(Photo by Francesco Ungaro)

Nis was pretty sure that she was being followed. Of the three days that she’d been hiking across the mountains, twice she’d seen what looked like campfire smoke. It was hard to tell for certain since it was only in the evenings when it was still too light out to see the firelight but dim enough to at least somewhat conceal the smoke. All the same, Nis tried to hurry her pace since there was no other reason that she could think of for anyone else to be out here in these mountains besides tracking her down.

Going quickly was easier said than done, however, since she still needed to forage for food. There were, fortunately, an abundance of wild berries, tubers, and fish to be found along the way. Nis found that if she set her fish baskets in the stream before going to bed, then by morning she’d have enough caught fish to last her through the day. Cooking them was an unfortunate necessity since she knew her own campfire smoke would give her position away but she needed the meat and wasn’t prepared to begin eating the fish raw.

With just one more ridge to climb up and over before reaching the Unexplored Wastes, Nis wasted no time in breaking camp and beginning the steep hike up this final ridge. There was still smoke from the night before that looked to be coming from the ridge just behind her, meaning her pursuers were less than a day behind. She had some food left over from the night before so she didn’t bother with any foraging that morning. Instead, she set off at once, eating while she hiked.

It was difficult not to keep looking back over her shoulder. She expected to see soldiers charging up towards her any moment but every time she looked she was greeted by the same view, albeit somewhat higher up than the time before, and always without any soldiers. There weren’t many trees up this high but there were still dense shrubs that could easily conceal someone’s approach if they wanted to stay out of sight.

Nis reached the summit just a couple hours after midday and gazed down with relief on the Unexplored Wastes. It was the first time she was seeing them outside of her dreams but they still looked familiar. From this high up, Nis could see for miles and the vast forests of the Unexplored Wastes stretched out for as far as she could see. Names of the rivers came to her, as well as certain of Mel’s memories, navigating those rivers and discovering so many amazing places.

The river nearest to Nis, which Mel had named Fools Fall River, was fairly calm except for the periodic waterfalls, many of which were directly after a sharp turn in the river. Thanks to the dense nature of the forest, many people didn’t notice the falls until it was too late and several other explorers were killed when they went over one of those waterfalls. The second river, however, though a few miles further into the forest, was much safer and easier to navigate. Mel named that river Patience and that was where Nis aimed to go.

With one last look back down the way she’d come, Nis moved to begin going down the other side of the ridge. However, this time when she looked something caught her eye. It was so brief that at first she didn’t realize she’d seen anything out of the ordinary at all and had to turn and look again to see if it was real or imagined.

There, about halfway down the ridge and moving carefully from one clump of cover to the next, were three people. It was difficult to tell from this distance but it looked as though they were two adults and one youth. At least, one of the three was a good deal shorter than the other two since that one didn’t need to crouch down to hide behind the shrubs whereas the other two did.

Nis hurried and turned her back on them and began descending the mountain. She hoped they hadn’t noticed her noticing them. As long as they thought concealing themselves would be to their advantage, they’d go more slowly.

The moment Nis was out of their sight she sprang into motion, almost leaping down the mountain in an effort to put as much distance between her and her pursuers as possible. Several times she tripped, falling and rolled a ways, getting battered and bruised each time but the moment she got control again she resumed her hasty descent. After a while she fell into a sort of skipping cadence that allowed her much greater control and balance while still taking full advantage of the steep terrain.

Moving in this manner allowed Nis to cover a truly significant amount of distance before reaching the treeline. She was still very much on the mountain but the trees prevented her from pressing on quite so quickly. Stepping into the shade and noting the tangle of roots and stones that made up the ground, Nis knew she would benefit greatly from having a walking stick. She’d avoided using one ever since her final confrontation with Skav since every time she even looked at a stick that resembled her makeshift spear she was reminded of that night.

It didn’t take long to find a suitable walking stick but every time she tried to pick it up her hands would begin to shake and she felt weak. Nis tried to force back those memories and feelings but only ended up standing there, frozen in place with her hands hovering above the stick.

“It’s a walking stick,” she told herself, “it’s not a weapon. I’m not fighting anyone.”

When that didn’t work she tried looking away from the stick, focusing instead on the light as it filtered down through the canopy. With some effort and her mind distracted, Nis managed to take hold of the stick. There was a momentary wave of fear and nausea that went through her but when it passed she felt mostly alright again.

“Phew,” she sighed and set out to finish making her way down and off the mountain.

It was much slower going now. Not only did the trees slow her progress but they also prevented her from being able to see whether or not the three pursuers had reached the summit yet or not. She was curious how exactly they were tracking her. She hadn’t seen a tracking dog with them, but then again she hadn’t watched them for all that long. Besides, a dog would have been all but impossible to see through the brush. She’d heard of people being able to track animals by following their trails but Nis didn’t think she was leaving enough footprints or other such clues for them to reliably track.

By this time she was becoming aware of just how thirsty she was. This final ridge didn’t have any springs or streams on the side she’d started on that morning and she’d forgotten to look for any before starting her descent, having been distracted by the sight of her pursuers. Now, with the majority of the day behind her, the lack of water was beginning to take its toll on her. A mild throbbing began at her temples and her mouth felt dry and tacky.

Try as she might, Nis couldn’t remember if Mel had ever found or used any springs on this side of the mountain. It always seemed as though Mel had come up to the Wastes from some other way, rather than crossing the mountains as Nis had done.

“Just keep going,” Nis told herself. “Fools Fall has fresh water. Nice, cold water.”

That became her mantra, giving herself something to focus on instead of her growing headache. Soon, the ground began to be less steep, even having a few level plateaus that would have made for great places to stop and rest had she not been in such a hurry. Above her, the sky began to darken as evening set in. This side of the mountain was a much longer hike than the other side had been and was taking much longer to climb down than Nis had hoped. She still had some food left over but without any water the idea of eating now only made her gag.

Something not too far away from her splashed.

Nis froze, uncertain where the noise had come from or what it could mean besides there was water nearby. Were her pursuers this close by? Was it some other animal that could do her serious harm? The splashing didn’t sound like it came from a terribly large creature’s movements but then again it could have been something large that simply wasn’t moving very fast.

Another splash sounded and this time Nis was able to pick out the direction it had come from. Slowly and quietly as she could manage, Nis crept through the trees and over towards the source of the noise.

Not far from where she’d been when she heard the splashing, the trees thinned and then opened up around a wide pool of water. It must have been a natural spring since only one stream going downhill was connected to it. On the far side pool were her three pursuers. The two taller ones were unknown to Nis. Both of them were tall, powerfully built men and although neither of them wore any armor, they each bore the royal crest on their chests and the emblem of a falcon on their shoulders. The shorter, third member of the group, however, was not only a girl but also one of the apprentices from the archives.

Nis hadn’t spent much time with the apprentices but she knew most of their names. She couldn’t be completely certain but she thought this apprentice’s name was Meric. She was a year or so older than Nis but was shorter and lighter by a good deal. Whereas the two men looked tired but still strong and capable, Meric looked to be on the verge of collapse and she was the one who must have made the splashing noises.

At the moment, the men were quietly scolding Meric who was dripping wet. Nis guessed that she had either slipped and fallen or else had decided to go for a swim. In either case she’d made the noise and was now being reprimanded for it.

While they were distracted with one another, Nis crept along around the edge of the pool, keeping to the trees but getting nearer to where they were. As she made her way, Nis stopped at the stream that flowed out from the pool and allowed herself a few welcome handfuls of water. She’d need much more than that but for now at least her mouth wasn’t so dry. Finally, Nis was close enough to hear what was being said.

“…now get your things,” one of the men was saying, “Nis hasn’t been here so she must be at the lower pool.”

“Please,” Meric begged and the exhaustion in her voice was heavy, “you don’t need me for that. You can go get her and bring her back here. I’ll get camp set up and make dinner and everything.”

“You’re needed to identify her so we don’t –

“How many other girls do you think are out here on their own?” Meric demanded.

“You volunteered to come with us,” the man countered with a dismissive wave.

“Yeah, well at that time it sounded more like a fun excuse to get out of the archives for a day or two,” Meric admitted, “not go running across the country, finding dead bodies, getting caught in a flood, and climbing over mountains!”

“Keep your voice down!” hissed both of the men. “We don’t want Nis to know we’re here.”

Meric crossed her arms and planted her feet.

“I’m not going any further,” she stated. “I can’t go any further. Not tonight. So if you want to go on looking for Nis, fine, but you’ll do it without me.”

The men shared a look before grunting, “Fine,” and stalking off towards the treeline. “No fire tonight until we get back,” they added before ducking out of sight.

“Thank you,” Meric sighed to herself and then slumped to the ground where she lay down, eyes closed and breathing deeply. She gave no sign that she would begin making any sort of meal soon, and before too much longer her breathing slowed into the steady rhythm of someone sleeping.

Nis wasn’t exactly sure what she should do. Not far from where Meric lay were three large packs which presumably contained their supplies. If Nis could spoil those supplies, after taking everything she could use and carry of course, that would help speed her up while slowing them down. Although, that would reveal to them exactly how close they were to her and might spur them on and ultimately lead to her being captured. Nis could just leave them as they were and go the long way around to avoid them as best she could and hope that they carry on in the direction they’d been going.

She knew she didn’t have much time to deliberate so she settled on a combination of her ideas. Nis, grateful for the roots and rocks that poked up through the grass surrounding the pool, used them to step silently passed Meric and over to the packs. The first thing Nis took was a water skin, thankful to finally be able to add one to her belongings. A package of dried meats followed, and then a pouch of dates. She was sorely tempted by the container of salt she found in the third pack but left it behind, knowing that such a thing would not go unnoticed.

Night, which had been near at hand when Nis had first heard Meric splashing, was fully set now and Nis had to carefully pick her way along back towards the trees. She was just in time, too, since right as she stepped out of the clearing, the two trackers returned.

“Meric,” one of them whispered.

“Told you she’d be asleep,” the other muttered.

There was enough moonlight to make them out as they walked over to where Meric lay. As soon as they were sure that she was there, they moved to their packs and set about making their dinner. Nis had intended on leaving them right away and pressing on through the night to get a head start on them but it was too dark now for her to tell for certain what the ground was like and being this close to the trackers she was worried that she might alert them to her presence. So, crouching down behind the undergrowth as best she could, Nis waited for them to go to sleep.