Chapter 10

It had been a long time since he had last used the portal to the mainland. He had almost forgotten just how strange it could feel stepping from one world into another. Indeed, the sudden shock of the transition caused Callum to take a step backwards as he appeared on the rise overlooking the farmland of the coast. As he did so he was nearly knocked over by Aaron who followed close behind.

"Oi, watch it would you!"

Callum turned to apologise and then quickly pulled his friend aside as Lena followed them through last of all. Unlike the two men, she emerged from the portal completely unflustered. She took a look around her.

"Well I must say it's been a long time since I've been here," she said. "I must have used the portal only a handful of times since we discovered it."

Callum nodded. He knew all too well how Lena preferred to travel by sea. He couldn't see it himself he never did get on with boats.

He clapped his hand on Aaron's shoulder as his friend narrowed his eyes and scanned the countryside for any sign of a clue.

"What do you see?"

Aaron frowned. "Not much I'm afraid. Her magical residue is faint, which would suggest we're already at least five or six hours behind her. It's hard to follow but at best guess I'd say she's heading east."

"She is," Lena nodded, pointing to a section of flattened grass leading off down the rise. "There's a trail look."

Callum went over to investigate. He crouched down and examined the path Lena pointed to. Amidst the flattened grasses a set of footprints led the way east. Judging by the distance between each footprint, she had been travelling at quite some pace. Callum suggested this to his friends and they both agreed.

"Makes sense," Lena said, "she's running scared."

Callum took a deep breath and rose to his feet. "Right, we better get moving and fast. If we hurry we might just catch her before the day is out."

With that they set off at a canter, Aaron leading them down the crest heading east through pastures and fields as the sun slowly rose to its midday peak. For much of the way the trail was fairly simple to follow Phae had cared little for masking sign of her path but whenever they came upon a point where the trail seemed to fade and they veered off course, Aaron's powers were strong enough that they never left the trail for long and always quickly re-joined the path.

As the sun reached its zenith, they finally drew to a stop to take their bearings. They were all breathing hard. Beads of sweat ran down Callum's face.

"I can't believe she's gone so far," he panted, "I guess she really meant it this time."

Lena frowned as she scanned the landscape ahead of them. Thus far they had encountered only a handful of people on their journey, and none had caught sight of Phae. Still, the path was clear enough. "She's got to have stopped to rest at some point," Lena said finally. Like her companions she too was quite out of breath from their morning exertions and was pleased for the brief respite. "We must be catching her by now surely," she said. "Aaron?"

Aaron looked up from where he stood with his hands braced against his knees, sucking in deep gasps of air. Of the three companions he seemed surprisingly the most out of shape. He examined the trail again with his magical vision. "We're still at least five hours behind her," he said with a shake of his head. "Probably more even. Her signature is still there, but it's really faded." He drew a deep breath and glanced over to where Callum stood staring worriedly into the distance. "I don't suppose you brought any provisions with you did you Callum?"

Callum turned and shook his head. "Sorry, I didn't think to. I honestly didn't expect us to be gone this long."

"No chance of us stopping off to get a quick bite to eat then?"

Again, Callum shook his head. "If there's any chance at all of our catching her before evening we need to keep pressing on. She's got to have stopped at some point"

Aaron was about to make some grumbling comment about his stomach and not having agreed to traipse halfway across the west coast, but his conscience held his tongue. Though his friend tried to put on a brave face, he could sense the turmoil and despair weighing heavy on Callum's heart. In all the time he'd known him, he'd never known his friend brought so low. Lena squeezed his arm reassuringly as the companions made ready to continue on the trail. She too could see Callum stood at the precipice of a very deep and dark abyss.

They travelled hard for the rest of the day, pushing on well into the first hours of twilight until Callum was forced to concede that they had gone as far as they could and needed to find somewhere to rest. At one point it had seemed they might have been closing in on Phae's trail, but now the light faded, there seemed no chance at all of them catching her with the remaining light of day.

It was with some reluctance then that Callum led his friends towards a small hamlet, the lights from which they could just make out in the far distance. As they drew closer he was shocked to find they had somehow, miraculously stumbled upon a place familiar to him, a place he and Lena had been once before. Though the location held only the very darkest memories for the two mages, the sight of the warm lights of the newly rebuilt hamlet of Keln was a welcome one.

As they drew closer and Lena recognised where it was Callum was leading them, she shot him a surprised look, but he just shrugged and continued to lead them in. When she told Aaron where it was they were headed he couldn't help but let out a yelp of surprise.

"Keln?!"

Lena nodded.

"But I thought the place was burned down, you know, after you and Callum"

Lena grabbed his arm. "Shush Callum will hear you! We don't need you reminding him what happened here." She lowered her voice, "Especially not now."

"But I thought it didn't exist anymore. Callum burnt it down didn't he?"

Callum, who had caught the drift of his friends' conversation, turned to look at them. "I did," he said simply. "Some of the local traders were keen to rebuild it; I thought I'd lend a hand."

"So, you knew about this?"

Callum nodded as they drew upon the outer perimeter of the hamlet. Already they could hear the sound of music and much singing emerging from the local tavern. Callum led them to the door. "I knew it was being rebuilt, but I didn't know they had worked so fast. In all honesty I didn't realise we were so close to this place it didn't occur to me we had come so far. Strange how things work out really."

"Coincidence, or fate?" Aaron said provocatively. "I wonder what the Seer would say."

"Oh, don't you start on the Seer again!" Lena scolded. "Come on Callum," she said as she pushed the tavern door open, "I think it's about time we ordered some food."

They entered the tavern to find it almost exactly the same as the original, complete with raging fire and low ceiling. Aaron banged his head on a low beam as they entered. He swore vigorously.

"You'd think they'd have sorted that out when they rebuilt the place," he said dryly. "What a stupid place to put a roof support."

"I think it's part of the 'aesthetic'," Callum said absently. "Come on, let's find a table."

The three companions worked their way across the busy tavern to a small table in the corner. As the barmaid came over to take their order a glint of recognition shone in her eyes.

"Excuse me sir, I hope you don't mind me asking, but do I recognise you from somewhere? Your face seems awful familiar to me but for the life of me I just can't place it."

Callum looked up from his menu and at once the barmaid said excitedly, "Ah it is you! You're the one who helped fund the rebuilding work now aren't you?"

Lena raised an eyebrow and looked at Callum. "'Fund'?"

Aaron also shot him a quizzical look. "'Sir'?!"

"It's a long story, I'll explain later."

"You never said you funded the place Callum."

"Well maybe I did a little. It seemed only right after"

The barmaid cut him off. "So, it is you! Well my-oh-my, wait till Mary hears about this!" Callum made to hand the barmaid a few coins from his pocket. "Oh, don't you worry about that sir. Can't have the saviour of Keln paying for food and board here!" She hurried off to see to their order.

It was now Aaron's turn to raise an eyebrow. "'Saviour of Keln'? I know you like fame Callum but really?" He chuckled to himself. "You really are a local hero aren't you."

"I was only trying to help!" Callum pleaded. "And besides, you'd have done the same thing given the chance."

"Don't worry Callum, I think it's a really nice thing you've done for the people here," Lena said reassuringly. Callum shot her an appreciative look.

Aaron continued to chuckle. "My-oh-my, 'saviour of Keln'. Whatever next eh?!"