Chapter 208: Found At Last
Earlier that day...
The Eryndor guards, led by Cedric, had been following the trail left behind by the carriage, and after hours of tracking the wheel marks across the roads, they finally came to a stop at the edge of a vast stretch of woodland. One of the guards crouched to examine the disturbed earth before lifting his gaze to Cedric. "We traced the carriage’s path, and it ended here" he reported.
Cedric’s eyes swept over the towering trees before him as his expression grew thoughtful. "Then we begin our search here," he said firmly. "If the carriage stopped at this point, they are likely somewhere within these woods."
At once the guards bowed their heads before dividing themselves into groups, each taking a different path so that every corner of the dense forest would be searched.
The thick trees swallowed them one after another, and before long the only sounds left were rustling leaves beneath hurried footsteps and the distant calls of men searching in different directions.
From morning until afternoon they searched tirelessly, pushing through thick bushes, crossing shallow streams and weaving between trees that seemed endless.
Yet despite all their efforts, there was no sign of Rebecca or Julian anywhere. The silence of the forest slowly became frustrating, and one of the guards lowered his voice as he looked around. "We haven’t found anyone or heard anything since we arrived. Are we really certain they’re here?"
Another guard dropped onto a fallen log with an exhausted groan, wiping the sweat from his forehead, but Cedric refused to let discouragement settle among them. "The peace of Eryndor depends on this search," he said, his voice carrying enough authority to silence every complaint.
"We cannot afford to give up now. Keep searching every path, every clearing and every hidden corner. Even if we do not find them immediately, we may discover something that leads us to them."
Though tired murmurs spread through the men, none dared argue further, and they resumed the search once again.
The afternoon sun slowly drifted across the sky before evening eventually arrived, yet they continued moving deeper into the forest.
Whenever exhaustion caught up with them, they allowed themselves only brief moments to catch their breath before pressing forward again.
Soon darkness settled over the woods, forcing them to light their torches, and the flickering flames cast uneasy shadows across the trees as they continued searching through the night.
Meanwhile...
Rebecca groaned as she clutched her blood-soaked thigh. The arrow had pierced clean through her leg, its sharp tip protruding from the other side, and every slight movement sent another wave of unbearable pain through her body. Julian stared at her in horror before scrambling to her side, tears already filling his pale blue eyes.
"Mother?" he asked, his voice trembling with fear.
Rebecca looked down at the wound before raising her tear-filled eyes toward him, but before she could answer, she noticed the guards rapidly closing the distance between them. "Run, Julian..." she whispered, her voice shaking.
The little boy froze. "B... but I can’t leave you here," he cried, shaking his head desperately.
Rebecca forced herself to endure the pain as she reached for him. "Listen to me," she pleaded. "You have to run. Don’t worry about me because I’ll come after you. Just keep running."
Still Julian hesitated, and by then the guards were almost upon them. Knowing there was no more time, Rebecca pushed him away with the little strength she had left.
"Run!" she screamed.
The sound of her voice startled him, and at last he stumbled to his feet before sprinting through the trees, tears streaming freely down his cheeks as he obeyed the only order his mother had ever given him with such desperation.
The guard from earlier growled as he watched the fleeing boy. By then they had already reached Rebecca, and with a sharp wave of his hand he signalled the others to seize her immediately.
"Get the boy!" he barked.
His men rushed after Julian without another word while Rebecca struggled helplessly against the men restraining her. Julian glanced over his shoulder just once and saw his mother being held firmly, yet even then she was looking at him, silently urging him to keep going. He swallowed his sobs and forced his aching legs to move faster. Being much smaller than the grown men chasing him, he managed to weave through the trees more quickly, and for a brief moment it seemed as though he might actually escape.
"Get back here!" one of the guards shouted furiously.
Julian refused to listen. He simply kept running exactly as his mother had told him, refusing to stop no matter how loudly they yelled after him.
One of the men suddenly halted before reaching for the bow slung across his shoulder.
"Are you stupid?" another guard snapped, grabbing his arm. "The master made it clear that the boy must not suffer so much as a scratch. If you injure him, he’ll kill both of us."
The man clicked his tongue in frustration. "Damn it."
Without another choice, they continued chasing Julian on foot, but those few moments they had spent arguing gave the frightened boy enough time to widen the distance between them.
However, as he raced blindly through the darkness, he ran straight into Cedric and the soldiers searching nearby.
Julian gasped in fright and instinctively tried to dart past the stranger, but Cedric caught hold of his arm before he could escape.
"What are you doing out here at this hour?" Cedric asked, lowering himself slightly to the child’s height.
Angry voices echoed through the woods. "Get back here!" the pursuing guards shouted.
Julian trembled beneath Cedric’s grip, his frightened breathing growing heavier by the second. Cedric raised his torch higher so the light fell clearly across the boy’s face, and the moment he did, his own eyes widened.
The child looked remarkably like Alaric.
His black hair, those unmistakable pale blue eyes and even the shape of his face struck Cedric so suddenly that, for a brief second, he almost forgot to breathe. "You..." he murmured before quickly recovering himself. "Are you Julian?"
The soldiers behind Cedric immediately exchanged hopeful glances, silently praying that after relentless searching they had finally found the boy they had been looking for.
