|
I knew we should've killed the Elf the moment he fell into our camp, Jaheira thought as she spoke with Snyd, though she kept these thoughts well to herself. She'd learned better than to play the old 'I-told-you-so' trick on Vlad. Snyd grabbed a few more loaves of bread and some fruit from the nearest house and stuffed the goods into his pack clumsily. He still had food in his hands, which he dumped into Jaheira's arms. Sighing, she shoved the food into her own pack and struggled to keep from rolling her eyes at Snyd. Then Jaheira led Snyd back to the middle of the tiny village where Vlad was waiting soundly, despite the impatient glare in his eye.
"We're finished getting what we need," Jaheira said shortly, looking at Vlad and waiting for what he would do next. There were still villagers looking on in fright and exhaust, and Jaheira noted that none had moved since she'd gone off to get Snyd. Smart people, Jaheira thought, smiling. The fear on their faces was priceless. Jaheira remembered being that scared only once before, when she'd been sentenced to jail for using her lockpicks to break into different shops in her home town. It was nice to see someone else scared for a change. Her former feeling of sadness and pity for the villagers was gone, and had run off with Khalad when the coward had left. All guilt had fled with Fidrohir, the clumsy oaf.
"Thank you for your hospitality," Vlad began, stealing a glance at Jaheira and Snyd's packs, stuffed to the brim with food and a few random valuables. "I'm afraid we must take our leave, though. But if any of you want to follow us, we would be happy to return here and make use of what you have," Vlad finished with a slightly empty threat, because Jaheira was certain that none of the villagers would follow and that the bandits would not return. Most of them were incredibly old or very young, because the war had drawn away their sons. With this final threat, Vlad led Jaheira and Snyd off into the dense woods to follow the trail of Melost, Khalad, and Fidrohir.
"Do you think it will be hard to find them?" Snyd asked breathlessly as the group made quick work of the direction Melost had taken.
"Snyd!" Jaheira exclaimed in disbelief. "What sort of question is that? It might be hard to find the elf's tracks, yes. But, we're talking about Khalad being weighted down by Fidrohir. Fidrohir! You of all people should know how clumsy he is! He'll leave tracks, no doubt," Jaheira laughed as her voice trailed off. Then she looked ahead to Vlad. "What will we do with Khalad and Fidrohir when we get there, then?"
|