Binding of pleasure chapter 40

Chapter 40: Tracking the swordmaster

First after leaving the city vicinity, the party reached a soldier running towards the city. He was part of one of the squads sent to find traces of Lucas escape yesterday. Since he was alone, it was easy to guess that he had been sent back to inform them of where they had found remains of his escape.

"Report, soldier," said Corantin with the most authoritative he could produce.

"Milord, we found traces of the criminal fleeing to the North. The position is marked on this map," said the nervous scout while handling a map to Corantin.

"Excellent! Dismiss, soldier. Go report to base then get some rest. You've earned it."

"Thanks, milord," said the scout before dashing away.

"Good, I know this spot. It's not far, shouldn't take long to reach it. Hopefully, they managed to narrow down his location from there," said Corantin after the soldier left.

"Why?" asked Amari who had not seen the map.

"It's a junction point for many roads. From there, he could have run to half a dozen other territories. I have good relations with the neighbouring lords except one which just happen to border me on the northern edge of my land. If Lucas happened to enter his lands, this issue could escalate in an ugly way."

***

The party travelled to the relay. It took them about half an hour. It might feel wrong to put them so close to each other, but Corantin had ordered them to do so. More than having his troops covering more terrain, he had prioritized making sure he had an easy way to catch up to the trackers. Considering how easily Lucas had evenly matched him, his foot soldiers had no hope of standing against him.

This is why he had deployed his troops that way the day before. He had split his men into large tracking units. Each unit had gone in a different direction. Once a unit found traces of his passage, they would send a messenger back to the city to inform him of the correct path. The rest would continue the manhunt.

Once they found more clues, they would send a new messenger to the previous relay. That messenger would give a resume of the discovery and where the next messenger would be waiting for him. Finally, they would repeat this procedure until the man was cornered. The girls and Corantin then simply had to follow the relays without having to waste time combing the land to join the fight.

As planned, a new messenger was waiting for him at this first checkpoint. In an assured voice, the man stated what they discovered and handed him out a map with the location of the next agreed relay indicated. Corantin then gave the old map to the soldier and ordered him to return to base to enjoy some well-deserved rest.

Once the soldier left, Corantin's mood took a turn for the worse. His worries where on the verge on becoming true, Lucas had been seen fleeing towards Baragnes lands.

"So, our prey is moving to the one place we don't want him?" asked Amari.

"Yes... So, let's not waste any time, because we must catch him before he manages to cross the border into the Baragnes lands."

Under their lord behest, the three resumed the track with higher fervour. As they walked through the chain of checkpoints, Corantin fears where solidifying. The more checkpoints they reached, the nearer they came to the border with his heated rival. he last thing Corantin needed was for Lucas to reignite Count Baragnes's animosity toward him.

As dusk came, the party, finally, reached the next checkpoint. As they approached the rendezvous point, they quickly learned it was the last. The man waiting for them was the sergeant of the regiment they and been following.

"Milord, glad to see you here, at last!" said the sergeant relieved. "We are certain that the bandit boss who escaped yesterday is hiding in jackaks forest."

"That is unfortunate, but as far as our quarry fleeing towards the Baragnes territory. This is probably the best result."

This forest, or rather the river that coursed through it, was the natural barrier marking the frontier between the two territories. With a bit of luck, he had set camp inside Corantin's side of the forest. Or on a slightly less lucky case, Corantin could catch him without alerting count Baragnes. And more than all, it meant these two troublesome men had less risk of meeting.

Although it presented a completely different problem. Should Corantin and the girls make camp, rest, and enter the forest at dawn? Doing that would risk letting Lucas escape during the night, and force Corantin to track him down all over again, this time outside of his lands. Or should they enter the forest immediately, risking getting lost or tripping in the treacherous terrain, while visibility would be almost non-existent.

The decision then came to his trump card: Amari. Felunes were not just nomads. Their tribes often sought refuge in the drifting forest periphery, where the magic causing one to get lost was inactive. Furthermore, of all the human races, felunes had the best dark vision. Three insaras like the sisters and him had no chances to trek through that forest alone.

"Amari, do you think you can lead us through that forest in the dark?"

"Yeah, I think I could. But why? We've been walking all day. A hike in the dark is far from the best idea. On top of that, we have no idea how long that guy has been resting. We could stumble throughout the night and find him when we're exhausted, while he could be in peak condition," replied Amari.

"I thought about that, but it's risky to not go too. He could escape during the night; we have not surrounded this forest, for one. And even if we did non-mages couldn't hope to hold him off for a second. That's why if you think it's doable. We must go now," explained Corantin.

"You've got a point. We should probably get going then," admitted Amari as she started walking into the forest.

The three others then followed suit behind her. They walked avoiding the treacherous vegetation for a while. While the wards in their clothes prevented the branches and brambles from scratching them, the roots were a constant source of trouble. Each step could possibly cause them to tumble to the ground. It was only thanks to Amari superior dark vision that they avoided falling at every step. By carefully following her steps, the three others managed to avoid most hazards on the ground.

At one point, Vallerie, tired of this, asked, "Master couldn't we use a candlelight spell?"

"No. It's too risky. It would signal our position to him. And the light would make it too hard to see in the darkness creating prime opportunity for ambushes," denied Corantin in whispers.

"Oh! Jackak, I didn't think about that!" snapped Vallerie.

"Shush! You'll attract them," shut off Amari in a low voice.

"Huh!" gasped the knight.

"Yes, Vallerie, lower your voice. There is indeed jackak roaming these woods," chided Corantin in a hushed voice.

"Forget that, here they come," shouted Amari.

***

"Don't you think we might have overdone it. This man is learning to use the powers we have given him way too fast," said a worried woman.

"No, if he is to be my champion. He will need to prevail against all the challenge we throw at him," replied a domineering masculine voice.

"But, master, she's not wrong, we never expected this old man to learn to use these powers so fast. We had expected him to be able to use about half of what we have given him, yet he already can use nearly all the powers. The boy is not ready to face this challenge. And should he fail now, it will send our plans back centuries. How much longer can we wait for a champion. Before long, our rivals will be too strong," said a bubbly female voice, tinged with worries.

"Shut it, the all of you. Or you'll feel my wrath," roared the man.