Forest of Ruin (Age of Legends 3)

"Do you see anyone?" she whispered.

"No."

"Is it a trap?" She answered her own question with, "Best to presume so."

He made a noise of agreement.

Moria walked around the wagon. Then she stopped. The harnesses were empty, the horses gone. She walked over and picked up one of the straps. It was wet and slick and she dropped it, lifting her fingers into the moonlight, knowing what she'd see there.

"Blood," Gavril whispered, and she glanced to see him at her shoulder.

He moved to the second harness while Moria lifted the bloody strap again and examined the end. Cut, as if with a blade.

"The horses were freed, and the blade must have cut the horse as well." She looked at the wagon. "How would we not hear that? The strap is soaked in blood, meaning it was not a shallow cut. The horse would have shrieked and bucked, and yet we felt and heard nothing. That makes no sense."

"No," he said grimly. "It does not."

As they continued looking about, clouds covered the moon. At a sound in the darkness, Moria tensed, her back going to Gavril's, his to hers, both of them reaching for weapons they did not have.

He said something, and Moria looked over her shoulder to say that she could not hear him, when his fingers lit in an unearthly glow.

"This may be a trap," he said. "But if it is, they're looking for more than proof of this." He waved his glowing fingers. "Given all my father has done, there's little point in continuing to protest that we are not sorcerers."

"I don't suppose you can conjure me a dagger?"

A strained smile. "Sorry, Keeper. When I said in the Wastes that I know no sorcery to protect us, I was telling the truth. I have only the simplest of magics."

They fell quiet, backs together.

"You did hear something, did you not?" Moria said.

"Yes, but it's gone now, and I could not determine the direction."

Moria headed back to the wagon.

"Keeper?"

She motioned for him to follow.

"But we ought to investigate--" he began.

"We will. Now come. I need your light."

When she'd been on the road with Tyrus and Ashyn, their wagons had resembled these. Common imperial wagons, the lower half being a storage compartment, accessible from hatches in the sides. She unlatched one hatch door and crawled inside on her stomach while waving for Gavril to light her way.

When she tossed out a waterskin, he said, "This is hardly the time--"

"Drink while I look for weapons."

"Oh."

She glanced out at him. "Truly, Kitsune? You think I paused for a snack?"

"No, I--"

"Drink. But keep the light in here."

He grum