Ch.32

Evander squinted, trying to get a better view of the distance. He couldn't see much due to the dim light provided by the few torches burning in the corners‌… but it was close enough.

The village seemed deserted‌… at least as far as he could tell. No sounds of barking dogs or shouting men. They must have all hidden out somewhere else when they heard the hunters‌… or maybe they'd fled to other settlements altogether.

Although now that Evander thought about it, this was the type of place he would have expected people to have run to. And the one here hadn't been anywhere near large enough to support so many of these hunters.

Maybe he should go get one of those torches so that he could search around a little further. Of course, the cold wind might already have extinguished any chance of finding any signs of life. At least none of them would be expecting anyone to be heading out to explore the area.

He frowned as he began walking toward one of the wooden posts that acted as supports for the roof. A creaking sound caught his attention, and he stopped in front of a tall pole. Looking up, he saw that the trap door hanging above had apparently come loose from its hinges, letting in the cold wind.

It hadn't occurred to him that the hunters might already know about this place. But now that he considered it‌… Evander froze in his tracks. Maybe they wouldn't notice him searching around here until it was too late. He pulled on the handle, but the door was stuck fast.

Turning away from the support post, he went toward the front of the cabin. After several minutes of digging through a pile of wood and old papers, he came upon something that might come in handy later. Then he returned to the support pole and dug down until he found what he'd been looking for: a stick with some rope tied to one end of it.

"Someone must have used this to climb up here," Evander murmured, stretching out the rope as far as he could reach. "Even if I can't get the door open, I should still be able to crawl into the attic and leave through the window. That is, if we need to."

Then he glanced over his shoulder, watching the darkness as he waited for Ebert and Fir to come back. It didn't take long before he heard their voices, followed by footsteps approaching. The dark elf leaned against the side of the support post, looking toward the entrance where the hunters should have come from.

Michel turned his head around to see Fir step up to the doorway, his sword at the ready. "Look who it is, Evander!" he called out cheerfully. "Somebody came back just in time for supper‌…"

Evander's heart started to beat faster as he took a step toward his friend. At least he hoped it was him, but there was no way he could tell from inside the house.

"What do you think?" asked Michel, leaning closer to the young hunter. "We can light a fire if we want, but I doubt anyone will be able to hear us outside in these woods. You know, this isn't any worse than what you were expecting, right?"

Evander frowned. "How did you find me? And how did you learn that you're our only hope‌… or at least someone we can trust?"

Ebert snorted. "I've known about the place you found ever since I saw you getting suspiciously friendly with those two at the inn. That's why I'd been keeping my eye out for a few days to make sure nobody had followed you there. As for trusting me‌…" He glanced up and down the boy. "Well, you don't seem all that trustworthy yourself."

Then Fir stepped closer, baring his teeth in a smile. "And speaking of those two girls from the inn‌… they were supposed to meet you here today, so I took the opportunity to talk to them in private."

Evander's eyes widened. "You what?"

Fir nodded, grinning as he looked back and forth between Evander and Michel. "Yes, I know. But‌… well, if they really did see you last night, then they won't be looking for you anymore. Even if they hadn't, though, I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't have left The Four Horsemen while we were still up here. Which means there's no way that they'd have gone out there to look for you. Which is exactly what I told them in case they weren't listening‌…"

"Do you think they'll listen? That they're even still alive?"

"Who knows?" replied Fir, nodding his head. "But just in case they are, I got them to promise not to leave until we get some other people together. Not everyone‌… just the ones who know what they're doing. We couldn't afford to bring anyone else along otherwise."

Michel pursed his lips, looking up at Ebert as he thought about Fir's words. "Yes, I suppose we don't want to risk losing all our hunters," he said, stepping around the support post to join his companions. "Especially if we do manage to get enough people to take these hunters by surprise. Although it would be nice to be able to hunt when we need to and keep some of this stuff on hand. And hopefully have someone who can start an actual village somewhere, so that we don't always have to rely on the mercy of others."

"I'd rather live like that anyway," said Fir, smiling. "Makes life more interesting. Besides‌… it'd give us time to find a new leader in the meantime." Then he shook his head, turning to Michel. "How'd you figure out where Evander was? You'd think those people would have gotten suspicious of you too after what happened."

The lupis man grinned back at him. "It turns out that the innkeeper did come to tell me about the killings. And the villagers stopped visiting here a few days ago, after hearing about some strange creatures lurking in the woods. Of course, he didn't tell me anything else, but I figured the only place where there'd be this many rumors going around was right in front of me."

Evander didn't understand everything that they were talking about, but it sounded like Michel had already figured things out for himself. He kept his mouth shut and listened, noting how all three of them seemed to be completely oblivious to the fact that someone might be watching their every move from somewhere across the forest.