Chapter 33: Lost

Chapter 33:

Lost

The woods had deepened as Clarence and Alywin entered, and the foliage and trees filled the path around them, making it difficult to travel on their horses without watching the path carefully. With the wetness of the rain, there were some visible horse prints and some footprints deeply imprinted in the thin path. Clarence stopped his horse and dismounted to examine the imprints closer, and Alywin stopped behind him, feeling somewhat frustrated as he remained on his horse.

"Someone came through here. There are at least two separate horse prints and then there's some footprints. I can't tell if they're human or not." Clarence bent down, putting his hand down near the trail of prints, "They aren't very old. A few hours at most." The prints had a small amount of water pooled in them.

Alywin looked over to Clarence as he said, "Let's keep going." This caused Clarence to nod, before he carefully walked over to his horse and remounted.

As Clarence tapped the sides of his horse with the stirrups, Alywin turned his head forward, but his eyes slid over towards Clarence, "What are we going to do if we find them?"

"When we find them," Clarence emphasized, looking over to Alywin, "We'll take them back to the capital to face justice for their crimes." Clarence paused for a moment, his horse continuing to move forward, "And death, if it's deemed a worthy punishment."

"That's surprising, coming from you." Alywin said softly as he clicked his horse forward, "You were never one to call for violence, even in the face of justice."

"Well, I've had a change of heart." Clarence said, keeping his face neutral, though his eyebrow twitched.

"'Change of heart'?" Alywin snorted, letting his frustration leak through his voice, "More like a complete transformation. If it's a good transformation or not is up to the individual, I guess. Though I can imagine it'll make your father and Advisor Willis happy." Alywin looked down at his gloved hands, clutching the reins of the horse tightly, "Why do you want this elf so badly, anyway? I thought you were passed what happened to you ten years ago."

Clarence took a bit to answer, and it caused Alywin to glance back over to Clarence, "Maybe instead of a transformation, I had an epiphany? One that has shown me the only way for me to live in any type of peace, and for my country to start healing, is to kill the one thing that started all this."

"So killing this elf will make all your suffering go away?" Alywin asked.

"Maybe not," Clarence began, glancing down at the trail, "But it will help the country to heal. And that's what is most important to me."

"Is it?" Alywin shot back immediately, "Is it really for the country? Marrying Princess Charlotte might be. But hunting this elf? This is for you. And I want to know why, Clarence."

"You're wrong." Clarence said, his tone cool, but his voice tight.

"I guess we'll soon find out if I am." Alywin said sadly.

…

Meredith had finished crushing the herbs with the mortar and had already begun to add water to the mortar to make the powder into a liquid to drink. Stirring it with the pestle, he was able to make the dark green power turn into a green liquid. The taste would be poor without any other ingredients, but he did not have time to make a more palatable potion. Meredith lifted the potion to his lips and drank it back in one single gulp like a shot of alcohol. The bitter taste coated his tongue, and Meredith grimaced, grabbing a berry from his satchel to ease the bitterness.

Placing the berry in his mouth, Meredith circulated the mana in his body as he chewed, easing the pulling soreness in his joints as he meditated. As the mana passed through his bloodstream, his high body temperature lowered and the color returned to his pale face, making him look less exhausted than before. Even the dark circles under his eyes eased up somewhat.

With the potion, he would have at least a day's worth of mana. It would be enough time for one of Eva's men to come and retrieve him. As tired as he was, he would not be able to rest.

With his horse patiently waiting outside, Meredith rested his eyes, staying alert as he meditated under the dimming cloudy sky.

…

Two hours had passed before there was any movement from the forest around him. With the medicine he made, Meredith was able to recover the majority of his mana. As the rain stopped, there was the slight sound of movement in the woods, and the barrier Meredith had set up around the forest near the cabin had been breached. Knowing someone was quickly approaching him, Meredith prepared himself and stood up, checking to see who or what it was before they got too close.

As the person approached, moving slowly and steadily, Meredith stood alert, ready to attack the person in case it was not one of Eva's men. Meredith sent out a string of mana to observe the person as he moved towards the side of the door.

As Meredith waited, there was a jovial-sounding voice that called out to him, "Pardon me, is Meredith here? I was sent to give you a hand. I have a letter from my boss here." There was the sound of paper shuffling, followed by the sound of a roll of parchment dropping. "Uh, sorry, I just dropped it. Hold on!"

It can't be, Meredith shook his head as he waited, feeling the veins in his forehead tighten at the thought of Eva sending a man who was so incompetent in such an important time. He waited another moment, circulating the mana around his body one more time before he conjured a small fireball in his hand. Then he prepared to set out of the cabin to face the man.

"Who are you?" Meredith had his cape still on from his trip outside, so he quickly pulled up the hood to conceal his pointed ears, then opened the cabin door and slowly stepped outside the cabin, watching the unfamiliar man closely. The hood hid Meredith's face from view, but the human man holding the parchment could still see Meredith's bright blue hair peeking out from under the hood, which matched the description given to the man by his informant.

"Hi, my name's Holland Joey. I'm a soldier from the northern army, sent by Lady Eva to assist you on your travels!" The man, Holland Joey, was tall, easily towering over Meredith. His skin was dark, darker than anyone he had seen in the Yursear Kingdom, and his hair was long, styled back into a long braided ponytail behind his head. His smile was bright, and he looked to be at least twenty years old, his cheeks high and rosy. His iron breastplate and dark, leather armor was partially covered by a dark green cloak that wrapped around his shoulders and down to his waist, "I was sent to help you recover your mana and-" He stepped forward, but was stopped by Meredith.

Meredith lifted his hand with the fireball, waving his fingers lightly towards Holland as he said, "Don't take another step. If you do, you'll quickly regret it."

Holland Joey gulped aloud and put his hands in the air, thinking to himself, Lady Eva did say he didn't like strangers. Meredith was like an ice king, freezing anyone in his path, even with the intimidating ball of fire in his hand. Staring at the hostile's man's bright blue eyes, Holland Joey felt safer staying where he was.

Meredith watched closely as Holland stood frozen. After a moment of Holland remaining still, Meredith slowly lowered his hand, though a fire still burned brightly from it. With a slight jerk of his head, Meredith had Holland throw over the parchment in his hand. Meredith extinguished the fire and unrolled the paper, though he kept a close eye on Holland. In a place like the Yursear kingdom, where anyone could be an enemy, it was best to err on the side of caution with strangers.

Meredith looked down at the parchment, his eyes flying over the elegant text. There was a quick description of Meredith for Holland, as well as a small note for Meredith handwritten by Eva, assuring him the man sent was indeed one of her men. Seeing Eva's unique signature at the end, Meredith felt safe enough to slightly lower his guard as he burned the parchment. He then asked Holland, "Where are the others?"

The mission! Holland Joey wanted to cry as he watched the parchment with all of the instructions on it burn, but he was quickly stopped when he glanced at an angry Meredith. Holland could only despondently respond, "They're already on their way to Cailith."

"How many are there?" Meredith asked, waving the ashes of the parchment away from his cloak with a lazy wave of his hand.

The man's attitude changed as he said, "Including me, there's five." Holland answered back, counting on his fingers with a goofy smile. "I rushed over and got here quite early, so let's take a break! I'm tired!" Holland Joey reached around his back and pulled off a backpack. His armor breastplate jingled as he moved, causing Meredith to raise an eyebrow as the man reached into the large, leather bag and pulled out a large cloth bag with an assortment of baked goods and snacks, obviously prepared beforehand.

Meredith stared at the cloth bag, then Holland, with disbelief and frustration, "No, we should leave now to save Silas. That's what you came here for." Meredith wanted to leave as soon as the man got there. Now that Holland had arrived, he was ready to hurry to Cailith.

Holland Joey smiled, "By the time we get to Cailith, the rest of our group still wouldn't be there. We have time to kill, trust me." Though Holland was smiling, his voice was firm. This made Meredith more irritated, "Besides, I'll travel much faster on a full stomach."

Meredith grimaced darkly, "My nephew's life at risk right now. I don't have time to sit around while you rest."

Holland smiled back at Meredith, leaning back and tilting his head, "Like I said, even if we were to leave right now, everyone's at least a few hours behind us. And even if we were able to find Silas right now, what are we supposed to do? Attack his kidnappers? With just the two of us? That would most likely get him killed." Holland looked over to the trail leading out of the forest and to Cailith, "Right now, it's best we rest up. Then we can follow the trail the kidnappers took. And I have a good feeling it'll lead us right to Cailith."

Meredith bit his lip, biting back a sharp response. Meredith could feasibly head out immediately and leave his new companion behind, but not only would that anger Eva, if what Holland was saying was true about everyone else being a few hours behind, then Holland was right. It would be better to rest a little longer than try to push through. Meredith already had a strong sense of the trail the kidnappers had taken, and once everyone regrouped, they would be able to quickly strategize their plan for saving Silas. It would be best for him to recover further until they traveled to Cailith, Meredith decided with chagrin.

With a sigh, Meredith waved his hand towards Holland and led him inside the dilapidated cabin before he sat down on the old wood floor, the cloak covering him as he leaned his back against the far wall, facing the door. Seeing him relax, Holland Joey smiled and across from Meredith, resting a few small snacks on lace handkerchiefs between them for them to enjoy. There was an assortment of cookies shaped into hearts and other cute shapes, as well as small sandwiches Meredith had seen Eva eat before.

Preparing a fresh pot of tea, Meredith filled his kettle with water from his flask and used his mana to warm it as he placed fresh tea leaves into the pot. Warming the water, he asked Holland, "I've seen Eva eat these before. Did she make these?" Meredith used his free hand to grab a cookie shaped like a ring. It smelled delicious, and the vanilla cookie was dressed with a light layer of white frosting, making Meredith somewhat hungry. Though Meredith still did not trust Holland and knew better than to eat treats a random man had given him, the smell of the baked treats were intoxicating. Slowly, watching Holland closely, he took a small bite.

Holland Joey pulled out a ginger cookie with white frosting on top and took a bite, "Ah, no. I made these! Miss Eva usually will take the ones I make and save them for lunch. Do you want to know the recipe? I can teach you!" Different from his appearance, Holland Joey was a man with a sweet tooth and a repertoire of baking knowledge.

Meredith shook his head, relishing the taste of the sweet cookie as he bit down into it, "Maybe later, Holland. Thank you."

Seeing Meredith's polite response, Holland Joey smiled wider, offering the elf some of the fresh sandwiches he had prepared. Meredith, hungry as he was and as delicious as the cookie had been, was happy to accept the sandwich. Once the tea was done heating, he shared some of his tea with the young, happy man. Their meeting was harmonious and full of food, and their rest was peaceful before their perilous journey.

…

Clarence and Alywin moved ahead steadily on the uneven road, carefully moving with small steps as they led their horses. The bumps in the dirt path and obstacles made it difficult to progress at a fast pace, which irritated Clarence. The terrain was difficult for most humans to travel on. The forest elves of the Yursear Kingdom, however, had lived in the forest their entire lives, and they were able to travel quickly through the woods. It was how many of them managed to escape the Yursear Kingdom during the siege ten years ago.

They had already been in the woods for a few hours, but the logs and other natural barriers like the tall grass made it difficult to stay on their horses. Many times, Alywin and Clarence had to step down from their horses to cut down the grass with their swords, even moving some logs and other items out of the path before they could continue. With the rain and the mud, the pair was soaked and miserable. If they were not careful, their boots would become stuck and they could possibly lose their footwear, so they were slow and light on their feet. Even as cautious as they were, they still managed to become dirty, and Alywin cried bitterly inside as he jumped back onto the saddle of his horse for what felt like the hundredth time, feeling somewhat despondent as the cold rain soaked him to the bone.

Clarence wanted to catch up to the elf as soon as possible and to make him face retribution, but that retribution would have to wait until they were reunited once again.

That was a day Clarence almost could not wait for.

"We're going to keep following them. They can't have gotten far from here." Clarence, though wet from the rain, was full of vigor. Though his hood was dripping water onto his face, the prince ignored them, allowing the water drip down his face to his chin, where they fell like tears, dripping onto the rest of his cloak below.

The farther the two traveled, the thicker the forest became, until the path was narrow enough for them to pass one at a time. The dampness of the ground made the stones on the path slippery, and it was hard for their horses to keep a fast pace without slipping. Reluctantly, they had to slow down even more until the rain slowed, and by the time they had finally reached the middle of the wooded area, they were surprised to find a small wooden cabin in the middle of a small clearing.

Clarence moved his horse onto the solid grass and stepped down, approaching Alywin with his hood down, looking like he had found something important. Standing next to Alywin, Clarence was still able to see the full view of the map even while Alywin sat on his horse. On the map, there was a detailed plan of the forest, and then there was a small building drawn in the middle of the forest, with a small note written in Theo's blocky handwriting with the words abandoned safe house. Clarence wondered how Theo had known about this, but considered that Alywin would not have hired him if Theo was not one of the best.

Shortly, Clarence's mind flicked over to his family. He wanted to see his younger siblings, Julian and Eloise. To tell them that he was working hard to let them have a bright future.

I have to focus on the task at hand. Clarence thought, chiding himself.

Alywin lifted his head from the map and said to Clarence, "We should check it out. It doesn't look like anyone is in there right now, but there's a good chance they stopped here along the way." Closing the map, Alywin looked up at the building and said, "Just in case anyone is in there, let's go together."

Clarence snorted, "You should stay back. You aren't as skilled with a sword."

Alywin scowled, stuffing the map in his pocket as he jumped down from his horse, "I don't care. I'm going with you." He huffed, looking irritated by Clarence's words. Before grabbing his short sword from his waist, Alywin dismounted and moved behind Clarence. As the two made their way to the semi-shut door of the cabin, Clarence signaled to Alywin to stay close. With their backs to the exterior wall, the two slowly crept to the window. Clarence leaned slightly forward, glancing in the window, but the interior of the cabin was too dark to see.

"It looks empty, but we should be careful." Clarence whispered to Alywin, who responded with a nod. Clarence slipped under the window and towards the door. He counted down on his fingers, then ripped the door open, his sword up, prepared to strike. Alywin followed in after, his sword ready to strike too. They quickly looked around the desolate cabin, moving anything that could be a hiding place, before they reconvened in the middle of the small room.

"The cabin's empty, but there are some shoe marks on the floor here." Clarence bent down carefully at his knees and inspected the scuff marks in the dust with his careful gaze. From the looks of it, at least three people had been in the cabin at some time, and there were traces of food from crumbs sitting just to the side of the wall. Looking around, it seemed a small group had rested here before they continued.

The prince stood up while Alywin looked around the cabin with a careful gaze, putting his sword back into its sheath."The rain should have wet the trail. We still might be able to find their footprints and follow them from there. If anything, they're probably headed to Cailith to regroup."

We were so close this time. Next time, I won't let you get away. Clarence straightened his back, looking through the door of the cabin to the deserted woods, where a flurry of horse tracks and other footsteps were displayed in the depressions in the wet dirt. His lips moved into a tight smile, and the thought of capturing the elf was the only thing on his mind.

Alywin stared at Clarence, and then at the footprints. He followed Clarence outside of the cabin and back onto his horse, where Alywin looked at his map once more before he said, "Cailith is not far now. If we hurry, we can make it there within the day."

"We can't wait. Let's get moving." Clarence led his horse forward, leaving Alywin to catch up to his retreating figure.

...

Character theater (unrelated to the story):

Clarence stands in the dilapidated cabin, looking seriously at the spray of food crumbs on the floor. While standing to the side, Alywin watches in horror as Clarence bends over and picks up a crumb in his fingers, sniffing it before placing it in his mouth.

"Clarence!" Alywin looks disgusted, "What are you doing!?"

Clarence's face drops and he licks his lips as he says in a low voice, "Those bastards had cookies and they didn't leave any for me!"

Alywin facepalms, feeling his faith in the prince dropping to a new low.