my pacing.

Ebony huffed loudly and retrieved the rolled-up map from Seth’s saddlebag, stretching it out on the ground. “There’s a small hamlet on the other side of the mountains,” she said suddenly after a few minutes of examining it.

“How far away?” I asked.

“If we carry on directly west, we’ll reach a gap between the mountains that we can travel through. Then we follow the coast north and we’ll reach it.”

“Great!” said Seth, enthusiasm clouding his voice. “Wait, why?”

“If they’re hiding him off the beaten track, that’s a good place to start,” I admitted. “But we don’t know if the villagers will accept shape shifters.”

“Easy, I brought spare clothes in case we needed to questions some people,” Ebony said dismissively. “I’m not an astrologer for no reason, you know.”

It only just dawned on me how useful it was to have Ebony with us, even if she wasn’t much of a fighter. The Valley was covered in towns and villages, so much so most of the map was taken up by script. There could be plenty more hamlets that weren’t marked and who knew what else. Seth and I would be lost with Ebony to figure out which ones would be useful to visit.