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banks and even a larger one where the Meadow River dumped into the larger Tyre River.  Boats traveled up and down the river, transporting goods from one village to another.  The great city of South Karmon was located where the Tyre River fed into the Gulf of Taran.  The king’s castle was located on the bluffs that overlooked both the city and the gulf, with the city stretched out below.  Conner had visited the city once or twice, but he had never ventured near the castle, or near the waters of the gulf
    They trudged through underbrush, across fields, up and down hills, and across little streams that were in their way.  The sun did rise and warm them up, but the chill never seemed to leave, and their clothes never seemed to get complete dry.  Their feet were just as cold and tired as the rest of their body.  They stopped often to rest, as Elissa’s strength was keeping them from walking as fast as Conner wanted.  He pushed her, harder than he wanted, but not as hard as he could have.  For a while they talked while they walked, sharing stories of their lives.  She talked about her friends, mostly daughters of lords and other land owners.  He talked about his friends, farmers and hunters.  They had little in common, but genuinely seemed to enjoy one another’s stories.  As the day wore on, Elissa began to talk less and less.  Her eyes were stuck forward, her mind forcing herself to put one foot in front of the other.  Conner stopped pushing, letting her set the pace.  He feared that they were moving so slow that they would not reach the village before nightfall.  They ate berries, nibbled on roots, but their stomachs were angrily telling them that they needed more food.  Conner feared that unless they reached the village before nightfall, they would not make it another night.  Well, she would not make it another night , he corrected himself.  He was strong and was used to the punishment that they were giving their bodies.  But she was not.  She was born into wealth and comfort, and simply not used to walking through the forest with little food and no strength.
    Finally she simply let her body fall.
    Conner heard the thump of her body falling, then saw her head strike the ground.  Her eyes rolled back in her head and she would not respond to his calls.  Her chest was still going up and down, so he knew that she was breathing.  But he did not know how badly she might have hurt herself.  With a heave and a grunt, he put her over his shoulders and continued walking.  But now, his pace picked up.  He reached deep into his strength reserves and pushed his body to make long, fast strides.  His breathing became quick and shallow, but he forced himself to take slower, deep breaths, as he did when hunting. Slow the body, slow the mind, to make you faster and quicker for the kill, he had learned.
    With no idea how long he walked with her over his shoulders, with no idea how much strength he had left, the sight of the village made him nearly burst into tears.  His shoulders were screaming with pain, he legs had long since gone numb.  His mind could barely comprehend that he had reached his goal.  A handful of the villagers were out and about, doing the things that they do every day when they saw him approach.  Exhausted and unable to take another step, he dropped to his knees and she tumbled onto the ground in front of him.
     
    ***
     
    Brace kneeled down to next to the man who had an arrow stuck in his chest.  He looked over him as if he were inspecting him for the first time.
    “He dragged himself from the river,” the ranger said. 
    Marik Brownbow was Brace’s most trusted ranger.  He was knighted as all of them were, raised from a young child to serve the king as a soldier of the forests.  He had polished plate armor back in the armory, but he had only worn it once, when he accepted the honor of knighthood and kneeled in front of his liege lord.  Now, he simply wore a light leather armor vest