The Forgotten

Chapter 5

Suzy left the woods early that morning, Decan only a few steps ahead of her leading the way. Sniffing bacon in the air they arrived back to the town in good time. She had barely noticed their progress as she dwelled on her short time in the woods and how the boy was surviving as he clearly knew what he was doing. Vowing she would help him, though for now she needed to get back for Ralf. No matter how injured he might have been, the fact that she did not return home that night would have meant that he'll be out before dawn with anyone he can muster to look for her.

Arriving back at the stables, she was greeted with Ralf shouting at the stable master, demanding a horse though it still seemed like he could hardly stand. So riding would clearly be questionable and certainly painful.

"Ralf, you old lout, what are you doing?" She shouted from the archway.

Turning his head, his wife stood in one piece with a dog next to her. He ran over to her with a limp on his left leg while also clenching his ribs which were still tender when breathing. Embracing Suzy, her head dipped on his shoulder for a moment before his tirade came.

"Where have you been? Why didn't you come back last night? You're lucky the doctor didn't let me out till this morning otherwise I would have come out last night."

"I'm fine Ralf." She replied, having to interrupt his onslaught of questions.

"I found him, he is in the woods to the north. He truly lives in a place magical, I will tell you all about it. For now you need to rest. Let us go inside."

Ralf, though confused, relented and the pair walked into the keep and towards their room. Decan ran back to the stable master where he had already laid out a bowl of food for the dog which Decan didn't wait to tuck into.

-

Rendall sat staring ahead of him, deep in thought he recalled meeting the woman yesterday, he didn't like the fact she found him so quickly. The herding of such a number of animals made it easy for others to track, and if Rendall was honest, he knew that home was not that far from other dwellings and the capital of the kingdom itself. He resolved to think on it some more, perhaps nature could reclaim some of the surrounding woods and abandoned homes that were nearby.

He also thought about how well he was able to communicate with another person. He was a quiet child all those years ago and although he always had his head in a book or was running through the forest in his own little world, he thought that he would have forgotten his own language.

After time Rendall stood and looked in the direction to where Suzy had left only a few hours ago. There were footprints scattered around the woodland and spending so long in the woods, tracking these fresh prints were nearly second nature to him.

"Stay here Celer, protect the forest. I will be fine." He said to the wolf while they joined their heads together in an embrace. The pair closed their eyes, their bond was unbreakable and their love for one another was unrivalled.

Not wanting to catch the woman, Rendall went at a leisurely pace following the tracks. He didn't want anyone coming back in a hurry so he disturbed each track he went past, making them look like an animal or a gust of wind had moved some of the dirt and leaves on the floor.

Not long after setting out, Rendall had made it to a road, fields to each side with the faintest image of the town on the horizon. Even from this distance, the tall stone walls were hiding the inhabitants within. A large tower and a few church spires were the only structures that could be witnessed though there were many small houses scattered in the land around the town.

He still has his bow. Not wanting to draw attention to himself he looked to the skies for birds. He spotted two pigeons sitting on a small shelter in the middle of the field, not more than a hundred meters away. He drew his bow back, taking in a deep breath and with two swift movements he fired the first arrow in less than a second, with the next already in the air soon after. Striking both birds, they dropped lifelessly to the floor, both had been killed by the impact of the arrow.