Swallowing her latest wave of anguish, Blaise sat up. The woods were holding their breath and watching her. All the birds and crawling things were still, witnesses to her grief. Blaise sniffled a few times and wiped her nose on her sleeve. Part of her tried to chide herself for her baby blubbering but she did not accept it. It was fitting. Downie had been a child in a man’s body, boring and backward and dumb, but he had loved her. She knew it was true. He deserved to be mourned.
But now she had to get on with it. The continued existence of everyone she knew was in her hands. wasn’t fair, but it was true. He had died for her. She owed it to him to go on. She felt so tired, though. She could barely lift herself to her feet. Continuing to run seemed like the hardest thing in the world. The world was spinning. Even one step seemed like too much. She painfully lifted her foot and carried on.
Where was she? Did this path still lead south? Blaise looked around for the sun. In spring it should set somewhat north of west. She had to climb a tree to really see it. Godspit! The trail was tending west, toward the river and parallel to the south road. She would have to find a different one.
The gloom beneath the trees was deepening as Blaise set out again and she realized the sky was reddening. Sunset! Soon she would be alone in the forest in the dark. She had to go on. Even in the dark. Blaise had to find people, find them and hope they would help her find the Scarlet Knights. Stenn had been one of them in his youth and he had told stories: the only force of law in the northern provinces; always too few and too stretched; wily and skilled and sharp; defending the land against any and all threats. She had to find them.
It was even darker now. She couldn’t run anymore but she kept looking for any slightest opening on her left. Rounding a slight curve, Blaise found herself face to face with a deer. The moonlight made it huge. They both froze in place, alike in youth and health and spirit. There were no antlers, so it was a hind. Then the deer broke and ran, turning off the trail about thirty feet on.
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Blaise listened until the sounds of its passage faded. She walked down the trail to where it had turned. Turned to the left. She didn’t see any trail but the deer had gone this way. Steeling herself, Blaise pushed through the brush at the side of the open trail and moved into the deeper woods. A few feet in, she felt her way along parallel to the trail and found another, much narrower trail, leading south. If not for the deer she would have walked right by. She followed it as best she could in the dark.
An hour later found her shivering under a tree. Blaise wished she could sleep. She had abandoned pressing on in the dark. Her ankle hurt, twisted when she put her foot wrong. That was what had decided her to stop. The full moon did not provide enough light beneath the trees. She had no blanket or cloak, only her dusty clothes. She had eaten the elderly apple Gramma had pressed on her just before she left. It hadn’t been enough.
As she sat quiet, the nocturnal forest came to life. Little rustlings marked the passage of small animals. Something hooted. Just an owl. Movement on her leg made her jump and shriek. She kicked hard and a snake shook loose and flew into the underbrush. It hissed at her.
Blaise crouched down again, shivering. The forest silence descended as before. There were no rustling sounds now. She had just told everything in the woods where to find her and there were things in the woods that…Come on, Blaise! She couldn’t lose her nerve now. People needed saving. It was up to her. Her and Downie. I wish he was here. This time she didn’t chide herself for the thought. The great adventure she was on had turned cold and dark and lonely and she was suddenly aware of just how much danger she was in. She would have welcomed him here. In the distance, a wild howl arose like a lament and another answered it. Blaise got up and walked.
