Garinor decided that following the sentries would be too dangerous. Not only were they looking for him, but it was clear that there were others around as well. He had already crossed their patrol line, so he decided to stay with fate and venture further north on his own.
He picked his way through the eerily lit woods. The red fire from the burning village spread ahead of him and cast deep, lingering shadows, but it also helped him to find his way more quietly than if the fire wasn’t there. He mourned the loss of the hamlet and all the people who had been inside. He wondered if Elder Dorin had told him the place couldn’t be found by the hunters in order to calm Garinor down. But then, maybe something else had gone wrong instead.
Either way, Elder Dorin had told him that no harm would come to him and that was true at a base level. He had escaped the fire unscathed and he was not in the hands of the hunters.
The sounds of crackling fire and the roving sentries quieted, then vanished, as he moved. He continued north, moving closer to the castle, which was his ultimate destination. The sleep he had earned in the hamlet left him full of energy and he plodded along at a good pace through most of the night.
As dawn approached, he took a moment to stop and rest. There were some shrubs in the area with an abundant amount of berries on them, which he popped into his mouth and munched. They were tart, but filling enough for this stretch of his journey. Sated, he nodded off.
A rooster crowed into the new morning, startling Garinor. He jumped to his feet and glanced around, checking for any motion nearby. The rooster called a second time and Garinor pinpointed the direction from which it came. He decided to head off toward it.
He wasn’t disappointed when he emerged from the trees. There was a farm sprawled along a dirt road and stretching out for miles. A large barn stood nearby, its doors closed protectively. Various farm implements littered the front area, including a water trough and an old rusted plow.
He knew that the farm animals drank out of the trough, but he was dreadfully thirsty even though the berries had been rather juicy. He crept across the path and knelt beside the trough and cupped water into his hands, bringing the cool liquid to his lips.
Garinor glanced up and saw a house nearby. He froze as the front door opened and a middle-aged woman emerged wearing a sturdy smock that seemed suited to a hard-working farmer. She saw the boy’s head in the water basin and stalked over to him, her arms akimbo.
“Help yourself, boy,” she said in an amused sort of tone.
Garinor sputtered and fell away. “I—I’m sorry.”
“Oh come now, you look a wreck,” she said, holding her hand out to him. “Here, here, come inside now.”
She seemed like a nice lady and he had a feeling that she intended to feed him. He hoped so, anyway. Accepting her offer, he followed her into the house.
He was greeted by three large dogs, who yelped and barked at the stranger, but the woman shooed them away and they obeyed their mistress. Garinor smiled; as he walked, the three of them jostled for position, trying to sneak chances to sniff at his heels to figure out who he was.
“You’re a mess, boy, are you all right?” She motioned him into a chair and then set about pulling down plates and cups for breakfast.
“Uh, yeah. Rough night is all,” he muttered, not sure what to say.
“Poor thing.”
“Morning, Herria,” said a man’s voice from another entryway. “Oh, what have we here? Greetings, visitor.” A wide smile filled the man’s pleasant face as he reached out a hand in greeting, which Garinor accepted congenially.
“Greetings. I’m Garinor.”
The woman turned to the man. “Found the poor thing sipping out of Yorra’s trough, Malikar. Can you believe?”
“Must have been a bit thirsty, then,” he said, pulling a chair out for himself while Herria continued to prepare breakfast. “You know, I saw a reddish glow in the sky last night. You wouldn’t perhaps know anything about it, Garinor, would you?”
He wondered what he should say, but he opted for the truth, at least parts of it. “It was a hamlet south of here. Went up in flames, but I don’t know how. I woke up in the middle of it and ran.”
“Oh you poor dear!” cried Herria. “And what of your family? Did they make it out?”
Garinor shrugged. “I have no idea if anyone made it out.” This was the truth, though he didn’t correct her assumption that the hamlet was his home.
“I wonder what could have happened,” Malikar mused. “Wonder if it was carelessness on someone’s part and it went out of hand. There wasn’t a celebration or other some sort of bonfire going on was there?”
Garinor shook his head. “No, not at all.” And to try to dissuade them from asking more questions, he put a rather solemn expression on his face and let his voice fall heavily. “I really hope everyone’s all right.”
Herria walked over and squeezed his shoulders briefly. “I’m sure they’ve all gotten out just fine, dear.” She stepped away and loaded up a plate with food and set it before Garinor, whose mouth watered. He waited until the two of them had plates set out before he dug into the food.
It was a fresh breakfast, though most of it was a little overcooked. The eggs were singed around the edges and the slices of bacon curled up as if in pain. The dark toast was more bearable with a healthy smattering of butter. The only thing that wasn’t overcooked was the glass of grapefruit juice. There wasn’t much in the glass, so he was careful to pace his sips so it would last through the meal.
“Malikar?” said Herria in a serious tone after some idle conversation.
“Yes, dear?”
“What shall we do with our guest?”
The man smiled and looked at Garinor, who stared back with as guileless a look as he could muster. “I think we ought to bring him to Teltiar. Surely the others of his village would head that way.”
“Maybe he could stay here a while? And then when Lorrel comes home—”
“Lorrel is on patrol, Herria, you know that. He won’t be home a while and you know that he won’t have time to deal with the likes of this.” He shook his head and sighed, then looked at Garinor. “But listen, son, if you want to stay here a few days and see if anyone you know turns up, you can. You also look exhausted, so the rest might do you good. We have the room easy enough. But I think your best bet would be to go to Teltiar. If you decide on that, then I’ll take you myself after a few things I need to do here to start the day. It’s up to you.”
Garinor should wait at the farm for a few days to eat and gather himself together.