They came ashore a half day's walk from where Bregand's maps put a fairly large settlement. They landed with the predawn tide in the hopes of missing the worst of the heat. For the first few hours, in fact, it was quite cool in the barren land. By the time they reached the town, though, all were sagging. The fact that they were all emotionally drained didn't help.
Rangar was walking ahead of the others, his face hard and cold. The rest of the company trailed behind, all silent, in varying degrees of despair. Bregand noticed that Rave and Calimir both spent a lot of time looking back while the sea was still in visual range. It was only concern for the others that kept them from running back to the sea, in Bregand's mind. For his own part, Bregand was relieved to be back on dry land, even if it was barren and dry.
Losing Aerin and Turthol had scared Bregand more than he showed. He wanted to be strong, and so he hadn't cried, but his heart was aching. The thing that scared him the most, though, was how happy he had been that it wasn't Carmalita who was gone. He was ashamed of his gratitude, but couldn't ignore it. He was also relieved that both of the elves and Tareth had survived. They were the closest friends he had ever made, and while he had admired Aerin and Turthol, he hadn't been especially close to them.
They trudged into town, more heartweary than footsore. They found an inn and sank onto a cluster of benches by the door. The Haradrim stared openly at the group, especially the elves. Bregand cringed at the attention, especially given the fact that the hunter was still about, and possibly in the area. Still, he thought as long as they were the center of attention anyway, they might as well get something out of it.
"Rangar, do you suppose these people know where to find the seer?" He queried.
[ June 17, 2003: Message edited by: The X Phial ]
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But then there was a star danced, and under that was I born.
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