did more to clear Balinor’s head than a bucket of cold water to the face could have. His hand instinctively slid to his side where he found his great sword was still hanging. Pulling a small knife out of his gauntlet he was in short order unbound and glaring.
“Why are you here? You tried to kill Illiad and failed. Why would you help his daughter?”
“Not this again… Em’risi and I went over this already. The incident with Illiad was an accident. If I had wanted him dead, I had more than ample opportunity. I have my reason for being here and I'm not telling you any of them. At least not right now. There are other things that you should be worrying about right now. We have been traveling most the night. Daylight is only a few hours off. Em’risi is exhausted and I don’t know where we are supposed to be heading. We need to get to the tree line before morning.” Urake had the tone of one being inconvenienced by having to explain. Despite that, he was relieved that the knight didn’t remember the details of the fight earlier. In fact he could barely recall the fight with the assassins.
“I will say what we need to do! Em’risi, are you unharmed?” Balinor scanned the rest of the party until he had located the Princess. She nodded in reply yet he could see that Urake spoke the truth.
“I will not hide in the woods like some common bandit although we do need to rest.” Balinor directed his comment towards Urake, but he wasn’t rewarded with the expected flinch his insult had intended.
“Common or noble, bandit or knight, the Shadow Order isn’t likely to give up on the Princess. Our best chance is to hide and rest for the day and continue at night.” Urake had been called far worse in his life so he felt no need to respond to an insult from someone that knew nothing.
“I am in command. We will do as I say.”
“As you wish.” Urake nodded in acquiescence.
“Make for the tree line. We require rest.” Balinor grudgingly followed Urake’s advice by pulling his horse towards the Garoche Mountains and the forests along their flanks. Urake slowed until he was even with Emeck’s horse at the tail of the line.
“Why did you submit to Balinor? You could have fought him again.” Emeck asked quietly when he was sure Balinor was out of earshot.
“I could have, but he doesn’t remember me beating him last time. I would rather he didn’t hate me more than he already does. Knowing when not to fight is often more valuable than knowing how to fight. As far as submitting to him? It was easier than trying to argue him into agreeing to rest. His kind tends to disagree with anything that anyone else suggests unless he can take credit for it. It is easier this way. We are going to have to let him think that he is in charge for now.” Urake casually sat his horse as he kept a wary eye on the dim surroundings.
“What about Em’risi?” Emeck looked at the cloaked figure slumped in the saddle ahead of them.
“She is still in shock. Her father just died and that doesn’t seem to have taken its full toll yet. It’s likely to be a couple days before she can think clearly. Until then, Balinor is in charge. He will probably be in charge for a while after Em’risi come to her senses anyways. I still don’t know if she has the kind of personality that it will take to control Balinor. Have you sensed anymore from Skeln?”
“No I haven’t. It was just that one time. It is hard to explain, but I sensed pain… Pain and anger. I also felt like I was sensing an echo somewhere else. Almost like I was feeling two people.” Emeck stopped when he saw Balinor wheel back.
“You said that the Shadow Order was responsible for the attack. Who are they?” Balinor inquired.
“A group that for some reason wants you dead.” Urake blandly answered and watched the flash of frustrated annoyance on Balinor’s face.
“No, I mean who are they?”
“There is a lot that you don’t know that you should.”
“Are you going to tell me what I want or not?” Urake smiled wryly as Balinor’s hand settled on his sword pommel.
“The Shadow Order is a group of Gifted individuals that I’ve been hunting for years. They used to answer to a dark elf, but now