They are crossing the Great Wilderness when they realize they are being tracked.
Felanar and the others walked for four days and the last water they saw was a nearly dry creek meandering across the wilderness bordered by a few stunted plants. That was a day earlier and it was, they supposed, the last water they would see for the rest of their journey. They had finished the ale quickly and had replenished the containers with water every time they passed a stream. The last creek replenished their supply with about four day's more travel yet ahead. Whereas before they had been generous with their drinking, now they began to ration their supply. If nothing unexpected delayed them, they figured they would reach Mount Majestic – and fresh water – just as their supplies ran out. As for food, they had plenty in the packs. Alessa kept gathering plants and herbs as she found them along the way, and she had enough to last her for days.
The weather was the same unending dry and clear skies they had experienced in this wilderness. By now they figured they were just north of the desert that lay in the south of these lands. They walked through dry earth and there was an occasional desert plant to be found along the way, but it had been a day since they had seen any inhabitants or dwellings or farms, and two since they had last seen a tree. They had fashioned shades for their heads out of spare material from their packs and in this way tried to shield themselves from the constant sun.
Their mood continued to be buoyant for they were heading home and had experienced no trouble along the way. All through the wilderness they had seen not even a bird that would indicate a spy's presence. Whatever attempt the autarch might have made to get them back, it seemed their choice of direction had worked to keep him off their trail. They marched along in contented silence broken occasionally by Dolen's singing some dwarven tune. Alessa usually listened in bemused silence, trying not to point out how primitive such singing was compared to what elves could do (one particular argument between them had taught her not to make fun of dwarves too often), but this time she seemed agitated. Finally the elf spoke up.
“Dolen, stop singing!”
Dolen stopped and said, “Are you going to start that conversation again, my elf friend?” He looked at her with mock disapproval. But Alessa was not joking.
“Silence, please!” she said holding up a palm while cocking her head.
Felanar and Kara stared at Alessa intently wondering what had caught her attention. They saw her cup her left ear with her hands and close her eyes. Then she turned and addressed the others.
“The wind shifted,” she began, “and with it came the sound of movement from behind us. There are men on horses behind us.”
“What?” cried Felanar. “I see nothing behind us.”
“Nor do I,” said Alessa, “and I can see farther than you. The sound is faint, almost beyond my ability, but for a moment I caught it and I know what that sound means.”
“Ranchers, perhaps?” offered Kara.
“Who can say?” said Alessa. “It could be. Or it could be pursuers. I recommend caution.”
“We are in the middle of a wilderness,” said Dolen, “so what caution can we take? Are we to hide, and if so where?”
“Let us make for those hills,” said Alessa, pointing northeast.
“What hills?” asked Dolen. “I see nothing but flat ground that way as far as my eyes can see.”
“Yes,” said Alessa, “but mine see farther. There are hills in the distance. Trust me.”
“We do,” said Felanar, “and I agree. On a hill we would have both a vantage point to see who is behind us and a place to hide if need be. Let's go in that direction and see what we find.”
They turned to their left and began walking in the direction Alessa had indicated. Now they walked more quickly. Within an hour, the others could make out the distant hills too and that spurred them on. At no point did Alessa hear those sounds again, but she remained adamant about what she had heard that one time. Her urgency spread to them and by late afternoon they had reached the small, rocky outgrowths that passed for hills in this wilderness. The tallest point was no more than a hundred feet off the floor of the Great Plain, but in this area that was a great vantage point from which to see their surroundings. They made their way up the rocky crags until they reached the summit. They set down their packs behind a large boulder and set up camp for the night. From here they could see any danger from a distance and it made them feel safer.
While Alessa kept watch, the rest prepared supper from the packs. They decided against a fire this time and so ate a sparse meal of dried meat strips, dried fruit and nuts. Alessa ate her own meal without taking her eyes off the horizon. It was twilight before she spoke.
“I see them.”
The others crouched beside her and tried to see what she pointed out but it was too distant.
“Men on horseback, ten of them if I count right at this distance,” said Alessa quietly as she continued to peer intently.
“Ten,” repeated Felanar thoughtfully. “That is not from a ranch. Nor is it a full army.”
“It is a group meant for speed of travel,” said Kara.
“They ride hard,” said Alessa. “I can see the dust they create.”
“Which way are they headed?” asked Felanar. “Toward us?”
“No,” said Alessa. “They ride east.”
The twilight continued to darken and Alessa said it was getting harder for her to see. But then she noticed a change.
“Torches have been lit,” she said. “They do not fear discovery. Do you see the flames?”
The others tried to see but still could not. As they peered through the evening air toward the point along the horizon Alessa kept indicating, every time they thought they saw a moving dot it turned out to be a trick of the eye played by the air currents over the desert floor. But finally it became dark enough that a tiny pinprick of red could be made out far off in the distance. Then they saw several pinpricks of red. The torches were marking the way.
Alessa suddenly jumped.
“They have reached the point where we turned toward the hills and now they are doing the same!”
“How is this possible?” asked Dolen. “In the twilight they see our tracks?”
“Ai!” cried Alessa. “They see your tracks, that is certain. Man or dwarf, both carry heavy feet as they walk and leave easy tracks to follow, even in the light of torches.”
“Then they are searching for us,” said Felanar calmly. “That much is now clear. It is also clear that if we are to avoid detection, we need to be more careful about how we travel. And one more thing is clear: they are going to find these rocks before too long. They ride horses and we are on foot. We need to get moving.”
They put their supplies into their packs and began heading down the other side of the rocky formation. Felanar turned his head just before doing so and took another look at those tiny spots of red in the night air. As he concentrated through the layers of air between them, he could just make out a slight bobbing of the lights as the holders of the torches rode hard toward them. Felanar shivered.
As they scrambled down to the Plain floor, Alessa urged them to be careful about how they stepped.
“It is harder for them to see at night but if you make obvious tracks even torchlight will be sufficient.”
“They are following us,” said Felanar, “but they cannot expect that we have seen them yet. They might not realize we know they are following us. So by us turning toward that rock formation, might they not think we have turned northeast toward Brinham?”
“That is probable,” said Kara. It would be the most direct route toward Elaria from here, though a longer journey than it is to Mount Majestic. But they would not think we are headed for the mountain, so yes, northeast is what would make the most sense to them.”
“Then they will reach the rock formation, by night” continued Felanar, “and perhaps keep going in that direction. At most they might see where we camped, but then they would expect us to keep going in that same direction instead of doubling back toward the southeast.”
“I hardly think they will be able to detect where we stopped unless they do so in the light of day,” said Alessa. “If we make good time tonight, we can add distance between us, especially if they go in the wrong direction from the rocks. But please, watch how you step. Try to do what I do and lightly place each foot down as you go.”
“Easier said than done, my elf friend,” said Dolen who was trying to step lightly and finding it difficult. “Your weight is less than mine.”
“I know, Dolen,” said Alessa in the dark, “but do try your best.”
They walked quickly, relying on Alessa to guide their direction correctly. Within an hour, however, the moon rose and gave them light to find their way. Hours passed while they walked in silence. Occasionally Felanar or Kara would turn back to see if they saw the torches, but they never did. Probably the men on horseback were stopped for the night at the rocks, or else they had continued onward in the wrong direction. Not even Alessa could perceive them, though the elf pointed out that in the darkness all she would be able to see would be torches.
It was dawn before they stopped, exhausted, and Alessa said they could wait and rest for a while she kept watch in the growing light. The others plopped themselves down on the ground and soon were asleep. Alessa stood and faced the way they had come and while hardly blinking kept a steady gaze. It was almost noon before she woke the others.
“They're coming!” she announced.
Felanar sat up groggily. “What?”
“I see them,” Alessa said. “They are a long way off but in this noon sun I can see a great distance when the air is dry. They are following us.”
“All of them?” asked Kara as she stood.
“I think so,” said Alessa. “I think they ride in formation, so it is hard to tell at this distance how many there are or who is riding behind another horse.”
“I don't understand,” said Felanar. “We tried to leave no trail, it makes no sense for us to be headed back down this way, how can they track us like this?”
“I do not know,” said Alessa, “but they are better trackers than I realized. We should be moving, and quickly! We've wasted enough time this morning. From now on we need to march during the day and night if we are to keep ahead of them. They ride horses and our only advantage is they need to track us and thus must stop during the darkness.”
“I hope you got enough sleep,” said Felanar, to the others, “because it is the last you'll get for some time.”
“Aye,” said Dolen, “it'll do. Never let it be said that a dwarf could not walk as far and as hard as need be.”