Birthright: Lord of Arda by Craig Cox Page B

face.
    “How about Magnus.” Troy suggested.
     

Chapter X
    Braden
     
    Braden could smell the sea long before he could see it, Troy had been the first one to notice the change of smell in the air and ever since they had picked up the pace. The trees were getting further and further apart as they neared the edge of the forest and the sunlight was now freely shining through. They were all in good spirits, it had taken them five further days since they found Magnus to reach the other edge of the forest. Braden thought they had spent half of it walking in circles. He looked down at the lion cub who walked along proudly with a dead squirrel between its jaws, it was the fourth he had caught in the last two days. Reaching down Braden rubbed Magnus’ ears and was greeted with an affectionate purr, he swore that the cub had grown at least an inch since they had first met. As they got closer to the forest’s edge he began to hear a repetitive thud, as if someone was banging on a door, slowly it turned from a thud into a hacking noise. As they got even closer Braden could tell it was men chopping into wood. They were finally reaching civilisation. He again picked up the pace. He must have been only thirty paces from the men when he heard an almighty crash, it echoed into the forest. Birds high in the trees screeched before taking flight, Magnus’ eyes darting in each direction as they flew overhead. Braden continued on breaking into the clearing where he saw three men chopping at the fallen tree. The man closest to them, stopped at the sight of them exiting the forest, Braden moved in front of Magnus shielding him from the men.
    “Well what do we have here?”
    The axe wielder asked as he laid his axe against the tree before crossing his arms. The two other men stopped what they were doing placing their axe’s over opposite shoulders.
    “Get lost did we?” Said the second man.
    “No, we came from the Shires.” Braden replied.
    “The Shires, why didn’t you follow the road?” replied the first man. Braden could tell the men were suspicious of them. He didn’t want any fuss and wanted to be out of here as quickly as possible and onto a ship before nightfall.
    “I wanted to show my brother the forest.”
    Braden placed his hand on Troy’s head rubbing his hair. By the look in the man’s eye Braden could tell he wasn’t convinced and he didn’t have time to waste.
    “Now we shall be on our way.”
    He pushed Troy forward and gestured for Alex to follow, as they walked past the three men he kept his eyes trained on the first man had spoken. Magnus was smart enough to keep to the other side of him and Alex and out of the men’s sight. Finally, when they were about a hundred feet away, Braden let go of the hilt of his sword. His knuckles were white and he stretched his hand a few times. They walked down the hill towards the port town of Maidenpool, even from this distance Braden could tell it was the busiest place he had ever been to. Ships of all sizes pulled in and out of port, as hundreds of men ran around like ants keeping the docks flowing smoothly. The slope was gradual as the group moved across the open plain between the forest and the town. It was split up into small farm estates bordered by low lying fences which marked each plot from the next. Walking between two of the fences, they made their way along the mud path, finally reaching the main road turning left and passing into the small stream of traffic heading up from Maidenpool back, onto the Silver Road. Magnus was already getting a lot of attention, though the cub thought nothing of it and carried on walking, the squirrel still dangling limp in his mouth. Alex stepped up beside Braden and spoke quietly into his ear.
    “Magnus is drawing some attention and we haven’t even reached the town proper.”
    “I know, but what can we do?”
    “We need to get to the docks quickly and find out when the earliest ship departs.”
    Braden spotted a small