When the sun rose above the horizon, Ewin had already awakened all but the Woman. After a while, they cleared all evidence of their stay there and set off east for Pasina. Even though the shadows under Mextumsila's eyes were evident, she sat upright and steady in her saddle.
The fog still hung thickly over the river behind them. Uras watched over his shoulder as he rode, hoping to see one last glimpse of the red river and beyond until the mist had disappeared.
"I never thought I'd be this far from home," Yelis said when the trees finally obscured both the mist and the river. "It's so sad that we'll never be able to see our little farm home again," said David nervously. "Even the black rider can't chase us forever, can he?" said Yelis, imploring a plea.
Tumaris steered his horse's head towards Uras' horse. "And you, Uras, do you want to go home?" Uras was silent for a while, and they continued to ride together at last, "Do you think there is any place left to turn?" Said. Tumaris's face fell, it must have saddened him to face this reality. Elendiz joined them, and as he began to ride alongside them, Elendiz said, "Black lake… so we'll be back there when all this is over, right?" Uras grumbled. "You got the adventure you keep babbling about, and you're already talking about your home." Uras noticed a tremor in his voice when Elendiz held his head high and said, "I was just wondering what happened to Karagöl." Although Ewin and the Woman had heard all of the conversation, neither made any attempt to comfort them, not saying a word that they would be back.
The journey to Pasina took almost a week. Ewin muttered about the delay of their journey, but it was he who set the pace and forced the rest to comply. From time to time, Uras galloped ahead of them to discover what was before them. Still, the journey had exhausted everyone. Uras' scout never showed any signs of pursuit or ambush. Even in the densest parts of the forest there was not a great deal of cover, as winter had already reached the very edge of the East. Winter was blowing hard in Pasina. Pine fir or cedar woodlands and a few oaks or Acacia trees here and there dotted a forest of normally bare gray branches. Only the interspersed green branches of new shoots stood out among the brown meadows flattened by winter snow. Here, too, most of those grown were geven, coarse thistle, and wild yam. In the bare earth of the forest floor, some of the last snow still hung in shady places and dragged under the low evergreen branches. Everyone had already put on the cloaks that the Woman had prepared for them earlier, and hugged her tightly, for the weak daylight had no warmth, and the cold of the night was running deep. Not a single bird was visible in the air. His movements had slowed considerably. Elendiz nicknamed this road the East Road. Maybe the name was different here. He had survived many winters in Karagöl before, but this place was quite different from the winters he knew. The cold winds whipped his face, and he felt a burning sensation in every pore of his face. They were following the pain. Their paths twisted this way and that through the forest. They were often running along the rough dirt road. They had yet to come across a village or a farm with any traces of humans or civilizations. He suspected that they could not be in the world of humans. We are eliminated. He had heard that some of the remnants of the ice people lived among humans, but communities like them had dimensions of their own. People wouldn't see them. Still, he thought they could see people, the people of the world they lived in today, but he wasn't sure about that. He had never been outside of Karagöl before. He had heard of the "gluttons". They were cursed and hunted humans, but that was centuries ago. His mother used to tell him that the people living in this geography had a magic. Others were in places where the winters were much colder.
When they reached the foot of the Misty Mountains, they encountered a human settlement for the first time, a large frame house and a tall thatched brown barn with a thatched roof, a swirl of smoke rising from a stone chimney. Elendiz was excited to meet a human for the first time. Yelis was also excited when she saw the house, and she wanted to rest a little. He gestured, "Ewin, maybe we can stay at this farm for a while and listen." The farm was still quite far from them. A few people were walking around the courtyard, but they were unaware of the travelers. "Of course it is, you can rest," Ewin said. "They won't be able to see us just while we're resting" Yelis was surprised.
"Can't they see us? Is it that woman's spell or yours?"
"No, there's just a veil between us and them," Ekin said without taking her eyes off him.
"This veil is sometimes thick, sometimes thin, and we are miles away from the ring that protects us, so the veil is pretty thin," she said, as she brought her horse close to them.
"Why can't they see us," Yelis insisted.
"It should be, but we can't be quiet so they can hear us." The Farm was like any farm, with a small boy carrying water from the well and an older boy herding sheep behind a barred fence, but they didn't come close to the Farm and couldn't risk being heard or seen.
Always, while the light was still hanging in the sky, they stopped to choose a spot that was sloping for drainage and was rarely cut off completely, only sheltered from the diverting wind. Their fire was as small as ever, concealed only a few meters away. After the tea was brewed, the flames were extinguished and the coals were buried. At their first stop, before the sun went down, Tumaris stepped away to get some practice with her bow.
Uras was leaning against a tree, watching Tumaris drive three arrows into a knot the size of a man's head into the cracked trunk of an oak leaf a hundred paces away. After a while, Elendiz joined him. "Uras, are you adept at wielding any weapon?" Elendiz took a dagger out of his leather vest when he said, "I have a dagger." Uras "Do you know how to use it? Without hesitation, Elendiz swung the dagger forward and turned it. "It might work if the black cavalry and his entourage let you approach them this friendly, and of course if they are still." Uras took the dagger in his hand and turned it with a familiar movement. It looked like an ordinary dagger. "Even if you are a master fighter, this dagger may not be useful. Half-moon blades can stop them," he said. "But let me see what I can teach you anyway."
He showed Erendiz a little how to wield the dagger; stabbing someone or something with a weapon; It wasn't like hanging around, like pretending. He had the little boy do a series of exercises such as blocking, parrying and hitting. He was teaching Elendiz to use the dagger with smooth movements, dance-like daggers, not wild leaps and slashings. "It's not enough to move it," said Uras, "though some think it is. The mind is a part of it, Empty your mind, Empty your heart from hatred or fear, of anything. "
Elendiz looked at him. "Space," he said curiously. "That's what you mean, isn't it? My father taught me that." Uras gave him an incomprehensible look in response. "Hold the dagger as I showed you. I can't make you a master of it in an hour, but maybe I can stop you from cutting your own foot."
Elendiz sighed and held the sword straight in front of him with both hands. Ewin watched them expressionlessly. Evening meals were the same as always, bread, cheese and dried meat….
When Uras awoke, Tumaris had untied his hair. Uras watched her out of the corner of her eye as she prepared the blanket roll. Tumaris combed her hair. As Uras saddled his horse, tying his saddlebags and blanket to the back of the saddle, Tumaris lifted the comb, brushed his messy hair over his shoulder, and pulled the hood of his cloak up. Uras was surprised. "What are you doing?" she asked. Tumaris did not answer. Uras shyly said, "You've braided your hair all your life, now you're giving up? And braiding your hair has always made you look beautiful." Tumaris simply said, "Braiding their hair was typical of ordinary girls living in Karagöz, guards don't braid their hair." "I don't want to braid my hair," he said simply. Uras said, "You are not a protector. You are Tumaris from the people of Ergekon from Karagöl, you must braid your hair and wear your purple vest" Tumaris mockingly told him "And you are the owner of the Bürküt sword." serves." Tumaris showed him his bow, "The Wise gave this to me," his voice was furious. He was depressed that Uras still shouldn't trust him after coming all this way together. Really?" He turned to face her, fists clenched. Uras thought he nearly hit himself. "He helped us."
"Still, I've never seen him in Karagol before."
"I still trust him, Tumaris! He would have given us to the Black Rider long ago" Tumaris whispered.
"What do you think screwed the strap. You can't deny it!" "Do you think I'm stupid? You are a very stubborn girl," said Uras, but his voice came out like a shout. "Are you two trying to wake everyone up?" Ewin asked. Standing there with his mouth open, trying to juxtapose a word, Uras suddenly realized that he was shouting.
Tumaris' face turned red up to her brows, and she muttered, "Men!" Said. Uras looked cautiously at the camp. everyone was looking at him. David, Abigial, and Yelis' faces were white, and Elendiz was tense, as if ready to run or fight. Ewin and his Woman's face was tense. "Time to go," said the helpless one. He turned to Ewin and Uras shuddered as if he had escaped a trap.