The Third Kingdom

In the end, he reasoned that the half people who had been chasing them would probably have all been together. It didn’t seem likely that some of them would have hung back. They were driven by the lust for a soul, so it was reasonable to think that they were all dead back in the blasted forest.

In light of all that, Richard chose to use the trail in order to make the best time they could. His sense of urgency was too well founded to ignore. Of course, he was well aware that other half people, different kinds of half people from other parts of the third kingdom, could very well come down the trail or be waiting in ambush. All the more reason to stay alert.

Decision made, he forged ahead, determined to make the most of the time the trail saved them. The path through the woods was similar to secondary trails Richard knew back in Hartland. It wasn’t a well-groomed trail that made for swift travel, but it was still much easier than pushing their own way through virgin forest. It also wasn’t wide enough for them to walk side by side, so he led the way and Samantha followed, sometimes having to trot to keep up with his pace. Richard constantly scanned ahead and to the sides as he moved as quietly as possible.

There were occasional wind-fallen trees that lay across the path that they had to climb over. Saplings grew in close at the side of the trail in places, making it a narrow green tunnel with branches and boughs continually slapping at their arms and legs.

The leaden overcast, coupled with the thick forest canopy, conspired to make the tunneling pathway a dark and gloomy place. Off in the distance he occasionally heard the cries of birds or chatter from squirrels, but for the most part the woods were dead silent. Mist and drizzle combed out of the air by pine needles collected until the drops were heavy enough to drip down on them.

For their lunch, Richard stopped only briefly to get a bite to eat. Samantha was looking somewhat better after having eaten the dried meat earlier, so he didn’t want to take any more time than necessary to catch their breath for a moment as they retrieved food and water from their packs.

After the brief stop, they were quickly back on their way and walked the rest of the afternoon without seeing anyone or anything out of the ordinary. The journey through the forest was in a way comforting. It reminded him of his life growing up in the Hartland woods, and his time as a woods guide. It had been a time of peace and contentment, before he knew of any of the troubles of the wider world.

He caught himself looking at all the various mosses growing on rocks, making them look like green pillows, and the places where it crept across the ground and grew up the bases of tree trunks. In some places he saw beautiful, delicate little white flowers. In a way, the flowers seemed out of place because the journey was fraught with such danger and anxiety that it didn’t seem like beauty belonged. He guessed that it was the balance to the lack of peace he was feeling.

Samantha kept her hood up to help keep her hair from getting wet in the drizzle and random drops falling from trees above. She kept her head down as she hurried to keep up with him. He could see in her posture how tired she was, but she didn’t complain. He felt bad for setting such a swift pace, but it couldn’t be helped. He suspected that she was thinking of her mother, and didn’t mind the pace.

When it started getting dark, Richard led them off the trail to find a place to sleep. He didn’t want to be anywhere that people—or half people—would likely come across them. He walked off the path for quite a ways, deliberately choosing the roughest terrain and the places with the thickest underbrush. People who went off trails to go through the woods almost always picked the easiest places to walk, so he wanted to go where it was least likely anyone might explore off the trail.

He eventually found a secluded spot he liked in the crook of a rock cleft that rose up for thirty or forty feet. He surveyed the area for any signs of dangerous animals, including humans. He saw no indication that anyone had ever been in the spot. Richard and Samantha were likely the first people who had ever seen this place. He saw no caves where bears or wolves might den, and no snakes.

With the light failing and the mist getting heavier, he swiftly cut some saplings and leaned them up against the rock. After having made a framework, he piled on pine and balsam boughs, and on top of that, brush to cover up the evidence of human construction. By that time it was nearly dark.

“I wouldn’t know it was there even if I walked right by it,” Samantha said.

“That’s the whole point,” Richard told her. “Ordinarily, in such a place I’d want to take turns standing watch, but I think this is hidden well enough. There is no evidence that anyone ever comes this way, so I think it’s more important that we both get a good sleep. We’re going to need it tomorrow.”