Lathan’s heart jumped and his breath caught in his chest as the man neared. He scrambled back only a hand span before the blade was at his throat. He wondered if this would be the end of him. It was rather ironic. The first outing he had been confident enough to take on his own, full of certainty that he would be able to do something important to the world, and he had not even made it a day. The best he could hope for is that someday, his bones would be found sitting in the forest, and someone would be idly curious as to how he met his end among the scattered remains of his life’s work. His poor books lay rumpled in the dirt now, and he winced as a bandits trod on one.
Before the blade could fall, however, a confident voice rung out in the forest. At once, everyone’s attention was drawn to the unexpected archer, including Lathan’s. Lathan wondered if this was another of the bandits. He realized the bow was pointed, not at him, but at the burly men surrounding him. Just a moment before, he had not even hoped for any salvation whatsoever, and suddenly an archer pops from the forest. Lathan gasped in a breath for the first time in what seemed to be ages. The bandit who had been about to cut his throat backed off and was grumbling at the archer, muttering insults that made Lathan’s skin crawl. Still, the archer posed an intimidating figure. He watched as the standoff built in tension, while the leader and the archer sized each other up. Lathan did not dare to move more than his eyes for fear it would somehow bring down calamity.
Yet, the moment passed suddenly as the leader sheathed his knife and the dark-clad men melded into the forest. Lathan felt relief until he realized they also took all his newly bought gear and food. There was a sinking feeling in his gut until his eyes dropped to the books scattered about. He scrambled forward, not really registering the approach of the man, until his fingers gingerly fumbled at the closest book which lay face-down in the dirt. He turned it over, almost afraid of what he would see, but the worst of the damage was a definite tear to a couple pages near the binding, some liberal wrinkling, and a liberal coating of dirt. It was then that he noticed the archer had almost reached his side. He gave a small start, but smiled, though it was more an embarrassed crook of his lips. The burly man offered him a hand, and, misunderstanding the meaning, Lathan scrambled to his feet, almost tripping over himself. He grabbed the man’s hand but Lathan’s handshake felt more like a dead, dirt-covered fish. “Oh, yes! I do believe I am quite alright, and all thanks to your appearance it seems. Lathan Keyull. Very pleased to make your acquaintance indeed, good sir.” He dropped his hand quickly. His eyes then darted back to the slew of books still scattered around the small area. There was a bag or two otherwise, but all else was gone.
The archer asked what he was doing out in the woods, further inquiring after the books in a manner far from genteel. Lathan had already begun going around, collecting his books, handling them and dusting them off with much more care than he had afforded himself. “Well, you see…” he paused, grabbing one of the more trampled tomes and sighing as several pages slipped loose from the binding, “I am actually on a journey related to some research I have been conducting. Fairly technical, no need to fret about it.” His attention never flickered from the books he picked up. After a moment, he moved on, the pile in his arms steadily growing.
“At least they seem to have left most of the important ones. Oh, dear me, wherever could….” His face froze in fear a moment and he began scrambling about, flipping books like mad. He came across a red-bound manuscript, tattered more with its age than its recent abuse. He sank to his knees, picking up the old manuscript as respectfully. Lathan sighed his relief, stoking the vestiges of dirt from the thick leather bindings. He spoke again with a reflective tone, “At least with this, I can get along. It’s funny, they seemed to be seeking objects of value, yet left this behind. It is worth at least a comfortable villa in the highest circle of the Capital, I would say.” He inspected it and added it to the rest of the books. After just a moment, he had gathered the rest and strode to the bags. The first was empty, but for a length of twine and his flint. He carefully placed the books inside and pulled the drawstring closed. He peeked in the second, letting out a sound of delight as he saw his instrument. He set it beside the books. The archer asked his next question and Lathan cocked his head to one side as he thought.
“I suppose I am heading about northwest, but more west than north for now.” He looked up, finding the sun nearing dangerously close to the horizon. He glanced around, a new urgency in his mood, and spotted what he was looking for near the roots of an elm. He darted over and unrumpled the paper of his map. A large, thin section of the bottom had been torn away, but it was otherwise readable. Lathan continued smoothing it out as he approached the burly man. His eyes searched over the recorded woods, cities, plains, and mountains until he found his path. He angled his body so that the bowman could better see the contents of the map. The wide parchment stubbornly flopped down, hiding his hand and baffling his efforts. He fiddled with it for an aggravating moment before finally squatting. “Here, this will do for now.” He smoothed the paper over the uneven ground, looking comically like a little boy playing explorer.
“Obviously no tables in a place such as this, so--” This time, he showed the path he was taking, pointing out the westerly trail he had attempted to use before getting hopelessly lost. “You see, I set out from Anthalon just this morning, heading toward the Shie River in the north. I was attempting to take this shortcut through the woods. No need to fear though, I think I
just lost it not too far back. If you can show me back to the path, I am sure I will have no trouble reaching the main road. No need to go all the way out of your way. After all, I am headed to Thein, more than two day’s journey hence, and then up toward Despi mountain.” He considered the map for a while longer, a content look on his face, before a look of doubt crossed his features. “Do you know where the path is from here? It should not be too far. And pardon my rudeness; I did not happen to catch your name. You aren’t lost too, are you?” He laughed nervously.