Rowan took deep measured breaths, he could not allow the emotions bubbling up inside of him to take over. He needed to be calculated. He watched as the two men jogged down the same path and he closed his eyes saying a quick prayer for his father and then allowed his mind to become silent, immersing himself with the sounds of the forest and their thudding steps fading away.
As they moved through the path, Rowan moved behind them. When they took a step, he placed his in unison, it was impossible in some areas of the forest not to make noise but by using the sound of the wind and his two targets he was as silent as a mountain lion stalking its prey. He needed to interrogate one of them, Henderson being the obvious choice, which meant he needed to either separate the two men or kill the dead eyed man and capture Henderson. Thoughts and visions on how to accomplish played through his mind. Could he torture this man for the information he needed? He did not believe so, which left open combat as his only option.
Rowan was disappointed at their lack of skill in the woods. They did not watch where they stepped, cracking small twigs and stepping on piles of vegetation instead of the smooth dirt or rocks that would make much less noise. It spoke of their lack of fear towards him, they did not care if he heard them thinking him not a threat. His father had warned him on many occasions that no matter how weak an opponent looked you should never underestimate him as you immediately gave him the advantage. Rowan couldn't say how many times those words or some variation of them were drilled into him during training, but their truth spoke to him now. He vowed never to make the same mistake.
Upon reaching the clearing and seeing the mage, both men quietly stared at the bundle of robes and meat, unmoving. Henderson looked at his companion and whispered in a hoarse voice “by the gods what is going on” to which his dead eyed companion only grunted.
“I have never heard of a mage dying to any but another mage. Even if she was weak as the General said, no boy should be able to kill her” Henderson said as he walked over to her slowly and nudged the body.
“Pity, she was a pretty young thing.” He rolled her over and examined the wound pulling out the arrow examining it in turn. “Excellently crafted” he muttered to himself. "Perfectly balanced, the General should of used his bow with skills like these."
Little did he know that Rowan crafted that arrow. His fathers were even better.
He crept closer to the clearing slightly adjacent to where he shot the mage from. The man called his father General, he had assumed his father had some military experience with the knowledge he taught but Rowan never thought such high a rank. A General in the Empire’s Legions was a powerful figure, one that garnered respect and prestige. How he ended up a Ranger in the north was a mystery Rowan would find the answers to.
Henderson began looking all around the body searching for tracks “help me fool, don’t just stand there.” Another grunt came from the companion before he too began searching the dirt and grass for Rowan's tracks. They would not find any.
Rowan watched hoping for any more snippets of information, but they searched in silence. His heart raced in anticipation of the kill, patience Rowan, patience is the weapon of a predator. His father's words played through his mind as he watched them search in vain, Henderson growing more and more frustrated. “it’s no fucking use, it’s as if he’s vanished” Henderson exclaimed as he stood straight up placing his arms on his hips.
"This kid is good but he cant be that good."
The bald man grunted again gaining a patronizing look from Henderson. It was becoming clear that the bald man either could not speak because he was mute or had some sort of mental condition. Either way that didn’t negate his clear danger, he moved far better than Henderson and was a natural killer. Henderson looked toward Rowan's position passing over it and said, “we have to lure him in from wherever he is hiding. Shit he’s probably crying over his dad’s corpse as we speak” to which the bald man grinned maniacally.
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Rowan could see doubt in Henderson’s expression. He readied his bow and thought about his choices. Rowan needed to kill the dead eyed companion quickly. He clearly had extensive battle experience and would flinch in reaction to the sound of the bow releasing. Rowan was roughly twenty feet from the two men as Henderson was trying to make a decision as he halfheartedly looked for tracks. Rowan decided he would take a chance and sighted in on the bald man’s chest, he wore no armor just a dirty rag of a shirt, even if he did the arrow would punch through. Rowan drew back taking into account his body position and where he would flinch to. He released and quickly drew and letting loose a second arrow right behind the first. His aim was true and as the bald man flinched for cover the arrow struck him in the heart the second arrow thudding in behind it. Henderson snapped his head to Rowan's position weary of another shot but advanced toward me sword in hand. Rowan dropped his bow to the ground and drew his sword, stepping into the clearing.
Henderson eyed Rowan surprised that the boy gave up his cover. The boy had deep blonde hair and was tall and lean. Henderson watched how he moved with purpose, each foot planted in such a way as to maintain perfect balance while offering firm positioning for the attack. A shiver started at the small of Henderson's back and crawled up his spine. No adolescent child should have eyes like that. It was no matter. Henderson was a seasoned veteran of the legion and had many young pups think they were his equal.
“You're a brave one I’ll give you that, but you never should have given up your cover”
Rowan circled him and he circled in return, matching step for step.
“I’ll give you one chance to tell me what I need to know, or I’ll force it from you” Rowan said in a steady voice which surprised him.
Henderson barked a laugh “you are no ordinary brat are you, what are you thirteen, that's what the mage reported, and you’re going to what you're going to torture me? You have skill and balls of a man twice your age I’ll give you that, but torture? I don’t think so. Maybe not yet. Tell me boy, what is it you want to know”
As he pronounced the last word his weight shifted slightly, hips twisting and Rowan saw the lunge coming, he stepped aside with enough time to cut a neat slice across Henderson's sword arm.
“Gah fuck, what do you want to know damnit” Henderson exclaimed holding the fresh cut.
“When were you expected to drop me off and to who?” Rowan asked watching blood drip down Henderson's arm to begin coating the hilt of his sword.
“That was all the Witch, we were just to hand you over to her and escort her back through the pass. I assume she would have taken you to the Capitol after we parted ways.” He said with another quick lunge that I deflected.
“Why was it necessary to kill my father and why would the Emperor’s mages hire you? Why not just have the Imperial Guard escort them?”
He barked another laugh and said “it was understood that your FATHER was the dangerous one, if he wasn’t killed immediately the seers foresaw your escape. I was hired because if the magi came alone, or with the Imperial Guard, the seers saw your escape. I and my” he looked at his dead companion "former team are something of specialists in these matters"
“The seers” Rowan whispered, in awe of the situation and confused at how he could be worth all of this effort. “Why does the Emperor want me captured?”
“it’s obvious, isn’t it? He sees you as a threat, the seers do not cast their gazes lightly and must see what you will become” He said flicking out a quick thrust that I parried.
“And what is that?" Rowan asked watching him frown at his failed attempt.
“The gods only know boy, now let’s get this over with, I’m done talking”
He rushed Rowan then thinking to finally use his size advantage. Rowan ducked and spun out of Henderson's overhead strike flicking his blade up in a flash cutting a neat slice across Henderson's neck. Henderson was right about one thing. Rowan could not torture him for information. Not yet. Rowan gained far less information than he had hoped for, but he could not allow himself to be injured in this environment and the longer they fought the more danger Rowan was in. If he had used his size and reach advantage from the beginning, Rowan would have been hard pressed to come out unscathed.
The last of Rowan's captors defeated he finally let the gravity of the situation take hold gathering his bow and sprinting back to his father. It was important for Rowan to make sure that his father was buried in the bosom of the Great Mother. The tears finally came and he relished their release. Each thrust of the spade into the early springs earth was met with fresh tears marking their journey like forked roads on Rowan's face. The task was done as mornings first light broke over the mountain range and Rowan lay on the mound of dirt in the last embrace. Slowly the forest began to sing. Crows cawed, squirrels chittered, and bird song played in Rowan's ears. He smiled as he remembered his father, knowing in his heart that this forest at least would always be his home. "May the Great Mother hold and guide you Father. I will remember your words and your teachings. Watch over me." Rowan said as he rose to his feet.
