Dragon Clan #1: Camilla's Story

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Robin ran another hundred paces and then walked a hundred. She repeated the process so many times she lost count, but to catch Camilla she had to cover twice the distance. Late in the day, she found two dead horses on the road. The head had been ripped off one, and another had its stomach torn open. Dried blood had soaked into the dirt and showed where several men had been wounded or killed.

She inspected the ground carefully and found no spent arrows or indication of men fighting. The hoof prints said that at least ten men were here, probably closer to twenty. She was no tracker, but anyone could read the signs. When men battle on horses, the horse’s heads do not get ripped off their bodies. Her eyes went to the sky and saw no dragons. Girl, what have you done, now?

The survivors traveled in the same direction she was going.

That presented two problems. One, she’d catch up with the army due to her faster pace and then try to explaining her presence. She didn’t know how they would react to her if they saw her first, which was likely because they would be on guard after the dragon attack. The second problem was the soldiers overtaking Camilla, who may be moving slower.

A third problem bubbled to the surface of her thinking. There was the unknown owner of the footprints that continued to walk beside Camilla. She moved ahead of the area where the fighting occurred and examined the road carefully. Horse tracks and a few men walking, probably soldiers who lost their horses or were too injured to ride.

She looked further along and saw the same. What she didn’t see were the tracks of Camilla and her escort. Robin ran up the road a hundred steps and knelt to see every impression on the road. She read more than ten horses traveling in the direction of Nettleton, and then most of them riding back again, after the attack. But, no sign of Camilla.

Robin considered the possible alternatives and decided that if Camilla saw the soldiers approaching her on the road, she may have hidden. However, if she hid until they passed, she would have returned to the road, and there should be fresh prints, telling Robin she had almost caught up. Since there were no tracks, she decided to retrace her route until she found them.

It didn’t take long. At the location where the dragon had attacked, she found where the pair of footprints ended. After noticing the stream, she went to it and found where a small tree had been freshly cut down with what looked like a small knife. Footprints led into the forest, and she followed them to an unused campsite. Firewood was piled, and disturbed pine needles showed where beds had been made, but not slept on. There didn’t seem to be enough disturbance for sleep.

She found ants carrying off the remains of bread, shaved meat, cheese, and fruit. Somebody had spilled food and was in too much of a hurry to pick it up. Robin saw the route they took, right through briars and thorns. Scared. They watched the dragon attack and ran. Didn’t even stop to gather the food they spilled. Good girl.

This high up, the valley was narrower. The road was their logical destination, but they were trying to avoid the soldiers. Should she follow or use the road? Their footprints would be clear when they came back on the road, and the travel through the forest much harder.

She chose to follow them.

While the road was faster, the chances of running into the soldiers were greater. They might believe someone had called down the dragon on them, which may be true. They might even believe it was her. Tempers were short after a dragon attack. Strangers are worth killing, just to make sure. Her fingers found the dragon tooth on the thong around her neck. Just having the tooth could be enough to end her life.

She jumped over the small stream and pushed her way past the vines, thorns, and brambles.