Silas
It took four days for them to reach the outskirts of the Rushes. Silas had allowed them only a minimum of sleep, and had stopped for food only when he became desperate. He was impressed with Eryn, for she never complained. Not of the walking, or the hunger, or the thirst that he knew she must be sharing in. She even approached his lessons in foraging and hunting with enthusiasm, as though when he was teaching all of their other cares and needs fell away.
Try as he might, he found he was becoming attached to the girl. He knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't help it. The energy and strength she had exhibited made him feel ten years younger, and drove him to work harder to keep them both safe. He and Alyssa had raised only sons, but he knew that Eryn was exactly the kind of daughter he'd want to have.
Being around her had also helped him squelch the voice in his head, the constant guilt of what he had done. She had accepted his past, and forgiven him for it. She was willing to accept that he had changed, and he valued that more than he would ever let on. In the past he had been a murderer, a dark but effective weapon. In the present... he was still a weapon, but he fought for those who could not fend for themselves.
As far as he could tell, they had been successful in staying ahead of his soldiers. They hadn't seen a single red eye since they had headed west from the Baden, though they had also seen few enough villagers either. Many of the farms and small enclaves they had passed had already been burned to the ground, leading Silas to wonder if there was more to the activity than just a growing occurrence of Cursed. That in itself was a cause for curiosity. Why were there suddenly so many more Cursed coming into the world? He knew the Curse revealed itself not long after boys and girls became men and women, in body if not in mind. Why had so many been born then, around the same time his son had died?
The Rushes were a series of flat masses piled on top of one another, and covered in a layer of moss, grasses, brush, and short trees. In some places, they looked liked steps for giants, leading up into the skies. In others, they were sheer cliffs like the walls of a castle. They rose and sunk as far as they could see, covering the entire horizon from north to south.
"It doesn't look like anybody lives here," Eryn said, upon seeing them. "I don't know why not, it's beautiful."
"It is beautiful," Silas said. "The beauty isn't of much use to farmers. The terrain is too uneven to plant large crops on, and it would be too much work to bring livestock to graze there."
Silas took the saddlebags from the horse, draping them over his shoulder. They weren't very heavy, since they were filled with bread and vegetables. He had been hoping for salted meat when they had purchased it in a village called Croughton, but it turned out his soldiers had been through not long before on their way to retrieve a Cursed, and had taken all of the meat the villagers hadn't had time to hide away.
He smacked the horse on the rump and shouted. It whined, and then headed back the way they'd come.
"It's hard to hide anywhere with a horse," he said to Eryn, in answer to the look she was giving him. She didn't argue.
They walked until nightfall, reaching the top of the first set of stepped mounds of earth. From there they could see back the way they had come, for miles across the plains. If the soldiers came with any kind of light to guide their way, they'd be seen well before they could catch up to them.
"I'll take the first watch," he said. "This is the best chance for sleep you'll have for some time."
Eryn laid down on the thick green grass that coated the Rushes. She put her arms behind her head to support it, and closed her eyes. Silas watched her for a while, until her breathing was deep and even, and then he went and sat on the graded edge of the step, where he'd be able to see if any soldiers approached. He reached into his pocket and took out the Overlord's message again.
He stared at it, considering what she had said to him days before. It was a thought that he was having trouble accepting, but having even more trouble denying. He had seen some of what the Cursed could do. How could he dismiss that they could have made him forget?
The answers would come, he was sure of that.
Four hours passed without incident. Silas kept his eyes down the slopes of the Rushes, expecting to see the orange dot of a torch crest the invisible horizon at any moment. He had known they had traveled light and fast, but he still hadn't expected to have more than a day's distance.
"Unless the soldiers aren't coming," he whispered to himself. "Maybe we aren't so important after all."
He walked over to where Eryn was sleeping on the grass, and knelt down beside her.
"Eryn," he whispered.
Her eyes shot open, and her body tensed.
"It's okay," he said. "It's just me. You're safe."
She relaxed and smiled up at him. "Is it my turn?" she asked.
"Yes. Keep a close eye to the east."
He helped her up, and then took her place on the ground. He closed his eyes, but sleep didn't come easily. This wasn't the first time he had asked her to stand watch, but it was the longest. He needed to trust her. He couldn't afford not to.