Return of the Fallen Volume 9 Chapter 15
“We need to split up.”
As soon as the Mage said this, it got everyone’s attention. Before anyone questioned this, the Mage continued.
“That boy, by his actions he is purposefully trying to slow us. Taking a few of us here and there. All the while, None of us have seen the woman nor the girl. It’s obvious now, the boy is leading us around by the nose while the mother and daughter are escaping via another route. If we continue to follow the boy, even if we capture him, the mother and daughter will be long gone. We will have failed our Master and he will be furious with us. We may even lose our heads at this rate.”
A few soldiers gulped hard and rubbed their necks. They didn’t doubt that their lord would do such a thing. Failure was not an option.
“So you think we should split up and then what? Even if what you say is true, we have no way of knowing which way they all went. Are we just supposed to wander aimlessly and fail!”
The Mage looked around at the forest before looking at the chief.
“Old man, you know this place like the back of your hand. If one were trying to evade others whilst trying to escape from the forest, which path would be the quickest?”
The chief didn’t even need o think to know the answer but before he answered he asked.
“If I tell you, I need your word that these knights won’t act like rogues and will follow their master’s words exactly as he said them. No harm is to come to Chela, Alta, or Zephris. If I sense even an inkling of killing intent, I will no longer help you, and the Great forest and all of its inhabitants will be hostile to you and yours.”
A few of the soldiers grew angry but the Mage understood where the chief was coming from.
“I understand. I am not like that traitor and these men and women are loyal to Lord Ogastx. None of them will harm this family. RIGHT MEN!”
“YES!”
“YEAH”
“YES SIR!”
Several shouts rang out. They too had been disgusted by the traitor from before. They would do everything to capture the family without killing them. At the same time though, several of them remained quiet. A vicious glare hidden away. Not everyone was on board.
Meanwhile, Zephris was already headed deeper into the forest. Gripping his side, he felt one of his ribs was broken and his breathing was much harsher than before. Behind him, he had no idea what the others were planning.
(It hurts! My side is burning and the pain is shooting through me. That ice attack, that Mage’s ice hit me so hard.)
Zephris wished to stop running but he knew that he was now slower than before. If he rested here, he knew it would be difficult to get up again and move. Listening to the sound of the forest, he knew that they were starting to move again. Though he also noticed that the group following him had shrunk slightly. He didn’t understand why this was but right now he had no time to care. With the cast majority still on his trail, he needed to deal with them before anything else.
He checked the dead furry creatures tied to his waist. They were tied tightly and secured. Looking toward the north he could see that he was almost where he needed to be. A large cliff was in sight.
(Almost there, just a little further.)
Taking in a deep breath hurt but he did it anyway and then shouted.
“Was that the best you bastards could do!?”
With a bit of magic added to the wind, his small child-like voice echoed loudly across the forest mocking these soldiers again and again.
The soldiers grew frustrated. They knew the boy was doing this on purpose now but that didn’t change the fact that they, soldiers were being teased and mocked by a boy no older than 8. They chased and chased until the sun was at its highest in the sky. Eventually, they found their way to a large rock face. It was not a mountain but rather a large hill that was taller than any of the trees. There was an obvious trail left by Zephris at the bottom of the cliff but they knew they had to follow it.
The Mage grabbed the chief and pointed at the rocky terrain.
“Old man, the boy has used the land around us to set traps before. Is there any way he can manipulate the terrain like before? What should we be wary of?”
The chief shook his head.
“Even though this place is difficult to trek through due to all of the jagged rocks, the forest’s power is slightly weaker here. No trees or bushes, no vines or things like that can be called upon. The flora and fauna, hold nothing dangerous and are few and far between. Normal traps would be far too time-consuming and we’ve been on the boy this whole way. He couldn’t have done anything.”
The Mage looked at the rocky terrain. From what he could see, this place was difficult to path through but besides that, not much else.
“Right, the view from here is pretty clear most of the way up. If there were traps we’d have seen them. If not traps though, I can assume he’s done this to slow us down. Thousands of men traveling through this jagged unbalanced place with narrow paths, he assumes we’ll be slowed and delayed for hours. If we’re delayed here, that would mean he has either run further ahead and is no longer here or he is hiding in a cave or something else like that in hopes of us running around without a clue. He thinks we’ll just give up and leave if we don’t find him right away. This fool, he really is a child. If he did go ahead, then others will find him, and if he hid away in this rocky place then we’ll simply surround the entire area and comb through every nook and cranny until we upturn his rat nest.”
The Mage divided the group in half. One half made their way around the entire hill. This would take a few hours. At the same time, the other half entered started their way up the large hill.
The Mage was confident and as they went up, every few hundred feet, just to be sure, the Mage sealed the only path that led down. He created a large ice wall behind him. One that would take a while to climb over if one even could and also made the wall several feet thick so it would take days to melt with this current weather. There would be no escape for the boy, the Mage laughed inwardly.
After climbing for a few thousand feet, the paths finally split. A few went up, one went down and two went to the side.
One of the paths was clearly marked, no doubt done by Zephris but it was so obvious the soldiers and even the Mage became unsure of which path to take. Not only that but some of the paths were far worse off. The path they stood on, around 10 soldiers fully equipped could stand shoulder to shoulder and without too much difficulty they could traverse the path. That’s the current path everyone was on. Because of this, the thousands of soldiers were packed in like sardines on this path.
Two paths led directly into caves. One up and one off to the side. One path went to the side but could only be traversed by a single person at a time and that was only if they gripped the wall and sidestepped along said path. The obvious path was one that also led up but it made no sense for Zephris to have gone up that way. The path up opened even further and allowed more than 10 to walk side by side. If Zephris had planned to slow them and delay them, it made no sense to lead them to a path where more could follow more easily.
Squeezing through, the chief looked at the different paths and warned.
“This is bad, the boy has entered the Griffons’ territory.”
The Mage turned back.
“Griffons’?”
The chief nodded.
“Yes, the upper cliff is home to a number of griffons. These creatures are highly territorial and very deadly.”
The soldiers became nervous hearing this.
“Why would the boy enter their territory? Even if to lose us, it makes no sense to put himself at risk when he could take this small route to the side.”
“The route to the side has one constantly looking down at their death while the p[ath upward might actually be the safest. Right now, the griffons should be in the middle of their hibernation cycle. They should slumber for another 2 months. The boy knows this. I guess one must ask themselves, would you rather travel down a path where you’re constantly looking over the edge and with a single misstep you could fall to your death or go toward the sleeping beasts who you know will not wake up for months. I know my answer.”
The Mage thought for a bit before he nodded.
“Right, the boy is still a boy after all. The obvious path upward is obvious for a reason. We’re simply overthinking things. He most likely traveled upward in such an obvious way as to give us pause which he did. He would then most likely sneak past the beast and then out of this mountain with no consequences but unfortunately for him, the others are already surrounding this place. We will continue forward. He will either be caught by the others or by us, either way, he will be caught. Come, let’s not waste any more time. The beasts are sleeping so tread lightly.”
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