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"You are certain they are out there?" Brother Viscenti asked for the third time The nervous low and shivered, for the night wind, sweeping down froer replied "The Touel&039;alfar said that they would accompany us to the north, and so they have"
"We&039;ve not seen theis reo in their search for Nightbird"
"It was the Touel&039;alfar who told us that ould find hier was quick to remind them "And so we shall, perhaps as early as tomorrow"
"We are close?" asked Braumin Herde "You see faer ad north to the Tirown taller about us, it seeoal"
The five monks looked at one another doubtfully; more than one rolled his eyes in diser said firmly "And the Touel&039;alfar are out there, do not fear That we do not see then of the our every move, unless they chose to let us see
"And even if they were not with us, I would not be worried," Roger added "For as long as we move near Dundalis - even if we htbird will find us Or Bradwarden will This is their forest, and nothing e"
"Except the Touel&039;alfar," Brother Brauhtened as well
"Not even the Touel&039;alfar," Roger said griht-fully nervous coer
"The sooner we sleep, the sooner ill be able to break camp," Brother Braumin remarked He motioned to Dell for humans and not monsters, as Lady Das-slerond had explained to the their bedrolls as near the fire as possible, for the air was growing colder with every passing er and Dell while, until Roger realized that the rhyth to settle hierously deep relaxation
He rose abruptly and began pacing, rubbing his arainst the cold
"Do you plan another venture into the forest?" Brother Deller looked at hih the whole idea of venturing into the forest this far north was preposterous
"Then you are more concerned than you ader echoed, his tone light "Or merely cold? Surely I could freeze dead in the dark forest away from the fire"
"Concerned," Dellht is cold, but with this wind, even the fire offers little protection Yet you will not venture alone into these woods at night, nor have you done so since we left Caer Tinella er looked away, into the blackness of the forest Forh it alone on the darkest of nights without fear But Dellman was perceptive, he had to ader could hardly believe how much darker they seemed than those just a couple score miles to the south How e sounds! No, it wasn&039;t fear, Roger decided, but respect, a healthy respect for a forest oblins were banished to the far ends of the world, the Tihtly
With that understanding, Roger&039;s respect for Elbryan and Pony in-creased Compared to the forests near Caer Tinella this place was untamed
"Do you really believe that we are close?" Deller replied "I know that the distance frohly the same as the distance froround And we cannot have strayed, for the road is too well ns of the cara-van&039;s passage - deep ruts that can only have been htbird was to accoer Lockless," cahtbird!" the young ht He paused there to let his eyes adjust, and gradually hecomfortably on the lowest branch of a wide tree, barely fifteen feet froer that he had been there for so his brothers, whispering that Nightbird had come Soon the five wide-eyed er
"He told you that I and Bradwarden would find you," the ranger explained As he spoke, the centaur eed from the darkness to stand beside the tree The monks had seen Bradwarden before, of course, when he was taken to St-Mere-Abelle, but that creature seemed a mere shell of the formidable centaur now before them, a thousand pounds of er, who had only glimpsed Bradwarden before, was stunned In boastful style, he had remarked to the monks that they would be amazed at the power of the centaur when he was fully healed, but Roger&039;s words had been based on the stories told to him by Elbryan, Pony, and Juraviel Now he looked upon Bradwarden - an obviously healthy Bradwarden - for the first time, and those stories, however dramatic they had been, seenificent creature
Nightbird juer, but the younger er returned the hug, but he looked over Roger&039;s shoulder and s back a step and holding out his hand to Bradwarden
"Excitable fellow," the centaur said to Elbryan
"My road has been long and rilled with tragedy," Roger said seriously "We caht I breatheyou for two days," the ranger explained
Roger&039;s eyes widened "Two days?" he echoed, as if insulted "Then why have you come to me only now? "
"Because yer coht noear," the centaur remarked "And me and them monks ain&039;t been known to be the best o&039; friends"
"How could you know the truth of us?" Brother Brau, with certainly no telltale uish him or his four corowing tired of these s - first the elves and now these there the visitors apparently knew everything about theun!
"We said we been watchin&039; ye," Bradwarden replied, "and that means listenin&039; to ye, don&039;t ye doubt, Brother Braumin Herde"
The monk&039;s expression was incredulous
"Oh, I heard yer name, and I know ye from the road out of Aida," the centaur re the horrid treat-ment the centaur had received from his brethren on that er protested "Would I lead ene-mies to you?"
"We had to be certain," Elbryan explained "We trust you; doubt that not at all! And yet, we have been dealing with the Abellican Church long enough to understand that they have ways of coercing allies frois started to protest
"None needed," the ranger replied "Bradwarden has spoken highly of Brother Brau him well from that journey He has named Braumin as friend of Jojonah, as friend of Avelyn, as friend of Elbryan and Bradwarden And we know that you co from your Abellican brothers"
"A situation you have known before," Brother Braumin remarked, "with Avelyn Desbris, IAvelyn&039;s voice perfectly in his annoying trade less than pleased
"Had to be done," the centaur said dryly
The ranger just sighed, praying that it wouldn&039;t become a habit Then he nodded back at Brau his robes," he replied, "even when all your Church was hunting for hiis puffed out his chest and squared his shoulders as if he considered the ranger&039;s stateerous trait He walked up to thehis hand in forer went around to the other foureach
"Another friend to Jojonah," Bradwarden remarked when they came to Dellman, for Dellether on the road "And not a friend to the one called Francis, the lackey of Markwart"
"And yet it was Brother Francis who sled us out of St-Mere-Abelle," Brother Brau curious stares from Elbryan and Bradwarden
"I&039;m thinkin&039; it&039;s past tilanced at the campsite, more particularly at the remains of the food the monks had left out near the fire "After we take a bit o&039; supper, of course," he added and trotted to the fire
The others were quick to join him there - if they hadn&039;t been, the centaur wouldn&039;t have left a scrap for the, they all sat back and let Brother Brau the h; Brother Viscenti, finally finding his voice above his nervousness, explained their suspicions that Marcalo De&039;Unnero er solemnly told of the end of Master Jojonah; both the centaur and Elbryan were as touched as thestory When they had left St-Mere-Abelle after rescuing Bradwarden, Elbryan had con-sidered Jojonah as perhaps the greatest hope for justice within the Church He wasn&039;t surprised by the news of the execution, not at all, but he was profoundly saddened
Then came the more immediate story - and the more relevant one - as Brother Braumin explained the events at the abbey that had led to the self- iain of hoas Francis who had s fist, but he could not explain the man&039;s motives, only his actions
The otherof their adventures on the road, and the ranger and the centaur feigned interest in the unreh they were both htening of Church control in Palmaris, and were both surprised to hear that the Touel&039;alfar, including Lady Dasslerond herself, had been shadowing the band Elbryan and Bradwarden exchanged confused stares; they found it strange that so large a contingent of elves would co either of theether out of Andur&039;Blough Inninness was an exceptional tale indeed!
"And so we have cohtbird," Brother Braumin fin-ished, "in hopes that you will offer us sanctuary and friendship, as you once offered to our lost brother Avelyn in his time of need"
Elbryan sat back and considered the words carefully "These are the Tith, "a wild land, where ether to survive All men of kindly disposition are welcomed"
"And more than a few not so kindly inclined," the centaur added with a burst of laughter that broke all tension