And he had killed three Aenir warriors. She was sorry to have missed that event.
Towards dusk Gaelen found a secluded hollow off the trail and he dumped his pack and sat down. He stayed there silently for some minutes, ignoring the girl; then he stood and returned to the trail, crouching to scan the mountainside. There was no sign of pursuit.
He waited until it was too dark to see any distance, then returned to the hollow. Deva was bathing her face with water from his canteen and he squatted beside her.
‘How are you faring?” he asked.
‘Well. Are they close?’
‘I can see no one, but that tells us nothing. They are woodsmen, they could be anywhere.’
‘Yes.’
‘What were you doing in the mountains?’ he asked her.
‘I had to visit my uncle Lars, who has a croft cabin south of here. I went with Larain. We were coming home when we saw the Aenir and we both ran. I hid in the woods, I don’t know what happened to Larain. Most of the night I listened for them, but I heard nothing. This morning I tried to get back to the valley, but they were waiting for me. I got away once but they caught me back there, where you found me.’
‘It’s an invasion,’ said Gaelen.
‘But why would they do such a thing?’
‘I don’t know, Deva. I don’t believe they need a reason to fight. Rest now.’
Thank you for my tunic,’ she whispered, leaning in to kiss his cheek.
‘I could do no better,’ he stammered. Reaching past her, he pulled his blanket roll from the pack. ‘Wrap yourself. It will be a chill night and we can afford no fire.’
‘Gaelen?’
‘Yes.’
‘I… I thank you for saving my life.’
Thank me when we reach safety. If there is such a place still…’
She watched the darkness swallow him, knowing he would spend the night on the edge of the trail. Render settled down beside her and she snuggled in to his warm body.
Gaelen awoke just before dawn, coming out of a light doze in his hiding-place by the trail’s edge. He yawned and stretched. The path below was still clear. Rounding the bushes he stopped, jolted by a heel print on the track not ten paces from where he had slept.
The track was fresh. Swiftly he searched the ground. He found another print, and a third alongside it. Two men. And they were ahead of him.
Ducking once more, he re-entered the glade, waking Deva and rolling his blanket. Taking up his pack, he unstrapped his bow and strung it.
Glancing round, he saw that Render had gone a-hunting.
‘We have a problem,’ he told the girl.
‘They are ahead of us?” ,
He nodded. ‘Only two of them. Scouts. They passed in the night.’
‘Then give me a bow. My marksmanship is good, and you’ll need your hands clear for knife work.’
He handed her the weapon without hesitation. All clanswomen were practised with the bow and Deva had the reputation of being better than most.
Slowly they made their way north and east, wary of open ground, until at last the trees thinned and a gorse-covered slope beckoned beyond. It stretched for some four hundred paces.
‘You could hide an army down there,’ whispered Deva, crouching beside him in the last of the undergrowth before the slope.
‘I know. But we have little choice. The main force is behind us. They have sent these scouts ahead to cut us off. If we remain here the main body will come upon us. We must go on.’
‘You go first. I’ll wait here. If I spot movement I’ll signal.’
‘Very well. But don’t shoot until you are sure of a hit.”
Biting back an angry retort, she nodded. What did he think she was going to do ? Shoot at shadows ? Gaelen left the cover of the trees and moved slowly down the slope, tense and expectant. Deva scanned the gorse, trying not to focus on any one point. Her father had taught her that movement was best seen peripherally.
A bush to the right moved, as if a man was easing through it. Then her attention was jerked away by a noise from behind and she turned. A hundred paces back along the trail, a man had fallen and his comrades were laughing at him. They were not yet in sight, but would be in a matter of moments. She was trapped! Fighting down panic, she notched an arrow to the bow. Gaelen reached the bottom of the slope and glanced back. Deva lifted both hands, pointing one index finger left, the other right. Then she jerked her thumb over her shoulder.