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Rædwald
‘I don’t think we should take time to look for them, Sythric.’ Rædwald’s gaze darted from Meghan’s position at the front of the line to the country side right and left of their group. ‘I know it sounds callous, but I think we should remember our first duty is to our Lord and our village. There will be a number of other villages, I should think, which will have heard the news of the increasing Orc raids and be heading toward the safety of the King and his Riders. Perhaps it was scouts of theirs who tended to this unfortunate place’s dead.’
‘One thing that does worry me, were the tales of the Eastern men coming along with or following after the Orcs.’ He turned in his saddle to look directly at Sythric. ‘It’s one thing to have the Orcs doing their foul deeds – they’re hardly more than savage beasts themselves. But those Eastern men – By Helm’s Hammer! They are counted as Men, and that makes their deeds seem all the more abominable.’
‘I remember stories of them raiding a village and taking the people off to be slaves, in the service of that black-hearted Lord of Mordor. And not just slaves. There were some terrible stories of how they’d use men for the making of more Orcs. As if they were just beasts for breeding.’ A shiver of disgust wound its way up his spine, and he twitched his shoulders in an effort to throw it off.
‘Whoa-up, Meghan! Come back here, lass.’ Rædwald’s voice boomed out as his eyes trailed over the ground in front of him, and then caught something on the ground to his right.
He motioned for Sythric to take a look, too. ‘Those two paused here for a brief moment; then went on. Fion’s horse has a small nick in the right front hoof. See there. I noticed that as we rode south, down the river.’ He pointed to where the two riders had been almost parallel in position. ‘Then, for some reason, Osmod’s horse took a sharp right turn and hurried off. See how his horse’s strides lengthen? Fion followed after him. They were in a great hurry.’
‘We need to be careful, now, I think. We don’t know what they were chasing or what they saw. And they haven’t come back to tell us. It worries me that perhaps the reason for that is because they can't. They could be hurt.’
He pulled up closer to Meghan, and motioned for Eostre to draw nearer also. ‘Let’s follow their tracks. And it might be best if we kept near each other. Just in case . . .’
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