BEGINNING OF BOOK 2

Capt. Blackavaar rode through the forest staying on the track of the escaped prisoners. Having done some tracking as a boy he was easily able to follow the trail left behind. It was clear from the ease he was having that the riders were more intent on speed than covering their trail. This was both a good and bad thing for Blackavaar. The good thing was that it made following the trail easier, the bad thing was that it put more distance between them and the camp where they belonged; where he belonged.

He thought about the last part of his thought. Did he belong in the camp? Was he truly supposed to be in this particular army? Ever since the strange encounter with that woman and his finding the child he had started to question the direction his life was going. Thinking of the girl, brought tears to his eyes that he quickly and gruffly wiped away. Captains in the army did not cry. She was safe back in camp. Back in the camp that he belonged to. The camp that it was his duty to be in. He rode intently forward.

Taria wandered through the dark forest moving in what she hoped was a direction that would take her back to the camp and to Capt. Blackavaar. She walked her horse through the forest trees unsure of any real direction, always moving along the easiest path.

"They were a weird bunch," she thought, "That old guy who thought he was a wizard. Wizards are powerful men who have magic not weak old men like that. And why would a real wizard be a crummy camp prisoner anyway? And their leader Scrouge or Scudge or whatever his name was. He was just a meanie. The only one that was anywhere near decent was Tellar, but he isn't going to help me find Capt. Blackavaar. Nobody can do that but me".

As she looked up she noticed light beginning to show over the horizon. It was near dawn and she was tired and hungry. Moving under the shelter of a large tree, Taria curled up and promptly went to sleep.

Tellar searched the grass covered ground for any signs of the young girl. He worried that she had run off on her own and that none of them had even noticed. He moved methodically in a sweep of the area when he noticed a set of hoof prints. Calling out he motioned Scourge and Greytan over to the set of tracks.

"They head off to East and into the woods there," said Tellar as the other two approached.

"Do we go after her?" Greytan asked, looking more directly at Scourge.

Heaving a sigh Scourge replies, "We don't have much of a choice do we?"

Mounting their stolen horses the three head off into the woods following the tracks left by Taria.

Blackavaar continued following the tracks moving closer to his prey but further from the camp. Soon he would catch up to them he knew. Soon this would be all over and he would get back to camp and Taria, his .... um ... he meant the little girl.

He followed the tracks into a clearing where he noticed that they seemed to have stopped. Then they circled around and went off in different directions and then seemed to go off to the East. Curious. Maybe there is dissension in their ranks. Then he noticed one of the footprints of the prisoners. It was smaller than the rest and looking closer he noticed that they seemed to be slightly older than the rest of the group's. Though if I didn't know better I'd swear these were the tracks of a child. Were the fiends tracking some child? I wouldn't put it past the scum in this group. I'll not let them harm an innocent child. I swear it. Blackavaar followed the tracks with a new urgency as he went off to the East.

Taria awoke with the sun low in the sky. Scrounging through the forest she gathered some nuts and berries which she ate and headed off again. By now she had become hopelessly lost, yet with the faith that all children seem to possess she was certain she was going in the right direction and she would soon be reunited Capt. Blackavaar. The faith of a child, so innocent, so tender and yet so tragically wrong.

After many hours of walking Taria was again hungry and tired. Thoughts of the camp and the captain danced through her head as she placed one foot in front of the other. Soon even her hunger was forgotten as she walked on. She was only aware of the ache in her body and her desire to see her captain. Then she heard music off in the distance. Her spirits rose and she walked towards the sound of music. Had she been less tired she might have realized that music seldom comes from the camp of armed men. Or that any camp out alone would most likely have a lookout to warn of approaching strangers. However she was tired and she didn't think of these things. Which is why when the man stepped out of the shadows with an arrow pointed at her heart, she fainted.

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