Bearers of the Black Staff - Terry Brooks [163]
He decided their best chance was to make use of the chain of waterways and lakes formed by the surface water, wading through in directions that would confuse the beasts. Leading the way, he took the girl into deeper water that covered their feet and ankles and then slogged ahead across vast stretches linked by connecting streams, careful never to step out of the water, never to touch ground that might give them away.
“We could double back on them,” Prue suggested at one point, but he quickly shook his head.
“Too dangerous. If they get between us and the fortress, we have no chance at all. We keep going ahead.”
She didn’t argue. She did not complain or ask to rest. She did not slow. She just did what she was told. He admired this girl.
“How long have you known Sider Ament?” he asked after a time, weary of the silence.
She shrugged. “A few weeks. I only knew of him before that.”
“That’s long enough, I guess. I only met him recently myself. First I knew of anyone living in those mountains. Why didn’t your people come out of there before now? What kept you in hiding?”
“It’s a long story. We couldn’t leave. We were warded by magic that locked us in. The valley was all we knew.”
“Bet you wish that was still the case, don’t you?”
“It would be easier. But the barrier’s down and it won’t come back up. We have to face life outside the valley, like it or not.” She glanced over, her green eyes unsettling. “How did you become a mercenary?”
He shrugged. “I needed a way to make a living. I didn’t have any people, no family, no anything. I’d been on my own since I was ten or twelve. I was living in a village south of here and doing what I could to stay alive. I used to scavenge for things in the ruins that I could barter or sell.” He pointed at the weapons slung over his right shoulder. “These brought in good money. I tried using them, found I could, decided to take up a new trade. It made me a valuable commodity to those in search of an edge against their enemies. I liked how that made me feel.”
“Don’t you get lonely?”
“Sometimes. Everyone does. But I like living alone, being on my own, making my own decisions. Safer that way. Did Sider tell you about what it’s like out here?”
She shook her head. “I only met him the one time. I haven’t seen him since. But I can guess what it’s like.”
He laughed softly. “No, you can’t.”
He proceeded to describe it in detail, a straightforward recitation that left nothing out. He embellished a little, but not much. It wasn’t necessary. Things were horrible enough as they were without the need to add anything. She only needed to grasp the gist of it. So he described the killings and the enslavement and the destruction, the basic elements of the savagery that had dominated everyone’s life in the aftermath of the Great Wars—or at least everyone who hadn’t found the sort of shelter from which she came.
She listened carefully and didn’t interrupt. When he was finished, she said, “You’re right. I couldn’t have guessed at most of it. I don’t know how you tolerate it.”
“I don’t think about it,” he said. “I don’t let it get too close.”
She frowned. “But it’s all around you.”
“It helps to have these,” he said, touching his weapons. “They keep everything at a distance.”
From behind them, closer now, the baying of the Skaith Hounds rose and died. Inch glanced over his shoulder. It sounded like the beasts were farther west, perhaps following a false trail. “Let’s keep moving.”
They walked on for another hour, the day winding down. He thought they were getting close to the fortress, but he couldn’t be certain in the shroud of darkness and damp. He didn’t usually come at it from this direction, in any case. Everything looked different.
A fresh round of baying rose out of the silence, deep and powerful. The girl stopped where she was and looked back. “They’ve found our trail. They’re coming for us.”
“Maybe not,” he said, not liking how certain she seemed.
“No, they’re coming. I can feel it. It’s my gift to know. My