The Fall of Ferenian

Chapter Six

All that day they walked. They stayed alongside the Road, walking far enough away that it could only be seen if they stopped and peered through the leaves. For many hours, the only sound was the rustle of leaves interrupted by the occasional scuff of boots on damp roots. Renwil had never known such monotony. Even for him, the trees around them blurred into a mass of orange, green and brown. Every part of his body ached with tiredness and his feet were damp with sweat in his boots.

They saw no one on the Road. This should have felt like a blessing, for they didn't want another encounter like the one with Anenor, but it only made Renwil feel more isolated. Sometimes a bird burst from the branches of a tree above them, and both of them jumped in surprise, hearts racing. They didn't laugh when they realised their foolishness.

As the sky turned pink, Renwil's thoughts turned to food. He didn't dare say anything to Renpfie about dinner, for fear she would give him a lecture on rationing it, but he longed to stop and eat. The sound of a rushing stream filtered through the branches and Renwil felt his heart flutter with relief.

"Should we stop here tonight?" He said, "There's a stream nearby."

Renpfie looked around them, nodded, and they dumped their packs beneath a tree. Renwil filled up their water skins in a stream while Renpfie gathered wood to make a fire. They worked in silence.

Once a fire was lit and a pan of water and hare was bubbling away, they both laid out their bedrolls and sat down, too exhausted to speak or do anything more than sit.

"How long will it be until we're there?" Renwil asked.

Renpfie shook her head. "A few more days, maybe. If we keep walking at this pace."

Renwil nodded and watched as she picked up her bow and began running the slender wood through her fingers. He remembered when she'd first learned to use it, with Fùtenor. He'd tried to teach both of them, but Renwil had given up quickly, unable to get his aim right. At the time, he thought it was a pointless skill. If he was joining Theon's army, it would have been different, but he'd never had any intention of doing that. Neither had Renpfie, but she enjoyed the power it gave her, and had mastered it quickly, until even Fùtenor couldn't teach her anything more. Now Renwil wished he'd spent more time attempting to learn. But then, he'd never imagined ending up in a situation like this.

Renpfie caressed the bow now in a similar way Renwil held his mother's necklace, until she caught him watching.

"What?" She snapped.

Renwil quickly shook his head. "Nothing. I was just thinking maybe I should have learned archery too."

Renpfie snorted. "I don't think you ever could have learned. I remember you kept saying 'oh but what if I hit a tree instead of the target?'" She shook her head. "You were hopeless."

Renwil sighed. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, then said, "Um... I was thinking perhaps you could teach me? You know, over the next few days or something."

Renpfie tilted her head and regarded him with questioning eyes. "Are you sure you won't hit a tree and hurt it?" She teased. Then she jumped to her feet. "Come on then," she said, "While the hare's cooking, I'll show you how to hold the bow, at least."

Smiling, Renwil got more slowly to his feet. They walked a small way from the fire and Renwil noted that the sun was getting lower in the sky, nearly disappearing behind the trees. There wasn't a lot of daylight left.

Renpfie lifted her bow to demonstrate how to hold it, but got no further than that. Voices floated in the air from the Road, and both their heads snapped to look in that direction. Trees blocked their view and the light was too low to see very far, but when they squinted through the leaves that concealed them, they could make out several torches on the Road. From the small beams of light emitted, they could make out the shape of horses.

Panic rose in Renwil's throat.

"The fire!" Renpfie hissed.

They both rushed back to their camp, while trying to remain as quiet as possible. Without hesitation, Renpfie kicked over the pan of water, spilling it over the flames. A hiss of steam billowed into the air, but she was already stamping out the last of the flames. And then they both held their breath, waiting for the travellers to pass them by.

They were too far from the Road to be able to hear exactly what was being said, but they could hear the murmur of voices. Renwil thought there were three or four of them, and from the lack of horse hooves, deduced that they had stopped. Renwil and Renpfie stared at each other with wide eyes and trembling limbs. Renpfie bit her lip anxiously, and Renwil crossed his fingers, praying for them to continue on their way.

Renwil couldn't see through the building gloom as far as the Road, but he knew they were coming closer from the rustle of feet amongst the falling leaves. He stared at Renpfie, shaking. She pointed at their packs, and as silently as they could they swung them back onto their backs, their fear pushing their tiredness and sore muscles out of their minds.

They began to tiptoe away from their camp, parallel to the Road.

A twig snapped under Renwil's feet. He froze.

Behind them, they heard someone say, "What was that?"

And someone else said, "They've gone that way!"

Footfalls sounded behind them, but Renwil and Renpfie didn't look back. They simply ran.

Renwil's heart pounded in his ears. The sound of feet running echoed all around him. He wasn't sure whether they were his, Renpfie's or someone else's. Darkness had now completely fallen. They couldn't see the ground in front of them properly, and more than once, one of them tripped and the other had to haul them back to their feet, still running as fast as they could.

Renwil knew they couldn't keep running forever. They couldn't go too far from the Road, because in the darkness, they could get completely lost and never find it again, but as long as they stayed near it, they would be easy to follow.

He risked a glance over his shoulder. He could see no one behind them, but he knew they were there, their footsteps too loud. But if he couldn't see them, he doubted they could see him and Renpfie, and therefore they were guided entirely by sound. He grabbed Renpfie's arm and pulled her to a halt. They only had a few seconds, he knew.

"Climb!" He hissed, and there was no time for any further explanations. Their pursuants were louder, closer.

He jumped and grabbed a branch above him and swung his body up onto the branch, before reaching down to offer a hand to Renpfie. He hauled her up and they had no time to climb any higher before there were people right beneath them. Renwil closed his eyes and willed them to keep running, but they stopped. Without the sound of their feet to follow, they were perplexed as to where they were.

Both Renwil and Renpfie held their breath. Their bodies vibrated with tension as they tried not to move. If their pursuers looked up, they would be seen immediately, even in the darkness.

"I can't hear them," said one.

There was silence for a moment before another person said, "Come on, let's go back to the horses. We don't even know if it was them or not."

They began to walk back the way they had come.

Fainter now, someone said, "If it wasn't them, why did they run?"

They didn't hear the reply.

They waited in the tree for several more long minutes, simply daring to breathe again. Still in the tree, Renwil whispered, "Do you think they were talking about us?"

"Yes," Renpfie hissed back, "That Anenor person must have told Theon about meeting me, and Theon, like I said he would, must have discovered us missing and sent someone to look for us."

Renwil felt slightly sick. Then he said, "Do you think Celdaryn is okay?"

"How would I know?" Renpfie snapped back. She sighed and began to climb back down the tree. "Come on, we should move away from here. We shall have to be more careful from now on."

Renwil nodded and followed her back down to the ground. All thoughts of archery lessons were completely forgotten.