Stranger Passing: The Sword and the Flame Novella

Chapter 3

"Mom will be thrilled to have a man around. Our dad's out collecting." Eron's voice trilled along as he led Reinhart through the forest towards his village.

Despite being in excellent shape, the ranger struggled to keep up through most of the walk due to his size. The path they were on, if one could call it that, was narrow and the overhanging foliage barely rose above waist height. To him, it looked more like a game trail than a path. He couldn't figure out how he didn't know a village was hidden in the middle of the forest. It wasn't something new, considering how a good portion of the population of the Wilderness were the dregs of society. That thought gave him cause for concern, as he wondered if he wasn't being lured into some sort of trap.

Maybe that's what he means by "out collecting". It wasn't the first time such a thought occurred to him since meeting the boy, but he dismissed the feeling just the same. Something about the boy made him feel at ease. It was an interesting change from how he felt when he first arrived in the forest. Reinhart knew the woods—rather, he knew what sounds the creatures living there made. It was one of the best ways for one to know if there's an enemy or other interloper about. Few people on Pyrain, aside from Elves, had the ability to move through the thick forests without disturbing the creatures there. Of course, it only stood to reason that people living in the forests would know the area better than a stranger. Considering a ranger's natural distrust of others, he couldn't understand how the boy put him at ease enough for him to follow along.

While he felt there was little to fear from the previous night's events, he gave into caution by setting out early to put more distance between him and any pursuers. Being careful had saved his life on several occasions; he saw little reason not to follow his instinct. His latest journey lasted another hour before the road ended in a three-way split. While Reinhart knew where he was, the only question in his mind was where would he go? Following roads wasn't the way of a ranger—they preferred the subtlety and safety of the forest instead of the wide open expanse of a road. The ironic thing was, Reinhart and the Elf that trained him thought the opposite. While the majority of a ranger's life is spent in the wild, the pair saw little point in making things harder on themselves by refusing to use roads and inns.

Feeling the need to think things through before acting, Reinhart stepped off of the road and into the thick brush on the west side to make camp. He didn't wander far, perhaps a mile or two, until he found the perfect place to stretch out and allow himself some much needed rest. Walking through the downpour for several hours the day before left him feeling more fatigued than normal. Satisfied with his choice, he made camp and had just lain down when Eron stumbled across him.

The most embarrassing thing about their meeting was Reinhart didn't realize he fell asleep until he heard a pair of thumps and found Eron on the ground after tripping over his sword. Had the boy been a bandit, he would've drawn his last breath before being able to draw his knife.

Despite all of his thinking and quiet reprimands for being careless, he found he enjoyed walking with Eron as the young boy prattled on about what he wanted to do with his life. From the sound of the random thoughts leaping from the boy's mouth, he judged Eron had no better idea of what he wanted to be than a newborn babe. Still, he did promise Reinhart a place to sleep and a hot meal, if he could fit.

If I can fit? What could he mean by that? The only sensible thought to come to the ranger was the boy belonged to a large family. So long as they weren't all children and he could get some sleep, Reinhart felt he could deal with anything unless it had to do with magic. Oh, how he hated magic users. Not a single drop of honor within their blood. With his thoughts focused on the possibility, he sent another reluctant prayer to any of the Gods that were listening.