…(Continued)

It was well into the night now. Most heads had nodded off; many sat or lay on the forest floor, bundled together or wrapped in their cloaks. Only a handful remained standing, some by the fire and some still absent-mindedly trapsing the perimeter of the clearing. One of these, a dark-clothed female, faced the north when her movement slowed and she suddenly stood perfectly still. One of the few others still moving about noticed the change at once and watched her, glancing into the darkness she faced but seeing nothing. “Raven?” he called softly, not anticipating a reply. The other pacers had noticed now too and all watched Raven’s motionless form.

Without warning, almost silently on the soft ground, Raven’s cloak billowed behind her as she sprinted in the direction she had been looking. She was almost immediately swallowed by the blackness of the trees. Each of the others instinctively moved towards the spot she had left. The lightest sleepers were aroused as well now too and began to peer or wake those around them. The makeshift camp awoke slowly; steadily. Those gathering where Raven had been standing could now just make out the slightest orb of soft, glowing light still well in the distance through the forest. Those with the sharpest ears could make out a soft murmer of voices and moving armor.

“Are we sure it’s him?” Cambridge, one of the first in the growing gathering, glanced around at the others and tried to mask his trepidation (instead managing to make it laughably obvious). A few of the others looked away from the light and glanced at the surrounding faces at the question, but most in the group remained fixated. One of the larger males, still wearing his sword and standing in the front, brusquely reassured Cambridge without averting his gaze. By now, no one remained asleep. Every member of the group was alert, watching the light grow steadily. A few stayed on the ground where they had been treated and a few more remained with them, holding their heads or helping address their wounds after an hour of being asleep. But every attention waited as the sounds of the group in the distance grew more discernible in the midnight hush of the forest.

TBC

-LS