“It’s only a three-day journey to the clan.” Halueth explained.

Halueth was the old man that had concluded the deal with Mahon and Jorik. He was an elder of the Silent Bow Clan, and one of its most experienced people. Accompanying him was Katar, a young boy that was in some kind of apprenticeship and that Halueth was taking care of.

“We shouldn’t have any other complications.” The elder continued as he eyed the unconscious bodies around them. “I don’t know why a group of exiles was there, but it probably means there are troubles between a few tribes further north.”

“Shouldn’t we kill them?” Katar asked Halueth, but he actually glanced curiously at Mahon and Jorik while saying so.

“It’s not ours to decide.” Halueth shook his head. “They’re already defeated, and it wasn’t by us. If our friends decided not to kill them, then we’ve no right to interfere.”

Without another look at their previous attackers, Halueth gestured for Katar to help him with the cart. The elder went behind and pushed, while the young man pulled at some ropes in front of the cart. The wooden construction seemed to move easily once it was put into motion, and even though the slope was slightly up, it didn’t seem to hinder the two men.

Seeing this scene, Mahon and Jorik naturally came to help, and the cart suddenly doubled in speed. The elder chuckled at the duo’s enthusiasm.

“Easy, boys. Three days is short, but it’s still a long way if you push like that.”

“Does the slope get steeper further in the way?” Mahon asked instead with a pensive look.

“Not much.” Halueth shook his head.

“Uh oh.” Jorik said at the same time. “I know that look.”

Mahon’s smile was perfectly innocent as he looked back at Jorik. “What about if I push the cart as fast as I can until I can’t do it anymore, and then it’s your turn?” He asked Jorik. “Then Halueth and Katar do their normal business while we rest. Rinse and repeat.”

“You can’t push the cart on your own. You’ll not be able to direct it.” Halueth commented. “If you pull, though, it’s possible, but I’m not sure to see the point in all this.”

“Training.” Jorik answered. “But you can simply see it as us helping to push your cart faster.”

“What are you training for?” Katar intervened with interest.

“Fun.” Mahon grinned at the younger boy before he turned to speak to Halueth with a more serious tone. “It’s your cart and your journey, though, so you’re the one who ultimately decides how we do it, and we’ll follow you. But if it’s a safe trip and we can have some fun while pushing that cart and probably arrive earlier, what’s the issue?”

Halueth thought about it for two short seconds before he laughed out loud. “I mean, why not? I would never say no to arriving early. But if we’re gonna do this, let’s do it properly. You two push alternatively, but Katar always stays at the front to drive.” He then eyed the young man. “Don’t pull it, just drive it. It’ll be a good exercise for you as well.”

The three younger men exchanged a look before they all nodded. Mahon took place behind the cart and started to push as hard as he could. In no time, he built some momentum, and the cart started going faster up the path. He managed to hold a frantic pace for a dozen minutes before he started to slow down. He quickly withdrew after that, and Jorik relayed him the next second, making sure not to lose any speed in the process.

Halueth followed behind with an amused smile. They had gone from a leisure stroll to an energetic walk, and he was clearly intrigued to see how much time they would gain from this.

The journey continued slowly until Mahon and Jorik found their rhythm. They pushed for fifteen minutes each as fast as they could, before Halueth would push for another fifteen at the usual pace. The pattern then repeated itself all day long. During their breaks, Mahon and Jorik would catch their breath while talking to Kalar and Halueth.

As the day passed, they got to know each other better. The Silent Bow Clan was a small clan compared to some others, with only around two hundred members. But it was one of the oldest, because no other clan wanted to live as high as them, and they had been spared from the incessant battles for supremacy.

The Silent Bow Clan called themselves Hunters, and they were known for their mountain skills as well as their shortbows. They lived frugally, like most other people in the Notitia Region, but the Hunters were very proud of their clan, and they had acquired a certain reputation within the area.

“Katar.” Halueth called as they stopped for dinner near a relatively flat zone. “I would gladly eat some meat. It’s time to show me if you’ve improved at chasing anizes.”

“Sure!” Katar said excitedly while pulling out his shortbow.

He then went to find a position a bit higher on the nearby rocks and seemed to be focused on something Mahon and Jorik couldn’t see.

“What is he doing?” The latter asked.

“Hunting anizes.” Halueth answered. “There are many footprints nearby, so they’re probably coming here.”

“What are anizes?” Jorik asked again.

“Oh, right.” Halueth realized his mistake and went to explain. “It’s a mix between a bird and a lizard. In the day, it climbs up the mountain, sneaking between rocks and cracks, almost invisible even to an averted hunter. The trail of their passing is possible to spot, however. But that’s not what matters. After a full day of climbing, when the anize has reached high enough on the mountain and night is about to fall, it jumps and spreads its wings.”

Halueth mimicked the motion with his two arms.

“It then slowly glides on the winds, hovering over our heads in the pursuit of insects he could feast on. It can’t flap its wings, though, and he is doomed to reach the bottom of the mountain and start its journey over again. Every day he climbs and then jumps. Anizes are really agile and swift creatures. A good challenge for a skilled hunter. Their meat is also very tasteful. Now let’s wait silently and let Katar try his luck.”

They waited for a couple of minutes before the sun reached the horizon. By then, they saw large flat forms floating over, hunting the large groups of insects that had seized the start of the fresher part of the day to move out.

The anizes were of the same colors as the rocks, and it was easy to understand why they weren’t easy to hunt when on the mountain. On the sky, though, they were easy to spot. That didn’t turn them into effortless targets, however. Their motions were quick and precise. They looped, pirouetted, and dived as easily as fish in the sea, chasing after groups of insects with appetite.

A couple of anizes moved closer to their position, and Katar didn’t hesitate to draw his bow and fire at them. At the last second, the targeted creature seemed to notice the danger and angled his body to avoid the blow.

Without lingering, the other anize dived to the bottom of the mountain to escape from Katar’s arrows while the one that had been targeted squeaked teasingly and stayed within Katar’s range. The young boy fired again, but the lizard-bird looped around and avoided the arrow with elegance. It then squeaked again, almost as if it was mockingly laughing at the futile efforts of the hunter.

Katar fired another couple of arrows, but they didn’t find their target either. Halueth finally stepped in as the anize was flying past them to lower grounds. He took his time to look at the animal’s trajectory before he took out two arrows from his quivers.

He placed one on his bow while holding the other with the same hand. And then in an insanely fast gesture that even Mahon had trouble seeing, he fired the first one and then the second instantly after.

The anize managed to dodge the first one, but as if Halueth had predicted it, the second arrow hit it right in his body, and the creature fell on the floor.

“That first arrow was good.” Halueth commented to the disappointed Katar. “But you choose to target that experienced adult instead of the younger one. They’re clearly more difficult to hit, and you know it. We move step by step, Katar. Everything comes to those who wait. Don’t skip the steps in your progression. Easy targets first, then we move to harder ones.”

The young man nodded sheepishly, before Halueth gestured for him to go pick their dinner, and the situation was quickly forgotten as they enjoyed juicy roots Halueth had picked on the way, with the tender meat of the anize grilled over their campfire.

In the morning, Mahon and Jorik quickly stretched their tired muscles before going back to the training under the impressed look of Halueth. Clearly, he hadn’t believed they would be ready to start over again given how difficult it had been the day before.

He didn’t say much about it, but his approbation for their dedication showed in the anecdotes and stories he told them during their breaks. He didn’t only include Katar in his remarks and lessons anymore when he understood that the duo of Protectors was more than eager to learn anything about the mountains and the Slow Bow Clan.

The altitude wasn’t so high he brought trouble to Mahon and Jorik, and the path to the Silent Bow Clan was clear enough it didn’t seem they were doing any alpinism. Mahon was actually eager to try it. He remembered his lessons at the Pine Hill Officer Institute where he had trained with the scouts, and Caeda had shown him a glimpse of what it could be.

When he had asked Halueth about it, the man had smiled mysteriously before saying they would have to wait until they reached the clan to get any feeling of what it meant to climb over the mountains. In the meantime, the old man told them about the different creatures and plants living on the mountain, and how they could find food if needed.

Sometimes, he would even ask questions to Katar as if to verify the man’s knowledge or directly demand him to explain something to Mahon and Jorik, making sure he knew enough and detailed it well.

The relationship between the four men quickly evolved from one of strangers willing to be taught by the Hunters to that of guests. Halueth was already treating them kindly from the beginning, but the more time they passed together, the kinder he was. It seemed the elder was finding something interesting enough in the two men to be willing to know them more.

They reached the Silent Bow Clan village just before nightfall of the second day, and Mahon and Jorik were immediately surprised by the size of it. They had been going up the mountain for two days straight, and rocks were everywhere around them. Even Halueth’s cart, which wasn’t very large, had trouble moving through the path at some points.

Given Halueth’s frugality and respect for nature, and given the harsh conditions of the mountains, they hadn’t even imagined that the village could be that large and sophisticated.

Dozens of stone houses were spread in a vast opening in the flank of the mountain. The edges of that enclave were tens of meters high steep cliffs, and many ropes could be seen hanging here and there. There was a small basin on one side, in which a nearby cascade ended its course in a soothing sound.

Most of the houses were grouped around that basin, buried in the cliff and almost invisible if one didn’t pay any attention. Half of the houses were made with stones extracted from the mountains, while the other half had been directly dug into it.

Vegetables were seen growing in small gardens irrigated directly by the basin. In the middle of the clearing, tents had been set up from large animals’ skin sewn together. Finally, many people could be seen around a large table, eating fruits, vegetables and meat for dinner. They stopped their activity as they noticed Halueth’s cart entering the village.

“Halueth!” A middle-aged man with an impressive physique hailed them. “We weren’t expecting you that soon. Did you manage to find all that we needed?” He asked with a frown.

“No problem at all, Ranaeril.” Halueth waved off the man’s worries. “Well, actually, there were some, but we met two people on the way that helped us solve them. They were looking for us, actually. They want to pass through.”