The Lost Library of Cormanthy - Mel Odom [118]
In minutes, all of them were gathered in the forest. Cordyan took charge at once, ordering the men into position.
Baylee reached under his tunic and took out the map Innesdav had given him. He looked around the forest, reading the game signs he saw. Nothing human or shod had been through the area. He started north, knowing if the dimensional door hadn't worked right and they'd ended up in an altogether different part of the forest, they'd be days in sorting out the map.
"Baylee." Innesdav's voice came as a strained whisper to the ranger's ear.
"I am here, old friend."
"And of a piece?"
Baylee grinned recklessly. "And of a piece," he said.
*****
Baylee quickly found that all of the trails marked on the map were different now than they had been six hundred years ago. However, the topography was the same.
After a few hours' travel, they found a stream that flowed in the direction they wanted to go. Riding alongside it, the way got easier. They had their noonday meal while walking the horses, giving them a break from carrying all the weight.
The ranger made an effort at staying away from Cordyan, but in doing so, he took more notice of her than he wanted. Xuxa flitted through the trees, staying close to Baylee.
She is a beautiful woman, the azmyth bat stated.
She doesn't listen.
She's merely independent minded. And she's brave.
Getting yourself in over your head doesn't necessarily constitute bravery.
She's smart enough to know the difference, Xuxa replied.
Baylee continued the argument, but after awhile, he found he was arguing with himself as well as with the azmyth bat.
*****
"How much longer do you think it will take us to reach the city?"
Baylee glanced over his shoulder as Cordyan rode up beside him. "Another hour or so. Perhaps a little longer."
The forest continued on unabated though the stream had played out four miles or so back. The horses' hooves thudded almost soundlessly against the loose loam. Birds flew from tree to tree, letting Baylee know no predators had been through the area lately.
The thing that concerned him, though, was the accumulation of rain clouds building up from the north. Dark and ugly, they skated across the gray sky, showing signs of intermittent lightning in their depths.
"What is it you don't like about me?" she asked.
The question was so unexpected, that Baylee didn't have an answer at first. "I never said I didn't like you," he said finally.
"You've given me the distinct impression you don't approve of my being here."
Baylee regarded her. "Your being here has nothing to do with how I feel about you."
"You couldn't do this by yourself," she said.
"I guess," Baylee said harshly, "we'll never know, will we?" He kicked his
horse, putting distance between himself and the civilar.
She was only trying to talk, Xuxa protested.
I'm not stopping her, Baylee said. There are plenty of others for her to talk to.
*****
They came upon the remnants of the city unexpectedly. Baylee rode point and halted the line as soon as he came to the crest of the hill overlooking the area where the city had been. According to the map Innesdav had reconstituted from Skyreach's logbook, the city had once been called Rainydale, known as Selarrynm in the elven tongue, and had been one of the larger trading posts outside of Myth Drannor proper.
The Army of Darkness that had crushed Myth Drannor had rolled over Rainydale. Little of the city remained except for a few foundations that poked up through the tangle of underbrush and trees.
Baylee leaned across the saddle pommel to stretch his cramped back
muscles. He wasn't accustomed to long hours of riding.
"Rainydale?" Civva Cthulad reined in his horse next to Baylee.
The ranger nodded. The old excitement at discovering the unseen and unfound filled him, vibrating inside him like a tuning fork. "From here, we need to find the temple of Corellon Larethian, and the well that is