Chapter 91 The Mountains

Chapter 91 The Mountains
The next morning, the party set out, cold and damp, and just a little grumpy, except for Perrin, who was his usual cheerful self. Zorrik walked behind him as he happily dug into some dried meat and tried very hard not to picture tackling him to the ground. The Master Assassin was shivering so hard he could barely get his own dried meat to his mouth.

The night had been long, and the rain had lasted so long that the road they were travelling on was now nothing more than mud. They'd managed to get a fire going a couple of times, but it never lasted, and their lean-to had done little to keep them dry. Still, they trudged on, taking a little solace in the fact that the movement was warming them.

"At least the sun is out now," Perrin said over his shoulder.

Zorrik growled and bared his teeth, but Ra'Jeem's arm slipping around his shoulder calmed him down. The Master Assassin turned and snorted at him.

"Besides," Perrin added, threatening to damage their calm, "those rocks we slept beside last night mean that we're close to leaving the moors behind."

Zorrik and Ra'Jeem finally felt a little of the optimism that kept the young man going, and it only grew as the day went on. Though it was still chilly, the temperatures seemed to warm the further east they travelled, and by the time afternoon rolled into evening, the never-ending grass of the moors had been replaced by rocky hills and scrub brush.

When they stopped for the evening, Zorrik built a fire and roasted some of the vegetables they'd brought with their provisions. The three of them greedily dug into them along with some crusty bread. As they settled in for the night, the Master Assassin picked up Jefor's spear and looked it over. Ra'Jeem closed his eyes for a little rest, and Perrin stepped into the woods to relieve himself. When he got back, he gasped loudly, waking Ra'Jeem.

"What are you doing?" Perrin exclaimed and sat down across the fire from Zorrik.

Ra'Jeem, curious as to what the fuss was about, sat up to see his Mate using his dagger to cut off the bottom third of Jefor's spear.

"Zorrik?" he said.

"It's too long for him," he said. "He'll never be able to use it like this."

"But it's Jefor's spear," Perrin said.

"He doesn't need it anymore," Zorrik answered and looked up at the young man. "You do."

Perrin slowly nodded, and Ra'Jeem clapped him on the shoulder. Then they sat back and watched as Zorrik fashioned something shorter and lighter out of his old friend's weapon.

When they got up the next morning, Zorrik wanted to test out the new spear immediately, which surprised both of his travelling companions.

"Shouldn't we keep going, find your people?" Perrin asked, feeling nervous about learning how to use the weapon.

Zorrik grinned and shook his head. "We'll be out of food soon. My dagger and Ra'Jeem's scimitar aren't exactly the best weapons for hunting. It's going to be up to you to keep us fed."

Perrin gulped and took the spear when Zorrik picked it up and handed it to him. "I have no idea how to use this," he admitted.

"No one ever does until they do," Ra'Jeem said, a sly grin crossing his face too.

The two Assassins found a place off the road where they had a clear line of sight to a few of the scrubby bushes. They called Perrin over, and though they weren't experts themselves, they showed him how to throw his new spear.

Zorrik missed completely on his first try, causing Ra'Jeem to laugh heartily. Perrin almost joined in, but then thought better of it.

"I'm a bit rusty," Zorrik admitted when he retrieved the spear. "If I think of it like an arrow, though..." he said and then threw the spear again. This time it struck directly in the middle of the tree's trunk.

It turned out that Perrin was a natural. After a couple of hours of instruction and practice, he was nearly as good as Zorrik. They knew, if they ran out of meat, they'd have a chance of getting more. Since they'd lost most of the morning, though, they decided to quickly clean up camp and have lunch on the road. According to Perrin's map, they were still going the right way, despite the fact that the road was completely overgrown now, with no signs of a trail at all.

"How long has it been since any of the Zytherian traders have come this way?" Zorrik asked.

Perrin thought about it for a moment and then said, "It's been close to a couple of years now."

"It doesn't look like anyone's used this road since then," Ra'Jeem said.

Zorrik nodded, thinking the exact same thing.

By late afternoon, the trees had grown larger, and it was warm enough for the Assassins to stop and change out of their leathers and into their robes. The foothills turned into mountainous, rocky outcroppings, with winding canyons full of forest between them. Some of the outcroppings were so tall and narrow they looked like they might fall over and crush the travellers at any moment. All three of them looked around in awe as they continued down the road.

After a while, Zorrik stopped and absent-mindedly reached up for his pendant. "I remember this place," he breathed.

When Ra'Jeem and Perrin noticed he wasn't right behind them, they rushed back to find him looking from rocky spire to rocky spire.

"What is it?" Ra'Jeem asked and took his Mate's hand.

"I've been here before," Zorrik answered.

Ra'Jeem grinned. "Then we must be getting close."

Perrin looked over his map and nodded. "It gets confusing in here," he said. "It's a bit like a maze."

"Tell me about it," Zorrik muttered, and his mind flashed back to running from the tidal wave as a child. He'd had no idea where he was going, he'd just run for what felt like days.

"Let's try not to get lost, alright?" he said. "Or we might never be seen again."