Deus Ex Machinarium

The evening, and the subsequent night, were quite warm. Weirdly so, if one were to consider it was still early spring. The cloud cover was scant and stars were glimmering up in the sky, despite Dux and Zoon already being high, almost full and bathing everything in a pale blue glow.

Brandt decided to leave as little behind them as possible. They burned the tent, the cart, and almost anything that could be burned—all of the horses they took in tow with them. On two of these, they packed with their gear. Not a halfer later they were already on the tract toward Katzburg. Some time later Nord began to let the free horses go. Every candle or so one of them was lashed and rushed into the dense forest.

Anh was barely responsive since the fateful encounter. The tanai did whatever Brandt ordered him to do without protest – whether that was aiding with stripping the victims or throwing a pyre to burn the evidence. Initially, Nord considered it rude, but after a bit, he found this complacency weirdly comforting.

Both men didn’t speak a word to each other up until way past midnight. They were already over three candles into the escape and the Nord considered it a good time to make some decisions.

-” Map” - he said dryly - “we need to get as far from Katzburg as possible. Hopefully, before they come for their missing party.”

Anh blinked a few times, absentmindedly. Once Brandt’s orders finally reached his consciousness, he floated toward the stolen horse that carried his luggage. After a few moments of struggle, as he dug in one of the panniers, he found and handed hoomin the crinkled map.

Brand took it, stretched it, and spent a triskol positioning himself in a manner where the combined glow of both moons illuminated the sheet. It took him a few drips to realize that this wasn’t working. He sighed, frustrated.

-” Can you shed some light on this?”

Anh nodded. He floated to the hoomin, half closed his eyes, and soon a blueish aura of a lumehex surrounded them. The sheet of the map was also lit sufficiently to be easily interpreted. Brandt stared at it for a couple of moments. At one point he started to trace things on it with his gaze.

-” We need to avoid Katzburg, we will get recognized.” - he finally said, still staring at the map. The tanai didn’t seem to consider it appropriate to react. Initially.

-” Why? How will they know?” - he uneasily said after an awkward pause. Brandt took his attention away from the map.

-” Because we have two warhorses branded by the stables of the Ordo Pro Cvirsi and we clearly shouldn’t. That alone is enough to get ourselves hung.”

The tanai slowly and worriedly wiggled his earlobes and bushy eyebrows. It seemed that he wanted to say something, but couldn’t. Brandt paid him a few drips of attention then returned to studying the map.

-” Are you … are you saying that if we kept our things, we could have tried to slip through?”

Brandt raised his head.

-” Yes.” - he said slowly, not being sure – „No. Not really. I think.”

-” But there was a chance?”

-” Yes.” - came na uneasy reply – „I don’t think it was a chance we should have taken.”

-” But…” - tanai protested weakly.

-” Listen” – Brandt cut him off a little rudely – „They sent a Courser with significant muscle with her. I doubt she came after us out of boredom.” - Nord rolled back the map and turned towards his companion - ”I presume there was an investigation into what we were doing and the town is now plastered with notices of us being wanted for ‘questioning’”

-” Are you sure…”

-” Yes. In the best case, both of us are quite unusual so far south of Maargard.” - Brandt gazed directly at Anh – „How good are you when it comes to lying to a couple of heavily armored, prejudiced men who ask difficult questions with a promise of violence when your answer is not to their liking?”

The tanai didn’t answer. Brandt nodded, as he considered that no further explanation was necessary, unrolled the map, and returned to studying it.

-” What” – the tanai broke the silence after a few drips - “what is your ... our plan here”

-” Be somewhere else, the farther away, the better” - replied the Nord - “preferably not in Maargard. But that is going to be a challenge. Katzburg is the southernmost port on Orda. Further south are just logging camps, military outposts, and wildmen. All the way down to the Soutwals.”

-” So we are trapped here?” - said worried Anh -” Is that what you are saying?”

-” Vihrs doesn’t look kindly at those who idle. There is a way out, we need to find and take it. Take a look here” - hoomin leaned towards the tanai, as to allow the former to see the map, then pointed at a location at it.

-” Crossroads” - the tanai said grimly, then traced a line denoting a tract that skirted Katzburg to the west and disappeared into the northwestern corner of the map. There was an arrow pointing at something outside of the map. Few words were written under it -” Caer oth’Graev. I swear I read that somewhere…” - the tanai fell silent for a few moments and his gaze turned glassy, as he searched for something in his mind - “...a minor noble house of Maargard. Owns and operates several iron ore mines and foundries in Graev basin.” - he finally said.

-” We can’t go through Katzburg, we can’t go south, we just might go there. We have maybe four, five at most, days advantage." - said the Nord, squinting at the map - “What also works to our favor is the impending Vihrzung. Mines you say?”

-” Yes, mines” - slowly replied Anh

-” So there must be a good road to that town. Castle. Whatever. To carry what they produce. The boat takes five days to reach Isdelburg from Katzburg. We can rush toward this ‘Graev’ place and then to Isdelburg. With luck, we will outrun our tail and once we’re in Cammot, we will be safe.”

Brandt took a peek at Anh, hoping for some response, confirmation, or at least acknowledgment. The tanai appeared lost in the situation he was in. So much that it seemed that he needed a push in the right direction to do something.

Or any direction, really.

-” We will travel toward ‘Caer oth’Graev’” - commandeered Brandt. The tanai nodded to this order, then mechanically began to prepare to continue on their nightly escape.