He looked to where Miranda was talking to the young female magician and said, ‘I have no idea what her woodcraft is like.’
Jommy grinned. ‘You don’t know her like I do. If those creatures hear her coming and are at all smart, they’ll clear out and head back to where they came from.’
Kaspar said, ‘Tomas, it might be better for all of us if you mentioned to Castdanur that we’re going to poke around up north. He and I have come to an… understanding, but trust is still a little thin.’
Tomas inclined his head in agreement and moved away.
‘I thought you and the chief were thick as thieves,’ said Jommy to Kaspar.
‘Remember what Tomas said about elves’ sense of time being "leisurely"?’
‘Yes.’
‘For five hundred years they’ve only encountered brigands, pirates, smugglers, and every other stripe of outlaw up here. Their view of humanity is less than positive, you could say. It’s going to take a while before they’ll trust any of us, but,’ he gestured at the animated conversations taking place among the various elves, ‘this will go a long way towards convincing them we can be trusted.’
Jommy recalled what he had heard about Kaspar since he had come to serve the Conclave and found it ironic that he should be talking about trust. Yet he had proven himself as a reliable agent since his return from exile.
Tomas returned with Miranda. ‘If we’re to find where Jim Dasher went, we should leave now.’
Kaspar shouldered a bow he had been using since Castdanur had let them hunt and said, ‘With you two,’ —he indicated Miranda and Tomas— ‘along I doubt I’ll need this, but I find it reassuring to have some sort of weapon.’
Jommy just patted the hilt of a large hunting knife at his belt as if to echo Kaspar’s sentiment.
Tomas waved a farewell to Ryath who, with a snap of its massive wings loud enough to sound like thunder, took to the sky. The elves watched silently as the massive creature vanished into the heavens.
They trotted out of the gate and followed the main trail to the south-west, then turned north, following a game path where obvious footprints had been left in the east. A quarter of a mile up the trail, Tomas pointed to a broken branch, still green and dripping sap. ‘He’s making it easy.’
Kaspar said, ‘Knowing Jim Dasher, he’s doing it intentionally.’
As the afternoon lengthened, they moved purposefully up the trail and after travelling for two hours they found another broken branch indicating that Jim had turned northeast, climbing towards a gap in the ridgeline above. As they reached the lower lip of a plateau, they could see a figure kneeling behind sheltering rocks, observing something on the other side.
Crouching low, the four approached until Kaspar stood at Jim’s shoulder. Quietly, Jim Dasher said, ‘What took you so long?’
‘Social niceties.’ said Kaspar.
Tomas slowly drew his sword. ‘Where are they?’
‘Just over this rise,’ said Jim. ‘They appear to be resting. From what I’ve seen, they are most active at sundown, then are awake all night.’ He glanced at the sun, low in the western sky. ‘They’ll start whatever they’re going to do, hunt or feast, in about an hour.’
‘Castdanur says these wolf-riders suck life from bodies.’
‘Eat them, too, from what I saw,’ whispered Jim.
Tomas inched past Jim. Then the other four saw him rise up without hesitation and charge. ‘Stay here!’ he shouted.
‘Well,’ said Jim, ‘I guess that means the sneaky quiet part is over.’
Miranda hurried past the three men. Jim looked at Jommy and Kaspar and said, ‘I guess that means the "stay here" part of things is over, too.’ He stood up, drew his two belt-knives and started after Miranda.
Kaspar reached out, grabbed Jim Dasher by the collar and pulled him backwards, almost yanking him off his feet.
‘What?’
‘I don’t worry about her,’ Kaspar said. ‘But when a man who can command dragons tells me to wait, I’m inclined to wait.’
Jim looked at Jommy whose expression indicated that he couldn’t believe Jim had even thought about going up there after Tomas had told him to wait.