Kitsune in the Shadows

Chapter 71 – Racing Through The Forest

As soon as the sun broke past the horizon, the four of us made our way into our wagon. At the same time, the man in charge started going to each tent and waking everyone up so they could pack up and get ready to set out as soon as possible.

Even though I was only able to hear what was going on outside, I could feel the unease that had spread throughout everyone as they were told what was going on. It felt like only a few minutes had passed before everyone else started making their way into the wagons.

Yet, even as the last person got on, we didn’t start moving.

What’s going on?

I thought we needed to move quickly?

As if in response to my question, the man in charge appeared at the back of our wagon, his beret being crumpled up in his hands and two men standing behind him.

“U-um… e-excuse me…” He mumbled, keeping his eyes towards the ground.

“What do you want?” Joran huffed, “We could’ve been on our way by now if you lot had gotten up earlier.”

“I-I’m sorry for that… I-I’m v-very sorry for that…” He took a deep breath, “B-but could I a-ask t-two of you to join the f-front… I-It’s still a little dark… a-and it’s hard to see with all the t-trees… w-we need someone w-who can k-keep watch…”

Joran let out a sigh that had become all too familiar over these last two weeks, “Fine… I’ll take the front. But I’m warning you now, don’t try anything with those two. I’ll be checking on ‘em after we stop, and if I hear anything…”

Joran didn’t finish his sentence, although it was clear he didn’t need to from the faces of the three people standing outside our wagon.

Wait what?!

New people are joining us?!

I…

Both Joran and Elwyn then stood up as they made their way out of the wagon. However, just before Joran jumped off, he leaned in close to me and whispered, “If they try to start anything, just let out your best growl; it’ll give them a good spook, and they’ll back off. Trust me.”

“Mm,” I responded, more so because it was expected rather than because I agreed with what he said.

I could have sworn that he giggled a little after that, but it might have just been my imagination. He just jumped off the wagon before following the man in charge with Elwyn in tow close behind.

Do we really have to do this…

…

Strangely, the two men who had been left behind didn’t climb into the wagon; instead, they just stood there staring at each other.

“Do we really have to get in there?” The first man whispered.

“What else are we going to do?” The other responded.

“I don’t know… maybe there’s some room in a different wagon?”

“Do we really have the time to go check each one?”

They both fell silent for a brief moment.

“Are you going to get in first?”

“What?!” He accidentally stopped whispering but quickly quieted back down, “Why do I have to get in first? It wasn’t my idea to move to the back.”

“Because I don’t want to get in first, obviously,” The man pushed the other forward, “Now hurry up. I don’t want to be left behind with whatever we’re supposed to be running from.”

The man who had been pushed just clicked his tongue before climbing into the wagon, followed quickly by the other. Once they had both sat on the bench opposite me and Ava, they just pulled the hoods of their cloaks down over their faces.

Am I really that scary?…

Or is it Ava they’re scared of?

I turned to look at her as the thought crossed my mind. She did look a little on edge, but that wasn’t surprising with what took place in the night.

No, that can’t be right…

…

Before I had the chance to think any further, the wagon lurched forward, followed by a lot of yelling from somewhere ahead of us.

We immediately started to pick up speed, moving much faster than we had the previous few days, maybe even moving a bit faster than we had been before entering the forest. The trail itself clearly wasn’t designed to be travelled at speed like that as we were thrown from side to side in the wagon.

Ava wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close, “Don’t worry. I’ve got you,” As she spoke she didn’t look at me, instead she looked out the back of the wagon.

…

I did the same, looking at the tracks being left behind our wagon. I was hoping to see some tracks from the group that was supposed to be ahead of us, but it was impossible to tell if there were any there amongst all the freshly laid tracks from the wagons up front.

By the time the sun had fully come over the horizon, we had started to slow down a little, probably because the horses were already getting tired from how hard they were pushed in the morning.

…

Thankfully, not much happened as we continued to move through the forest. The two men who had joined us in the wagon had kept entirely to themselves. Ava kept her arm wrapped around me… And I stayed focused on the forest as it passed us by.

Unlike the previous few days, I could hear very little noise coming from the forest. There were no more small animals scurrying about, no more birds flying through the canopies, and no more wind whistling through the trees. The only sound seemed to come from the wagons and the people in them.

What’s happened?

…

This can’t just be because of what we saw last night…

…

Could it?

…

The wagons just kept going, speeding up and slowing down at regular intervals, the tension from the morning never leaving us even as the sun gradually moved overhead before starting on its way back down.

It’s hard to say whether I was thankful for all the tension or not, as while it was more than likely the only reason I was able to keep my eyes open, it was still draining to be left on edge for so long.

Throughout the journey, I had kept an eye out for anything that might have been left behind by the group ahead of us… anything that had been discarded… the ash from a fire… yet I never saw anything.

…

I could only hope that was a good omen.

…

The sun eventually met with the horizon once again, and the light of the day slowly began to fade. But unlike every other day, the wagons just kept going, pulling out their lanterns in an almost futile attempt to keep the darkness at bay.

How much further is the town?…

…

I looked over at Ava again. She hadn’t taken her eyes off of the path behind us, and her eyes had started to go a little red.

I thought you were night blind?

How much can you really see out there?

…

Do you need to strain yourself so much?

…

I turned back to look at the forest but to my immediate surprise, it… ended… After a full day of racing through the forest, we had finally come out the other side.

I was immediately assaulted by the saltiness in the air, burning my nose just slightly.

However, the wagons didn’t slow down; instead, they sped up, presumably because the town was in view.

“Almost there now,” Ava turned towards me, a slight smile on her face, “I hope we can find ourselves an inn at this hour. Sleeping in this wagon for the last two weeks hasn’t been the most comfortable thing in the world, hey?”

I could tell she was just trying to brighten the mood a little… and I didn’t mind.

“Mm,” I hugged Ava’s side while continuing to watch the forest as it got further and further away from us.

…

Even though we weren’t actually in town yet, I could finally feel myself starting to relax. My eyes started to feel heavy, and my focus gradually dwindled, yet I didn’t allow myself to fall asleep, not until we had come to a stop at least.

…

…

‘Ovia?…’

It was only on a whim, but I had realised that Ovia hadn’t said anything to me since the wolf showed up at our camp. She didn’t even check on me in the morning… which affected me a bit more than I expected it to once I realised.

…

…

She didn’t respond to me.

…

Has something happened to her?

…

Could I even do anything if something has happened?…

…

All I could do was worry… but even that was getting a little difficult with the wave of exhaustion I felt coming over me.

It wasn’t much longer before the wagon came to a stop. However, it was evidently only a brief pause. I heard the man in charge talking to someone ahead of us, although I couldn’t focus enough to make out any of the words he was saying.

As their conversation came to an end, we started moving again, albeit much slower than we had been travelling throughout the day. As we did, these tall wooden buildings gradually came into view, signalling that we had finally made it into the town itself.

Is it… over now?

Are we really done?

As soon as the wagon came to its final stop, the two men scrambled out, almost knocking each other down into the mud below in the process. They were followed promptly by what sounded like everyone else having the exact same idea.

“Let’s just wait here a bit,” Ava squeezed my arm as she spoke, “It’ll be easier than trying to push our way through the crowd.”

“Mm.”

I did as Ava suggested and just sat and waited as the crowd slowly dispersed. I took the opportunity to take out my pendant and look it over. The gem in the middle had now gone completely dark, just like the sky outside.

Is that why she hasn’t said anything?

…

…

“Ms Ava, Ms Wolf, are the two of you doing alright?”

I jumped in my seat a little, but as I turned and looked out of the wagon, I saw that it was just Elwyn poking his head in.

“I had hoped I wouldn’t make a habit of scaring you like that,” They scratched their chin, “Am I just that scary?”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Joran came up behind Elwyn, “Do you two have a place to stay tonight?”

“No, not yet,” Ava answered.

“Then take this with you,” He handed Ava a folded piece of paper, “There’s a map on the back. If you give it to the lady at the front desk, she’ll make sure you’re taken care of… at least for a while.”

“Can’t you be a little more honest with yourself?” Elwyn wrapped his arm over Joran’s shoulders, “That place is great. It’s nice and quiet and the old lady who works the front is just the best. It’s much better than trying your luck around town at this time of night. You can take both of our words for that.”

“Thank you very much,” Ava said, “You’ve been a big help the whole time we were on the road.”

“Oh no, please, the pleasure was all ours,” Elwyn immediately started waving his hands around, “If we ignore last night, this was probably one of the most enjoyable escort missions we’ve been on in human territory. It’s honestly almost a shame that we’re having to part ways so soon.”

“Part ways?”

“We’re going to go around and see about getting a ship off this island first thing in the morning, maybe even later tonight if at all possible.” Joran said, “This was only a brief stop on our way up north.”

Up north?

“Even now? Come on, Joran, you need to let your guard down sometimes. You’re going to wear yourself out one of these days,” Elwyn giggled.

“Whatever,” He huffed as he turned around and started walking, “I’ll head down to the pier and see who’s around… It was…. an alright time travelling with the two of you.”

“Oh, don’t mind him. You know how he can be,” Elwyn sighed, “Hopefully, we will get the chance to meet again one of these days. Who knows, maybe then I’ll be able to hear your name from your own mouth, ‘Ms Wolf’.”

With that last comment, he quickly ran after Joran as he waved back at us.

“Well… no sense in sitting here any longer,” Ava climbed out of the wagon and extended a hand out towards me, “Let’s go find this place… I can’t wait to get in a bed… and I doubt you’re feeling any different.”

“Mm,” I grabbed her hand, and she helped me down.

The map that Joran had given us was surprisingly easy to follow, although that might just have been because Ava had spent some time in this town before. Not that I was going to complain, as before I knew it, we were standing in front of the inn.

What happened next was honestly a bit of a blur as I struggled to keep my eyes open. The little I remember was the old lady sounding very surprised when Ava gave her the note before telling us something as she led us up to a room.

There were two beds in the room, but both of us just fell onto the one that was closest to the door.

…

“Ahhhh… I don’t think I can get back up…” Ava mumbled.

“Mm…” I responded.

“We could just… both sleep right here… can’t we?”

“Mm…”

Ava wrapped one arm around me and helped me to get onto the bed properly before laying down next to me.

“Good night, Kierra… tomorrow… we’ll…” Ava didn’t get to finish her sentence as she fell asleep as soon as she had me in her embrace.

…

Admittedly, I wasn’t in much better shape, as my eyelids had already started to give in.

Good night, Ava…

…

With that last thought, I finally let my eyes close as they had been so desperate to do.