Farnor waved his arms vaguely. ‘No… of course not,’ he said, embarrassed. ‘But…’
Derwyn released him. ‘It’s all right,’ he said. ‘I un-derstand, and I thank you for your concern.’
A little later however, having exchanged the crowd gathering on the Forest floor for the smaller one which had gathered in Derwyn’s lodge, Farnor told his hosts of the events that had driven him from the valley. And, predominantly at Marken’s pressing, he told something of his encounter with the most ancient amid the great trees around the central mountains.
There was an almost reverent silence when he had finished. ‘Your story answers many questions, Farnor,’ Derwyn said. ‘I’m glad you felt able to tell us now.’ He nodded towards Marken. ‘We’d been told that you’d changed greatly. I hope you’ll not be offended if I say it’s a considerable improvement.’
Farnor smiled, a little sadly. ‘No,’ he replied simply. ‘I met some rare teachers on my journey.’ He leaned forward and, massaging his legs, added ruefully, ‘But none who could teach me to climb your ladders easily.’
The atmosphere in the room lightened. ‘But what did you find on your journey?’ he asked.
‘Well, we’d very little trouble finding the trail you’d made,’ Derwyn replied, to some laughter. ‘And we were able to follow it until we came to the entrance to your valley.’
‘And?’ Farnor prompted.
‘And nothing,’ Derwyn replied, with an unhappy frown.
‘Marken said that all he could Hear was alarm and confusion, and that it was getting worse. And I wasn’t happy about the place, anyway. There was a bad feeling about it. Really bad.’ He hesitated. ‘And we heard something – your creature, probably – howling one night. Only the once. But it was horrible. It seemed to cut right through me.’ He shivered and finished his tale rapidly. ‘So we just marked the trail and left.’
‘Can you take me there?’ Farnor asked.
Derwyn looked at him carefully. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘But do you really want to go? Are you still intent upon vengeance for your parents?’
Farnor lowered his eyes. The room darkened as a cloud drifted in front of the sun. ‘A little,’ he said eventually, looking up again. ‘But not like before. I’ve better ways to honour my parents now. I want to live. But if I’m going to have a life, then I have to go back. I have to do something to free the valley of Rannick and Nilsson and the creature.’ He paused and looked round at the other watching faces: Angwen, Edrien, Marken, Bildar, and a yellow-haired young man he had seen at the Synehal but whose name he did not know. ‘I don’t want to. To be honest, I’m very frightened. But it seems… that I have…’ He looked at his hands, ‘the same… gift…’ He almost spat the word, ‘as Rannick, and that I’m perhaps the only person who can stop him.’ He looked up at Derwyn. ‘And if I don’t, if someone doesn’t, then he’ll go on to hurt more and more people.’
Derwyn reached out and took Farnor’s arm. ‘You’ll have all the help we can give you,’ he said quietly.
Farnor smiled ruefully. ‘I’d like to ask you for a few score armed men,’ he said. ‘But it’ll be help enough if you’ll show me the way.’
Derwyn leaned back in his chair and looked a little smug.
‘You’ll have plenty of hunters at your back, Farnor,’ he said. ‘There’s well over a score of them just come down from Marrin’s lodge alone. They were travelling close behind you all the way.’
Farnor looked at him in disbelief. ‘Close behind? No. I heard no riders,’ he said.
‘I should think not,’ Derwyn exclaimed.
Farnor frowned. ‘I don’t understand,’ he said. ‘If they were coming here, why didn’t they ride with me?’
Derwyn looked away from him a little uncomforta-bly. ‘We hear what we hear from our Hearers. And we listen carefully. But we’re responsible for our own actions and we’re a cautious people. We like to find things out for ourselves, as well.’ His eyes were full of concern. ‘And there was such darkness in you when you left, Farnor. Such anger, such hatred. After what I – we all – felt in your valley, I had the same fear as they did about you, despite what they’d told Marken about their judgement. I couldn’t know whether you were a victim of some evil – or its vanguard. So I asked Marrin’s people to give you every courtesy and help, but otherwise to keep away from you until we’d spoken.’
Farnor felt a spasm of anger forming, but it faltered and he gave it no voice. ‘And now?’ he asked.
‘Now we’ve spoken, and the doubts are gone,’ Der-wyn replied.
‘All of them?’ Farnor twitched inwardly as he tried to snatch back the question.
Derwyn laughed softly and shook his head. ‘To be without all doubt is not to be human, Farnor,’ he said. ‘But I’m as free of them as I can expect to be.’ He glanced at Angwen and patted his stomach. ‘And apart from what my stomach tells me, the difference in you when you rode back into the lodge was visible to everyone.’
‘Not to EmRan,’ Farnor retorted.
‘EmRan’s EmRan,’ Derwyn said. ‘He invariably stands in his own light. And he did himself no favours by denying me the lodge hunt. A lot of people were very angry with him when they found we’d gone as family.’ He chuckled to himself then waved a dismissive hand. ‘But that’s by the by. It’s just…’
Farnor however, was not listening. The reference to the hunt had thrust an ominous thought into his mind. His eyes widened in alarm. ‘Why were Marrin’s hunters coming here?’ he asked. He gripped the arms of his chair and his voice became urgent. ‘It’s not been here, has it? Into the Forest, hunting?’
Derwyn shook his head reassuringly. ‘No,’ he re-plied. ‘But we’re Valderen, Farnor. We protect and provide for the Forest, as it protects and provides for us. Now we know for certain that some menace lies to the south, we must seek it out. Hunters have come from all over to join us.’ He laughed. ‘Even EmRan’s not spoken out against it.’
Farnor, however, was gazing about him anxiously. There was a self-satisfied – excited, even – quality in Derwyn’s manner that disturbed him in some way. ‘But you can’t just hunt the creature,’ he said. ‘It’s like nothing you’ve ever imagined.’ Memories flooded over him and his words began to tumble out. ‘Why do you think the trees themselves are frightened? You mustn’t go after it as if it were just another – fierce animal.’ He tapped his head. ‘In all its evil traits, it’s human. It thinks. If you enter its territory – my land – then it will hunt you. It attacked and routed a column of Nilsson’s men. Hard fighting men, all armed. It…’
Unsettled by Farnor’s passion, Derwyn held up his hand to stop the flow. ‘We’re in the same position as you are,’ he said forcefully. ‘We can’t do otherwise. We must protect the Forest or we’re nothing.’ He became defensive. ‘Besides, we’re not children. We’ve experience in hunting every kind of…’
‘You heard its voice. You heard it howl,’ Farnor said significantly, cutting him short.
Derwyn pursed his lips and frowned. An uneasy tension filled the room. ‘Yes, you’re right,’ he replied eventually. ‘I did hear it howl. And I’ve no desire to meet whatever made that noise. But my feelings don’t come into it. I told you. We can’t do otherwise. No matter what that creature is, we must use what skills we have to track it down, just as you must track down this Rannick.’
Farnor looked round at the watching faces again. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said unhappily, after a moment. ‘I didn’t mean to offend you. But I know what this thing’s like. It’s no natural creature. It sends terror before it.’ His voice fell. ‘It feeds on terror. Don’t let anyone go anywhere alone… or even in small groups. And never unarmed.’ He snatched a phrase from one of Yonas’s tales. ‘Stack your night fires high and ring your camps with guards for a great army is seeking you.’ The seriousness of his tone removed any incongruity from his words.
‘We’ll do as you say,’ Derwyn replied simply. ‘And we’ll ride with you until we have to part, if you’ll allow us.’
Farnor met his gaze. ‘You’ll go your own way, no matter what I say,’ he replied. ‘But I’d be lying if I said I’d be anything other than glad of your company.’