CITY OF THE GODS: FORGOTTEN (61 page)

“See that you do,” Kastor said. He took a long look at the men whom he had fought alongside for many years. Many of them might fall in this war. “Good luck and glory to you all,” he called in a hearty voice as he strode away. He prayed to Ares that the resounding cheer they gave him in farewell would not be the last he heard from them.

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*
       
*

D’Molay and Aavi rode at a steady pace for about an hour, traveling along a narrow deer trail that ran mostly east. They were in the deeper woods now, the oaks and junipers more twisted and thicker. Along the narrow trail brambles and wild berry bushes grew, which the deer would occasionally nibble on as they passed. At a small creek the deer bowed their heads to drink while their riders stayed in place. In between the treetops they could see blue clear sky, though back the way they had come a large, grey cloud bank drifted in from the now distant lake to the east. D’Molay hoped they would find shelter before those clouds caught up with them.

“Where are we now?” Aavi asked.

D’Molay pulled out the map and unfolded it. “We started in the City and now we’re here,” he said, pointing to a spot just past Dioscrias. We need to get to Ares’ Fort, but the map doesn’t show much between here and there. Not even any roads.”

“So that’s what the realms look like,” Aavi said.

“Generally, yes. The map may not be completely accurate, but it’s the best we have. At least we can see what direction to go in.” D’Molay held the map out before him as he looked at the sky and turned to face north. Referring again to the map, he pointed to the east and slightly south. “We need to go that way,” he concluded. “Problem is, I don’t know if there’s a road or a village along that route. So until I see something that might give us a hint, I’ll just let the deer choose the path. At some point we’re bound to see something.”

They travelled for the next half an hour in silence. They could hear the songs of nearby birds and saw a wild boar trot across the trail a few hundred feet in front of them. In the woods, they could smell the grass, the flowers and the trees much more strongly than when they had ridden on the wider road, ten feet in the air on an elephant. As they went up a small hill and made a turn, Aavi fell right off the back of the doe and landed unceremoniously on her backside.
 
The doe, frightened by the shifting load and Aavi’s surprised yelp, had bolted forward, but stopped after running about fifteen feet.

“Aavi!?” D’Molay took hold of the stag’s antlers guiding him back to her.
 
She was lying on her back, not moving.

“Sorry. Just a little dizzy,” she added as she sat up, rubbing her head. D’Molay dismounted from the stag and held out his hand. The deer stood by silently, shifting their weight from one hoof to the other, waiting to see what the humans were going to do next.

Taking D’Molay’s hand, Aavi got up. He brushed the leaves and twigs off her cloak. “Good thing the ground here is soft. All these dead leaves broke your fall.”

“I’m sorry. I just slid off her back when we went up.”

“Being in a cart or on an elephant doesn’t involve the kind of balance you need here. You’ve done really well. Do you want to rest for a couple of minutes?”
 

She nodded, rubbing her elbow, which stung from the fall.

D’Molay relieved her of the water skin she had been carrying and took a few sips. “We’ve been heading east and a bit north, which is the right direction,” he said, handing it back. Aavi took a taste of water while he gazed out into the distance, deep in thought.

“How can you tell? Do you have magic to sense directions?” she asked

D’Molay smiled. “No, nothing like that. I can tell from the position of the sun. It rises in the east and sets in the west, so I just check to see where it is.”

“Oh. Sounds like magic to me.” She leaned back against the trunk of a large oak tree.
 
Soon the deer quietly moved in closer and nuzzled their human riders. D’Molay got out some of the apples they had taken, cutting them into quarters with his knife and passing some to Aavi.

“Here. Some for you, and some for your doe. If we find a stream, we should let them drink again.” They spent a few moments feeding the deer and relaxing before D’Molay indicated they should mount up again.

“I wish we could ride together.”
 

Putting one arm around her shoulder he gave her a half-hug. “I know, but for now this is the only way.” Using another apple and the instructions that Morea had given, they made the deer lie back down. Aavi mounted her doe. D’Molay got on the stag. They continued along the deer trail up the hill.
 

“I think the deer are starting to like us now.”

“Why, can you see their glows?”
 
D’Molay asked as he looked back over his shoulder at her.
 
He wondered if she was now developing the skill to see the souls of animals. So far she had only seen humans’ and the strange glow from the urns on the ship.

“I’ve never seen a glow from any of the animals.
 
Does that mean they don’t have souls?”

He paused for a second to consider the question. “Well, I’d like to think they have souls of some sort. I have known animals with personalities and many animals like dogs or horses seem to be capable of love and even loyalty. Maybe you just can’t see them. Maybe you can only see the souls of people.” D’Molay felt a bit ridiculous putting forth this theory. He still wasn’t sure Aavi was truly seeing souls. Perhaps she was seeing their emotions or had some kind of mind reading power like the hamadryad Ptelea. He decided his judgment all came down to a matter of faith, something he was lacking at the moment. “Well, it’s just an idea. Sometimes I’m not even sure there are souls, Aavi.”

“There must be souls. I can see them,” she replied.

They reached the hilltop. D’Molay could see a small grassy valley, similar to the one where the hamadryads lived. Across the valley were more forested hills and mountains beyond. There was no village below, but a dirt road ran across the valley and into the distance.
 
“We’ll follow that road. It’s bound to lead us to some farm or village,” D’Molay said. He took hold of the stag’s antlers and gently nudged it on.
 
At first, the stag pushed its head back, unhappy with being guided away from the forest, but D’Molay kept steadily pushing it toward the road. After snorting and grunting, the stag complied. They travelled along the man-made road at a slow but steady pace, Aavi’s doe following along obediently.

“It feels a lot safer here, don’t you think?” Aavi apparently preferred the open spaces and clear views that traveling on an open road offered.

D’Molay couldn’t help but scoff. “Actually, we were better off in the woods under the trees. Out here, we can be seen from the hills, the road or even the sky.”

They had the road to themselves for the best part of another hour or two before they saw riders approaching them from the opposite direction. When they came within two hundred yards, the stag came to a complete halt, staring at the distant figures. D’Molay’s efforts to get the stag moving were met with complete resistance. D’Molay peered at the riders, but could only see them in silhouette at this distance.

“What’s wrong?”

“He’s spooked by those riders. We’ll have to get off the road and let them pass.” D’Molay tugged at the stag’s left antler and it happily turned and trotted towards a stand of trees about fifty yards from the road. Aavi’s doe followed along and they stood hidden in the trees, waiting. Looking to the east, D’Molay could see the storm clouds he’d noticed before were darker and drifting closer all the time. About to warn Aavi of the likelihood of a rainstorm, D’Molay’s comment on the weather was left unsaid as the riders came close enough to be clearly seen. “It’s the Mayans!”

There were five in their group, and Aavi stared at them wide-eyed, fearing that they might suddenly turn around and attack. To her, the half-naked men with strange markings painted on their bodies and their dark, wild hair made her think they might be crazy or dangerous. She was relieved when they did not even look her way as they passed. Sooner than she expected, D’Molay was urging the stag out of the trees.

“We’ll keep our distance as we follow them. The deer won’t want to get too close anyway,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Follow them, but why?” A surge of fear was evident in her voice.

“We have to find out what they are up to and why they came here. Mazu left to see the Mayans and now she’s missing. The Oracle told you to find your companion, so we decided to go see the beast - and now we find Mayans here, in a place they normally never go, for no apparent reason. It can’t be coincidence.” He could see the see the worry written all over her face as he finished explaining.

“But what if they see us and attack?”

“We’ll keep our distance and just trail them for awhile. I know we need to get to the fort, so if we don’t find out anything useful quickly, we’ll turn around, all right?”
 
D’Molay smiled, seeming to ignore Aavi’s fears. “Let’s go.”

Aavi unhappily gazed at the looming clouds now ahead rather than behind them. She couldn’t understand how heading toward darkness and savage men could be a good idea. D’Molay, on the other hand, felt energized by the adventure. Though he hated being pursued, he enjoyed tracking and hunting objects or people. It was part of his identity, part of what defined him.

Just before they left the little valley at the bottom of the next hill, D’Molay stopped the stag and dismounted, walking back to Aavi. “Can you find that horseshoe in the bag?”

Aavi rummaged for a moment and pulled out the cracked horseshoe that Sophia had discarded. “You mean this?”
  

“That’s it.” He took it from her and crouched down looking at the multiple sets of hoof prints in the muddy patch in the road. He held the horseshoe out near the prints, comparing them side by side. “Look, these aren’t the same type of shoe our smithy friend makes, so these can’t be the Mayans that got to her a day before we did.”

“You mean there’s more?”
 

“Unless they all got new horses, which isn’t likely. They seem rather scarce around here.” D’Molay returned the horseshoe to Aavi. “Mayans almost never leave their own realm. The only explanation for these scouting parties is that something big is about to happen.” Aavi stared at the arched metal shoe as if it could tell her what that something was.
 

Moving on, they crested the hill, and the Mayans were just barely visible far down the road. A chill wind now stirred the air, blowing leaves and dust into their faces. D’Molay passed by several farms and villas, but to Aavi’s disappointment did not stop.
 
It wasn’t until small traces of rain began to strike them that D’Molay considered finding shelter. Off to the right about a hundred yards off the road, he saw a building.

“Over there, we’ll head for that.” Passing an abandoned corral, they got to the building, which turned out to be an abandoned stable. It was a plain, wooden structure about twelve feet tall in a peasant Greek style, with a slanted roof. Dark, round wooden support beams along the side of it echoed the look of temple columns. The scent of wet earth and rotting grass hung heavy in the air around them.

D’Molay dismounted the stag, petting it reassuringly. Convincing the deer to enter the building was probably more trouble than it was worth.
 
He walked over to Aavi and helped her off the doe. To encourage their mounts to stay close, he tossed some more fruit on the ground outside the door where he could keep an eye on them.

“There. That should keep them occupied while we wait out the rain,” he said, as he led Aavi into the old stable. There were eight empty stalls, some of which had old hay scattered on the floor. One stall was piled with tack, ropes and some wooden crates. The others were completely empty. Everything had a layer of dust on it, so it was clear that no one had used this building in some time. He pulled out a crate from the storage stall and Aavi sat down on it.

 
“Do you think we’ll be safe here?”

“For now, yes. This place is rarely used, so you should be fine.” Aavi immediately looked frightened. Figuring it was best to reveal his plans quickly, D’Molay gave her no opportunity for questions. “I want you to stay here until I return. I’m going to follow those Mayans and when I come back we can go on to the Fort.”