CH 112: On the Trail
Thankfully, Claire’s watch came and went without incident. The night remained as still as the ruined village around them. Claire awoke to the morning sun, surprised that there were no issues last night.
“What’s the plan?” Ursa asked from the driver’s seat. Her hearing picked up on Claire waking up.
“I don’t know… You picked up an old trail yesterday, right?” Claire asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
“It was faint,” Ursa replied, sitting up, “but I vaguely smelled urine.”
“Urine?” Claire asked, tilting her head.
“Could’ve been an animal, or a scared kid,” Ursa said, peaking into the window. “But it was recent enough that I might be able to pick it up again.”
The thought hit Claire like a punch to the gut. Her stomach tightened, sleep-driven grogginess vanishing instantly. “That… that’s terrifying.”
Claire couldn’t see it, but Ursa shrugged. “I’ve met bandits who did far worse. Still, it’s a sign of life at least…”
“That is true. We can assume that the bandits kept them alive for now.” Jasmine added from behind Claire. She rose from her slumber with a small stretch. “If word spread that a whole village was wiped out under our Lady’s watch… it’d be a political nightmare.”
Claire turned to face Jasmine, “So are they hostages?”
She was met with a soft kiss before Jasmine whispered. “If they are alive… then most likely.”
Claire took a moment to digest that thought. She watched the twins slowly wake up while thinking of the villagers’ states. She had a storm of emotions come over her. Fear and sorrow for the villagers, but her fury quickly rose.
“Goddess… these villagers have been forsaken. They seriously let the bandits do this?” Claire’s voice started as a whisper but grew with her increasing frustration. She balled her fist, digging her nails into her skin. “Do they do anything?”
“Yes,” Jasmine said calmly. She gripped Claire’s hand and squeezed it tightly. “They used to protect villagers like their own family... Some still do, but others are too corrupt. But they keep us out of war or infighting… for now.”
“Sorry,” Claire said, getting control of her anger. “It’s just… so many issues could be solved had they done their fucking job.”
Elsie leaned her head against Claire’s back. She whispered groggily, “Mmm, we wouldn’t be here if they did…”
“That’s true,” Claire admitted with a forced chuckle. She rubbed her forehead in frustration. “We should get moving…the longer we wait, the worse it gets for the villagers.”
“Lily, time to get moving,” Ursa called from the driver’s seat.
“Coming!” Lily responded, jogging towards the carriage.
“Okay, I’m going to go look for that trail…” Ursa said, her eyes watching Lily intently for a moment. “I’ll howl when I find it.”
With that, she jumped off the carriage and set her clothes on the driver’s seat. Lily took her place, a handful of flowers and herbs in her hand.
“Sorry, found some ingredients…” she explained breathlessly.
Jasmine crawled through the window. She threw Ursa’s clothes into the carriage and watched Ursa transform. “All good, we were discussing our next actions.”
While Jasmine briefed Lily on their previous conversation, Claire was quick to clean up around the carriage. She pulled the wedges from the wheels and made sure the horses’ harnesses were secure. Anything to keep her mind off what the villagers might be going through.
After a few minutes, Ursa let out a howl to the north. Jasmine whipped the horses, and Claire jumped into the driver’s seat.
“We’ll take the road as far as we can. Then if it curves away from Ursa’s trail, we may have to ditch the carriage or risk Lily being by herself.” Jasmine said to Claire. Claire rubbed her chin, deep in thought about their next moves.
“She’d be safer with us anyway…” Claire mumbled. The weight in her stomach made it hard for her to truly think. “But, we could try hiding it.”
With that, they followed the white wolf as it darted in and out of the forest. The further along they followed, the narrower the road got. Claire felt the unease creep in as they traveled deeper into the forest.
It took several hours, but they finally found something noteworthy. A trail of torn clothes, dried blood, and old food. Ursa’s wolf stopped before rotting scraps that seemed weeks old and untouched by scavengers.
“Any guesses on how old it is?” Jasmine asked, glancing towards Lily.
Lily knelt beside the moldy food, studying it with her skill. It allowed her to identify the specific mold. “If I had to guess… maybe two weeks old.”
“But… why wasn’t it eaten by animals?” Claire asked, tilting her head.
“Have you heard any birds?” Jasmine asked calmly, her gaze sharpening. “Or seen any wildlife?”
“No…” Claire admitted, her eyes widening upon the realization.. “What the… how could there be no wildlife?”
“I don’t know, but I’m starting to think the bandits aren’t alone out here.” Jasmine said with a deep breath. “Either high-level magic, or they managed to tame something dangerous…”
Elsie moved closer to the window and asked with a nervous laugh, “Something like a Wyrm?”
Jasmine nodded. “That’d do it.”
Wyrms were landlocked dragons. Though not as rare as their distant cousins, they still had the ferocity. With a natural armor that weapons couldn’t penetrate and venomous breath, it was the worst-case scenario.
“Or,” Jasmine said, deep in thought, “there are spells that ward off low-intelligence creatures around an area… But on this scale?”
Lily nodded along. “It’s been this way since the village too, so roughly 15 miles…”
Just then, Ursa reappeared from the tree line in her human form. Her red eyes glowed with intensity. A faint smile on her face as she approached the carriage.
“We’re close,” Ursa said with her smile widening. “I can smell humans and magic up ahead. Maybe two miles north.”
All eyes turned in that direction. The forest looked darker there, as if the trees themselves recoiled from something unseen. Claire noticed the nervous shifts of their horses.
“We have to decide what to do with the carriage and the horses…” Claire said. She glanced around, looking for any forms of camouflage.
“True, and if I’m coming along,” Lily added.
“Let me scout first, then we can decide,” Jasmine said, jumping down from the carriage. She readied her poisoned dagger and adjusted her gear. “If I’m not back within two hours… leave. If they are able to catch me, then we were no match to begin with…”
They fell silent at her words and intensity. Claire wanted to cry out for her not to go, but Jasmine’s eyes were too resolute. A bone-chilling shiver went down Claire’s spine.
“We’d never abandon you…” Claire whispered, voice barely holding together.
Jasmine’s piercing grey eyes locked onto hers. “I know that…” Jasmine said softly but firmly. “ But I’m serious…I put other assassins to shame in terms of stealth. So if they spot me, then we were fucked from the beginning. You’d only be throwing away your life.”
With that, she disappeared.