Part 30: Company
“No Einnol!” shouted Sarine, but he was already running towards the trees, an axe in each hand.
Sarine dropped her mug and ran after him, but Einnol was already swinging his axes. “Einnol! Stop!” she shouted.
There was a squeal then the sound of wind rustling through the trees. Einnol had stopped running, and stood staring, his mouth open and his axes hanging loosely in his hands. In front of him were Rell, Andoryn and Aerianna. Andoryn lowered the hand holding the pale glyph, and gradually the swirling winds subsided.
“What the blazes?” Einnol thundered, “I could ha’ killed ye. What were ye doing creepin’ up on us like that?”
Aerianna looked at her feet, but Andoryn met his gaze, coolly. “I think you would have found my defences more than a match for your weapons.”
“Ye think a puff of magic wind would ha’ stopped me, do ye? A fart would have a better chance than your fancy tricks!”
Andoryn blanched, and Rell sniggered but stopped when Einnol glared at him. “And you, Sir Rell. I thought ye would ha’ had more sense!”
“We were only curious…” began Aerianna.
“Curious?” bellowed Einnol, shaking with rage, “Well did ye’ know Missy, that it was curiosity as killed the cat? Think on that!”
Sarine arrived at Einnol’s shoulder, out of breath. “Let them be, Mr. Feldorm,” she said kindly, “I’m sure they didn’t mean to startle us.”
“Then why were they creeping around in the bushes? Eh?”
Andoryn answered, her voice still calm. “I know we shouldn’t have followed you, Einnol, but …well you and Sarine were acting strangely. Then there was that business in the library. It was so obvious that you found what you were looking for. Then Alleri told me you were looking for Arka, that she’d gone on a journey. We wanted to help, but I knew you’d turn us away, so we followed you from a distance.”
“If we had known we were coming this far, we’d have packed some food,” said Rell, eyeing the pastry crumbs in Einnol’s beard.
“Hmmph!” snorted Einnol, “Well, you’ve slowed us down enough already. If you want to eat, ye can do it on the hoof.”
“You mean we can come with you?” asked Aerianna, jumping up and down.
Einnol gave her a look that stopped her in mid jump. “We’re not on a picnic,” he said, “If ye must know, Arka’s life is in danger. If we waste any more time, ye will all be in need of a new language teacher!” He stomped off to get his bags, the others following behind.
Sarine handed round the rest of the pies before pulling her backpack onto her shoulders and the group set off on the last leg of the journey towards the Bronze Doors. For the first mile, they walked in silence, but eventually Einnol’s rage subsided and he started to recount the sequence of events that had led to him and Sarine setting off in search of Arka’s old home.
He was careful not to tell them anything about Sudisir, though. He knew he would have to deal with him alone. He didn’t want to put the others at risk. Sarine would be a problem, he thought. She would want to help. But if Sudisir was already there, he would be waiting for them. He had to find some way of keeping the others out of harm’s way.
