No Turning Back
Part 1
Menzo had heard the news. The presence of two knights had set the village abuzz. He figured that they must be Vigils, because no one else would bother coming this far… Even their presence came as more of a surprise than most were willing to admit, and as such, people seemed mostly concerned with trying, and mostly failing, to pretend they were a casual occurrence every time they came into sight. Therefore, it was hard not to notice the younger one going towards the forest. There was no mistaking him.
It was only at his second glance, a double-take, that Menzo realized that perhaps the young man was acting against better judgement. Immediately, he had a feeling that he knew exactly what the youth was trying to do… Nander had tried that too, three years earlier. And Darene, the year before that. They had been the only ones left to rival Menzo’s hunting skills and they had still gotten themselves killed. Mashed to a pulp, if Old Man Farrin’ story was to be believed. Farrin often told anyone who would listen, usually children looking to be spooked, that he had found a bloody, reeking mess when he was a boy out in the forest on a dare. He claimed it was all that was left of a man that had gone missing a few days earlier.
Though at first Menzo carried on with his immediate business of delivering fresh herbs, a fresh wave of guilt suddenly washed over him at never having been able to do anything for his comrades, at having missed the signs of their rashness. Although he tried to push through it, he quickly concluded that he couldn’t just walk away from what he had seen.
In a nonchalant fashion so as to not raise any alarm, the archer somberly took the shortest path to his cabin on the outskirts of the cluster of homes and shops. Once there, he quickly hung the pair of hares he had caught, grabbed his bow and as many weapons or sharp tools as he dared carry without hindering himself and rushed out again, keeping out of sight within the cover of the trees. He kept up a steady jog until he had circled back to where the knight had entered the forest where he halted to string his bow.