Tannon gave him a wary look and then glanced over at the bow next to Jurrow. “Let him loose,” Tannon ordered. “His bowels are probably near ready to burst.”
The rest of the morning went by quickly. Gulping down some heavy porridge spiced with sugar and cloves, Thealos observed Tannon’s Band break camp. It disgusted him in every aspect. To the Shae, fire was more than burning sticks. It was a power only carefully handled. It seemed to Thealos that half the Rules of Forbiddance related to it in some way. Putting out a campfire or a hearthfire was done methodically, to make sure every ember died out. Ashes were buried and covered with stones. It was even Forbidden to char meat, so the Shae dinner platters were served a little rare. But Tannon’s Band burned even their stews, they kicked out a fire and left it smoldering, abandoning their responsibility for taming it. Their arrogance for the land galled him.
They continued the long march alongside the river. Thealos watched the interplay between the members of the band. At first, they had all looked alike to him, but now he saw the subtle shades between them. Beck and Hoth were inseparable, keeping to themselves and joking about women and gambling. Both were considered handsome for humans and their thoughts were never far from the taverns they had left behind. Cropper was a skulk and always took the rear, his eyes never leaving Thealos’ back. Jurrow was pock-marked so badly that he had grown a reddish beard that covered most of his face. Tomn had Shae-green eyes and appeared to be the closest to Tannon emotionally. Twice during the trip, Thealos overheard Tomn say they should give Thealos’ things back to him. Tannon rebuffed him.
After stopping to rest at midday, Tannon loosed Thealos’ wrists and had Jurrow give him the short bow and a brace of steel-tipped bodkins. Thealos fondled the wood and then re-strung it, feeling more confident with it in his hand. They gave him the bow just in case the Sinew dragon left its clutch and came after them. The bow came with a warning.
“You use one of those against us again, boy,” Tannon said, “And not even the Crimson Wolfsmen will be able to tell you were a Shaden.”
Thealos nodded that he understood. It took every bartering instinct inside him to keep his face straight, to hide the fear writhing in his stomach. But he had his bow back.
*
Before dusk, they reached the borders of a decaying forest of maple trees, nearly five miles wide. There was no road or trail through it, and the river cut directly into it, creating gulches and a network of gullies around the waterfront. As they set up camp again for the night, Thealos cautiously approached the wood and stared at the dark strips of bark splintering from the trunks. The trees were growing too close together, their branches interlocked, causing a web of leaves to blot out the sun. Huge bullfrogs croaked by the river, and the wind hissed as it shook the limbs. A fetid smell greeted him, something sick. Thealos walked around the edge of the forest and examined the trees. He touched the bark and sifted through dead leaves with his fingers. Craning his neck, he looked up to the top and listened for the familiar bugs and beetles. There were only a few but that gave him a little hope. No birds nested in the limbs, no animals scuttled away. It was practically empty of wood life – at least for now. Kneeling in the grass, he pulled up a clump of grass by the roots. He smelled the mud and then frowned and blinked his eyes shut.
“What is it?” Tomn asked, crouching by him.
“Forbidden magic,” Thealos said in a low voice. The others from Tannon’s Band crowded around. “This forest didn’t grow like this, it was twisted this way.”
“It smells like trope,” Hoth muttered, stamping the swampy grass to dislodge cakes of mud from his boot.
“But you smell magic?” Jurrow questioned skeptically.
Thealos nodded. “Not just smell it, Jurrow -- I can feel it. My people are very sensitive to Earth magic, and we can tell when its been poisoned. It has its own smell.” He replanted the clump of grass and stood, brushing his hands. “I don’t know whether the Sinew dragon is in there or not.” Hoth laughed, but Thealos ignored him. “It takes a long time for the Earth magic to restore ground after it has been infected. If my people lived on this side of the river, we would help clean it up and it would recover sooner.”
Beck and Hoth rolled their eyes. Tomn nodded with interest.