Page 15 of Ruins of Magic
“Can I come?” the princess surprised him by asking. They really hadn’t spoken since he had blown up at her about the duke.
“Sure,” he surprised himself by saying when he really meant to say, “No.”
“I’ll come too,” Garron invited himself along.
“Take your swords, just in case,” Taneth told them. “Not all of Gavalon is as safe as the castle region. Anyone hiding in these woods is no friend of the king.”
Garron and Arion both grabbed their swords currently mounted to their horses and slid them safely at their sides. Valaria rolled her eyes knowing Taneth had only insisted on the weapons because she was tagging along. If it had just been the boys, he would not have even thought to warn them.
They once again didn’t speak as they walked through the trees of the forest. The ground wasn’t as steep here, a testament to the fact they were nearly through the mountainous region and would be entering the plains soon. Chellgar sat in the middle of the flatlands and meant they were one day closer to reaching it.
“It’s pretty here,” Valaria said, breaking the silence.
They had stumbled across a rolling brook in the woods that opened to a clearing beside it.
“I like it here too,” Arion said. There was something about the area that just made him comfortable despite Taneth’s warning.
Garron looked up at the sky. “It should be a clear night. Maybe we could talk the knights into letting us set up camp for the night here.
“It’s only noon. They’ll never go for it,” Valaria said. “We have another half day of travels ahead of us.”
“Maybe, but we could ask,” Garron said hopefully.
When they reached the brook, Arion reached into the water. It was cold. He cupped his hands to scoop some up and brought them to his lips. The crisp water soothed his parched throat.
“Is it safe?” Valaria asked.
“We’ll know in just a few minutes otherwise,” Garron joked. “If Arion doesn’t croak, we should all be safe to drink it.”
Valaria punched him in the shoulder. “Don’t joke about something like that.”
“What? It’s the truth.”
“The water is fine, probably even cleaner than anything we get back in the village,” Arion said, putting their bantering to an end.
As Valaria and Garron robustly helped themselves to the fresh cold water, Arion took a look around. His senses went on full alert when he heard a stick crack nearby. Squinting to look into the section of forest he thought the sound came from, he couldn’t see anything, but he could feel they were being watched. For some reason, it didn’t frighten him.
“Don’t look now, but I think we’re being watched,” he whispered to the other two.
Garron left from the bank of the brook and drew his sword.
Arion shook his head. “I meant, don’t alert them that we know we’re being watched, you bafoon.”
“The knights aren’t here, and we have to protect the princess,” Garron insisted.
“I don’t think they’re here to harm us. I don’t know how to explain it, but it feels safe. Maybe it’s just another magical creature curious about us.”
“You mean there have been more than just the troll?” Garron asked.
“Well, there was the zanzar, too. Have there been any others, Arion?” Valaria asked.
“A zanzar? What’s that?” Garron asked still holding his sword for dear life.
“It’s sort of like cave dwelling gnome,” she tried her best to explain. “Very rare.”
“Anything else lurking about that we need to know about?” Garron asked.
Arion shook his head. “Not that I’m aware of. I’ll let you know if that changes.”
