Several miles further down the road I paused at a fork marked by a signpost. The post was weathered and scratched with a shard of an arrowhead punctuating the plank marked "Karthwasten". Following the direction of the sign, I looked up the narrow path climbing the ridge to a shallow valley somewhere above me.
For a moment, I wondered if we should stop there. Sleep tugged at my eyelids and calling it an early day sounded like a good idea, until I heard shouting and the clash of weaponry rolling down the hill to meet us.
Nael danced nervously and cantered away, taking me with her, to follow the river once more. When I tried to turn her around to investigate the clamor, she only pulled against the reins and ploughed onward. Eventually, I gave in and allowed her to lead the way in favor of fishing around in the saddle bags for a potion to boost my stamina.
I sensed the ending of the day when we came to a long stone bridge overlooking the Karth River. The bridge ran perpendicular to our course and the road plunged into a canyon heading east. We dismounted and I climbed the onto the railing of the bridge.
Wind whipped and whistled through my armor, blowing my hood back from my head and biting my cheeks. I savored the feeling of being caught in the wind, and stretching out my arms, I leaned forward precariously. For the briefest of moments, I felt as if I were flying. But the wind shifted and I, too, shifted focus and surveyed the land.
To my left and right, rocks tumbled down in steep cliffs utterly impassable with the horses. Below me the river rocketed through a narrow crevice in a long fall to a new level of water. At first, it looked as if our journey would be severely waylaid--that we would travel for miles on end to approach the river from the north, possibly getting lost along the way.
However, further downstream the bank rose gently from the water as the river widened into a small lake huddled at the root of the highlands.
"Is there a way around?" Derkeethus asked, fidgeting a little on the high bridge.
"I think there's a path that goes around those rocks to our right if we follow the road a little more," I replied, adding with a grin, "Unless you want to carry Burrs down the rocks yourself."
I heard him scoff at my suggestion, then make his way over to his horse, who nickered quietly.
"What's the hurry, Derk? Why not enjoy this view for a while. Already this wind is waking me up."
"Don't like bridges," he grumbled.
"You've never had any problem with bridges before today..." I inquired, turning my head slightly to gaze at him.
"None of them were so high." His snout was pointed firmly at his feet, studying the stone with the intensity of a deer watching a stalking sabrecat. With his whole body tensed and his knees slightly bent, he looked as if he might dart at any moment.
"There's nothing to be afraid of. This bridge is thousands of years old. I think it can tolerate the weight of a couple of horses, an Argonian, and a Bosmer," I said softly. The Argonian slowly slunk to the railing and peered over, swallowing hard. I could feel his genuine fear acutely, enough to make my own legs tremble in response. It was endearing to see him afraid of something so simple and uncomplicated.
"What if it falls?"
"Then we'll die, probably. But it won't." Hopping down, I returned to my horse with a thoroughly relieved Derkeethus in tow. Once we cantered up the solid stone of the road, I heard the breath he had been holding release in a soft whistle.
Less than a league up the road, an overgrown path led down the embankment towards the river. Thick tufts of rank, seeding grass sprang up all over the path, almost completely obscuring it in places. Small pebbles glittered in the golden sunlight, and through the growth I saw the earth had been pulled inexorably downward by water.
Not a path, then, but a runoff caused by rains. Still, it would take us where we needed to go.
On the way down, we heard a bear snuffling in the brush. When we neared the location of the noise, the creature darted from the foliage and froze on the path, staring at us in fright. It was smaller than most bears we had encountered thus far and its coat was a glossy black. Chuffing and blowing, it eyed us with wide, white eyes. When we refused to turn aside, it scrambled up the rocks, attempting to climb a tree far too small for it before crashing to the ground in a panic.
There was always a reason for a creature to react to "two-legs" that extremely, and we found it soon enough with a Stormcloak camp situated at on the bank of the river. The Nords therein glowered at us as we passed, and up in the stones I spotted a couple returning to camp with their bows still drawn.
We ignored the camp entirely and made our way down to the water at last. The lake spread out before us, shallow and thick with dying algae. Through the middle of the waters humped several low islands of mud and grass. Here the wind blew less shrilly and the sound of hunting dragonflies filled the early evening air.
"So, what now? This is the end of the river, it looks like," Derkeethus said.
"We can't bring the horses. The water will hurt their hooves, especially if it's cold and we travel overnight." I turned to Nael and murmured instructions for her in her ear. She was to find a way around the lake and wait for us on the northern side. Then, shading my eyes with my hand, I squinted at the northern edge of the water. "There's a branch of water to the west on the northern end. Maybe we should follow that."
"Are you sure? You look dead on your feet. I can feel it, too."
Hiding my surprise, I chastised myself for not realizing the connection went in both directions sooner. "I'm fine," I said, fighting back a yawn at the thought of sleep. "If we find these Forsworn, it might be best to surprise them in the dark."
Derkeethus nodded, and I felt his reluctant approval.
We set off at a brisk pace, keeping to the ankle-deep depths by running along the bar of mud creating the islands. The water was freezing cold and I gasped as the liquid seeped into my boots, feeling my muscles cramp almost immediately after contact. Even as I tried to wriggle my toes and ease the cramping, my feet began to gradually turn numb and prickly.
Derkeethus, on the other hand, dove into the deeper pools and swam with his powerful tail, thrusting ahead of me with only a few strokes. After half a mile of frenzied running, stepping, and staggering, we made it to the far shore. As soon as I glanced at the ground, I held out an arm to stop Derk from moving forward.
There were tracks in the mud that didn't belong to any creature other than the two-legged kind. The impressions were slight, even in the soft mud, but in one place I could see the stitching from what could only be a mocassin. "They're here, somewhere. But only since this morning. We'll have to tread carefully," I whispered.
"Watch your aim this time," he grinned, fingering the blade of his pickaxe idly.
In the failing light, it was harder to see the tracks and where they led. I eventually had to assume they followed the tributary back towards its origin in the hills. Softly we padded over the rocks and mud, forcing our tracks to mingle with the existing ones, confusing the footprints and hopefully eluding any followers.
As we walked, we chewed on strips of dried meat, trying to preserve some of the day's energy for the long night ahead of us.
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