Garinor pictured the paths in his head. The ‘seen’ path was more direct and he decided that he would follow it. He had experienced enough detours already. The Seer showed no reaction to his decision.
“That gold nugget,” he said after Garinor announced his choice, “is not for me. You will take that to the stables and rent yourself a horse. But,” he added as if in afterthought, “ask for one that can find its way back home.”
“What does that mean?” Garinor asked ominously.
The old man laughed. “Just that if you are separated from the beast it will be able to return here.”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
The Seer chuckled. “Of course not. But I don’t know either. Much depends on choice, you realize, but one way or another that horse will want to return here. Think of it that way if it helps.”
Soon after, Garinor made his way to the stable and requested a horse that would find its way back. The stableman laughed at the request but admitted that he appreciated that Garinor was concerned about the horse’s welfare. He gave him a strong steed that was certainly more powerful than Garinor could possibly handle. The man offered some guidance and instruction and then sent him on his way, taking the entire gold nugget as payment.
As he set off to the southeast, Garinor came to appreciate the horse’s training. It seemed to understand its rider’s lack of experience and it took to its trot most carefully. Garinor barely needed to tug on its reins to guide it. And even though the sheer size of the beast made Garinor look ridiculous atop it, he managed to ride the saddle well enough.
He reached the trees the Seer had spoken of in no time and he wondered for a moment if maybe there was some mistake, but he opted to trust in the advice he had been given. Garinor turned the horse toward the east and they trotted off again.
The landscape passed easily by and Garinor tried moving with the horse instead of sitting upright the entire time. This helped him immensely and he found he was less tired as time went on. By keeping in time with the horse’s rhythm, he wasn’t expending energy fighting the rocking motion. When the horse slowed to a canter, he pulled for a stop and dismounted. The horse munched on grass while Garinor noshed on some of the provisions Erina had given him. It was a peaceful day and if he didn’t have his pressing errand on his shoulders, he would have loved to enjoy it.
He mounted the horse again and they continued the pace to the east. They crossed over a stream and found a small ravine that looked as if it had recently been occupied. Garinor pulled the horse around and into the area, looking about. He saw telltale signs of tent pegs that had been stuck into the dirt. There were scraps of cloth, bits of burned wood from various fires, and, he noted grimly, patches of blood. He wondered what had happened there, but even the horse was uncomfortable, and it snorted and stamped its hoof in irritation. Garinor tugged on the reins and the horse trotted on.
They reached a wide path and Garinor wondered then if he had traveled far enough east to fulfill the second ‘e’ in the word ‘seen.’ He thought he must have and so he turned the horse to the north.
Pacing along easily, Garinor sank back into his blissful trance as they went, but the horse was nervous about something and it pulled up short.
“What is it?” Garinor asked. He poked his head up and he saw that not far ahead of him was a strange cloud moving close to the ground. He couldn’t fathom it at first, but as he stared, he realized that it was a large group of men marching north, guiding a couple of supply wagons. Garinor sat back in the saddle, grateful the horse had sense.
He wondered what he should do. Perhaps the Seer had led him to that point so he could meet up with that apparent army. Or perhaps he hadn’t gone far enough east by the Seer’s directions. He needed to decide.