“ . . . lies Highcastle,” finished Arutha.
Guy nodded. “He’s going to march his army down Cutter’s Gap, right into Highcastle’s garrison.”
Arutha said, “But why? He can overrun Highcastle in days, but he’ll be left standing in the middle of the High Wold, unprotected on either flank. He’s got no obvious goal.”
Guy said, “If he strikes dead south, he can be in the Dimwood inside a month.”
“Sethanon,” said Arutha.
Guy said, “I don’t understand it. He can take Sethanon. Its garrison is little more than an honour company. But once there, what? He can winter, living on forage from the Dimwood and whatever city stores he captures, but come spring, Lyam can hit him from the east and your forces from the west. He’ll be between the hammer and the anvil, with a five-hundred-mile retreat back into the mountains. It would mean his destruction.”
Amos spat. “Let’s not underestimate the nose-picker. He’s up to something.”
Galain looked about. “We’d best be going along. If he’s moving east for certain, we’ll never be able to double back and reach Inclindel. That patrol we saw will be a company of outriders. They’ll stay up here along the entire line of march, following behind us.”
Guy nodded. “Then we must reach Cutter’s Gap before his advanced elements.”
Arutha spurred his horse and they began the ride eastward.
For the balance of the day they managed to keep ahead of any of Murmandamus’s soldiers. Occasionally they would see flankers riding off from the main army, far below on the plain, and there were signs of movement behind them. But the trail began moving downward, and near sundown Arutha said, “We’re going to be riding smack into their outer pickets if we keep moving toward the plain.”
Guy said, “If we continue riding past dark, we might slip into the woods at the bottom of the hills. If we hug the foot of the mountains and ride all night, we’ll enter the forest proper. I doubt even Murmandamus will be sending large numbers of soldiers into the Edder Forest. He can circle it easily enough. The Edder is no place I’d like to be, but we’ll have cover. If we ride all night, we might stay enough ahead of them to be safe . . . at least from them.”
Jimmy and Locklear exchanged questioning looks, then Jimmy said, “Amos, what’s he mean?”
Amos glanced at Guy, who nodded. “The Edder’s a bad place, boy. We can - could forest for about three miles or so into the woods along its edge. A little farther in a man could hunt. But farther than that, well - we don’t know what’s in there. Even the goblins and Dark Brothers skirt the place. Whoever goes deep into the forest just doesn’t come back. We don’t know what’s in there. The Edder’s pretty damn big, so just about anything could hide in there.”
Arutha said, “We leap from the cauldron to the fire, then.”
“Perhaps,” answered Guy. “Still, we know what we face if we ride the plain.”
Jimmy said, “Maybe we could slip by, keeping our disguises.”
It was Galain who answered. “There is no chance, Jimmy. One look and any moredhel knows an eledhel instantly. It is something we do not speak of, but simply believe me. There is an instinctive recognition.”
Amos spurred his mount forward. “Then there’s nothing else for it. Into the forest, lads.”
They rode as quietly as they could through woodlands dark and foreboding. Distant calls echoed from Murmandamus’s army, camped for the night on the plains to the north. By moving throughout the night, Arutha judged they would be well ahead of Murmandamus’s army by sunup. By midday they would be out of the forest, back upon the plain, able to pick up speed. Then if they could reach Cutter’s Gap and Brian, Lord Highcastle, there was a chance of slowing Murmandamus all the way down the High Wold and through the Dimwood.
Jimmy spurred his horse forward and overtook Galain. “I’ve got this funny itch.”
Softly the elf said, “I feel it, too. I also sense something familiar about these woods. I can’t put a name to it.” Then with elvish humour he added, “But then, I’m only a youngster, barely forty years of age.”
Returning the dryness, Jimmy said, “An infant.”
Guy, who rode next to Arutha, said, “We might just get to Highcastle.” He was quiet for a while, then at last said, “Arutha, returning to the Kingdom poses some problems for me.”
Arutha nodded in understanding, though the gesture was lost in the dark. “I’ll speak with Lyam. I assume once at Highcastle I’ll have your parole. Until we sort this mess out, you’ll be under my protection.”