They waited silently, crouched behind the tree, hidden by the dangling vines and mounds of roots until the woman and her follower couldn’t be heard anymore.
Captain Rianne finally let go of the hilt of her blade and breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s a good thing you noticed them, Lord Alistair,” she whispered.
Alistair pursed his lips. “It was just luck,” he breathed out. “But we’re not quite safe yet.” He turned his gaze to Midhir. “You can’t fight.”
His words stung, but a glance at his right hand wrapped in bandages was enough to reach that conclusion. “I can’t,” he affirmed through gritted teeth. He couldn’t even properly move his thumb without pain.
“Even if he could, we’re in no state to fight a dozen well-armed people,” Captain Rianne admitted. “They rushed southward, towards the main road. I fear they will come across the rest of our forces – the wounded and battered.”
Alistair shook his head. “I told them to return to Bareon. Unless Sir Lonan and the guards met a terrible fate on the way, they should be halfway to Bareon already. Willow and the others must have returned before we even reached the monument.”
“Unless something went wrong,” Midhir muttered.
“Unless something went wrong,” Alistair nodded. “We don’t know that, and we don’t have the luxury to try and save everyone right now.” He shot Midhir’s hand a meaningful glance. “We need to be out of the forest before nightfall, let’s get moving.”
He stood up, grabbing the spear he had placed on the ground, then helped Captain Rianne stand up as well before offering his hand to the hesitant Midhir. He gladly accepted the young noble’s help and got up on his feet.
The world spun around him for a couple of heartbeats. He grabbed onto the tree for support until it passed. He had lost too much blood. What he needed was to rest, to sleep, and to eat something fulfilling and nutritious.
He was going to do just that when they arrived at Bareon, he promised himself.
They began their gruelling trek back to the main road. Gazes constantly cast outward, they stayed close to the tree trunks, moving from one shadow to the next.
The Old Growth was covered in an eerie silence. There were no chirping birds, no small animals running over the branches, no luminescent butterflies flying about. It wasn’t the silence of a dead place either – Midhir could see the faint blue glow above the tree branches. The forest was very much alive. It was just waiting for something. Like the silence before a storm.
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He couldn’t help but feel on edge. What if they were silent because many people had just passed through? What if the terrorist forces were just preparing to ambush them, and had scared off the wildlife?
He found himself constantly glancing over his shoulder. Was that a shadow that moved? Was it an enemy? Or just his imagination? His mind refused to settle as his heart raced to try and keep up with their pace.
“Do you need to rest?” Alistair asked with a worried tone after some time had passed.
“No, I’m fine,” he lied, trying to ignore the utter exhaustion he was feeling. “I’ll rest when we get to Bareon.”
The young noble seemed unconvinced as he stared at him intently. Their gazes met, and after a moment, Alistair let out a sigh. “Have it your way.”
Telling the passage of time was quite difficult, since the sky was hidden behind the thick canopy of leaves. They didn’t have the sun to look at for reference after all. It only intensified the urgency they felt to get out of the forest.
Some time passed before they neared the edge of the Old Growth. They could see a few faint rays of sunlight pierce the forest canopy a little further ahead. The roots covering the ground were much thinner, and a lot easier to traverse. There were no vines hanging from the trees, nor was there the faint blue light shining from above the tree branches.
“Finally,” Alistair muttered quietly as they stepped through the threshold between the Old and New Growth.
The air seemed to grow lighter. It became easier to breathe, as if a weight had just lifted from his shoulders. He hadn’t even noticed how tight his chest was until he felt it relax somewhat. He closed his eyes for a moment, rubbing his left eye as the constant pressure he had been feeling behind it began to fade away.
“We’re near the road,” he whispered.
“Wait here, I’ll scout ahead,” Captain Rianne said before disappearing behind the trees, blade in hand.
Midhir gulped as they waited for her return. He lowered his gaze to his right hand, wrapped in bandages. He could see a dark spot in the middle of his palm, as well as the back of his hand. The blood flow hadn’t stopped fully, and it was slowly getting through the bandages.
“It’s a blessing that she had a healing crystal,” Alistair commented quietly. “You seemed to be in quite a lot of pain.” His gaze turned to Midhir’s hand. “We didn’t get the chance to talk, but it seemed like you experienced… something.” His sharp gaze met Midhir’s. “Am I wrong?”
Midhir clenched his fist instinctively. A sharp pain jolted up his arm, causing him to flinch. “No,” he spoke with a tight jaw. “I’d like to think I had a nightmare, and that’s all there-“
His words were cut short by hasty footsteps approaching. Alistair immediately picked his spear up just as Captain Rianne stepped out from behind one of the trees. “They’re still looking for us,” she hissed through clenched teeth. “We need circle around them.”
Midhir’s heart sank he looked southeast. They needed to head through the forest. Even if they didn’t cross back into the Old Growth, they were going to go a lot slower than the main road.
“How high was the sun?” He asked, dreading the answer already.
Captain Rianne bit her lips. “Low. We have less than two hours of daylight left.”