Aglanthol 1 - The Legend of Khaalindaan - 10. Chapter 10

The weather had cleared up the following day. The sun was shining, but it was bitter cold.

Qildor’s sleep had been restless. Dreadful dreams had woken him several times. Magath, however, had slept well. Qildor wondered if Magath had fully realized the predicament they were in. Qildor was sitting at the wooden table. He watched Magath making tea.

"Gwyn is right," Qildor said when Magath had joined him at the table. "I made up a conspiracy plot that doesn’t really make sense." He wiped his eyes tiredly.

Magath ate his eggs. He looked up.

"The wizard Neldor was hiding a map from you. But we cannot say for sure that his and Gwyn’s maps are identical," he said.

"The symbols were the same," Qildor replied. He poured some more tea.

"You can’t say from the symbols on the back of the parchment that Neldor’s map on the front shows the two continents also," Magath said. "And one more thing came to my mind. We cannot say that the ancient town is a seaport and the Khalindash are importing goods just from Dran saying he saw a few well-fed horses."

Qildor nodded slowly.

"These horses could well be the only well-fed horses they have. Perhaps they just attacked the villages in order to steal more food," he said.

"Yes," Magath replied. "They did not necessarily explore the north of Aglanthol in autumn to have a better idea of the area. Why explore the country in autumn, wait for a long winter to pass, and then come back and look for Norlorn’s sword? It does not sound very logical to me."

Qildor took another slice of bread.

"There’s probably not even a maniac leader who fuels their aggression," he replied.

Magath nodded.

"How can we find out about the truth? We cannot base our assumptions on a few old legends and a few observations others have made," he said.

"Neldor did," Qildor replied.

"And why so?" Magath asked.

"Because of the same reasons we did, I guess," Qildor said. "And probably because of the mysterious map he has."

Magath shrugged. He rose to his feet and crossed the room. He opened the door and looked outside.

"I’m going over to Gwyn. I suspect we upset her. She was all in a fluster when she found out about her map," he said.

Qildor nodded. They dressed and left the house. They walked over to Gwyn’s place. Magath knocked at the door. Yet there was no response. He knocked again, and then he tried to open the door. It was not locked. They went inside. The room was empty. The fire in the fireplace had burned down, but it was still warm in the room.

"She has left only a short time ago," Magath said.

Qildor and Magath looked around in the room. The map was spread on the table. Magath spotted a small piece of paper that was placed on the map. He took it and read the notes on it. Magath turned to Qildor. His look was worried.

"She left me a note just in case I came in. She left for Dran’s house to talk with him. She writes that another bit of memory came to her mind, a fragment of an old tale. She hopes Dran knows more about it," Magath said.

Qildor and Magath exchanged a look.

"Qildor, we must go and find her. I knew it was all too much for her. Gwyn is old. She won’t make it to Dran and back by foot. The weather can change without a warning," Magath said in a worried voice.

Qildor nodded. He was feeling guilty.

"I didn’t want her to investigate," he said. "I just hoped she could shed some light on those ancient tales."

Magath shook his head slightly.

"She’s stubborn and curious. I should have known she was up to more when we found the map behind the brick," he said. He made a helpless gesture with his hand. "Come, Qildor, let’s get the horses and find Gwyn. I don’t want her to freeze to death."

They left Gwyn’s house and returned to their place. They got their horses and some stuff to take with them. Then they rode out of the village slowly. The ground was frozen.

"I suspect she walked down the road to the crossing. A path leads to Dran’s house from there. Do you remember?" Magath asked.

"I do," Qildor said. "I cannot imagine, however, that someone has cleared the path of the snow."

"Neither can I," Magath said. He was feeling confused. What had Gwyn in mind? How did she want to get to Dran’s house?

"We upset her," Magath said with concern. "Normally, she would have known that she can’t get to Dran’s house with all that snow on the path."

"I have not yet spotted a trace," Qildor said in a dismal voice. He halted his horse.

"Magath, I don’t think she walked down the road in this direction," he said. "The fire in the fireplace had just burned down. The room was still warm. She must have left only a short while before we entered her house. She’s old. She does not walk very fast. We should have found her by now."

Magath did not reply. His eyes roamed over the snow-covered fields. The snow was untouched wherever he looked. He spotted no foot prints and neither did he spot a figure walking somewhere ahead of them in the distance.

"You are right," he said in a worried voice. "Where...Goodness!" he exclaimed.

"What?" Qildor asked in a sharp voice.

Magath cast him a grave look.

"Snow shoes," he said. "She must have left through the backdoor and walks up the hill with snow shoes. She wants to take a shortcut. Up the hill and through the forest."

Magath turned his skinny horse abruptly and spurred it. The mare fastened her steps. Qildor hurried to follow Magath. They rode back silently. Magath led his horse to Gwyn’s place. He dismounted and hurried to the rear of the house. Qildor fastened the horses to a pole and then followed Magath who walked up the snow-covered hill. Qildor called out to him. Magath looked back at him. He was hesitating. Finally, however, he returned to the house. He was breathing heavily.

"She took snow shoes," he said. "I saw the tracks. She must have already reached the forest. Qildor, we must follow her instantly. She won’t make it to Dran and back."

Magath’s look was dark and his voice was pressed. Qildor realized that Magath was frightened and also felt guilty. He would never forgive himself should anything happen to the old woman. Qildor felt numb. He felt like an intruder. He had intruded the village and he had invaded Magath’s life and moreover he had unsettled an old woman’s mind. Qildor took a deep breath.

"I do not want to endanger neither you nor her. I am a fool. I was a fool to come here," he said in a hollow voice.

"No time for self-pity," Magath hissed with narrowed eyes.

Qildor straightened.

"What can we do?" he asked brusquely. "We need to attend to the horses first. Else they freeze to death which would help nobody."

"Do this," Magath said in the same brusque voice. "I’m going to get my snow shoes and a pair for you from a neighbour. And then we follow Gwyn as quickly as we can."

"All right," Qildor said without looking at Magath. "I’m going to get a few blankets. We might need to keep her warm."

Magath gave Qildor a brief nod. Qildor more sensed than saw it. Magath headed for his neighbour’s house and Qildor went to the horses.

~~**~~

They climbed the snow-covered hill a few minutes later, following Gwyn’s traces. Neither of them said a word. They moved on grimly until they had reached the top of the hill. There they stopped. They were breathing heavily.

"I can’t imagine she made it up here," Magath said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"She has, apparently," Qildor replied.

He pointed at the traces that disappeared into the forest.

"How big is the forest?" he asked.

"Twenty minutes by foot. In summer," Magath said. "If we hurry up, we might catch up with her soon."

Magath took off his snow shoes. Qildor followed his example. Gwyn’s traces showed that she had also taken off her snow shoes. They moved on. The high trees were covered with snow and so was the ground. Gwyn’s traces were easy to spot. Qildor saw from her traces that the woman had slowed down.

"I can barely imagine the old woman has such energy," Qildor said. "However, she has slowed down. We should indeed catch up with her soon."

Magath just nodded. He walked ahead. They walked deeper into the forest. The sun was shining, but only little light reached the ground. It was dark and the air was icy. Magath stopped short suddenly. He turned to Qildor abruptly. His look was alarmed. Magath pointed ahead.

"Look," Magath said in a worried voice. "Another pair of foot prints. Someone is following her."

~~**~~