The Third Kingdom

CHAPTER 46

By late the next day they reached the place where the trail began to bear left, toward the west. The trail had taken them as far as it could. It was frustrating, because they had been making good time, but the trail was no longer headed north, so they were going to have to start making their way through uncharted forest toward the third kingdom.

Richard scanned the edge of the forest along the side of the path, searching for the best area to take them through the woods, when he spotted a place that almost looked like a trail. A fresh trail.

“This looks like a good place,” Samantha said as she pointed. “The way north looks more open through here.”

“There’s a good reason for that.” He gestured to the trampled shrubs and broken twigs, the kicked up dirt, and the overturned moss. “Do you know what this is?”

Samantha looked puzzled. “No.”

“It looks to me like the place used by all those half people traveling down here from the third kingdom. Look up in there at how someone dragged their feet along the ground.” He pointed to another spot. “Looks like someone stumbled there and broke that branch. They walked without paying any attention to what they stepped on. There, they trampled those mushrooms. Back in there a lot of the ferns are broken.

“This is not the way a regular traveler walks. This is the way careless people who know little about traveling, or the woods, would walk. It looks to me the way those half people who tried to ambush us would walk. This is probably where they came down from the north.”

“Really?” she asked. She looked up at him. “Then all we have to do is follow this and it will lead us right to where we’re going. It will lead us right to the barrier, to those open gates in the north wall.”

“No,” he said, “if we follow this new trail we are liable to run into more half people coming down from the third kingdom to hunt for people with souls. Those dead half people back there aren’t the only ones. The others are likely to be different, like the men who attacked me, or the Shun-tuk. They’re smarter. We don’t want to run into that sort if we don’t have to.”

She took a step back, as if the place was suddenly threatening. “I guess it isn’t such a good idea, then.”

With a hand on her shoulder, Richard turned her to the left. “We’ll go on a little ways farther up the trail and then turn north through the woods to go parallel with this route taken by the half people. I want to stay far enough away from it that if there are more half people coming south by this same route, they won’t hear us.

“At the same time, by staying close enough, then from time to time I can check on this trail they made so that I can make sure we’re going to the place they came from. That way it will help lead us where we’re heading, right to the third kingdom, but we won’t be as likely to run into trouble.

“It shouldn’t be too difficult to keep track of this route they’ve made trudging through the woods. From the looks of it they were simply taking the route that was the easiest because of the lay of the land. I can do the same thing, but stay off to the side so we don’t accidentally run across their trail at the wrong time.”

She made a face. “How do you know all this stuff?”

Richard shrugged. “I’ve been doing this all my life, since I was younger than you.”

After following the established trail on for some distance, Richard finally judged it far enough away from the path made by the half people to be safe, so he turned north into the woods. He regretted having to leave the trail, even as rough as it had been, and make their own trail through uncharted forest, but it was something that he was experienced doing. Because of his experience, he knew how to select the best route to take through the dense woods.

For a time as they traveled north they were able to follow a deer trail, but it eventually veered off and they had to plunge back into the thick of the woods. In several places they had to climb rock ridges to avoid taking time and trouble to find a way around. Once, they had to backtrack when Richard abruptly found himself at the edge of a cliff that would be too dangerous to climb down.

When nightfall came, Richard again found a well-hidden spot, where he built them another small shelter for the night. The drizzle had picked up as darkness closed in. They had managed to complete the shelter in time to keep themselves mostly dry. He was sore from sleeping sitting up the night before, but he was tired and his hip sockets ached from the long day of hiking though dense woods, so he was happy for any rest he would able to get. Like the previous night, he and Samantha huddled close for warmth and fell asleep quickly.

The next morning dawned cool and humid but at least the drizzle had stopped. That didn’t mean a lot, though, because both the humidity and the previous night’s drizzle and fog had left everything inside their shelter damp or dripping. Droplets of water dotted his cloak and ran off it in little rivulets when he took it off them and gave it a brief shake.

It was even more uncomfortable when they emerged from the warmth of the little shelter. It was a disagreeable feeling to see that it was another gloomy day. Richard was getting sick and tired of the endless dark days under a constant, heavy overcast. He wished for a sunny day that would dry everything out. He was beginning to see why it was called the Dark Lands. It was a dark and depressing wilderness.

They had a quick meal of sausages and travel biscuits along with a few slices of dried apples. After packing up, they were quickly on their way. Before long, they came upon a small brook that made travel through the dense undergrowth a great deal easier. As they walked, Richard checked the burbling, clear water for any sign of fish, but he didn’t see any.

After an hour of walking along the rocky bank of the brook, he decided to scout to make sure that they weren’t too close to the half people’s haphazard trail. Richard had Samantha crouch down between a rock and several small spruce trees where she was well hidden and could wait while he went off to scout. The trail the half people had made meandered aimlessly at times, so he wanted to make certain that they were still distant enough from it that they would be safe.

The trail turned out to be a goodly distance. Richard checked but didn’t see any sign that there had been anyone on the trail overnight. Happy after he saw that they weren’t too close to it, they were able to move on, using the brook as a path through the woods.

Mostly cedars grew along the sides of the brook, with a luscious carpet of moss covering the banks in places. The brook created a bit of an opening through the forest, so they were able to make better time. The moss growing in thick beds made for soft walking, but what Richard liked most about it was that it made their progress almost silent, while the running water of the brook also helped cover any sound they might make. Silence was safety because even if there were half people about, if they couldn’t hear Richard and Samantha passing nearby then they wouldn’t come after them.

Rounding a turn where the brook went around a rock outcropping, they came suddenly on a man kneeling beside the brook, scooping up water in his hands for a drink. He hadn’t heard them walking upstream on the mossy banks. He looked up from his cupped hands, water leaking through his fingers, surprised to see Richard and Samantha as they came around the rock. He was dressed better than the half people that Samantha had killed, and had a huskier build, like the men who had attacked Richard at the wagon.

Richard wasn’t as surprised as the man, because this possibility had always been in the back of his mind. Richard knew that with the new trail so well used by the half people, it was possible that some of them might wander off that trail, so he had been on the lookout. Still, it was an unpleasant jolt to suddenly come upon someone after having the woods all to themselves for so long.

The man, at first frozen in surprise, quickly recovered from his shock. His eyes immediately filled with the kind of savage hunger any predator had at seeing prey unexpectedly appear within reach.

The man sprang up in a full charge. He bared his teeth with a growl as he lunged at Richard. As he raced in, the man reached out to tackle his prey.

Richard had been ready and, rather than meeting the threat directly, dodged to the side at the last possible instant. Richard threw an arm around the man’s neck as he fell past and put a choke hold on him to keep him from crying out for help.

The man struggled, reaching back to claw at Richard, trying to get to his face, to gouge out his eyes. The man’s teeth were bared, but he couldn’t get a bite of flesh. Richard lifted the brawny man while putting pressure on the sides of his neck to cut off the blood supply.

The man’s struggles slackened as he quickly grew weak.

“Who are you?” Richard asked.

The man only growled, even as he did his best to keep his eyes open.

“How far to the north wall?” Richard asked.

Drool ran from the corners of the man’s mouth as he gasped for breath, as he fought to remain conscious and at the same time fight back.

“How far,” Richard asked again through gritted teeth.

“A day away, maybe.”

“And the Shun-tuk? How far to their land once beyond the north wall?”

When the man didn’t answer, Richard increased the pressure. The man’s eyes bulged. His tongue bulged from his mouth as his face turned red.

“How far is the kingdom of the Shun-tuk?” Richard asked again in a dangerously calm voice.

“Don’t know … never been that far. I’m not that stupid.”

“How far?”

“Days. A few days more. But they will catch you, eat your flesh, and drink your blood. They will have your soul.”

“You can’t gain someone’s soul by drinking their blood or by eating them. There is no way to get someone else’s soul. It’s not possible.”

The man struggled even harder, trying with renewed fury to reach back and get hold of something. He couldn’t. Richard wasn’t taking any chances and twisted harder to make his point.

“Lie!” the man gasped, red-faced from lack of air. “You want to keep it for yourself. All of you with souls are greedy. You soil the world with your nature. We will have your souls. We deserve them. We will have all of your souls!”

Samantha stepped up before the man’s face, regarding him calmly. “How do you figure you deserve our souls? What gives you the right?”

Richard had him tightly by the neck, but the man’s glare turned up to Samantha. He gave her an evil, lustful grin.

“We will eat your warm flesh and drink your warm blood and have your souls. We will rule the world of life.”

Richard twisted until the man cried out. “Are you with anyone else?”

“No!”

“Good,” Richard said under his breath as he snapped the man’s neck.

As Richard let the dead weight slip to the ground, he gestured to Samantha. “Let’s get going. Better that we are away from here in case others of his kind find him.”