Another day, another trek. After ablutions and breakfast the seven set out on their route following the stream. They hadn’t really had to speak much as everyone knew what they were doing and Jo, who had been on last watch, had spent some of the time preparing for the day. After burying the trench they had dug the day before and making sure their bowls and spoons were clean and packed, all it needed was a quick “Let’s make like the trees and leaf!” from Mark to get them trudging.

From where Mark walked it seemed that the litany of complaints that had accompanied Kajal walking were reduced, even if they had only been mutterings before. Mark guessed that the smaller man was probably in quite a bit of pain as he was clearly unfit, although even in the week they had been together the man had lost some weight and was showing better muscle tone. What he had to have been like before the six week introduction was a question that Mark didn’t want to ask.

The day was somewhat similar to the day before. For the most part they were walking through similar woodland but as they descended, the amount of soft woods decreased. However they still had the occasional stunning vista as they were able to see past the tree line. There were the occasional glades, the stream running over rocks or down small inclines led to picturesque scenes, and the sheer colour and diversity of the plant and animal life was occasionally so overwhelming that it took the breath away.

Julius was loving the walk. The cub could be heard occasionally as he pounced on, or at least attempted to pounce on, various small animals. The majority of these were wary and were quick to move out of the way. Occasionally he was successful and when he managed to catch something he would present it to Emily who always sounded delighted with the skills of the cub.

As he walked Mark tried to expand his senses to determine what was around them but whilst he got a general feel of the different types of energies about them, he was unable to determine anything to any great depth. The sheer abundance of growth energies and the heat energy from the sun as it fell on everything around made it hard to focus on anything more subtle. During their lunch break he had a quick chat with Emily and Jo about what they could sense.

“So can either of you use your extra senses to tell what is around us?” he asked.

“I’m only really aware of the changes in light levels around us.” Jo answered. “I can sense when we pass any caves but in general that isn’t very helpful at the moment. I’m better at reading the tracks of various animals. Not that I’ve seen anything that is a cause of concern.”

“That might be something to do with me.” Emily commented. “I can sense the bigger animals from some distance and have tried to project a message to them to leave us alone. It seems to be working. It’s kind of how I’m communicating with Julius. I sense his emotions and try to project my own back to him. It’s very crude at the moment but I’m sure we can improve.”

“Do you think you would be able to sense a village?” Mark asked.

“Probably, if we were close enough.” Emily stated. “Humans give a completely different impression to animals. Not that I can get anything other than basic emotions from humans either.” Emily said hurriedly.

Mark got the impression that Emily was hiding something but wasn’t sure what. He decided that if she wanted him to know she would tell him and otherwise it was better to not worry about it. Even though he had only known the others for a short time he felt that they were all reliable.

It was getting later in the afternoon when Jo called a halt. As the rest of the group gathered it became clear that the reason they had stopped was because they had reached a clearing that someone had visited before. There was evidence that a fire had been built and even some wood stacked under an overhanging rock.

There wasn’t any indication that the area had been visited in some time but even so it was a little bit exciting to see some indication that others were around. Obviously the weapons in the cave were an indication that others had been in the area but that had felt like the cave had been visited a long time ago, whereas this felt more immediate.

It was late enough in the day that Mark thought that it was a good time to stop. The space they had stopped offered shelter, water and made it easy to set up camp. What’s more it was likely that it was a logical distance from habitation. So continuing along the stream for an hour or two would not be particularly useful.

>>>

Another day and they were ready to wander. “Let’s make like a baby and head out!” Mark called.

As they walked they began to notice more indications of humanity. There had been extensive logging in the past and stretches of woodland were filled with new growth. The stream had obviously been used to transport the logs as it no longer looped but rather was a straight route with a path clearly created next to it. Occasionally in the distance they could here chopping and occasionally there were shouts but still they had seen nobody.

Finally, as the day was starting to darken and they were starting to think they would need to camp out again, they came to a village. Although they couldn’t immediately tell this as the village was surrounded by a large wooden palisade and ditch, with only some large gates giving entrance to the enclosed buildings. They were stopped at the gates by a couple of large, hulking guards, who were even bigger than Mike. One had a spear whilst the other had loosened the sword at his belt at their approach.

“Who you and whaddya want?” The guard asked. At least that is what Mark thought he asked as his accent was strong and strange.

“Visitors, looking to stay the night, maybe sell some stuff and buy some clothes tomorrow.”

The guards looked at the group with their strange clothes but good quality weapons and decided that they might well have the money to help the village. Also, with a couple of exceptions they didn’t look like fighters. One grunted whilst the other said “Head for d’inn, just follow d’road.”

As they walked into the village they looked around like newbies gawping at the sights. Shops were closing for the day and people were bustling everywhere. Mark expected to attract a crowd of people to look at the visitors but that wasn’t the case. Maybe because of the time of day, people seemed more interested in sorting themselves out than worrying about the strange group that walked past them.

When they got to the inn the rooms were starting to fill. They stood at the bar until the server was able to talk to them. Mark took the initiative “Can we get rooms for the night, food and drink?”

“We’ve three rooms, two silvers a room, food is a silver a person, drink is a copper a tankard.”

“Let’s see the rooms!”

The server took them upstairs and to a corridor with six doors. Each door had a large keyhole and three of the rooms had keys inserted.

“If you want to sort yourselves out there’s wash water in the rooms and I’ll have your food ready for you when you get downstairs, Chicken or stew? They’re both served with bread and vegetables.”

Mark was impressed how much easier the server was to be understood. He barely had the thick accent that the guards had spoken. Still the intonations when he spoke was not the same as that spoken anywhere Mark had heard. In fact it sounded more like something out of a Victorian drama or earlier but not the posh ones.

“So twelve silvers and six coppers for room and food plus a drink. What is there to drink?”

“Light and dark ales and scrumpy.” The server replied.

The group gave their orders and Mark found one of the gold coins that Jo had distributed to each of them to pay. The server hurried off.

Opening the doors to the rooms they saw a couple of beds in each. The beds consisted of a wooden frame with strings crossing from side to side. The mattresses were stuffed with straw and then covered by a sheet. There were pillows stuffed with feathers and a thick cover stuffed with hair.

“Eugh!” Emily exclaimed. “Those beds are alive with bugs.”

“Maybe I can do something about that.” Mark replied.

He pondered what would be the best approach. He could heat the beds but they were likely to catch fire. He could freeze the beds which might kill the bugs in them but also might soak the beds making it hard to sleep in them. In the end he decided that he would use the living energy of the bugs to grow something and chose a tree that he could see through the windows of the room. He tried to grab all the life energy in the beds and send it towards the tree. From the way he felt after he did this he assumed that he managed that but it took Emily to tell him that everything was dead.

He did the same trick with the other five beds as the others sorted themselves into rooms and cleaned up. When everything was ready he washed himself and found that he was sharing a room with Kajal. Leaving their packs in the rooms but taking their money with them, hidden on their bodies they went down to eat. They all had some sort of weapon on them but they were hoping nobody would start a fight.