Nedric rationalised that the reason that he could see nothing that he recognised when he looked out from the cliff face was that he was up one of the mountains that overlooked Nigh and that he was on the far side. It made sense with the distance that they had travelled to reach the place and what was promising was that it was well within the range of the woodsmen.
If his reasoning was correct then all he had to do was circle around the mountain and find one of the tracks and he could follow the posts from there on in. The first task therefore was to get walking and try not to drift too far off course.
The problem normally when walking in a forest is that unless you are moving along a path you cannot tell where you are travelling. As you move to avoid trees there is a tendency to move slightly away from your set path and with some routes seeming easier than others, before you know it you are heading in completely the wrong direction. Nedric had the cliffs to follow for part of the way, which made his journey easier.
When the cliffs made way to steep slopes he then had to mark his route. He checked his route behind and lined himself up so as to aim at something visible in front of him. When he reached that point he checked behind him again to see that he hadn’t gone too far off course. He wanted to keep at the same altitude so he had to make sure his path kept to a level rather than a straight line but that wasn’t too difficult. He knew if he kept going he would cross the path that the brothers must have taken to reach their retreat. He tried to move as quickly and as quietly as possible as he didn’t want a brother surprising him but he tended to snag on the undergrowth, which slowed him down.
Eventually he reached a path leading down. This was where he had to be most careful. If there was only the one route from the cabin leading down towards the village then all someone had to do was wait for him at the bottom of the path. Of course if there was more than one path or they thought he had escaped already or killed himself then they might not be waiting. It was a risk that he would have to take but he wasn’t going to do it without being as careful as possible.
Walking down the track, the forest floor kept his footfalls quiet and the lack of undergrowth meant that there was little sound from his passage. Sometime past someone had cut down most of the trees along one side of the path and that meant that it was open to the sky, unlike most tracks in the area. Grasses had taken the opportunity and their rich green foliage contrasted with the browns of the earth under the trees.
As he walked birds warned him away from their area with their cries. Occasionally he noticed mammals bounding across the ground and into the trees. They moved sufficiently fast and through thick undergrowth so that all he could see was a flash of movement before they disappeared from view. If the situation had been less dire he could have enjoyed the journey.
When he reached an intersection with nothing stopping him the sense of relief was immense. He didn’t recognise the number on the post but he committed it to memory and followed the arrow, increasing his pace as he relaxed his vigilance slightly. If he hadn’t been stopped yet the chances were that he had made a clean break.
By the time he had reached the next intersection he had broken into a jogging run. It wasn’t particularly fast but it covered the distance more quickly than a walk. He could keep going at this pace for at least a couple of miles before he would need to rest a bit by walking. Unlike his previous run, which whilst much faster had tired him quickly he knew with a bit of walking he would be recovered enough to keep the run going after only a short spell.
As he moved at first all he could think about was his breathing. After a while when he had developed a steady rhythm he no longer had to think about his breathing, instead his mind was filled with one of the tunes that Rialto had played regularly back at the keep. He tried to think of other things but that tune kept coming back to him as the rhythm of the piece fit with the rhythm of his running.
It was a couple of hours before Nedric reached a part of the forest that he recognised. The change from the unknown to the known gave him heart and he speeded up. He felt that he ought to have met someone already but clearly the brothers had found a place away from the current logging operations to use as their base of operations.
By the time he reached the works, evening was closing in and the place had the silence of a work area stopped for the night. Nedric passed several colleagues who gave him a slightly strange look as he went past but he didn’t have time to be concerned about that. He had to find Alhern so that they could send out a team to rescue Elsebeth.
The supervisor wasn’t in his office, which given the lateness of the hour was hardly surprising. Fortunately in the small world of Nigh, everyone knew where everyone else lived and Nedric made his way over to the cabin that held the supervisor and his family.
It was clear by looking at the cabin that this was the residence of the most important person around. Although the supervisor was not one for grandiose living, his home was the only one to have been built with seasoned wood and the other carpenters had made a special effort when they constructed it. Each line was true, no gaps showed between the planks. The roof had flutings along each edge that were not only decorative but served to channel the rainfall. The building was larger than any other house in Nigh but there was a warmth and comfort to it that spoke of family and home.
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The fence that surrounded the building was meant to mark the boundaries of a small garden rather than to stop the animals of the forest. Sufficiently high to prevent the passage of a small child, it was low enough that Nedric could jump over it rather than using the perfectly serviceable gate. His urgency was such that he wanted no delays and so he took the shortest route.
Pounding on the door evoked an angry response, which was curtailed when the door was flung open and Alhern was able to see Nedric standing before him.
“What the hell happened to you?”
What Alhern saw, was one of his workers panting from running hard, clothing covered with stains from the woods and cliffs. Three days in the same clothing had done nothing to help and Nedric looked more unkempt than he had ever looked. He had always made an effort to look smart for work so the sight shook Alhern.
Nedric was fighting to get his breath. He panted as he spoke.
“They’ve got Elsebeth! We have to rescue her!”
“Calm down a bit lad. Who’s got her? Where is she? Take your time and tell me everything.”
As he spoke, Alhern guided Nedric into the house and sat him down. His wife, seeing the state that Nedric was in, immediately set about making a hot drink and whilst that was brewing Nedric had time to get his breath back and collect his thoughts.
He told them what had happened in short, terse statements, trying to say as much as possible as quickly as possible. As he spoke Alhern began to look grim and stopped Nedric part way through the tale.
“That’s all I need to know for the moment. Now we need to get things moving. First off you need to get a little rest whilst I organise a rescue party. You look like you haven’t slept for a week and you won’t be any use in that state.”
Nedric tried to protest as Alhern’s wife led him to their bedroom, but the truth was that he felt extremely tired. He wasn’t used to as much exercise as he had undergone that day and he hadn’t slept well for the previous two nights. Whilst he had been moving he had felt fine but as soon as he sat down he felt incredibly weary.
He collapsed on the bed as soon as he had removed his boots and was fast asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He wasn’t even aware of the light blanket placed over him.
* * *
He awoke several hours later to find Alhern standing over him. The supervisor had an expression on his face that seemed to merge pity with grim determination. Nedric rubbed the sleep from his eyes as sat up and reached for his boots.
“Well I’ve sent a carriage to get some rangers but they are at least a day away so we are going to try and get her back ourselves. We were hoping that you could lead us to them, as with luck we can get there before dawn. If we’re lucky then we will catch them sleeping and we can rescue Elsebeth without them having a chance to hurt her. I’ve got a few good people outside waiting for you, are you capable of making the trip again?”
“Of course.”
Standing up, Nedric was suddenly very aware of all the aches in his body. The strain of his leg muscles after their unaccustomed running almost had him falling over as he walked to the door. Each bruise seemed to draw attention to itself but the worse pain came from his arms, which felt as if they had been stretched out of their sockets and then carelessly put back in. The pain was great but irrelevant; he had to help Elsebeth. She was relying on him.
As they walked out of the house, the number of people outside surprised Nedric. There were carpenters and impressors from the works, there were people from the village and surprisingly there were a couple of woodsmen. He was surprised that any of the last could be found as they generally spent the week out in the forest, only returning at end-week for supplies and the odd comfort.
He would have liked it if the Esteril rangers could have been part of the group. Although small in number, these men had a formidable reputation as trackers and fighters. He felt that just one of them could have handled both brothers with one hand. As it was, the numbers surrounding him should be sufficient to overcome any resistance that the men offered. The mood of the group was grim but determined. One of theirs had been captured and they would get her back.
Nedric was glad that Carrite was among the group that accompanied him. The woodsman had become a friend over the last few months and Nedric felt that he needed friends at the moment. More importantly though, Carrite knew the woods like few others. When they reached the furthest point that Nedric was sure about he gave Carrite the number of the post and Carrite immediately took the lead.
As they walked, the group were surprisingly quiet. Nedric himself felt disinclined to talk but he had not expected the others to feel things as strongly as they did. There were a few curses as men tripped over roots and stones in the dark but other than that little conversation.
They reached the marker that had been Nedric’s first real hope of freedom and the mood changed. Before they had been quietly determined, now they were grim and serious. Carrite knew the area well enough to know that there was only one set of buildings around. One route was the trail that Nedric had intercepted, the only other started a quarter of the way around the mountain. The group split in two so as to prevent the brothers escaping if they were to spot one group arriving.
Nedric stayed with Carrite. The woodsmen had always struck him as dependable. Apart from that he had arms almost as big as the trees he felled. The group moved quietly and quickly around to the second trail and then climbed towards the brother’s cabin.
Nedric wasn’t sure what he expected when they reached the top of the trail. A light shining from the cabin guiding their way would have been good but unlikely. Some sign of movement, as the brothers stirred to start their day would have put them all on their guard. As it was, there was no sign that their approach had been detected.
From the other side of the cabin they heard an owl hoot. This was the agreed signal to let them know that the other half of their group was in place. As neither group had met opposition they reformed and made ready to break into the cabin.
“Our best bet is a surprise rush.” Carrite stated.
He directed two of the men to find a stout log that they could use as a battering ram. They found something appropriate and the two largest men in the group were instructed to run at full pace at the door. Most of the others were to rush in afterwards with only a few standing outside. They prepared in silence although there had as yet been no indication that anyone in the hut knew they were there.
When they were ready Carrite signalled and the two men in front rushed at the door. The log struck and the door fell inwards, torn from its hinges. The others piled inside with enough noise to wake the dead.
There was much noise and confusion until someone found and lit a lamp. As the men straightened themselves out and looked it around it soon became very clear that the building was empty. The brothers must have left.
Nedric guessed that after he had escaped they had decided to take no chances and moved on, taking Elsebeth with them. What was he to do now? The group didn’t contain any trackers and even if it had the brothers had had most of a day in which to escape. He hung his head in despair as he wondered what he could do to rescue her.