“You should go west,” Kre advised. “I’ll head south and keep moving forward, even if Rangers are planting themselves on the roads looking for me.”
“You do understand that the people you are keeping your promise to are the ones that want you dead, correct?”
“Not entirely,” Kre said, shaking his head. “I also made a promise to see Ser Sandiscoot’s body to the Citadel, to see his remains interred there… or whatever they do with fallen Dragon Knights. Turns out though, I already failed at that not a couple of days after starting out.”
Kitalia peered through the brush and grimaced. “Is there nothing I can do to that will convince you to at least come away from this area? I can promise that we will discuss this when we are somewhere a bit safer.”
Kre turned his own senses to the forest around them, hearing the sounds of rustling and crunching leaves, and nodded his agreement. There was a twinge of guilt as he did so, the feeling that he was giving up on a part of his quest, violating his oath. He knew it wasn’t true, but he had a conscience that just wouldn’t let him let go of his dark thoughts of betrayal.
She scampered back out of the brush as she did before but this time she was followed closely by Kre. It was almost remarkable how the branches and leaves seemed to part before the Ylveryan yet they snapped and struck him in the face, cut at his hands and clothes, and made the loudest noises underfoot. Thankfully, she did not once turn to chastise him for his clumsy way of sneaking through the woods but instead continued to head along some path that she seemed able to see laid out like a road before her.
Certain that he would lose consciousness soon, given all of the scratches and gashes he had acquired during their flight, Kre hoped that they were due for a short break soon.
“Here,” Kitalia said, having stopped and turned around to face him. “Go in there and stay quiet. I will be back shortly.” She gestured offhandedly to the trunk of a large tree nearby.
“Go in where?” Kre asked. It was too late, however, as she had already vanished.
He shook his head and swore something under his breath. Still, he took it all in stride and stepped forward towards the tree, placed his hands on the bark and was pleasantly surprised to feel that it was warm to the touch.
As he contemplated hugging the tree to drawn in more of its warmth, especially as he was beginning to feel the night’s chill more deeply now that his adrenaline had faded quite a bit, he noticed a two-foot hole near the roots.
He leaned down and peeked in, half-expecting some creature to bite down on his nose at any moment but thankfully no such thing happened. Neither did any red eyes stare back out at him from within. He figured that was a good enough sign and so took a deep breath and started crawling in through the hole.
The little crawl space sloped upwards gently and ended in a large hollow space, about five feet around and just under four feet high. He moved over to the far side of the hollow and sat with his back to the wall, facing the hole.
The air in the little room was warm and comforting, similar to how the trunk felt outside but this time it was all around him. He had felt so tense for so long this evening without realizing it, but now all of that just seemed to melt away in what felt like laying out on a warm rock in the bright sunshine.
“Hullo man,” piped a small voice from above him.