Excerpt: The Traveler

Garet hid in the bushes on the edge of the cliff overlooking the cave. The quiet night had grown silent; a silence that carried the weight of death. The two moons were hidden by thin patches of clouds, providing perfect cover for those approaching. He knew they would come. He never should have used the magic. But Leon had made a turn for the worst. Without medical assistance, he wouldn’t have lasted until morning. Unfortunately, now he might not last any longer.

Garet wasn’t sure what they would do to him when they found him. Leon was nowhere near well enough to move. Garet had only given him the smallest bit of his strength; just enough to push him back toward the land of the living; just enough that he hoped no one would notice.

Healing a person took great strength and a large amount of oneself was required. Only a handful of people in the world were able to heal a person from near death to a completely healthy state. All of those people were killed in the last civil war years ago. Garet could still feel a piece of himself missing where he had given it to Leon to save him. He would have given more, but the more he gave, the greater the chance of someone sensing the magic. Plus he was weak himself and didn’t have much to give. Two starving men weren’t in their best shape to begin with.

Life was rough and that took its toll on the body. Leon hadn’t recognized him when they first met again. It had been a decade and a half, but in that time, they had both aged significantly. Garet ran his hand through his stringy hair. It had once been a sleek, well-trimmed mass of dark hair on the top of his head. Now it hung in oily, strings all the way to his shoulders. Half of it was gray now. So much for the good old days. Well, didn’t people say that life gets better the older you get? Garet sure hoped that was the case. His younger-years were not something he cared to ever repeat in a hundred lifetimes.

The moons slid out from under the patch of clouds and the valley was illuminated briefly before the next patch of clouds moved into place. In the light, Garet saw the ten men creeping through the grass towards the cave where Leon lay. A short distance away stood a horse with glowing red eyes. Garet recognized the shadow of the rider who watched over the men. He had seen him enough over the past decade to recognize him anywhere, even without his unique horse. There was no hope that these were traveling merchants looking for a place to camp for the night. These men were hunters, there for the sole purpose of trapping them like a rabbit and bringing them back for the feast. But this was one feast Garet couldn’t allow to happen.