her head to nibble a few stray tufts of grass. If there was any sign that she was at least somewhat happy, that probably qualified.
"There, see what I mean?" the barbarian asked. "And she'll grow more comfortable with you the more you speak to her."
"What?"
"They like it when you speak to them. They won't always understand but they grow more comfortable because they sense that you are making the attempt."
"How do they understand you?"
"The way they speak is through more than only words. It's in the way your body moves, the inflection of your voice, and the smallest of details. The more you speak to them, the more you'll be able to speak in a language they understand."
That almost made sense. It was odd how the more he spoke about it, the less insane it sounded. Perhaps all Brahgen needed was to spend some time with folk who didn't talk to animals for sanity to prevail. For the moment, though, it teetered on the verge of making sense.
Skharr stopped suddenly, tilted his head to listen, and raised his hand to bring their small convoy to a halt. He looked around in silence and finally focused his attention on the path in front of them.
"What's the matter?" the dwarf asked. "More monsters?"
"Aye. This time, the kind that wanders about on two legs."
It took him a few seconds to understand what the barbarian meant. Humans were not common in the area but they still wandered the route, which was what the road was for, after all.
Still, he had hoped they wouldn't have to worry about humans as they proceeded through the forest. There was enough else to worry about, after all.
"What are you— Hey, what are you doing?"
Brahgen looked around to where his companion moved to Horse's saddle and began to retrieve his bow.
"We don't know how many of the godsbedammed shit-faced sneak-thieves will be waiting for us, so we should have a plan ready for how to fight them."
"How to fight—what do you plan to do?"
Skharr shrugged and began to string his bow. "You move in and draw their attention. Once they are focused on you, I'll pick them off from a distance. That should make sure none of us is in too much danger."
"Right, right." Brahgen scowled. "And what do I do?"
"Anything you like, but don't do anything stupid. We work as a team. And do not leave the road."
"Ha. A team. Right." The dwarf shook his head and tugged one of his beard's braids. "So why don’t you be the bait?'
"I would have suggested it but you would have to draw my bow."
The youth considered this for a moment, unable to understand where the problem with this might lie. He shrugged, slid from the saddle, and strode to the bow that was taller than he was. It wasn't too much of an issue since most of those dwarves used were taller than they were, especially the larger war bows.
He nodded when Skharr gestured for him to take the weapon, lifted it carefully, adjusted the grip, and tried to draw the string back.
After a goodly number of groans and a few more adjustments later, Brahgen realized the draw weight was considerably more than he thought it would be. He tried to turn it on its side and pull it that way, but with no more success. He could only draw it a few inches before his back shouted in protest.
Finally, he was forced to admit defeat and handed the weapon to the barbarian. The initial disappointment at his failure was soon swallowed by a slew of possible solutions and he scratched his head in thought. "I might be able to add a few gears to this and reduce the draw weight while still giving it the same power. After that, we could let it rest and—"
Both paused and Skharr was the first to shake his head.
"This is not the time," the barbarian muttered. "But we'll have to discuss it soon."
His companion was right, of course. It would take days to work through the gears that might work and longer still to test each one. In the present circumstances, they barely had time for him to conceive the idea before the warrior slipped quietly into the tree cover.
The warning to stay on the road still rang in the dwarf's ears, even though his companion had disregarded that warning. He shrugged and reminded himself that Skharr knew more about the area than he did. There were dangers in the forest that were