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I do, you feel responsibility toward them."
"I have a home," Galvin said tersely. He propped himself up on his elbows and
frowned at Brenna.
Standing up, he brushed the dirt from his tunic. His home was the wilderness
of Faerun, and he considered himself the protector of the animals who lived in
it.
"Fine. You have a home." Brenna ignored the centaur's gentle nudge, not
sensing when to quit. "It's just that my home has lots of people people who
may be in grave danger." She paused to blow her hair away from her eyes.
Several stubborn strands stuck to her sweat-stained forehead and she had to
move them aside with her hand.
"Our country's history is wrapped up with the Red Wizards. We've battled them
on and off for decades." She paused again, this time to untwine a braid and
take another deep breath. Galvin had her started, and she wasn't going to stop
until she finished her say or passed out from exhaustion.
"In the past when we've fought the wizards' forces, like in the battles of
Singing Sands or Brokenheads, we were able to defeat them, but our casualties
were high. Our ruler, the Simbul, doesn't want another war.
Or if we must fight, she wants to know it's coming so we can be prepared."
The druid turned his back to Brenna and resumed his course along the
riverbank. The centaur bent at the waist and extended a hand to help the
councilwoman up. This time she took it.
"We're not making good enough time to reach the First Escarpment today,"
Wynter said. "We'll probably travel another couple of hours, then camp for the
evening."
"We can make it. I'll walk faster," she volunteered, although she knew she had
pushed herself hard already and would have trouble keeping up with only one
boot.
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The trio, with Brenna in the rear, continued along the bank. Close to the
river, ancient willows, one with a trunk nearly as thick as Galvin was tall,
dug their roots into the earth to drink thirstily from the river. Their long,
whiplike branches danced in the breeze and swept the ground. Galvin carefully
moved a few branches aside and disappeared under the largest willow's
umbrellalike canopy.
Dozens of small yellow parrots perched in the giant tree chittered excitedly.
When Wynter and Brenna passed through the willow branches and emerged on the
other side of the tree, they saw two of the birds sitting on the druid's
shoulder. Galvin was several yards ahead, and he appeared to be talking to
them.
Wynter moved quietly toward the druid, but Brenna kept her distance.
She stared at Galvin as he chittered back at the birds. Finally curiosity got
the better of her, and she took a step forward, her bare foot landing on a
sharp rock. "Ouch!" she gasped, balancing herself on her booted foot. Standing
on one leg, she pulled the other up in front of her, turning the bottom of her
foot up so she could inspect it. Dirt clung to her heel and the ball of her
foot, and blood flowed from a gash just behind her toes.
Some distance ahead, out of hearing distance, the centaur and druid conversed,
oblivious to Brenna's discomfort.
"I don't want to get too close to Thay's border tonight anyway. We should camp
a ways back from it,"
Wynter said. "At least one of the wizards uses patrols of undead."
Galvin shivered at the thought. "I prefer to deal with living creatures." He
nodded in Brenna's direction and added, "But I'm not sure about that one."
"Good thing she's too far away to hear you," the centaur replied. "She's
spunky, though. She'll make it. I
just don't think she's used to this much walking. Maybe I should keep an eye
on her."
"Are you coming?" Galvin yelled back to Brenna as the birds flew from his
shoulder.
Brenna wiped the blood from the bottom of her foot with the hem of her dress
and limped to catch up.
The centaur fell back and matched Brenna's stride. He noticed she paused every
few steps. She had pulled up the hem of her skirt and held it in her right
hand, leaving her legs exposed from the knees down. It made for faster hiking,
but her legs and one bare foot were getting scratched by the weeds and bushes.
"He's mad at me," she sputtered. "And he's just walking fast to humiliate me."
Brenna watched Galvin, noticing that he took long steps and didn't look down
at the ground. Chipmunks, rabbits, and other small creatures accepted his
presence, not bothering to run at his approach. But when she and the centaur
came near the animals, they scattered into the dense foliage. The land
reminded her of rain forests she had read about in Aglarond's libraries, and
she suspected she would have enjoyed the scenery under different
circumstances.
"If he likes animals so much, why does he have anything to do with the Harpers
or anybody else?" She winced as a branch of a thorn bush grazed her calf,
leaving a pink welt. Hiking with one booted foot and one bare foot was
decidedly awkward. Bending over, she pulled her other boot free and hurried to
keep pace with Wynter.
"The Harpers needed someone with his talents. He's been with them for quite a
number of years, helping them with various problems in and around Thesk,
Aglarond, Yuirwood, and the coast. He was even involved with the godswar a
while ago."
Brenna lowered her voice so the druid couldn't hear. "What's so special about
Galvin that the Harpers wanted him?"
The centaur frowned. "Remember, he's a druid, what some people call a nature
priest. He has talents neither you nor I could fathom. And with the Harpers,
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he puts those talents to good use. Listen, it's simple.
The Harpers are a diverse group of people. The organization's strength lies in
its diversity. I didn't hear you asking me why I'm with them. I would think
that to you I'd be more out of place in the Harpers than
Galvin."
"No ... you're different. You're ..." For once, she was at an impasse for
words.
"I'm Galvin's friend," Wynter finished. "He brought me into the Harpers." The
centaur explained that several years ago a group of bandits were raiding
farms. It was just after the farmers had taken their crops to market and had
been paid in gold coins. The centaur's farm was among those hit, and he helped
Galvin catch the thieves. After that, Wynter joined the Harpers. "I've no
regrets," he concluded. "I still find time to tend my farm between Harper
missions. And when I'm away, well, at least it gives the weeds an opportunity
to grow."
"But what about your families?" Brenna brushed against the centaur to avoid
another thorn bush. There seemed to be a growing number of the annoying
plants. She noticed that while the trees remained thick, blotting out some of
the sun, the ground cover seemed to be increasing.
Wynter smiled ruefully. "Galvin and I have no families. My relatives are in
Thay. I haven't seen them since I was a child. As for Galvin, his parents were
killed when he was young. He's been on his own and alone since then."
"How did his parents die?" she persisted, puffing to keep up and hopping to
avoid rocks and thorns. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]