Vaegon was at the top of the steep hill they were climbing, curiously scanning the evening horizon behind them. His glittery hair sparkled, as it blew about his shoulders in the cold mountain breeze. Hyden thought that even from where they were, far below the elf, he could see Vaegon’s strange, yellow eyes. It made him shiver, and he wondered if such fantastical things as whales really existed.
He liked Vaegon well enough, but no matter how many times he looked at him, he would never become comfortable with the fact that he wasn’t human.
“It’s no jest, Hyden Hawk. There are also smaller fish that are still five times bigger than a man, that have rows of teeth the size of dagger blades. They call them sharks, and believe it or not, they sometimes eat the whales one big bite at a time.”
“If that is true, then the sea is a place I’d like to see some day.” Hyden’s attention trailed away.
He noticed that Vaegon had been staring at the same place for quite some time now. He sensed that something had alarmed the elf. He quickened his pace, forcing Lord Gregory to spur his horse to keep up with him.
Vaegon could see the question form on Hyden’s lips as he gained the top of the rise.
“Someone, or something, is behind us,” he said.
“Where?” Lord Gregory asked sharply, as he turned his horse.
“There,” Vaegon pointed to an area a few hilltops back. “It’s in the valley now, out of view. I just caught a glimpse of movement before it went down out of sight. A dark horse maybe, or some other large creature.”
Hyden was peering from beneath his hand trying to see what they were talking about.
“About a day back you think?” he asked, when he saw what set of hills were in question.
“No more than that, if it’s men with horses,” Vaegon said, with growing concern in his voice. “Far less though if it’s a predator.”
“We’ll have to wait for it in the next valley then,” Hyden said with some disappointment and a sigh. “My village is close. I dare not lead anything or anyone else into it. Already, I am going to feel the full wrath of the Elders for bringing you two there.”
“What if it is a predatory beast, as the elf suggested?” asked Lord Gregory.
Before Hyden could answer, Talon came out of the sky and fluttered down to his shoulder gracelessly.
Though he wasn’t very big yet, Talon’s body had taken the true hawkling form. He was still too small to lift a field mouse into the air, but not too small to swoop down and kill one, a feat which he had proven the day before. When he was fully grown, he would be able to snatch a fat rabbit off the ground and fly away with it in his claws. His wings would be as wide as a man’s outstretched arms. At the moment though, he wasn’t much bigger than a crow. For all his smallness, the bird still found a way to posture itself proudly on Hyden’s shoulder.
“Go see what it is that’s following us, and then come back and tell me,” Hyden said jokingly to the bird.
To everyone’s surprise, save for Vaegon’s, Talon leapt back into flight, and started toward the valley where the elf had spotted the pursuit.
Hyden was confounded tenfold, when a weird, yet familiar, sensation came over him. It was just like the dreams he had been having as of late, yet he was awake. The sensation of seeing Lord Gregory and Vaegon in front of him, while seeing through Talon’s eyes, was overwhelming. It was too much for his mind to handle, and he was forced to close his eyes. When he did, it was as if he were in Talon’s body, flying over the foothills, with the cold mountain air streaming through his feathers.
Only the tops of the western facing hills were in the sunlight. The rest of the world was drowned in shadow, and the valley bottoms were even darker than the rest. He found them though: two men with four horses, two of which looked to be carrying a log. The group was moving slowly through the shadows, snaking their way down through a scatter of pine and scrub brush. They didn’t appear to be in a hurry. They were obviously not hunting Lord Gregory, but their direction of travel would lead them dangerously close to Hyden’s Village.
Talon swooped in closer, and landed on the gnarled branch of an ancient oak. It was tall, and it towered over the whole of the valley bottom. Near its base, a stream trickled and gurgled through the rocky area, where spring’s thaw had washed away the plants, and most of the soil. Even though there was very little light, the hawkling’s sharp eyes could pick out the details.
“What are you seeing?” Vaegon asked excitedly. The idea that the human boy was really seeing through the eyes of the hawkling was thrilling, yet it made the elf feel more than a little jealous of Hyden.
Vaegon’s question seemed to shake Hyden’s concentration free of the vision, but only for an instant. With closed eyes, and from miles away, Hyden refocused on the approaching horses, and spoke softly.
“Two men, four horses – Hold on –.”