Garinor felt weary and in need of a rest, so he decided to hide in the forest and wait for the hunters to tire of their pursuit and head home. He considered retracing his steps to the staggered trees and hiding there, but he held to his original decision of leaving that place for his friends.
He glanced around, thinking of all the places he had hidden during his childhood. Some of them had concealed him for hours on end and he needed those places now. Scanning left and right, he sought out the three he knew to be nearby.
The first was located near an old gnarled tree. The branches were thick and wrapped closely together, so it was easy to climb up into the sky. Three years ago he had gotten himself stuck near the top. He had been so high up he couldn’t see the ground through the lower branches and leaves. He gazed up at the tree now and considered making the climb, but he realized the inviting branches would also attract the eyes of the hunters. They would think it was easy to climb and they might simply go up after him. And if they did, he had nowhere to go but a long drop down.
To throw off the pursuers, he climbed a few limbs anyway and then jumped through to the other side, landing on the soft ground. He kept going until he came to an oversized boulder that countless storms had uncovered many years ago. Three trees swarmed over the stone and created a darkened shelter under which he had once fallen asleep. His friends had searched for him all afternoon but hadn’t discovered the location on their own. Garinor wondered if it would suit him now. He crawled inside and brought his knees up to his chest. Peering around, he realized he could see too much on either side of his location. Surely something had changed about the landscape to have reduced its concealment.
The next location was his favorite spot. It was a bit of an overhang of earth, under which he and his friends had piled innumerable sticks and branches and leaves. He could bury himself underneath it, pull the earthy mash on top of him, and be tucked safely away for a long time.
He chose this spot to wait out the events around him. He looked around, making sure no one was watching, then he leaped over the ledge and dropped down the slight fall, turned around, and dove inside. It was a matter of minutes wriggling around before he was able to settle himself. He pulled a mass of leaves over every part of him, including his head, leaving a little gap so he could breathe.
The only problem now… he was hungry. He tightened his knees up to his chest and tried not to think about food. Of course, that made him think about it even more. Instead he tried to ponder the events of the day.
What was the secret behind the king’s letter? Who was the soldier who had brought it? Did he have a family he’d now left behind, poor man, trying to defend a boy who didn’t want to be taken from his home? Who were the hunters who were chasing him so relentlessly? What of his friends? Were they okay? He remembered Besfa’s echoed shout of pain and he worried something dreadful had happened. But other such shouts hadn’t followed the first, and Garinor hoped that meant his friends had managed to escape without much trouble.
After all, it would be all his fault if they were injured. Even though they had chosen to defend him on their own, it was still his life they were risking themselves for.
What was so important about him anyway?
Crunching sounds overhead intruded on Garinor’s dark thoughts. The steps were slow and methodical.
The words “no sign” drifted into Garinor’s hiding place. They must be close now, looking hard for him. Maybe they had seen the old tree or the boulder. The steps drew closer and closer. Dirt gently rained down from the top of the ledge.
“I’m telling you, El, he’s not here,” said a deep voice.
“Nonsense. Those other boys practically confirmed there was someone else.” She laughed menacingly. “They’ll not bother us anytime soon, at any rate.”
Fear welled up inside Garinor. What did she mean by that?
“Fresh footsteps,” called a third voice. “You’re right, El, he’s around.”
The woman chortled again and turned on the first man. “And you wanted to call it quits. You may have the brawn of fifty men, Roz, but not the brains.”
“Hey, watch it!”
The woman called El cackled at him, but it was a bad move. Apparently, the brawny man was insulted enough to give her a good shove. She dropped right over the ledge and landed with a thud just feet away from Garinor’s hiding place.
His whole body tensed in anticipation.
The woman muttered angrily and thrashed about after getting to her feet. The brawny man laughed at her, while the other man continued his tracking and called for them to be quiet, that they would signal their presence to the boy.
Irritated, the woman lifted up a fist-sized rock and screamed aloud, throwing the rock ahead of her, right into the alcove where Garinor lay as still as possible. The rock crashed right into him and he released an involuntary grunt with the impact.
“What?” the woman gasped. “Could it be?” Her eyes lit with hunger as she dove forward and dug into the pile with all her fury. She uncovered Garinor and grabbed him by the throat, laughing as she did so.
Her maniacal laughter was the last thing Garinor ever heard.